I grabbed the photograph out of the journal in my bedside table drawer and tucked it safely in my jacket pocket; careful not to crease it further. It was a photograph that had seen better days. The edges were worn and the photograph had signs of rippling where her tears had landed.

It was the photograph that was tucked away in her bedside table drawer for almost eighteen years, hidden away from the world; a moment stuck in time. The man in the photo was young and he had dark brown hair that was slightly longer on the top and fell a little bit on his forehead. He was clean shaven and was dressed in a nice pair of slacks and a brown sweater. Next to him stood a woman, her arms were wrapped around him and she looked at him smiling from ear to ear.

She wore a short, long sleeved red dress that flowed at the bottom and her beautiful long fire red hair spiraled around her shoulders, landing across her chest. She wore a beautiful white gardenia in her perfect curls and in that picture, she looked like she could have been an actress in a 1950s Hollywood crime drama.

The couple looked like they were absolutely and utterly in love with each other. Their eyes told a story about a future that awaited them with open arms. A future filled with everything that their love could have offered them. The couple looked absolutely happy. On the back of the photo, the elegant handwriting in the bottom right hand corner, simply said...

K ♥ C

Coney Island, 1998.

Killian and my mother, Claire, were that couple.

Miles waited outside of Anthabask in the back of Killian's black Mercedes. When I got into the car, he just looked at me, waiting for me to breach the silence and fill him in on why all of a sudden, I needed to see my father. The father who I had not been eager to be around since my arrival.

Lots of things had changed in the short amount of time I had been in Meeds Hollow. I had more questions than I'd ever had in my life, but for the first time in my life, I was ready to hear the answers.

"What's going on, Talia? Why the urgency, are you safe?" His eyes flickered a sense of concern for my wellbeing.

"Yeah, I'm ok, but I think it's time to ask some questions."

Miles and I had grown rather close since the day I met him. He was eager to get to know me and we talked a lot, late at night over the phone. He had a lot of cool stories about going to college in New York City and really liked talking about music.

Miles Wyndham was twenty-six years old and had graduated from Columbia University, with a degree in Finance. Through our late-night conversations, I learned that he loved to hang glide and mountain climb. He hoped to one day climb Half Dome in Yosemite, California, and had been eagerly trying to talk some of his friends into planning a trip for next summer. Miles loved dogs, but he admitted that he only really loved Great Danes, because of how regal they looked. He told me that all other dogs, paled in comparison to the Great Dane.

We talked a lot about music. He always wanted to learn the guitar, but instead he found that piano suited him better. His favorite song that he learned to play on the piano was Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," and we talked about one day soon jamming together. I told him all about my band back in Minnesota and the new-found group that I had fallen into at the academy.

He asked about boys and when I got really shy and diverted the question, he said when the time was right, he would ask me again. I did talk to him about everything that was Seth. When I talked to him, I really felt like I had a brother. It was a strange and new feeling, and it was easy to love Miles.

I pulled the picture out of my jacket pocket and showed Miles, his fingers ran over the worn front and his eyes seemed a tad sad when he looked at it.

"Your mom was really something, wasn't she?" He looked up at me and handed the picture back. I tucked it safely back into my jacket pocket, patting it with my palm.

"Yeah, she really was."

"She taught me piano. I don't know if you ever knew that." He had a sadness in his eyes and I could tell that even though my mother was the other woman, she held a special place in a young Miles' eyes.

"She taught me piano as well." It was all I could muster saying in response. Was that how she met Killian or how she wormed her way into his life?

We arrived at the font gates and the driver pressed the call button, causing the gates to open their massive jaws and allow us entry. We drove up the long road that lead to the estate. It was lined with pine trees and in the distance, you could see a few horses running in the field to our right. We pulled up to the circular driveway in front of the house and Miles opened the car door, getting out and heading up to thelarge ornate entrance.

