Chapter 39

ARIC

“You must come with me,” Eloise tugged at my sleeve. My gaze moved quickly from my father’s calm green eyes to my mother’s blazing red ones.

“Aric,” Mother snarled.

“Later,” I told her and let Eloise drag me away. Behind, I heard Mother and Father bickering.

Eloise, grinning, herded me to the back of the lavishly decorated ballroom where James, Jude, Grace, and the twins and their escorts sat around a large table.

A scantily dressed human was spread-eagled on the table with the bottles of whiskey and champagne.

Alexander was whispering something to Phoenix, which had her laughing ecstatically. Grace was sipping daintily from the human’s wrist. She smiled at me.

James, his arm wrapped tightly around Grace’s waist, waved me over.

“Did you speak to your father?” he murmured.

“I did. But Mother interrupted,” I answered quickly.

Eloise was still hanging on my arm, her long black hair pinned up, her blue eyes wide, twisting slightly to show off her bosom in her low-cut dress. She grinned at me.

There was no way I was going to discuss the possibility of Eleanor being alive in front of Aleesha’s daughter.

James noticed my scowl and turned to Grace.

“Grace! When was the last time you saw Eloise, Aric’s little cousin?” he asked, shoving Grace at Eloise. Grace scowled at him, but to her credit, allowed herself to be used as a pawn.

“What a wonderful gown that is, Eloise!” she cooed.

James and I moved quickly, flagging down Henry, who was nibbling at my sister’s earlobe. I snarled at him.

“Get off her.” I pulled his hand from her waist.

“Aric,” Venus hissed. “Fuck off.”

I grinned at her. “Aric, I don’t have any more information, if this is about—”

“Come.” James placed his hand on Henry’s shoulder.

“What are you on about?” Venus snapped.

“I just need to borrow your escort for a bit,” I told her. She glared at me, her blue eyes scanning my face for any clues.

“Aric, you’ve been distant. More than usual. This is our birthday. Tell me what’s going on,” she whispered. I noticed Phoenix glancing our way.

“Venus, drop it, okay? It’s nothing. And if one day, it’s something, you’ll know,” I promised her.

She scowled but stepped away from Henry. James and I escorted him discreetly out the ballroom, out of the castle, and into the night.

“In here,” I opened the barn door, and we filed in. The horses were shuffling, chewing softly at their hay, lapping at their water.

At the back of the stable, I noticed Whisper, now a tall, fine-legged beast, tossing her mane.

Eleanor had been an amazing rider. I wondered if she and Whisper would still have the connection they did when they were young.

Gritting my teeth, I turned back to Henry. He sat on a bale of hay.

“I went to Los Angeles. She wasn’t there,” I told him quickly.

“What did your father say?” James pushed.

“He said she didn’t survive the turn,” I snapped.

“Listen, Aric, James, I know who I saw,” Henry answered, running his hand through his ebony hair.

He was scowling at us. “I know you both cared for this human, though, seeing her, I cannot understand why; she was perfectly normal.”

“Henry, are you sure?” James asked. “Are you sure she was Eleanor?”

“Yes.” He turned back to me. “Aric, she looked the same. Dark hair, light brown skin, those blue-green eyes I remember from when she was bleeding out.

“And, Aric, her scent. Intoxicating. It took all of me not to bite her. She knew exactly what I was the moment she saw me. I don’t know what else to tell you. She’s alive, and she’s not a turned vampire.”

“Fuck, Henry,” I groaned. “Then where is she now?”

Henry shrugged.

“How did she survive?” James frowned.

“She must have run when she saw you,” I murmured. “That’s what my parents would have taught her to do. She could be anywhere.”

“There was a man with her,” Henry offered. “Jealous.” He chuckled. “But otherwise, unimpressive.”

“Henry, please don’t mention this to anyone. Not even my sister,” I told him quickly. He nodded.

“I know. You’re lucky my sister likes you both so much,” he grumbled.

“You’re lucky I like you enough to let you around my sister,” I countered.

“Aric,” James was pacing, his gaze on Whisper. “Somehow, she survived the king’s court, being bled empty in front of fifty purebloods. Someone else knows. Someone helped her escape.”

“It wasn’t me, or my mother. She’s been in the worst depression for the last decade.”

“Not your father?” Henry asked.

“He said he buried her,” I murmured. “Which makes me think he’s lying. When she was very young, she fell and scraped her back.

“Father, he healed her. He created an Infinity. If she’s alive, he should be able to feel it.”

“Then he’s lying to protect her,” Henry sighed.

“He doesn’t have to protect her from me,” I scowled.

“Aric, it makes sense. The fewer people know about her, the better,” James shrugged, moving to caress Whisper’s neck.

He ran his fingers through the horse’s long gray mane. “If we really want to keep her safe, we should forget about any of this. Let her live her human life.”

I paced across the stable, and the hay crunched under my steps. My mind was spinning. Eleanor was alive, Henry was sure of it, and Father had somehow kept it from all of us.

“But she’s not safe,” I murmured. “Henry could have drained her.”

“I would have. She’s delectable.”

“If any other vampires find her, any purebloods, they will tear her apart.”

“She could also die in a car crash or be smothered by a hippopotamus. You know the probability of her coming across a pureblood is slim to none,” James replied.

