Page 41

Ellie

Eight Months Later

“Are you ready for this?” Theresa checked.

I sighed and gave her a look to show what I was really feeling instead of the mask I normally kept on. I was beyond ready. The fact our meeting with our father had been delayed this long was an annoyance that ground on me more than I liked to admit.

But the fucker just always had to be a fucker.

When he found out we were both coming to visit him, he assumed why and tried to kill himself. The asshole almost succeeded, but luckily a guard found him at the last second and he was revived.

Barely. They’d had to keep him in a coma for months while his body slowly healed.

We were more than human but not unkillable or perfect.

And blood loss to a vampire did toxic levels of damage to our bodies fast. It was our Achilles heel in many ways which was why it was so effective for suicide or a quick murder.

Granted our skin was tougher so it was harder to kill us like that, but blades still cut, and if done the right way… The result could easily be catastrophic.

And clearly, Kenneth was scared of what we would ask him. Using potions and magic for interrogations wasn’t just a blanket pass for anything no matter what TV, movies, and books said. It wasn’t until he learned that we were in contact with Aurora that he became unruly and tried to kill himself.

Now that he’d woken up, he was under suicide watch, so it was time to finally handle this and try and move forward.

Try. I wasn’t so deluded to think I could just get the answer I’d long since wanted to know and not struggle with it.

He looked horrible when he was brought in. Rage filled his eyes when he saw us sitting together, but then he did a double take, realizing it wasn’t Aurora but Theresa.

“So that ungrateful bitch isn’t even going to come see me herself but just have her useless attorney harass me to sign the divorce papers?”

“You really do live up to your reputation,” Theresa chuckled darkly, waiting until he sat with a frown. “ I’m that ‘useless attorney,’ Father .”

I snickered, unable to cover up my amusement. “The elders were fair when they tore him down about missing details and checking he could read or—”

“That’s enough from you,” he snapped.

“ Or what? ” I drawled, gesturing around to where we were. “You always think your threats have some sort of bite, Kenneth. But they never did, and now they really are just pathetic.”

He sneered at us. “I have information you want.”

“Yes, and it must be good for you to be such a coward and try to kill yourself before admitting to it,” Theresa mocked. “But you’re so incompetent you couldn’t even do that right. Well, better for justice.” She nodded to the witch we’d brought with us.

“Drink it and don’t fight it or it will be painful and no one here will care about that,” the witch warned him before holding the potion up to his lips.

“And if you even twitch, you won’t like the punishments you receive,” the guard told him firmly.

Kenneth shot Theresa and me looks of hate before he did as he was told.

Oh no, my heart broke that the sexist, useless monster hated me.

Clearly, Theresa felt the same given she was checking her phone. She sighed and tucked it back away. “Did you get permission to record this? I might have to leave sooner than planned. Something blew up with a case and the person covering for me was pulled in.”

“I’ll ask the warden, but I’m sure it will be fine if not shown publicly,” the guard said. “I know they’re worried about the next level of investigations with what will be uncovered here.”

“Nothing can be used from this,” Kenneth snapped after he was done swallowing the potion… That seemed nasty?

I gave the witch a glance and she simply shrugged. Yeah, fine, no need to make it taste good for jerks.

“You know that’s not true or you wouldn’t have tried to kill yourself,” Theresa drawled as she opened her leather-bound notepad.

“Instead of the police moving on credible information, Ellie asked for an exception to ask the question herself. She kindly included me so I could ask questions as well. From there, the investigations will be—”

“You are even more disappointing,” Kenneth cut in. “You are my actual heir, not this bastard fraud. This is the first time we’re meeting and you’re siding with—”

“I may not have lived with you, but I also did not live under a rock , Kenneth,” Theresa said firmly.

“Stop interrupting me!” he shouted.

“Sexist even hundreds of years later when others have evolved,” she drawled, her lips twitching when I snorted.

“Did you kill my birth mother?” I asked, ready to just get on with it.

He opened his mouth to give a dramatic “no” like a cartoon character. I could see it with the way his lips moved. But then the potion made him hiss out the one word I’d needed to hear for centuries.

“Yesssss.”

I bobbed my head, swallowing loudly. “Why? How?”

Something broke inside of him at being forced to answer and it was like I saw the floodgates open.