Once inside, I knocked twice on Killian's office door and when he told me to enter, I found him sitting behind a really large and ornately carved, solid oak desk. It was dimly lit in the office and there were files and papers neatly arranged in front of him. Killian looked up at me and leaned back into his chair slightly, motioning for me to sit in the plush black leather chair in front of the desk.

"Hello, Talia. What can I do for you?" He didn't have that familiar angry tone to his voice, yet it was still deep and commanding. It was that typical stern dad voice that could be expected in most situations.

"I think it's time we had that talk."

"Which talk would this be? A typical get to know a daughter talk or a I need answers kind of thing?" He folded his arms on the grand desk in front of him, leaning in.

I pulled the picture out of my jacket pocket and slid it over to where his arms rested. He took it in his hands and the expression on his face changed suddenly. No longer was he that hard ass, rough around the edges man, who I had interacted with the last month or so. He was like a broken shell of a man, his eyes had a hint of sadness in them, which he struggled to contain.

He ran his fingers over the face of my mother and then looked up at me, placing it on the desk in front of him. "Where did you find this?"

"I didn't find it, Killian. It never left my mother. For seventeen years, it sat in a bedside table, under whatever book she was reading at the time. For seventeen years, she held it late at night and cried a few short tears, not knowing that I knew all along what was happening. For seventeen years, no other man ever stepped foot into our lives, I think because of this picture and I believe the time has come for you to tell me exactly why that is," I said, my voice firm and for the first time where Killian was concerned, it didn't wait to bite at him like a hungry animal being denied food.

When Killian didn't respond right away, I sensed my frustration welling up. I had my fair share of secrets in such a short amount of time and I wasn't going to take another round of silence any longer.

"You said your absence was complicated and I deserve to know exactly why. If you ever loved my mother, now is the time to say something."

"I did love your mother. I never stopped loving her and in a perfect world I would have left everything behind and followed her to Minnesota."

"And in an imperfect world?" I looked at him with a questioning face; the world where my mother's love existed was anything but perfect. No perfect timing, no perfect moments, just imperfection and according to Lizbeth, Killian hated imperfections.

"In an imperfect world a young man, who has a family he loves, falls in love with a woman who belongs to someone else. In an imperfect world, he acts on impulse and gives in, stealing her heart from the enemy, gifting his heart in the process. In an imperfect world, she carries a child that the enemy can never know about. So, I did what had to be done to secure her safety, even if that meant breaking her heart and mine in the process."

What was I hearing? I couldn't quite comprehend what was meant by this revelation being offered up to me on a golden platter.

"In an imperfect world Killian, who was the enemy that you stole from?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to the question, but I asked anyways.

"Julian Reever." He hung his head slightly and looked down on the picture, rubbing his thumb over her face, unwilling to look me in the eyes.

"Killian, it's time to tell me everything. I think you owe me at least that much. Make me understand."

He told me everything and I couldn't say that I felt any better afterwards. My mother, Claire, was a young girl who taught piano at the local library. She had been the apple of Miriam Reever's eye and as the matriarch of the Reever family, Miriam wanted nothing more than for her beloved son, Julian, to marry Claire. Julian, although extremely smitten, was engaged in a casual relationship with a woman named Maria, who was an assistant professor of mythology. She shared a love for the history of his family and the folklore that it contained, and they had met while she had been doing a research project on the gods of the Aesir.

Julian never intended on marrying Maria. It was simply a casual fling that they engaged in. His intention had always been to eventually marry Claire, because that's what his family wanted and Julian did everything that was expected of him. His family believed that the marriage to Claire was fated in the stars. My mother apparently didn't favor the idea of Julian having a casual relationship on the side, so she distanced herself from him and his family. That was when she met Killian.

They first saw each other in the small park in the middle of town. My mother had a book in her lap as she sat on the park bench eating her lunch. For Killian, it was immediate, the attraction instantaneous to her beauty and timidness. She was pure as the driven snow and unaffected by the town's history or conflict between the two families. She never had a desire to feed into the games, she just wanted to live her life and be free from worry. Killian desired freeness from expectations and traditions set upon him by his own family and being with Claire, made him feel free.

