Promised in Blood: Chapter 5

Morning, sweet girl. Are you awake yet?

Yes, she says in reply. Even the voice in her head is seductive, and I close my eyes and imagine her warm breath on my face. Since Ophelia started living at the house with us, we have all spent the night in the same bed, usually Axl’s, unwilling to be parted from her any longer than necessary. Waking up to her sweet smile and her soft little body curled up against mine makes sleeping a much more pleasant activity than it’s ever been before. And that only makes the absence of her in our bed this morning all the more acute.

Meet me in the kitchen? she adds.

I’m there. I throw back the covers and jump out of bed, leaving Xavier snoring softly and Axl grumbling quietly in his sleep. I take the stairs two at a time, and a few seconds later, I’m in the kitchen waiting for her.

I stare at the door that leads to Alexandros’s quarters, the part of the house that contains his bedroom and study, my breath held in anticipation as I wait for her to walk through it.

There’s no escaping the fact that the professor’s choice to bond with her has changed all our lives, and I’m desperate to know exactly how much. My arms physically ache with the need to hold her. I crack my neck as the seconds seem to stretch on like minutes. Finally, the handle turns and the door opens, and she’s standing there with her pink messy hair and that beautiful fucking smile on her face. My breath stalls in my lungs, but I’m across the room before she can blink, pulling her into my arms and crushing her to my chest as I bury my face in her hair.

“Morning,” she says, laughing.

I nuzzle her neck, letting her scent flood my senses. “Morning, baby.”

Snaking her arms around my neck, she tips her head back and allows me better access to her throat. Her submissiveness makes both my fangs and my dick ache to be inside her.

Her stomach growls, and she giggles. “I’m really hungry.”

I hum, running my nose along the column of her neck. “Me too.”

“For food,” she whispers.

I drag my teeth over the pulse fluttering in her throat. “Yeah, me too.”

She moans, pressing her body into mine. “I need to eat first.”

I grab a handful of her ass and squeeze. “I know. I’ll make you some waffles.”

She licks her lips. “Mmm. Waffles.”

I give her ass a hard slap and untangle myself from her embrace, then I head to the fridge to grab the milk before grabbing the rest of the ingredients. Our pantry has never been as well stocked as it is these days. While we all enjoy human food, it’s not a necessity for us. However, keeping our elementai properly fed and sustained is our number one priority, given how we much we all enjoy fucking her—not to mention feeding on her. She perches herself on a stool at the counter and rests her chin on her hand while she watches me mix the batter.

I catch her eye and grin. “So, you want to talk a little more about last night?”

She squeals, and I can only imagine how many billions of questions must be racing through my curious girl’s head. “Yes, so much! But I don’t even know where to start.”

I shrug. “Start wherever you like, baby.”

She presses her lips together, and her brows pinch with a cute-as-fuck frown. “Did you feel any of it? I mean, it was intense.”

“I … no. We all felt something. Like a shift in you maybe. A surge of power. But it was strange. Detached. Like it was you and not you at the same time.”

She nods. “The professor blocked you all.”

“He does that. I guess it’s a lot to have so many people in your head all the time. And bonding is …” I suck on my top lip.

“Bonding is?” she probes.

“It’s special. Intimate. At least it should be. I understand why he wanted you to himself for that.”

Her cheeks flush bright pink. “It was special,” she whispers.

I stop whisking the batter and give her my full attention. “How did it feel? Bonding with him?”

“Like with you and Axl and Xavier, only a little more …” She narrows her eyes, deep in thought. “Intense?”

I nod. “That makes sense. He’s one of the most powerful vampires in existence.”

“Was being turned by him like that?”

I shake my head. “Being bitten is pleasurable. And the more powerful the vampire, the more intoxicating the bite. But being turned is painful. Not something I’d ever want you to go through.”

“How painful?”

Painful is an understatement. Even the memory of it makes my knees wobble. “Like being burned up from the inside out and then torn apart before being stitched back together piece by piece.”

She shudders. “Ouch.”

“Yeah. Not everyone survives it. That’s why we have the Trials, to identify the strongest.”

“Would you do it again? Knowing what you do now?”

I have asked myself that same question a million times in the past hundred years, and the answer has changed depending on my mood. But right here with her, there is only one right answer, and I feel it in every fiber of my being. “Yes. Without a doubt.”

She smiles again, her blue eyes sparkling.

“You need to stop looking at me like that if you want to eat your breakfast before I eat mine, sweet girl.”

She giggles and rolls her eyes, and I go back to mixing the batter. She watches me in silence for a few moments before she speaks again, her voice quiet and unsure. “The power was intoxicating, Malachi.” She worries her bottom lip. “And I felt so much. Like it was about to overwhelm me, and the more I felt, the harder it was to control.”

“That makes sense. An elementai’s powers are rooted in their emotions.”