“Because I’m not as stupid as you all truly think me.

I knew the truth about you long before you did and long before Aurora would have guessed.

I knew much about the bride I’d bought, and I never remembered such a bizarre physical feature in her bloodline. ”

He’d checked on my golden eyes. I nodded that I heard him. “That doesn’t answer how or why. Answer me.”

He grimaced, the potion doing its job. “She was in communication with her birth family. She asked for help for years, sneaking word to them under Aurora’s nose. It was all denied until her father remarried. The bitch didn’t know he had a daughter and finally accepted correspondence.”

That was the piece of the puzzle I’d needed. “She was going to get help to rescue both of us and promised I’d be treated better than my mother had been. That my mother wouldn’t be mistreated by her father again.”

“Yes,” Kenneth chuckled darkly but then frowned, studying me. “You really think I’m just some psychopath who killed her without a viable reason or for spite?”

Theresa and I shared a look and burst out laughing… Something he did not like.

Fuck. Him.

I opened my mouth to explain that it wasn’t a stretch given how he saw women and his mindset, but then I realized… Why? Why waste the time? He wasn’t worth it.

“How did you kill her?” I asked.

“Quickly,” he answered. “She was to meet with a direct representative of her family to confirm it wasn’t a ploy or—I smashed her skull. She died almost instantly.”

“But that wasn’t your original plan,” Theresa muttered, seeing something I didn’t.

“No, I meant to throw her in the dungeon and figure out the best plan since I was coming late into what was happening,” Kenneth muttered. “But I couldn’t overpower her the way I’d planned and I was out of time.”

I swallowed loudly. “Where is she?”

“I have no idea. The messenger arrived at the location and I was waiting with her. I let him take her back to be buried at her family estate if they wanted but made it clear that I was within my rights to kill a servant who betrayed me so not to be stupid and push the matter. He took her body and I never heard from them.”

I didn’t hide my hate for him as I met his gaze. “Have you killed others?”

“That has nothing to do with your mother and it was within—” He grunted as the potion hurt him. “Yes.”

“How many?” I pushed.

“Dozens,” he growled.

I looked at the guard. “Tell the police they’re welcome and to please keep me updated. I would also like to know the answer of where my birth mother is buried since I assume they’ll follow up on that.”

“I’ll check,” Theresa interjected. “You’re not staying?”

I let out a slow breath and met her gaze. “No, I want to move forward. I needed that answer and the why, but now I want to forget him and let him rot until he’s executed.”

“As you wish,” she accepted, looking a bit disappointed.

I couldn’t explain it, but this wasn’t about revenge or sticking it to him. I wanted to stop having nightmares over answers I didn’t have. I wanted… Peace?

As much peace and happiness as I ever could.

“You don’t get to just walk out of here, Ellie Reed,” Kenneth snarled when I stood. “I promised you that if you did this that I had information on you too.”

I smirked as I leaned over the table knowing a bad poker face better than most. “And that would be?” I chuckled when his eyes flashed shock. “Are you going to tell people I have angel blood again? How well did that go over before? Or what was the other one?”

“I heard you were part dragon,” Theresa purred, getting in on the ploy.

“Really? That would be cool,” I accepted.

I glanced between her and Kenneth and shrugged.

“The golden eyes thing is a fluke. Some of the best medical minds in the world have studied them and me.” I nodded when Kenneth frowned.

“I wondered if there was some truth to your bullshit. There wasn’t. I’m a vampire. So was my mother.”

“You were in talks with her birth coven after all,” Theresa mocked. “Or what else are you trying to say Ellie is?”

“I don’t know,” Kenneth bit out. “I just know she’s more than a vampire.”

“I am,” I confirmed and went for the door. I glanced at Kenneth knowing it would be the last time until his execution. “I’m a supe, Kenneth. You’re the one who thinks only vampires matter. I value all supes equally.” I thanked Theresa and the guards and left.

I let out a few slow breaths when I stepped outside of the prison before I met up with the warlock who was going to portal me back to where I belonged. I needed a few more and then I felt like I could function again. I’d never held out hope or onto some fantasy that my mother was alive.

No, I’d seen too much darkness and knew most stories didn’t actually have happy endings… Or at least in all areas of their lives.

That didn’t even make a good story because it was so far from reality.