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At the end of the day, Mihal remains my child, my flesh and blood.

Definitely my blood in more ways than one. I love Mihal dearly, but I don’t think that I like him very much. The man he became is the one I aspired to be. Mihal is a very strong individual and has his own set of values. Conversely, I am weak and lack morals. It just shows you what a petty person I can be where I freely admit being envious of my own child and his mother’s love for him.

???

We settled into Mora easily.

Soon, it felt like home, and we were happier here than ever on Kaltos. Every week, Taran or Anton brought visitors over. Mora’s exact location was known only to those two. The visitors’ safety was the reason behind keeping Mora’s location confidential.

Soon, it became common knowledge that we had left Kaltos, and there were only two Kaltons who knew where we were. The families who’d supported us were finally left alone. A good thing, too.

They were not threatened anymore. Well, maybe slightly shunned, but they let that roll over their heads. Soon, when it was obvious it didn’t bother them, it stopped. Trouble only affected my family.

That was because they would rush to our defence at the drop of the hat. They didn’t keep their mouths shut, not even when Uralla lost her husband-to-be. Despite sticking by her through everything, William had reached his limit. The fool admitted that he had only stayed out of curiosity and the hope that one day Uralla, too, would turn her back on me.

The asshole gave her an ultimatum that caused her to laugh in his face and kick him out of the Villa. Uralla was heartbroken but decided her loyalty to the family extended to both Inka and me.

Mihal, Cleo, Stefan, and Maryn all stayed with my parents. Weekly, they would come over to spend a weekend, returning home during the day. We desperately missed seeing our children, but there was no way we would look after them in the daytime. Although heart-breaking, we thought it best to leave them on Kaltos.

Then something changed that brought them over to stay with us permanently.

A severe storm warning was sent out to all Kaltons. Only someone forgot to issue it to my parents.

Unaware of the weather, Father had taken the children sailing for the day. He was just off the coast when he saw the clouds rolling overhead. At first, he didn’t believe his eyes, but he set sail for the beach as a precaution.Good job, he did, too.

Just as he docked the boat, all hell broke loose, and the children were terrified. Father rushed them towards some caves high in the cliffs and pulled them to safety. They were frozen with cold and fear when we located them. Father had attempted to start a fire with the dry driftwood from the caves, but it was unsuccessful.

Taran had sent word that they were missing, and we arrived immediately.

Search parties sought them, but no sign of them was discovered. Indeed, they hadn’t even reached the beaches as the storm was still raging, and it was too dangerous for them to look far. The storm had brought trees crashing down and had destroyed several buildings. Considering that we controlled our weather, this storm was horrifying. No one had any idea how it had developed or how it had bypassed our satellite protection, but somehow it had.

Vam’pirs, with our strength, could easily brave the storm and high winds to search for the missing people. Seti found them calling out their names in a supernatural voice. Father had heard Seti over the howling and had braved the wind to walk, or rather stagger, to the entrance of the cave.

Seti had seen him and immediately sent word as to where they were. Inka and Diana were closer than I and hurried to where their children were sobbing in fear.

Pari and Emil reached them next with me last. The children clung to us, refusing to let go.

Relief was the main emotion we all felt. The youth were alive, and everything else paled before that fact.

Chapter Eight.

Father couldn’t stop apologising and blaming himself, and I turned to him in anger.

“What were you doing?” I exploded. “Do you think you’re superhuman disregarding a weather forecast like that?”

“What weather warning?” Father asked, puzzled.

“What?” Pari replied in disbelief. “Marcus, you must’ve heard it or been informed when you picked the boat up.”

Father shook his head in denial.

“Of course you were, you just chose to ignore it,” I snapped.

“No, I wasn’t warned, and I hadn’t had the radio on today. No alert had been issued; the harbourmaster would have mentioned it. We had a chat before I left.”

Angrily, my eyes narrowed.

“Jacques, I wouldn’t endanger the children. It’s more than what my life is worth to bring harm to these. I could not hurt them,” Father continued desperately.