She nods, and a tear runs down her cheek. “I think it was feeling his pain that unlocked it. It was like this overwhelming rush. Then …” Her slender throat works as she swallows. “I felt like I was …” Her eyes widen. “Invincible. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I felt some of the professor’s power, and that was exhilarating, and then …” She sucks in a deep breath. “It was like a fire lighting me up from the inside, but in a good way, you know? It was raw, untamed power. Like it could eat me alive if I let it.” Her shiver is laced with fear. And I understand because I feel it too. This changes everything for all of us. And given what the professor told us about elementai, our girl is a target for every bloodborne vampire walking this earth. And that scares the living shit out of me.

But I have faith in her strength. Because regardless of her power, she is strong. This tiny pink-haired girl might be the most kindhearted soul I’ve ever met in my life, but she has a fierceness about her that cannot be denied. “How did you control it?”

“Alexandros told me to focus on my light, and I dunno.” She shrugs. “I just instinctively knew what he meant. And so I closed my eyes, and there was this light inside me. I looked into the heart of it and …” She wrinkles her nose. “Do I sound crazy?”

How could she possibly think that? “I’m a vampire, baby. Standing here in my boxers with a raging boner while I make my elementai girlfriend waffles. Nothing you say could sound crazy to me.”

She giggles. “Well, channeling my focus into the light somehow enabled me to isolate my emotions and control the power.”

I wink at her. “Sounds like you did good.”

She chews on her lip again, worry furrowing her brow.

I round the counter and wrap my arms around her, and she leans into my chest, nuzzling her cheek against my bare skin. I rest my lips on the top of her head. “It will all be okay.”

“I set the professor’s office on fire,” she whispers.

A laugh bubbles out of me. “You did?”

She laughs too. “Yeah.”

I brush her hair back behind her ears. “Was he mad?”

“No. Not even a little.”

“You’re kind of impossible to get mad at, sweet girl.” I kiss her forehead, and the thought of what they were probably doing when that happened has my cock aching again. I glance at the kitchen counter and lick my lips. Yeah, I gotta eat right now. Before I can lift her onto the worktop and enjoy my girl, the door opens.

“You left without waking me,” Alexandros says gruffly, running a hand through his thick hair.

She flutters her eyelashes at him. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

He grunts and switches on the coffee machine. “Your lessons will start today.”

She blinks. “Lessons?”

He’s prevented from answering by Axl and Xavier bursting into the room. They make a beeline for our girl, and I let her go so they can hug her. The tension visibly lifts from both of them as soon as they touch her. No matter what happened between her and the professor last night, what we have with her hasn’t changed. She needs us as much as we need her, and I know his bond with her wouldn’t allow him to deny her that, no matter how badly he might want to.

Xavier grabs her jaw and tilts her head before giving her a long, deep kiss. Then Axl pushes him out of the way and does the same. And now I just want to take her to bed and run my tongue over every single inch of her.

Alexandros clears his throat. “Lessons, Ophelia.” His voice is a low command that ensures everyone’s attention is now firmly on him.

She wrinkles her cute little nose. “Like my classes? Yeah, I know.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “Not classes. Lessons.”

Her bottom lip juts out, and she plonks herself back on her stool at the island. “What kind of lessons?”

“To learn how to control your power.” A smile lights up her face, but before she can speak, Alexandros goes on. “To control your mind. To shield yourself from other beings who would try to manipulate you. To fight. To⁠—”

“To fight?” She barks out a laugh.

My shoulders tense at the thought of my girl having to fight anyone. I will tear out the throat of any being who even tries to touch her. And the thought of anyone causing her harm … It steals my next breath.

Alexandros scowls. “Yes, fight. Lessons will start this morning.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t. I have class this morning.”

Axl and Xavier look as anxious as I feel.

“Classes are no longer a priority,” the professor replies dismissively.

She huffs indignantly. So feisty for someone who’s so submissive with her body. “They’re a priority for me. I need my degree. I need to⁠—”

Alexandros slams his fist onto the counter. “Keeping the entire world from finding out what and who you are is your priority, Ophelia.”

Can’t we let her be a regular person for just a little while longer? I plead with him privately.

At least I thought it was private until Ophelia gives me a sharp nudge in the ribs with her elbow. “Hey, don’t talk about me like I’m not here!”

I blink at the professor. “How did she …? I only spoke to you.”

Alexandros frowns, his eyes narrowed on Ophelia. Then he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Ophelia is capable of hearing you in my head. Unless I actively tune her out.”

Xavier laughs darkly, but Axl gasps. “Ophelia is in your head? How the fuck?”

Ophelia’s cheeks flush pink. “I didn’t mean to be. I just heard it.”

Alexandros sighs, pressing his palms on the kitchen counter. “Ophelia’s power is already greater than I anticipated. I expect you will not be able to block her out for much longer no matter how hard you try.”

Xavier slides an arm around her waist and presses his teeth against her bare shoulder, leaving the imprint of his bite behind. “Fine by me, Cupcake.”

Alexandros scrubs a hand over his face. “And to answer your question, Malachi, no. There is no time to waste.” He directs all his attention to Ophelia now. “Learning to control your power is the key to keeping you safe. That is your only priority. You have no idea of the importance of what happened last night.”

