"Like I said, we lost track quick after that.. I heard that Jessica was missing, and that either way was a relief because I thought she was dead." "Did you- I mean, do you still.. Love her?" I said the words surprisingly easily.. I- I almost felt as if it wasn't me who was talking and listening.. No, it felt as if I was watching other people talk, other people ask.. "I haven't seen her in more than twenty years. I met your mother, Lana, I fell in love with her and I made a family with her." "Because you thought they were dead." "That doesn't matter.." Maybe it didn't now.. But I could tell that it used to. "There was a big fight in this old house two years ago.. I heard the Le Boursiers had traitors and I heard Amelia was involved which proved she was alive even after the king's order." I pressed my fingers together. I knew the old house. I was almost in it.. When I met Christian. He stopped me. "I prayed it would stay that way.. And yes, she made it out alive. Jessica too." Of course he knew. My father kept track of everything.. I couldn't believe that he was letting someone like Alexander into our lives without checking.. No, into my life specifically. "I won't lie to you, it was a relief. I even sent some of our people on the way to the hosue but it was all over by the time they got there. They saw Amelia walking out of there, alive and breathing. It was enough for me to sleep at night." I gulped down my dry throat and looked on the side. I remembered some parts of that time. My father was awfully distracted on night. He didn't come to dinner, and my mom said he had some business to handle with my uncle.. I had no clue what was actually going down. "You felt guilty, didn't you?" I found myself ask, looking back at him. "I did. I gave up on her after a year of looking. I thought that they both died during the war. I accepted that. But if only I knew, I would've protected her. I would've been able to give her a better future." "By arranging her a marriage with some random Alpha?" My words came out quicker than I intended. "Lana." The warning in his tone was clear. "Everything I do is for your own good.. And every other option she chose would've been better than marrying a Le Bouriser.. I then heard that Vlad was put down.. Apparently from some enemy, but we all knew it was his sons that put him down." He stopped, stood up and crossed his wrists behind his back, glancing outside the large window again. "Dimitri Le Bouriser was soon king, and there was a new queen." "Amelia." "Yes. I couldn't understand why she would ever do such thing. She grew up as a hunter, she should've had some morals." He stopped, his jaw clenched as if he was grinding his teeth. "I still don't understand." "They love each other." I stood up as well, walking towards him slowly. "They have a daughter. Annabelle I think." Silence fell over for a few seconds. I was waiting for a reaction. "I heard." He must've been surprised how I knew all of that.. I told him I met her, and he didn't ask how. He was too lost in the story and so was I. "But there's no such love with those monsters." Those words were everything but a surprise. I was expecting to hear that.. I knew what my father thought of them. I knew he was rather going to die than watch his daughter with a vampire. Thankfully, he was not as close with Amelia, he couldn't stand in her way, but the disappoint on his face was clear. "You loved Jessica. And she was a cliona. Wasn't that forbidden as well.." I added, watching him turn to face me. "It was." He released a sharper breath. Again, I saw how much the subject was effecting him. "But those were different times." "Vlad's sons are not like him. They showed me mercy." "They sent a message through you.. What is it? A war? They kidnap my daughter and even dare to send a message? The only message I see is a war." I felt panic rush through me. Christ, those words.. I prayed I wouldn't have to hear those words from my father. Yet I did.. And they were as cold as I thought, as boneshaking as I thought.. As certain as I thought. I thought of what to say fast. We went through this part of the plan with Christian. Calliope helped too. So I kept calmed and said what I had to. "No. They don't want war. They want a deal." My father frowned. Concern was the only thing I could read off his face. "Because trust me when I tell you that we'll all fight a war on the same side." Against Adam. Against the real monster that the world was yet to see.