Chapter 46

NATHANIEL

“Who is Zachary?” Ayra asked out of the blue.

I looked away from the movie playing on the TV screen. “Hm?”

She rolled her eyes at me. “You heard me, Nathaniel.”

I did, but I didn’t know whether to answer her question or lie. I wanted her to meet with her family, but at the same time, I didn’t know if she was ready for that yet.

“I already told you. He’s a friend. Is something bugging you?”

She shook her head. “No, not at all. My mind just kind of roamed.”

“You’re lying.”

She refused to meet my eyes. “No, I’m not.”

“Don’t lie to me, Ayra. Why are you asking about Zachary?”

“I hear voices in my head. I think it’s my family, and I think they are lost.”

“Lost?”

“Yes. They’ve been whispering in my head for the last few days, and they keep telling me to go look for Zachary. They said our relationship is cursed. And I think Zachary is my brother.”

Did she know already? That meant there was no need to hide who Zachary was from her.

“Let’s first start with this. Why didn’t you tell me you were hearing voices in your head?”

“Benjamin and his lackeys mauled your Enforcers two days ago. What was I going to say? ‘Hey, Nate. I’ve been hearing angry, masculine voices for a while now. I just thought I’d let you know I think I’m going crazy’.”

“If that’s the way you know how to explain the situation, then yes, you should have said it to me that way. I have two issues with what you just confessed right now. One; you think you’re not important enough to get my attention over my Enforcers. Two; you said nothing about hearing the voices of your supposed family.”

“If we’re pointing out things like that, don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve been researching Eris. Why is that?”

“Don’t flip this on me, Ayra.”

“And don’t think you’ll get an answer from me until you tell me what’s wrong with you. Why are you doing research on Eris?”

“Because she hates your family. I want to know why.”

“You know my family?”

“Not directly, I don’t, but yes, I’ve heard of them.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t think you were ready. Remember the Blood Moon Festival? You were scared of leaving.”

“Yeah. I was scared of leaving. I didn’t say I didn’t want to meet them. Okay, so the issue here is comprehension.”

“Are you calling me dumb?” I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

“Partially. Like one-third dumb, but I do get your point. I don’t think my family likes you.”

That didn’t come as a surprise. For the most part, vampires kept to themselves. Hell, they even interacted with humans more than other supernatural creatures.

There was hardly any supernatural that didn’t loathe hybrids. My family was the only known hybrid left, and they all believed hybrids created an imbalance because they were naturally stronger than other species, even though said hybrids haven’t lifted a finger against non-hybrids unprovoked.

That said, I couldn’t stop Ayra from seeing her family, even though they loathed my existence.

“Do you want to see your family?”

She sighed heavily. “Not yet. Maybe after I give birth, just to be sure they do nothing to cause any harm to the unborn baby.”

“You think your family would do that?”

“At this point, I don’t know anymore, but they won’t kill a baby, right? Our child is also their relative, so even though they’re pissed at our relationship, they won’t be able to do anything.”

Her reasoning made sense, but family could very well betray your trust. My grandfather was a testament to that. I was his grandson, but he didn’t care about that. He didn’t lift a finger to punish his pack members, who hurt me when they found out what I was.

I didn’t say this to Ayra, though. If she wanted to see some good in her family, I wouldn’t taint that. Or maybe I was just the cynical one. Maybe her family was good. No matter the outcome of her interaction with her family - good or bad - I would not let them hurt our child until I took my dying breath.

Ayra squeezed my hand, bringing me back to the present. “Don’t think about it too much. No matter what, I will not leave. Your mother stuck around for your father even though her family didn’t support their relationship. I’m doing the same for you and our family.”

I brought her hand up to my lips, placing a kiss on the back of her palm. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, silly. We are a family now.”

Words have never left my mouth so easily. “I love you.”

***

ZACHARY

I walked down the hallway, the sounds my shoes made when they touched the marble floor, the only thing I could hear.

It was the dead of the night, and no one in the castle was awake. The perfect time to do my routine check-up without fearing someone was spying on me.

I punched in the code to the safe room located in the heart of the castle, the same strange feeling I’d had for almost two weeks now gnawing in the pit of my stomach.

Normally, I did a monthly checkup, but I couldn’t ignore the feeling any longer. The doors slid open, promptly closing when I stepped in.

I scanned the expanse of the room with my eyes. The emergency blood bags in case of an emergency were still intact. In a normal human setting, the blood would have gone stale after a specific time. We faced no such worries. Perks of having a sorceress on call.

Silver bullets and weapons made of silver lined a wall, because according to my old man, you could never tell when the werewolves would act out and declare war on us.

‘We have to be prepared, son,’ he had said to me when he showed me this place for the first time. ‘We can never be too sure of anyone. Not even demons who claim to be our allies. It was just a little discord that started the war between werewolves and demons.’

And that was why we had nine of Ishmael’s Draenhium weapons. When my father got news of him making them, he sent out warriors to purchase them.

Everything was intact. Really, everything was. They were in their rightful position, but the one thing I wanted to be there so badly was gone.

Eris’s bloodstones.

Both of them were gone.

They were supposed to be in the glass box placed on a podium in the center of the room. The box itself was there, but the stones were gone, and I knew right there and then.

We had an intruder/traitor in the castle.

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**An extra chapter to make up for the delay(◠‿◠). Recommendations to friends are appreciated**