They had stolen glances, that didn't go unnoticed by Julian. As their relationship grew, so did Julian's hate and when he learned that Killian and Claire had slept together he flew into a rage. Killian told me the story about how Julian cornered my mother and thrust his fists into the wall next to her head, telling her that she was dishonoring him and his family, and if she ever laid eyes on Killian Wyndham again, he would put her in the ground.

She was his and only his.

Out of fear, she went along with his request and prepared for their upcoming arranged marriage, even though vicious rumors spread that Maria was pregnant by Julian. However, she couldn't stop how she felt about Killian and one day she snuck away and took off to Coney Island with him. They laughed, rode rides, held hands and talked about their future. He was prepared to leave his wife and make a life with her. That night they slept together again under the stars, in the clearing in the forest between the two rival families' homes. It was the night they swore their lives and undying love to one another.

The clearing where it all began. A clearing that I had been to.

It was the perfect night, with the perfect woman. It was the night she told Killian she was about three weeks pregnant. Naturally, Julian had eyes everywhere and learned about her secret tryst with Killian and when she made her way home, he was waiting for her. He hit her several times and told her that because of her deceit, Killian would never take another breath. Once he had left, she ran to Killian's house and told him what had happened, hoping they would run away together.

Killian looked up at me for the first time since he started his story, his finger never leaving my mother's face on that photograph, "When she told me she was pregnant, it was the happiest moment in my life, next to the birth of my two beloved sons. However, before she came to my house panicked, my wife revealed that she was also pregnant and I knew I couldn't leave her. It would have been wrong. I was also wise to know exactly the type of person Julian was and had he found out Claire was pregnant, he would have murdered her and the child that grew in her. Anything to crush me. I didn't care about my own life anymore, I cared about hers... and yours."

"So, is that why you called her a whore and spit in her face? Because something tells me that there might have been better ways to make her leave town, like I don't know, be honest with her?" My eyes were filled with anger. Regardless of the danger, what Killian did was unacceptable.

"Claire would have never left her family or me. I knew I had to destroy everything she loved in order to secure her safety. It was cruel, but it had to be done. I also couldn't have Julian using her as a pawn against my family, which he would have." He got up from the desk, taking the picture in his hand. "I'm sorry Talia, I think that's enough for today. Mind if I keep this?"

I nodded that I didn't care and he carefully walked to the door, turning around before leaving, "I really am sorry, Talia. I wanted to be your father more than anything. It was just very complicated."

He exited the office and I just slumped into the seat, crying.

........................

The drive back to campus was silent. When my feet hit those steps, the only thing I wanted was comfort. I sat down on the steps leading up to my dorm hall and pulled out my phone.

After four rings I heard Seth's cheery voice.

"Hey Picks, I thought you forgot about me."

The sound of his voice unleashed the barrage of feelings that had been sucked down into my core after hearing all those confessions about my mother escaping from KIllian's mouth.

"Se-eth? He told me... about... my mom. He told me everything!" I forced the words out in between gasping for air against the tears.

"Shush Picks. Baby, you've gotta calm yourself, just breathe." He told me to try and breathe in and out, while counting the breaths as they escaped my heaving chest.

1..........2........3.......4........5........6.........7.......8.......9.......10

"There there, see it's ok. Shuuusssh, it's ok babe." I heard him shout to someone on the other end about giving him a minute. "Talia, do you need me to come up there right now? If so just say the word and I'll drop everything and be there. Just tell me what you need."

I knew what I needed, but I couldn't ask Seth to come. The request sat on the tip of my tongue, but I knew seeing him would make everything harder. "No, it's ok. I'll be ok. I miss you so much."

"I miss you so much. I'll see you soon though, so don't worry." I heard him shout again in annoyance to whoever was demanding his time in the background, so I let him know that I would call him later. I knew Seth was at work at the repair shop, because I could hear the clanging of tools all around him; so, I wasn't hurt that he couldn't really talk to me.