She sucks in a raspy breath that makes her tits heave against the thin fabric of her tank top. Then she shakes her head, and Alexandros’s eyes darken at her willful display of defiance. “That’s not gonna work for me. I came to college to get my psychology degree. I’m going to be a social worker.” His jaw tics as he glares at her. “So my actual classes will take priority,” she finishes with a triumphant smile.

Axl swallows nervously. Xavier wraps a protective arm around our girl, and I press myself against her back. Alexandros’s eyes remain firmly on her, as dark and dangerous as I have ever seen them.

He rolls his neck, and the vein in his temple throbs. He takes a few seconds before he speaks. “Once the vampire world learns of who you are, it will take more than the four of us to protect you, Ophelia. This is not a request.” He glances between Axl, Xavier, and me, and I offer him a reluctant nod of agreement because as much as I want him to be wrong, I know that he’s not.

“But I⁠—”

“Ophelia!” The way he roars her name has the windows shaking. He stalks around the island, his entire body seeming to vibrate with rage. Our girl simply tips her chin up and folds her arms over her chest like she’s not even the slightest bit intimidated by him. Like she has no idea who the fuck he is and the things he’s capable of.

He cups her chin in his hand, turning her head so she’s looking up at his scowling face. “This is much bigger than you can imagine. Bigger than you. Than us. You are not the same person you were yesterday, and that means your life is no longer the one it was. Forget your past dreams, Ophelia, because they are gone.”

I feel her heart breaking, and it makes me want to throw my arms around her and protect her from it all. But she knows he’s right, even if she doesn’t want to admit it yet. There is no arguing with the graveness of his tone or the reality of what he’s told us.

She tries anyway. “But⁠—”

He squeezes her jaw tighter, cutting off the retort on her lips. “You are the most powerful being in this room, Ophelia. Quite possibly the entire world.” Her lip quivers. Axl and Xavier glance at me, and I widen my eyes, indicating that I didn’t know that either. “There is no escaping that. And allowing you to think for another moment that you have any chance of even a semblance of a normal life, a life where you’ll become the social worker you dreamed of being, would not only be cruel, it would also be a waste of precious time that we do not have.”

A shiver of fear runs through her and into the rest of us. “Can’t we just put it back?” she asks, her voice a mere whisper.

Alexandros blinks. “Put it back?”

“My power? Wherever it came from. I don’t want it. I want to go back to being just regular me.”

His lip curls, baring his teeth, and her entire body trembles. Pretty sure my own knees want to give out on me too. “You do not want it?” He repeats her words back to her, his tone dripping with incredulity.

She swallows. Her heart rate doubles, but she holds his gaze. “I don’t.”

“You are the most powerful being born in over two thousand years, and you do not want it?”

She jumps off the stool and stands toe-to-toe with him, jaw tilted defiantly as she glares up into his face. “Will you stop saying that? I am not the most powerful anything. I am Ophelia Hart. Nobody. Nothing.” A tear runs down her cheek, and she swats it away. “I don’t want any of this.”

His scowl deepens. “You asked for this!”

“I did not,” she croaks.

The pained expression on his face causes a physical ache in my chest. I’ve never seen him so vulnerable. So open to being hurt. “You asked me to show you who you are. You begged me, Ophelia.” His voice cracks on her name.

She shakes her head. “I didn’t ask for this.”

His eyes darken, and the rare glimpse of vulnerability we all just witnessed is already long gone, hidden behind the mask once more. “Regardless, it is a burden we all carry now.” His tone is as cold and detached as his demeanor.

A sob heaves in her throat, and it makes my chest ache. She opens her mouth, but this time she doesn’t have a snappy retort for him. Instead, she rushes from the room. I fight the instinct to run straight after her and allow her a moment to deal with the gravity of everything she’s learned.

“She’s just scared,” Axl says, voicing what the three of us are thinking.

“There is no time to be scared,” Alexandros barks back.

Xavier runs a hand through his thick hair. “She just found out she’s some kind of superhuman powerhouse who’s catnip to every single vampire on the planet. Give her a break.”

I half expect Alexandros to tear Xavier’s throat out, or at least shoot him one of his don’t-you-ever-fucking-speak-to-me-like-that glares, but he does neither. Instead, he turns his attention to the doorway she walked out of. “She has much to learn. Each of you has something to teach her. Her lessons will start today.”

We all agree, and he jerks his head toward the door. “Go.”

Xavier and Axl obey immediately, but I hang back. There’s an anxious feeling churning deep in my gut, and I know he knows it too. “It will be okay, right? We can protect her? We can teach her to control her powers, and it will be okay?”

He stares at Axl’s and Xavier’s retreating backs.

“It will, right?” I ask again.

He turns to face me and rests his hand on the back of my neck. “Go make sure she is okay.”

Without argument, I do as he says. If all the years I’ve spent watching Xavier clash against him have taught me anything, it’s that Alexandros Drakos doesn’t entertain insubordination lightly.