Page 6 of Crimson Devotion (The Sacred Seven #1)

SIX

Ophelia

The smell of books surrounds me. Old tales and new editions, as the bleak sense of being overwhelmed slowly fill my body. No one’s touched any of these books in too long — since Lucifer was put to sleep.

The library was always his safe space. He’d spend his days locked up inside, reading, doing research, and simply gathering knowledge on anything and everything.

He’s always said that since we were immortal, it was the perfect opportunity to learn everything there was to learn in science, math, and anything of the like.

Lucifer’s been in a deep slumber for the past two hundred years, due to the poison.

To this day, the details of how it all happened are unclear, but I’m certain of one thing — in order for Lucifer to wake up, Yvonne — the same witch who gave him the poison — has to give him the antidote.

And somehow, I don’t think she’s inclined to do so.

No one dared to set foot in the library, because we wanted to keep it just as he’d left it.

Until Faith appeared, that is. The young hunter with blood as divine as Heaven itself.

I didn’t expect to encounter a hunter on my doorstep, even less one with such determined face, and bravery that’s rare these days.

Clearly, she didn’t think it through. I don’t know how exactly she hoped to kill me, because she has no weapon that can actually take my life.

Her backpack is filled with some silly, little potions, and although they’d usually work on me, given that they were made by Yvonne herself, they lack the important part — my blood.

Yvonne most likely never finished them because one of the main ingredients was missing, and Faith just snatched them away.

Silly girl.

A deep growl leaves me as I slam the book shut, the dust getting in my eyes. The stinging lasts a couple of seconds, and I blink the ache away. With a deep breath, I slump into the couch, face buried in my hands.

This is impossible.

This shouldn’t be happening.

Not to me.

Not with her.

My eyes snap toward the door, a look of distaste on my face. I don’t bother hiding it, my lips thinning into a line. I cross my legs, tilting my head to the side, drumming my fingers against the armrest of the couch.

“What do you want, Valerio?”

One of my younger brothers, Valerio, leans against the doorframe. As per usual, he’s lacking clothes, barely wearing a thing. He’s never had a sense of decorum, and I don’t know why I expected him to suddenly become sensible.

“My dearest sister,’’ he greets, a hint of mockery on his tongue.

His eyes, though, hold a certain softness that he doesn’t reveal to just anyone.

My eyebrows narrow, and I wait for him to approach — which he does by pushing himself off the wall, then crossing the distance in a couple of long, purposeful strides.

“You look unwell. Is everything alright?”

“Let me guess…’’ I roll my eyes. “You were the one who sent Faith here.’’

He hums. “That obvious?”

“No one else would dare. Out of our siblings, at least. Cassius is somewhere across the globe, chasing after Juliana and trying to stop her from doing reckless things, though I doubt he’s successful.

Darius is likely moping around, trying to figure out a way to be with his beloved again.

Lucifer is asleep, and that leaves you, Valerio. ’’

He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth, the sound oddly jarring. “You forgot about Aurelia.’’

A deep groan comes from me, and I slump into my seat. “That nuisance is probably getting drunk, or alternatively, going after werewolves and killing them.’’

Valerio snorts, then walks over to the big desk that belongs to Lucifer.

The old quill is still on top of the unfinished parchment, filled with dust, just as he had left it two hundred years ago.

He pulls the bottom drawer open, whipping out a bottle of old whiskey.

He digs again, until he finds two glasses and comes to sit across from me.

He pours the whiskey into both glasses, sliding one over the desk to me. I catch it with ease, taking a small sip. The burning sensation causes tension leave my body, eyes closing as I savor the taste.

“Speaking of Aurie and her hatred toward werewolves,’’ he begins, swirling the whiskey in his glass. “Any idea why she hates them that much?”

I lift a shoulder. “It’s Aurelia. It doesn’t take a lot to piss her off. Who knows what one poor werewolf did to her, and now she’s holding a grudge.’’

Valerio chuckles, drinking from his glass. “She’ll piss off the wrong person one of these days and pay the price.’’

“Eh, doubtful. If she’s anything, she’s strong. She won’t go down without a fight.’’

“What…what are these?” Valerio changes the subject quickly, motioning with his head toward the stack of books on the small table between us. His eyes dart along the spines, reading the titles. His brows lift to his hairline, then slowly, he looks back at me.

“Books,’’ I mumble.

“I can tell that,’’ he snorts. “Why are you reading books about fated mates?”

A shiver runs down my spine when he asks the question, and for a moment, I mull it over in my head.

How the hell am I supposed to explain to Valerio that I believe the little hunter to be my mate?

Mates are incredibly rare, and in my five-hundred and forty-eight years that I’ve been alive, I’ve only heard of them twice.

I’ve never met a couple that were mates, hence I believed it to be nothing but a fable.

“Why did you send her here, Valerio?” I ask, trying to calm the storm that my mind has become.

“Because I believed it’d be fun to watch. And you haven’t had fresh human blood in ages.’’

My eyes narrow a fraction. “That cannot possibly be the only reason.’’

“It’s not,’’ he admits. “She smells like you.’’

