Chapter 44 – Alexandros
Chapter
Forty-Four
ALEXANDROS
C adence accompanied Axl to visit the heads of the Dragon houses, and Sienna went with her father to alert the heads of the Crescent Houses, thus leaving Ophelia, Xavier, Enora, and me alone to discuss how and when we will take back our house and rescue Malachi.
“Why did he take your sired when he could have easily taken Ophelia?” Enora asks.
Does she think me so incompetent that I would have allowed the wraith to take her? The most precious thing in the entire universe? “Because he would not have taken her so easily despite what you think, Enora.”
Her eyes narrow, but she does not argue the point with me further. “Why Malachi, though? If Giorgios has been planning something all this time, then every move he makes is a strategic one. Why Malachi?” She directs the last question to Ophelia and Xavier.
Xavier shrugs and runs a hand through his hair.
“Enora is right,” I say. “There must be a reason he was taken. Giorgios said as much. Was there anything at all that he said or did to reveal why Malachi may be his target?”
They stare at me blankly for a few seconds. “Giorgios seemed strangely interested in who bit me first,” Ophelia murmurs as if she is talking to herself. “The way he asked when we weren’t talking about anything to do with that—it was weird.”
“But that has no bearing here because Axl was the first to bite you.”
Her eyes grow wide, and panic bubbles up inside her. “Yes, I know, but Malachi said it was him. I don’t even know why now, but Giorgios seemed weirdly curious about it.”
Enora presses her lips together and flashes me a knowing look. She is thinking about the damn prophecy. I suppress my frustration. “So Giorgios took Malachi because he believes he was the first to taste your blood.”
Xavier blinks at me. “And the wraith was actually supposed to take Axl?”
“If we are assuming that is the case, then this could be a good thing. It buys us a little more time.”
Xavier shakes his head. “But what the fuck has he taken him for? What the hell has biting Ophelia first got to do with anything?”
Enora speaks before I can stop her. “The one who first drinks from the untouched vessel determines its poison or its nectar.”
Ophelia and Xavier stare at her, their faces masks of confusion.
“Stop, Enora,” I growl.
She scowls at me, her slender hands balled into fists. “You can deny it no longer, Alexandros! Ophelia is the child of the prophecy.”
I advance on her, my muscles rigid with anger. “I will not make decisions based on archaic nonsense.”
She straightens her spine and tilts her jaw, her gray eyes sparking with defiance. “Then make them based on facts. Ophelia was born in fire and blood. She has mastery over four elements, making her one of the most powerful beings who ever lived.”
“Stop!” I roar.
She presses her lips into a thin line and glares at me. We are wasting precious time. Ophelia’s hand curls into mine, and warmth snakes along my forearm, easing the tension in my muscles. “Alexandros.” Her voice is soft and soothing. “I have been told of this prophecy so many times now. Can you at least tell me what it is?”
I turn to her. She is so innocent. So pure. How can I put this on her? She will hear the words, and she will know, as I do, that she is the one it speaks of.
“I will speak it if you cannot,” Enora says.
I glance at Xavier, whose eyes are pleading with me too. Every instinct I have tells me to take her and run, but instead, I give Enora a nod.
Her lilting voice fills the room.
“Until the balance tips to inevitable destruction,
the sands of fate shall shift unrelenting.
And those who cannot live in peace,
shall thrive amongst the anarchy.
Until Chaos swallows whole the universe once more
and Gaea, Tartarus, and Eros do mourn.
“But there is one who can save the fates of all.
For the child borne of fire and blood
shall be our ruin or our redemption.
Bringing balance to the new world order,
be it through peace or total annihilation.
“Though, take heed?—
the one who first drinks from the untouched vessel,
pale as alabaster stone,
for it is they who will determine its poison or its nectar.
“And those who thirst for the crimson rivers of mortal veins
shall face the insurmountable task of their birthright.
They must choose the path of the righteous,
or face the damnation of the eternal.”
She clears her throat. “There is another verse, but it has been lost or forgotten. Though I am sure there are some who know it well.”
I close my eyes and recount the verse Nazeel told me, the one I have been unable to forget since.
“But if the Chosen One can slay the three-headed dragon?—
if the untamable beast does kneel at its new master’s feet,
and the light is tempted back from the darkness,
then they shall awaken the protector of man.
And the sun must swallow the shadows
to bring a balance that reigns through the ages.”
When I reopen my eyes, all three of them are staring at me. Enora’s eyes are brimming with tears. “I thought it was the five points of the pentagram that held meaning, and perhaps it does, but it is the three-headed dragon which holds the key.”
Xavier rubs his temples. “What the fuck? What three-headed dragon? We have one of them to deal with now too?”
Enora clears her throat to speak, but it is Ophelia who answers. “You’re the three-headed dragon, Xavier.”
He gapes at her. “Say what now?”
“You, Axl, and Malachi. The three untamable Ruby Dragon commanders.” Then she looks up at me. “And you’re the protector of man?”
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I still refuse to accept it as my truth. I am no savior, and I will not let her become one either. Because there is only one fate for those who are born to save the world. “I am the protector of you. Nobody else.”
She squeezes my hand and turns back to Enora. “So, whoever first drank from the untouched vessel, which I guess refers to me, gets to determine whether I’m good or bad—is that right?”
Enora nods. “That is the general interpretation, sweet child.”
Ophelia presses her lips together, her face screwed up in concentration. “So Giorgios has taken Malachi because he thinks he can somehow use him to persuade me to use my magic for evil?”
I rack my brain for an answer that will not come. “That makes no sense. Elementai are inherently pure and good.”
Enora clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “This is true. However, we know Giorgios is in possession not only of powerful dark magic, but that he also has a wraith on his side. A wraith can turn anyone toward the darkness if they have the opportunity to be in proximity for long enough.”
I shake my head and pace the length of the room. “A wraith’s touch is designed to steal your soul by driving you into a spiral of despair. It would render Ophelia powerless, not powerful, and it would not steal her power.”
“What if he’s planning some kind of spell or something?” Ophelia asks. “A ritual like the fated mate one he was going to use?”
Enora claps her hands together. “That is it, sweet child. If you had become Giorgios’s fated mate, he could have easily used his influence to take your power.”
She turns to me, blinking. “So you could do that if you wanted to? You could take my power?”
I pull her into my arms. “In theory, but I would never, little one.”
She rubs her cheek against me, fisting her hands in my shirt. “I know, and I love you for that.”
“So, what?” Xavier snaps. “He uses Kai for some ritual to make Ophelia evil? Is that it?”
Breathing through my nose, I shove aside the images of me tearing out my brother’s heart before I tear off his head and focus. “Do you know of such a ritual, Enora?”
“Not specifically, as there has never been a Chosen One before. But there are many dark rituals which can be used to steal powers or control the actions of another. It is possible that a ritual for this scenario could be successful if there is enough power.”
I run a hand over my face as the true horror of Giorgios’s plan becomes clearer. “Ophelia has enough power to ensure the success of any such endeavor.”
Enora places a hand on my shoulder. “At least it will not work, for Malachi was not the first to drink from Ophelia.”
My heart sinks through my chest and cold dread floods me. “Neither was Axl.”
Enora blinks at me. “Then who?”
I vividly recall our conversation from a few nights ago. How he taunted me with his claims. “It was Lucian.”