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I’m holding Daniel on my hip with my cell-phone pressed against my ear. I’ve been here for an hour waiting for Elizabeth’s return, because my trusted PA, and Elizabeth’s so-called friend, vowed they’d find her. But I could have sworn that Sara has just this second told me Demetrius is here, demanding to see Daniel.
I gesture for Dom to take Daniel from me. He takes Daniel through to the kitchen, and I’m thankful to not hear more crying.
“Say that again, Sara.” My attention is back on the call.
“Demetrius is here. He wants to see Daniel. I don’t think we have a choice.”
“So, instead of searching for Elizabeth, you’ve stopped at some gas station!” I press my thumb and finger into my eyes, furious. I should have stayed out there myself. “Elizabeth is out there with Selene, she’s still awakening, and you think Demetrius is more important! He’s not seeing my son. And how the fuck does he know we’re here?”
“I don’t know. Gwen maybe. Look, I don’t think we have a choice. He’s going to find you one way or another. He might be useful in finding Selene.”
“Goddammit!”
“Leanna and Gwen are here too. Izack is dead. Gerrard killed him. We have more bodies on our side now.”
“Izack is dead?”
“Yes. Look, we need all the help we can get right now. Selene hasn’t made any demands yet. So Liz, for now, will be alive.”
Sara is thinking tactfully, and I’m not thinking clearly at all. I have no patience or time for this. But she’s right. With Gwen still in the picture, they will find this house, one way or another.
“Fine. But he’s not to lay a hand on Daniel. When he’s satisfied, he can find his daughter, so I can fucking kill her!” I hang-up, tossing my cell-phone on the couch.
***
THE FRONT DOOR OPENS and in walks Nathan, Leanna, and Gwen. Then the pure blood I have not seen in ten years strolls in arrogantly, with Sara following. I see red. It can’t be helped. He must have known what his daughter’s plans were. He kept the blood of a dhampir that cursed us all.
I fly at him, managing to knock him back into the wall. I go to swing my fist, watching his eyes redden. But there’s a problem, with him being faster and stronger than I. He claws and grips my collar, and flings me across the room with such a force, that the wall I land against, fractures and crumbles.
I swiftly rise again, fangs ready, fists formed, my rage at an all-time high. But out of all of them, I never thought Nathan would be the one to stop me. He stands in front of me with his arms out.
“Get out of my way,” I roar at Nathan, noticing a superior grin on Demetrius’s face.
“I’ve already been down this road,” Nathan says. “It won’t work. I never wanted him here. But he knows Selene more than anyone else. We need all the information we can get. Even if it is from a pure blood.”
I’m not listening. My eyes are still on the one who created Selene. The one who gave her all the power she has. He could have stopped her at any time.
“Where’s the child?” Demetrius asks, undaunted by my anger.
Sara goes into the kitchen. Daniel is in there, in his car seat, with Ben and Dom watching over him.
“Bring the child out to me,” Demetrius demands.
“No, you will not see him,” I yell. “Not until you tell me everything you know about Selene’s plan. And explain to me, why she has taken my fuckin wife!”
“Adrien.” Gwen takes a step closer to me, standing before Demetrius like she’s protecting him. “Selene never wanted the child. She wanted Elizabeth, all along.”
“What for?” Nathan barks, turning around, now on my side.
Dom and Ben come through from the kitchen, and linger before the wall behind Nathan and I. I reckon if we all club together, we could take him down once and for all.
“I always wondered why Selene chose you as her prized executive. I thought you were too soft for the role. Too human. And that is why we stand here now. You took a human wife. You refused to turn her before you fell in love. She bore you a Son. A Son who one day could destroy the vampires.”
“You cannot blame me. This all comes down to the blood you stole centuries ago. The damn blood Selene poisoned us with. The child wouldn’t have been born without it!”
“The blood was kept for a reason. Preservation,” he says.
“Your own preservation.” I snigger.
Gwen moves forward. Her racing heart and expression, tells me she has information. I glare at her, and even though she cannot see me, the blood draining from her cheeks tells me she’s scared of how I’ll react.
“Selene is the one behind the voax. She started the rebellion to prove that the dhampir are more powerful, and more worthy than the pure bloods. And that under the dhampir, Meredith, all vampire would have prospered.” She steps back again. “She had some serious Mommy issues.”
“You’re telling me, that Selene’s Mother, was Meredith!” I yell.