I blink, taken aback. My hand trembles a little, and I tighten my grip on the glass, before downing the whiskey at once. The glass shatters in my hands from the excessive force, but I ignore the way small pieces of glass fall all over my lap.

“She what?!”

Valerio nods slowly, carefully observing my reaction.

“I was in the woods when I got a sniff of it. I knew it couldn’t have been you because you didn’t have your bracelet, and I doubt you would’ve left the castle unattended.

I got curious, and lo-and-behold, it was the little hunter.

Surrounded by a dozen of dead vampires, no less.

For good measure, I approached her, sniffed her, and honestly, gagged.

The flowery scent was never really my thing. ’’

“She smelled like me? That’s why you sent her?”

His eyes dip down to the books again, before he brings them back to my face. Valerio is a smart man; he understands why I’ve been reading the books, and the severity of the situation.

“Yes. It’s strange, really. Us vampires have a distinctive scent, mixed with the one we had as humans. She shouldn’t smell like a vampire, Ophi. Even when bathed in their blood, she shouldn’t smell like a vampire, let alone you.’’

“Yeah, I figured.’’

“What happened?” he asks, leaning forward, completely ignoring the shattered glass. It’s not the first time he’s witnessed my small outbursts. “You clearly have a reason to believe she’s your mate. Why?”

I take a deep breath.

“Because I drank her blood.’’

“And?”

“Unless the vampire specifically injects the venom through their canines to the human they’ve bitten, the venom will not come out. I drank maybe for a minute before the venom was sucked out of me.’’

“Sucked out of you?” The baffled expression on his face mirrors mine, to which I nod with a sigh.

“It’s never happened before. I’m the only one out of the seven of us who’s never turned a human into a vampire before. You know I have my personal beliefs regarding that, but this time…’’

I’ve never turned a human into a vampire because we shouldn’t exist. Yvonne cursed us — for a reason, might I add — and I will never be able to forget the look of sheer panic, regret, and horror on her face when she realized how badly her curse had backfired.

We cannot die, yet we cannot live either.

I didn’t want to create more of us. I was extremely careful, each and every time, that I only drank their blood, or killed them entirely. Giving them even the slightest bits of my venom would result in them turning into vampires.

If possible, Valerio’s face pales more, and he freezes. His hand is holding the glass, midway to his mouth, his eyes opening wide. His mouth parts, and for a moment or two, it’s utterly and completely silent. It’s deafening, torturous.

“You turned her into a vampire,’’ he whispers, words laced with disbelief.

“It was an accident!” I stand abruptly, the glass falling from my lap onto the floor. I start pacing back and forth, biting the inside of my cheek. I cannot even bring myself to look at Valerio, knowing that he’ll give me the most judgmental look possible.

“An accident?!” His voice rises. “How the fuck do you turn someone into a vampire on accident?”

“I don’t know!” I yell back. “I’m telling you, the venom was sucked right out of me! I didn’t want to do it, and by the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. She’d already gotten a lot of it.’’

“What happened next?” he asks, running his fingers through his long hair. “How did she react?”

“It was strange. The spot where I bit her started glowing.’’

I finally look at him, just in time to see him blink rapidly. Then, his eyebrows narrow. “What? It started glowing?”

I nod. “Yeah. It was a bright, golden gleam that I’ve never seen before. I may not have turned anyone into a vampire before, but I know for a fact that their bite wound shouldn’t glow.’’

“You’re right, it shouldn’t, and it never does.’’

“That’s not the weirdest part,’’ I whisper.

“There’s more?!”

I take a deep breath, eyes snapping shut for a while. Swallowing thickly, I try to calm myself down. I’ve never thought I’d be here, stuck in this position, without a solution in sight.

Slowly, I roll up my sleeve, turning my wrist for him to see.

There are two holes, the exact same ones I left on Faith’s neck.

They’re in a light shade of pink, like a scar.

As someone with healing abilities, I don’t have any scars.

The moment I turned, they all healed. Everything else I ever got healed, leaving perfect skin behind.

“Oh my,’’ Valerio murmurs, his voice taking a teasing note he didn’t intend to have. “You mated. You fucking mated. You. The cold matriarch of the D’Achille family. You actually have a soulmate. A human, no less.’’

“Insane, isn’t it?” I roll the sleeve back down.

“Destiny has one sick sense of humor, that’s for sure.’’

“Yes, well, destiny can meet me outside the castle because I’d like a couple of words exchanged.’’

Valerio outright laughs at the terrible joke, shaking his head. He clears his throat, schooling his expression back to neutral. I can see a hint of concern lingering behind in his gaze, and he’s not trying to hide it.

“What are you going to do, Ophi? She’s a new vampire now.’’

“I don’t know,’’ I admit, words a mere hushed whisper. “I can only pray she gets used to it quickly.’’

Valerio’s face tells me he doesn’t believe my words. And quite frankly, neither do I. If Faith is anything, she’s a fierce fighter, with a deeply rooted hatred for vampires. The fact that she’ll wake up tomorrow and become one of us is making me sick. I know her reaction won’t be a good one.

“That’s not all, Valerio,’’ I add.

“What is it, Ophi?”

I take a deep breath. “My heart started beating again.’’