Chapter 126

ALEXANDROS A face with dark, sunken eyeholes and black fangs dripping with blood looms over me, rousing me from a fitful sleep. Ophelia! I reach for her in the dark and find her gone. They are all gone. The face gets closer. Lucian? Giorgios? I would take its head, but bone-deep fear paralyzes me. Warm fingertips skate over the back of my hand, and my eyes fly open. I find the room cloaked in darkness, the sleeping form of Ophelia still curled into my side, Malachi, Axl, and Xavier beside her. It is Xavier’s fingers trailing over the back of my hand, and I make no move to stop him. His steady breathing tells me he is still asleep. Having him seek my touch when he is at his most vulnerable makes warmth bloom in my chest. Their proximity and their steady heartbeats are enough to chase away the remnants of the nightmare that has plagued what little fitful sleep I managed in captivity. I cannot help but wonder what they endured whilst I was locked in my silver cage, unable to reach out to