Bound in Blood (Broken Bloodlines Book 3)
Bound in Blood: Chapter 47

89 MINUTES BEFORE THE LIGHT GOES OUT

Giorgios cocks his head to the side and narrows his eyes. “Did you hear that?”

I shake my head. I heard nothing.

“I think they have finally come for you.”

Please let it be true. I’m not sure how much longer I can stand this.

The wraith’s answering screech is ear-piercing and bloodcurdling. During the last however many hours or days I’ve been here, watching the wraith float in and out of here while Giorgios remains frustratingly nearby at all times, I’ve learned that is how the creature communicates. The despair is still overwhelming, but it lessens when the wraith isn’t here, and I have somehow nurtured the tiny flicker of hope in my chest into a small flame. That’s the only thing keeping me from trying to tear off my own head.

“I have deployed them now,” Giorgios says and follows it up with a cruel laugh.

Deployed who? What the fuck is going on?

“Welcome home,” he says as he opens the steel door to the basement. “I expected you sooner. Poor Malachi here has suffered so in your absence.”

“Where is Kai, you evil piece of shit?” Xavier’s voice echoes through the room, and it makes the flame inside me burn a little brighter.

“Where is Ophelia?” Giorgios sneers.

“You seriously think we’d let her anywhere near you, you twisted fuck?” Axl says.

“She is the only one who can break Malachi’s chains, so if she is not with you, then your endeavor will be a purposeless one, dear boys.”

“The wraith is in here too,” I yell. “Don’t let him get close to you.”

The wraith screeches again, and I assume it’s at me, but Giorgios spins around to face it, his hands balled into fists. “I know that, but I want her to see it.”

Huh? What is it he wants Ophelia to see?

Another wraith shriek pierces the air, and Axl and Xavier use Giorgios’s distracted state to charge into the room and head straight for me. They pull on my chains, wincing at first at the burn of the silver before yanking harder.

“What the fuck?” Xavier grumbles.

“I told you, they cannot be broken other than by Ophelia herself. They are the same chains I used to restrain your sire. Forged from the sacred silver from the mines of Peru and fortified with dark magic, and even he, as powerful as he is, could not break them. If the great Alexandros Drakos could not break those chains, children, what makes you think you can?”

Xavier stands tall and glares at him while Axl goes on trying to replace a way to free me, but it’s pointless. Everything is pointless.

“So call Ophelia and have her come rescue her beloved Malachi,” Giorgios croons.

“No!” I shout. “I’d rather fucking die than let you get anywhere near her.”

More wraith screeching. Giorgios smiles at me, cruel and mocking. “And die you shall, boy, but I would really like her to see it.”

Xavier lunges for him, but Giorgios swipes his arm through the air, and Xavier is thrown back against the concrete wall.

“What the fuck are you?” Axl growls.

“Oh, you pathetic little boys. I am the true power of House Drakos. Vampire and warlock combined.”

“How?” I bark.

“That, dear boy, is far beyond your wildest comprehension.” He raises his hand and twists his fingers. Chains of silver wrap around Axl’s and Xavier’s wrists. They struggle against the bonds as I did, but then the darkness, the pervasive anguish and misery, grows heaver and thicker as the wraith circles them.

They stop struggling and drop to their knees on the concrete floor.

“Let them fucking go,” I command. It’s a fruitless request, but I have no other power here.

Giorgios snaps his teeth at me. “Call for Ophelia and I will let them go.”

“I couldn’t call for her even if I wanted to because you suppressed my powers,” I remind him.

He crouches and looks me up and down. “If I remove the block on your mind and allow you to call for her, will you?”

“No, Kai,” Xavier groans.

“I will let them go; I give you my word,” he says, his sour breath making me gag.

“He won’t,” Axl growls. “You know he won’t.”

If I could hear her voice only one more time, I would be able to accept my death. “I’ll call her.”

His eyes narrow like he doesn’t know if he can trust me, but a second later, my mind clears, and I call for her.

Kai! Her sweet voice makes tears burn behind my eyes.

Hey, baby.

Are you okay? Where are you?

I’m okay, sweet girl. Now that I’ve heard your voice.

Are you with Axl and Xavier? Are you coming back here?

We’ll be back soon, I promise. I lie to her with ease. But whatever happens, you have to stay away from Giorgios. He wants you to see something, and I don’t know what, but⁠—

“Is she coming?” Giorgios demands.

“Let me fucking speak to her.”

We think it’s something to do with my blood, Kai. There’s this prophecy about whoever drinks from me first can decide whether I’m good or evil.

You will always be good, baby. No matter what.

Kai! She sounds exasperated. You told him you bit me first, remember?

Yeah. I look up at Giorgios. Is that what this is about?

But it wasn’t you who tasted me first, or even Axl. She drifts off, and Giorgios’s angry voice is demanding to know what I’m saying to her.

I love you, sweet girl.

I love you too, Kai.

My mind goes dark, and I realize he’s put the block back in place. “Is she coming?” he demands.

I shuffle up onto my knees so I can look him in the eye when I crush his twisted plan to dust. “No, she’s not, you evil fuck! And she never will.”

He roars, grabbing my jaw and pushing me back down to the floor as the wraith caterwauls with more fervor than before.

Looks like I just signed my own death warrant. But at least I got to tell her I love her one final time.