“And yet, she met Henry,” I answered. Henry shrugged.

“She really gave herself away when she tried to run away from me. That was amusing.”

“I have to keep her safe,” I said.

“Aric.” James moved to place his hand on my shoulder. “She’s been safe, safe since the moment she disappeared from our world.

“Bringing her back into it will put her in danger again. It makes more sense to let her go.”

“He’s right,” Henry agreed from his haybale.

“And my mother should stay in the dark?” I snarled.

“Yeah, probably.” James shrugged. “Or she’ll try to find her too.”

“I could watch over her from a distance,” I suggested. James shrugged.

“I understand, Aric. We lost her once, and it hurt me too. You know how much I enjoyed our midnight rides with her, teaching her to swim. I will always remember her fondly.

“It makes me so ~happy~ to know that she’s alive and well. Studying at UCLA! That’s a big deal for humans. I understand that you don’t want to lose her again.”

“At least you know she’s alive now,” Henry offered.

“Look, I know you’re right. But I have to see her. To make sure it’s really her. And to make sure she’s happy. Then, I’ll walk away forever,” I told them.

“You’ll have to ask your father if he has an Infinity with her. He’ll be able to sense how far she is. That could narrow her down to a continent at least,” Henry said with a shrug.

“No word of this to anyone.” I glanced at them both. They nodded solemnly.

“Let’s go back to celebrating your sisters. They’re a feat of nature in themselves.” James chuckled, thumping me on the back.

“Speaking of sisters, stay away from mine,” Henry grumbled at James.

We moved out of the stables, and James locked the doors.

The music was booming loudly from inside the castle—60s rock. Venus and Phoenix seemed to be moving further and further away from their theme as the party continued.

Just as we reached the front door, one of the windows shattered, and my grandmother came flying out and crashing into the rose garden.

Seconds later, my mother was on top of her, crawling at her face, screaming. Elizabeth flipped Mother over and grabbed her hair, ripping her neck back to bite her throat.

Mother wrapped her legs around Elizabeth’s waist and dug her nails into her back, ripping her gown and scratching deep wounds down her back. Elizabeth howled.

And then Father was leaping through the window and throwing his wife off his mother. I ran to his side in time to grab Mother’s arm and pin it behind her back.

“Get off me!” Mother snarled at me, twisting against my grip, her eyes blazing crimson, her blood trickling down her neck and staining her gown, her hair a wild mess of blonde locks.

She looked at me with such hatred, such pain I almost let her go.

“Mother,” I whispered, loosening my grip. She shrugged away from me, hissing.

The crowd had quickly amassed. Onlookers stared from the windows. Henry and James circled us. Phoenix and Venus were scowling deeply.

Father had marched off with Elizabeth, pulling her deep into the forest. I turned to Mother. She was trembling, her hands balled into tight fists, blood dripping slowly onto the ground.

Following her glare, I spotted the king. He stood between my sisters, arching his brows.

“Mother.” I reached for her again. She shrank away from me, hissing, spitting blood at me.

“Stay away from me,” she snarled.

Grandfather Damon stepped out from the crowd. His brows were drawn together.

“Rose, come, talk with us.” He waved her over.

Mother looked truly lost for a second, glancing back to the forest, searching for Father. Then Selene rushed to her side, grasping her arm and coaxing her inside.

When they disappeared through the front doors, the crowd dissipated slowly. I heard Venus calling for the music to be put back on.

Turned vampires leapt out the broken window to start removing the glass from the rose garden.

“Is that hereditary?” Henry whispered.

“Shut up,” I growled at him, marching inside.

The ballroom was full of gossipers. They stared at me wide-eyed as I marched through them straight to Alexander and Phoenix.

“What the fuck happened?” I snarled. Phoenix scowled at me.

“I don’t know,” she snapped. “I was dancing.”

I glanced at the prince, and he arched his brows at me pointedly.

“My lord, do you know?” I asked finally.

“I just saw them talking. Then Rose threw Elizabeth through the window.” He pursed his lips. “Truly a powerful woman. I’ll attest to that.”

I turned back to Phoenix.

“Was Grandmother antagonizing her?”

She pursed her lips and shrugged. “I suppose so, Aric, but really, I wasn’t paying attention.

“Mother was with Father, and they were talking to Aunt Aleesha, then the next thing I knew, they were brawling outside like a bunch of drunken human bikers,” she sneered.

“I need to talk to Father,” I muttered, marching away from them.

“Ignore him. He’s been moody since Eleanor died,” I heard Phoenix murmur to the prince.

“Aric.” Eloise sidled up to me, her eyes wide. “You should get Aunt Rose home. Tonight.”

“This is where we’re staying,” I snarled at her walking away.

“Aric.” She skipped after me. “I’m saying this for her sake. She’s making everyone uneasy, reminding us of her mother.

“Everyone had forgotten about that human. And she’s been moping and snarling at us all ever since we arrived.”

“She’s downstairs with Selene now. I doubt she’ll come back up.”

“She’s ruined the girls’ birthday. Such a shame,” Eloise shrugged.

“I hardly believe it was one-sided.” I stopped by the front door and pushed it open. Eloise glanced outside, then back at me.

“Where are you going?”

“To talk to my father. Stay here.”