I found myself getting up off the cold steps and heading up the stairs, to the floor underneath mine. I counted the room numbers until I got closer to the end of the hallway. My fingers brushed over room 413, which had been the very room that I had woken up in, after my last crying fit.

My eyes sat on 417, at the end of the hall, and I felt my heart race as I inched closer to it in anticipation of seeing his face. I reached up to knock, my knuckles hitting the heavy wooden door before I heard the shouting coming from inside.

The door swung open in my face, but it wasn't my dirty blonde boy with an evil side that stood in front of me. The man that stood in front of me was in his mid-fifties. He had a commanding presence and was dressed in an all-black suit, sans jacket. His black dress shirt was rolled up, exposing commanding arms, both of which were heavily tattooed with what appeared to be ornately detailed wings, mixed with bloody skulls. The tattoos started at his wrists and lurched upwards on his arms.

He was tall at around six feet tall, and he towered over me like a bull would stand over a kitten ready to stomp it into the ground. He had Paxton's dark brown hair, which was short, but kept a little longer on the top. His eyes were a piercing blue and were similar in color to Damian's eyes, but these eyes sent chills up my skin; chills which settled in the little hairs on the back of my neck. My skin felt like it contained a million Egyptian scarabs, which were trying to burrow out, especially when I laid eyes on that scowl. It was a scowl like I had never witnessed in my life. His face was covered with dark stumble, which made him even scarier looking.

I'd never encountered monsters in my life... until now.

My eyes came to rest on the boy sitting on the bed behind where this man stood, blocking my access to him. He was slumped over and his eyes pleaded with me silently to run. Run Talia, please run... His eyes almost begged me to save myself.

"And who might you be?" the man spoke, his voice thick and deep; like a deep crackling wave of thunder rolling under the hard ground.

"T-T-Talia." I had never been so afraid in all of my life. "I came to see Damian, we are lab partners." It was the only explanation for my being there that crossed my mind. It was the same excuse that Lizbeth had accepted so freely and truth was, that had I tried to wing it and make something up, he might have seen right through me.

His eyes scanned my face, looking over my brown eyes, my fiery red hair, every facial feature. "What's your last name T-T-Talia?" he said, mocking my inability to not stutter in his presence.

"Harper. Talia Harper." I saw Damian's face shoot up and look at me confused; and I knew at that moment, that once I was free of this monster's presence, I had some explaining to do. An explanation that would cause that moment to be the last time I would ever see the boy I cared deeply for again. I was falling in love with Damian Reever and it would end tonight.

"Well Talia Harper. Hmm, odd, you look like someone I used to know. Anyways, my dear son is indisposed at the moment. He will have to contact you another time. Now, please, take yourself from my sight."

He got ready to slam the door in my face, but a wave of courage swept over me and I said aloud, "Ok. I'll be down in our area when you're ready to study."

The door slammed in my face, the force of it shaking the walls around me. Walls that could have swallowed me up and spit me out, like discarded chewing gum. I had stared into the face of evil and the beats that my heart made even scared me. My heart was so afraid that it cowered in my chest cavity, hesitant to not beat loudly for fear of being ripped out.

As I walked down the hall, the door to 413 opened and I saw his chocolate eyes. They offered me comfort, realizing what I had just witnessed. He reached for my hand to pull me in, but I shook my head no, turning to him as I brushed his hand, "I'm telling him everything. You've won."

I hung my head and walked down the hall, tears in my eyes.

I now knew what a broken heart felt like.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Hey guys

AHH all the feels!! Killian finally tells Talia about her mom. Wow, I wasn't expecting that considering what we knew about him. Thoughts??

So we finally meet Julian Reever. Thoughts? Does he know who Talia really is?

Predictions as to how Damian will take the news?

Stay tuned for the big reveal moment! Talia tells Damian everything.. Will there be blood?

<3 Amina