Chapter 35: Forged in Blood: Chapter 33

Malachi’s anxiety and concern for his brother hits me before he even steps foot inside Zeus Hall. I am typically able to block him and his brothers out whenever I choose, but for the most part, I simply dull my connection to them. I prefer a little solace in my own head. It is a skill all vampires possess, but one not all can master.

However, such is the strength of Malachi’s worry today, it permeates my thoughts as strongly as if it were my own. Perhaps it is because I know why he has come here and I share his concern. I also know how to fix the problem he is bringing to my door. And that unsettles me even more.

His brow is etched with tension when he walks into my office. “It’s Axl,” he says, his voice pained.

I close my laptop and rest my hands on my chin. “I know.”

“He’s getting worse. He won’t feed. Can’t.” He shakes his head. “He’s burning up. I’ve never seen him like this. We don’t get sick. It doesn’t make sense. What’s wrong with him?”

The time has come to accept reality and fix this. I grab my jacket and shrug it on. Axl has been growing sicker with each passing day. We have all felt it, and I have wished more than anything that it would get better for him. The sickness took hold much more quickly than is usual, and a part of me hoped that it meant it was different, that she was different. That perhaps it would burn through him and I would be spared from having to do what must be done. His teeth never penetrated her flesh. It was such a small taste.

I stride past Malachi and gesture for him to follow me. “Let’s go.”

I cup Axl’s jaw in my hand. His bloodshot eyes are heavy, and his waxy skin is so pale he almost looks translucent. His fangs are bared, and he scents the air with a feral sniff.

Malachi’s distress is palpable. “What the hell is wrong with him, Professor?”

I snarl, frustrated and angry. If I had any doubt as to the kind of creature Ophelia Hart is, Axl’s reaction to her blood has removed every shred of it. Stupid, stupid boy! “He needs her blood.”

Xavier runs a hand through his hair. “But why? I know she smelled good, and he said something happened when he tasted her, but why the fuck is he like this? Has she made him sick? Is this some kind of spell?”

I shake my head. It is easy to forget that my boys know so little of the old magic, having never experienced it. Perhaps I have been remiss in not schooling them in the ancient ways. “Not a spell. But magic, nonetheless.”

Malachi gapes at me, wide-eyed. “So she is a witch? Has she cursed him?”

Axl snaps his teeth, and I release my grasp on his jaw, letting him fall back to the bed. Despite his rabid state, he is as weak as a kitten. “Not a curse. Well, not exactly.”

Xavier’s eyes meet mine in a silent plea before he speaks. “So, what the hell is it? Stop talking in riddles and tell us what’s wrong with him. Please.”

I run my tongue over my teeth. “It is an ancient magic. The blood of the elementai is toxic to vampires on the first bite.”

Malachi’s emerald-green eyes narrow. “Elementai? She’s a fucking elementai? I thought they were a myth. Like dragons.”

Malachi has always been the most curious of my boys regarding our species’ past, but now is not the time for a history lesson. “Not a myth. Neither elementai nor dragons.”

Xavier stops pacing and scowls at me. “What the fuck is an elementai?”

“A powerful creature. More powerful than vampires, demons, witches, and wolves.”

He blinks at me. “And she’s one of them? Ophelia? The girl with pink hair, who has no friends and blushes when anyone so much looks at her … She is more powerful than us?”

I glance at Axl again, and the answer to that question literally stares me in the face. “I believe so.”

Malachi’s mouth is still hanging open, but he finally speaks. “Dragons are real too?”

Xavier nudges him in the ribs. “Not the time, dickface.”

Seeming to shake himself out of a stupor, Malachi casts a worried look at Axl. “But her blood is toxic? Like a poison?”

“If poison gave you an insatiable thirst for more, then yes. But it is merely an evolutionary tactic to ensure the survival of the species. Once the elementai’s blood has been tasted by a vampire, a bond forms. Only the second bite, or in this case, taste, can cure the sickness, which ensures the vampire will return and cement the bond.”

“So if he bites her, he won’t be like this, right? She won’t be toxic to him anymore?” Xavier asks, his eyes turbulent with concern.

“Yes and no. He will not suffer from this kind of thirst, but …” I shake my head. Anger surges through my veins. I told them to stay away from her. I warned them not to taste her.

Xavier paces the room, grumbling to himself.

“But?” Malachi says.

“They will be forever bonded. His thirst for her will be controllable, but her blood will be no less desirable to him. Vampires can learn to live without their bonded elementai. It is agonizing, but it can be done.”

Xavier stops pacing and shakes his head. “So he’s stuck with this chick forever? We’re stuck with her forever?”

Axl curls into a ball, shivering and gnashing his teeth.

“I can teach him how to resist the bond.”

Xavier scowls. “But what if she wants the bond? These elementai things need vampires to survive, right?”

I shake my head. So ignorant, and I have only myself to blame. “Not at all.”

“But you said it was an evolutionary thing,” he says, confusion marring his features. “To ensure the survival of the species.”

“Not their species, Xavier. Ours.”