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He handed me back the contract. Surprise tickled my senses. I expected him to be annoyed. Maybe even a bit suspicious.It’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him.

“So you agree?”

“Sure,” he answered with another laugh. “If you can find her, that is.”

“Find her?” I echoed, panic sinking in. After all that happened, was there still a chance I wouldn’t be able to find her?

Does Father know something I don’t?

“We couldn’t get an address from her,” he answered with a shrug. “No one in the prince’s ranks seemed to know much about her. And when we dropped her off, it was in a random city down south. She can be anywhere by now.”

Anywhere?That wouldn’t do.

“Which guards stayed behind?” I asked, leaning against his desk.

“Most of them. Go see for yourself in the basement, I’m sure they’d be thrilled to have a visit.”

I tried not to show my distaste on my face, but Father saw through it.

“The chase should providesomeentertainment, should it not?” he said, his tone almost…humorous.

“You seem very chipper for someone who had my husband stabbed in the chest and a war waged with a prominent vampire family,” I volleyed back, unable to keep the words in any longer.

His smile only spread wider.

“War is what we vampires were made for,” he replied, shifting in his seat to look out the window. It was a beautifully sunny day, much like the day of my wedding. “And this way, I get to keep what’s mine. He’ll lose anyway. He should surrender if he knows what’s good for him.”

I had to bite back the growl.I’m not yours,I wanted to hiss.

Atlas was right. Father never saw me as a daughter but as his property to use and sell as he pleased.

“Why did he want Mother so badly?” I asked.

Shadows flitted across his features before he managed to hide them.

“The same reason everyone wanted her,” he said, his gaze coming back to meet mine. “The ancestral bloodline. It alone causes vampires to flock from all over to join our families.”

“But Mother wasn’t from a powerful family,” I reasoned, tilting my head to the side. “If I recall correctly, she told me that her father didn’t even have a large family. He was part of a clan.”

He gave me a condescending smile.

“Don’t worry about it. Shouldn’t you be celebrating your newfound freedom? Maybe go find that guard of yours?”

I pursed my lips, not liking how easily he was dismissing me.

“Why did you let her live, Father?” I asked hesitantly.

“Would you rather I had killed her with that handmaiden of yours?”

I straightened at the tone of his voice.

“No, I was just?—”

“Or maybe I should ask how your guard and your handmaiden knew about Prince Icas’s plans yet somehow you didn’t? Or if you did, why you chose not to tell your own father as soon as you found out?”

A chill ran up my spine. Of course Father wouldn’t overlook it.

“I think that’s enough questions for today,” I said as I pushed myself off the desk. “Thank you for the approval, Father. I’ll see you when I get back.”