Promised in Blood (Broken Bloodlines Book 2)
Promised in Blood: Chapter 41

The syrup drips down the tines of the fork, slow and thick and sickly sweet.

“Come on, baby. This is your last bite, and you need to keep your strength up.” I lick my lips and open my mouth, allowing Malachi to feed me the final bite of the waffles he made me. “That’s my good girl,” he says, his face breaking into a wicked grin because he knows what those words do to me.

Xavier’s arms loop around my waist, and he nuzzles my neck. “Yeah, you gotta finish your dinner so we can eat ours, Cupcake.”

I giggle, squirming in his arms.

“Put her down.” Alexandros’s deep, sexy voice fills the room, and I squirm for a different reason. But I look up and see that he isn’t alone, and the energy in the room shifts on a dime.

“Giorgios?” Xavier sounds surprised.

Alexandros’s brother? I ask through our bond.

Alexandros gives me a brief kiss. “Ophelia, meet my brother, Giorgios.”

Alexandros and his brother look alike, except that Giorgios’s eyes are blue, and he’s slightly shorter than his brother, and a lot less … I don’t know. His presence is just a lot less.

Giorgios extends his hand in greeting. “Ophelia, I have heard so much about you.”

I stare at his outstretched hand, unsure how I feel about this stranger, even if he is Alexandros’s brother.

Alexandros presses his lips to my ear and slips an arm around my waist. “He knows who and what you are, little one,” he reminds me. “We can trust him.”

I force a smile. Something feels off. “Hi, Giorgios.”

He takes my hand, his palm swallowing mine whole, and brushes his lips over my knuckles. A possessive growl rumbles from Alexandros, and Giorgios releases me.

Alexandros’s fingers dig into my hip as he holds me closer. “Giorgios and I need to take a trip to Europe.”

My heart sinks. That’s why their energy was giving me anxiety. They’re leaving. He’s leaving. The thought of him being so far away makes my heart skip erratically. Fear, an emotion I’m unused to, curls its icy tendrils around my heart. “Europe? But why?”

He rests his lips against my hair and inhales deeply before replying. “Giorgios knows where Lucian is. I must replace him and determine if he poses any threat to you.”

“No.” I shake my head. “You don’t have to go.” My eyes dart between him and his brother. “Why can’t Giorgios go alone?”

Alexandros tucks my hair behind my ears. “I have to go, little one. He is my son.”

I look toward Axl, Xavier, and Malachi in hopes that they’ll back me up, but they remain silent, even though I feel their anxiety too. “But it feels too dangerous. What if something happens to you? What if you don’t come back?” Dread coils deep in my gut. It’s just a quick trip, right? So why does it feel like more?

He dusts his lips over my forehead, his breath warming my skin. “Giorgios and I can take care of ourselves. I assure you.”

A tear rolls down my cheek, and I swat it away. “How long will you be gone?” It’s almost Christmas Eve, and I have been so looking forward to spending it with the four of them.

His strong arms band around my waist, pressing me against his solid chest. “Less than a day, Ophelia. Perhaps only a few hours. There is a portal which will take me there immediately. And I will return as soon as I replace him.”

“You’re going to bring him back here?” Axl asks, visibly bristling.

He shakes his head. “I do not know what will happen. But I will not allow him to endanger Ophelia.” His eyes dart between the three guys. “Or any of you.”

I press my cheek against his chest, inhaling his comforting scent and wishing there was some way to make him stay. But it’s futile. He’s already decided, and nothing we say is going to change his mind now. And how can I expect him to choose not to go replace his son simply because I am going to miss him too much and having him away makes me anxious? “When do you have to go?”

“It is best if we leave now,” Giorgios answers for him.

I lift my head and fist my hands in the soft fabric of the professor’s shirt. His handsome face is so serious and resolute. Solid. Invincible? “You have to go right now? Can you not wait until morning?”

His features soften a little, eyes crinkling at the corners. “The sooner I leave, the sooner I can return to you.”

Another tear rolls down my cheek, and I don’t bother brushing it away.

“You’ll be back before we have a chance to even notice you’re gone, right?” Malachi says, forcing out a laugh and trying to ease the thickening tension in the room.

Alexandros offers me a faint smile before giving me a tender kiss. “Precisely. And I will certainly be back before Christmas Eve.”

“We should leave, brother,” Giorgios says.

Despite wanting to cling to him even tighter, I force my hands to let go of his shirt. He holds onto me for a moment longer, pressing his lips against my ear. “Ophelia.” He whispers my name like a prayer. I will never leave you, agápi mou, he says, finishing the thought in my head where it’s just the two of us.

So why is he leaving me now? I choke on a sob and don’t voice that. Instead, I say the only words that matter. I love you.