“Yes.” Demetrius takes the stage, unruffled, like this is just a kink that will straighten out. “Selene was born a dhampir. And she was that way until her eighteenth birthday. In which I was forced to turn her fully. She fell in love with a vampire, and she drank blood. They killed an entire village. She became unruly and rebellious. I should have ended her life, but I didn’t have it in me. She blamed me for taking away her dhampir, and killing her lover. So I showered her with love. I gave her power and freedom. And she forgave me.”
I burst out an angry laugh. “You should have killed her?”
“Like you will kill your son if he steps out of line?” He leans forward, furious with me.
“This is different.”
“No it isn’t, Adrien. I killed her mother, Meredith. Selene became my burden. My responsibility. A sweet child, so in tune with the world. So innocent.”
“And the order know about this?” I ask.
“No. Selene became a member of the order after she was turned. I wanted her to feel she had a purpose. And look what she achieved,” he says, proudly.
I shake my head, quickly glancing at Ben. He like I, can’t believe what he’s hearing.
“But it’s all been a front hasn’t it,” I sneer at him. “All along Selene was looking for a way to punish you and take over, because you couldn’t bring yourself to kill her. Now because of you, she’s changing the balance of power. So what is it she wants with my wife?”
Again Gwen steps forward, like she’s all-seeing. But she knew fuck all when I asked for help at the start of this.
“This is her only chance to recreate her mother’s linage. Liz is still fertile. The voax believe that Meredith was a goddess. She drank blood, and gave blood. Like a queen, she ruled over and protected the vampires loyal to her,” Gwen explains, as my mind goes over her comment about Elizabeth still being fertile. “She plans to bring back the dhampir as a superior race, by using her eggs. A harvest for the future generation of vampire. Dhampir blood will be used to feed the vampires. It is all playing out like it started with Lilin and Rosia. Adrien honey,” Gwen says, sympathetically. “You and Liz, are Lilin and Rosia in this story.”
“Hold on a second,” Nathan interrupts. “Liz is a sang now.”
“A fertile sang while she’s awakening. Imagine how many could be born from her. This really is Selene’s last chance,” Gwen replies.
I make my way over to stand directly in front of Demetrius. I glare right into his beady eyes, my heart full of vengeance.
“This is all your fault. You started all of this. So you will help me end it. If Selene so much as scratches Elizabeth, I will tell the order everything,” I say, meaning every goddamn word. “I will tell them what Selene was before you turned her. I will tell them about the blood you stole. And I will recommend you be purified!”
“Let me see the child,” he demands again, unaffected by my threats.
“Where is Selene; where has she taken Elizabeth?” I ignore his request.
“She is home,” he answers, and I see the impossible, a pure blood displaying a small amount of anxiety. He knows that he can’t keep this from the order. He knows I’m the only one who has enough standing with the vampires, to make this disappear for him. “Prague.”
“I will kill her. And if Elizabeth is harmed, then I will come for you.”
He grabs my throat and squeezes, his claws playing and digging into my skin. His face comes within a millimetre of mine.
“Don’t threaten me.” He releases me with a shove. “I will be the one to stop my daughter. She is mine, and mine alone to deal with. Now, I need to see the child. I need to see the truth with my own eyes before I speak with my Selene.”
“No speaking. You stop her once and for all,” I command it.
“The child.” He stares right at me.
I close my eyes and call out, “Sara, bring Daniel in here.”
“You’ve named it?” Demetrius smirks.
Nathan races to the kitchen door and comes face-to-face with Sara. He gazes at her, stopping her from bringing Daniel’s car seat in. It should be me protecting my son, but I’m only allowing this to save Elizabeth.
Nathan looks to me. “You can’t do this.”
“He’s not going to touch him,” I bark. “He needs to see what his daughter has done. Don’t you?” I look back to Demetrius, silently warning him that he will not walk out of here if he some much as makes Daniel cry.
Sara pushes her way passed Nathan, and places the car seat down onto the couch. There’s a tense few seconds in which we all stand ready to pounce on Demetrius.
Demetrius leans over to take a look at Daniel. He’s awake, kicking his legs, staring right up at Demetrius as though he has him all figured out.
“This child has to disappear when this is over, and you are to leave everything behind.” Demetrius thankfully moves away from Daniel. “This witch.” He points at Gwen. “Will mark your child so he remains hidden. This is what I hold over you, executive. It is a gift also. If you plan to go to Prague, be aware that it has been fortified. I have seen vampire grow wild there. Now I take my leave.” He turns to the open door, but I flit to him before he can vanish.
“Where are you going; are you going to stop Selene?”
“Like you protect your family, I will protect mine. How I choose.” I’m cast backward as he flits out into the night.