"I heard about the incident in your city," Venus said. Arthur made a non committal sound in his throat. Venus sighed. 

"You know I've been... away recently." Only a being of Venus and Arthur's age would refer to a few decades as recently.

"I do," Arthur replied, swirling the red liquid, one hand casually tucked in the pocket of his pants, "However, I find it odd that you were not aware of similar incidents in your own territory."

"Are you implying I am hiding something?" she asked, the threat obvious in the lines of her face. Her body locked, eyes flashing silver. She might be a pleasant, polite host, but she was still one of the Five.

"I don't imply anything, I'm telling you what I think about this entire mess," Arthur arched a brow, "you do realize, whether you were aware or not, these incidents will make you look bad."

"I will deal with the trouble in my territory," she said, "however, there are things you need to know."

Arthur and Venus looked to the left as one. The individual who'd been incessantly jabbing at my mind was getting closer, and my patience with them was growing thinner.

Venus heaved a deep sigh as a tall, blond male approached. "Here he comes."

"Awe, big sis. You hurt my feelings."

He looked better than in photographs. Wavy, dark blond hair that spilled to his shoulders, clear hazel eyes, a straight nose and a lighter, tamed scruff on his jaw. He looked like Arthur up close. They had the same nose and strong jawline. Along with the dimple. He was as tall as Arthur, but his build was more on the lanky side.

Burak lifted his glass as a salute to Arthur, his smile that of a man who knew how devastatingly handsome he was, "long time no see, brother."

"Burak."

"Won't you introduce me to the lovely lady in black?" Burak said, setting his eyes on me. My magic buzzed. Aha. He was the source of that annoying poking in my head. I pushed back, none too gently. His left eye twitched, but his smile was intact, and his irritating presence was still there. I grinned at him, my hand shifting under the cape.

His neck would look lovely with a red collar.

"This is Elle," Arthur said, "and judging by the smile on her face, if you don't stop whatever you're doing, Burak, you'll have a knife in your throat very soon."

Burak's brows shot up, his eyes glanced at the hand on the hilt of my sword. "Mhm, a warrior? Not your usual type, Arthur. But I can definitely see the lure." 

His comment brought back memories of similar words spoken by Poline back in Portland. I wondered what Arthur's type was.

"Alright." Venus rolled her eyes, "if we are done with the introductions, we need to discuss something in private."

Burak looked around us. People had vacated a radius of thirty feet around, but some of them were still raptly attentive to our conversation. "This is not private enough?"

"No, Burak, it's not." Venus replied, she didn't roll her eyes, but the urge was written on her face, "please follow me."

The crowd made a way for us again, as Venus led us towards the exit. The vampires standing guard at the doors tipped their heads but did not take their eyes off the crowd of immortals in the hall.

We followed Venus out of the banquet hall and down the grandiose hallway. Charles and I were on either side of Arthur. Burak fell into step beside me. I felt his gaze on my profile.

"You know, Arthur, having a fae as one of your people will grate on Ronan's nerves." Burak said, referring to my uncle.

"So you keep telling me." Arthur replied as we turned right. I glanced at Burak when his gaze didn't shift from my face. He winked. I stared ahead, understanding Venus' urge to roll her eyes at him. He reminded me of a few cocky human boys back in high school. Boys who taught they had the world at their feet because they were good looking and had athletic talents.

Ironic, considering Burak was much older. I guess some men just don't grow up.

An intense jab on my mental shields. I gritted my teeth, and without looking at him, I said, "Stop it."

"Why? Can't handle it?" he said in a jovial tone. Another jab. My hand inched closer to the knife strapped to my thigh. Another jab.

"Arthur?" I said.

"Yes?"

"Would it pose a political issue if I attack your brother?"

Arthur grinned, a quick parting of his lips. Venus shot us a look over her shoulders.

Burak chuckled, "Cute."

I'm going to skewer him.

"Do try to restrain yourself, honey," Arthur said, "Burak is very fond of his hair."

Burak's presence retreated from my head. It was more due to the fact that Venus had ushered us into a room rather than my "cute" threats.

It was an office of sorts. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, smaller compared to the ones outside but big enough to illuminate the entire, spacious room. Deep green curtains covered the windows, a fireplace on the right wall under a large painting of a battlefield, a lone, gilded desk stood in the middle of the room with a chair behind it, its wood dark and polished to a gleaming finish. No other furniture. From the first glance, I could tell this room was not used often, if at all.

Venus walked to the desk, pulled open a drawer and took a map out, stretching it over the desk. A map of Europe, I realized, with red marks on multiple locations. We surrounded the map.

"What is this?" Burak asked, his eyes narrowing on the smattering of red marks.

"The red marks are all places where demons were spotted over the last couple of decades."

Burak frowned, "demon spotting is not unusual."

"If they were lesser demons," she replied. Burak's playful persona vanished as if it were never there.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, hazel eyes suddenly cold.

"Mid level, and a couple of high level demons," Venus replied, glancing at Arthur, "the incident in your city is very similar."

"How long have you known?" Arthur asked. Burak and Arthur waited for the answer with similar, sharp expressions. Venus pursed her lips for a few seconds before finally responding.

"A month ago," she said, much to my and everyone else's shock. That was an awfully long period of time to be unaware of what was happening in her territory.

Arthur heaved a deep sigh, scratching at the scruff on his jaw. Burak looked at the map again. "I know you've taken a long break after what happened, but..."

Apparently, something had happened to make Venus "take a break" from overseeing her territory. I was dying of curiosity.

"Who has been responsible in your stead?" Burak asked.

"I put one individual on every part of my territory," Venus replied, her voice so chilling it made goosebumps break over my skin. She pointed to the part of western Europe where the red dots were concentrated, "this area was under Haviel and Katerina."

"They didn't report these incidents?" Arthur asked.

"No," she replied, "according to them, it wasn't a 'serious enough' issue to bother me in my time of grief. Apparently, they think I'm an idiot."

"Where are they now?" Burak asked.

"Where they won't make the same mistake again," she waved her hand off, dismissing the two people who were most likely receiving their punishment somewhere, "I looked through their heads, they were involved in something."

We all looked at her, she carried on, "someone is dabbling in things better left untouched," her eyes glanced between Arthur and Burak, grim and furious, "they're trying to open another gate."

A dry laugh escaped Burak's lips, "surely, you're mistaken. What makes you believe such a thing?"

"I told you, I looked through their heads. They're involved in this along with a dozen other witches and vampires from my territory."

"Who's responsible for this foolishness?" Arthur said, looking at the map.

"I don't know."

He looked up, "you looked through their heads."

"I did," her tone was frigid, "Haviel and Katerina were the only connection to the higher ups. They knew everyone who worked underneath them, but once I looked for the head of the snake, I got nothing."

"What do you mean, you got nothing?" Burak scowled.

Venus glared right back, "it means just that, Burak, I got nothing. Their memories of the person responsible are locked." She paused, "it's as if someone purposefully put a cloak on that particular information. All I could pull were the memories of the place where they met or how they communicated distantly. No hint of their identity, race or origin."

"No one is able to escape your mental touch." Burak noted.

"Well, apparently someone can," she glanced at me, "but I've always had a hard time with the fae's mental shields."

"You think they're involved?" Burak asked.

"Look at the map." Arthur said, I looked down. The dots were scattered all over western Europe. But the vast majority of them were in Northern France and Britain. Ireland was not part of Venus' territory, so she had no data on it.

"This is insane," Burak said, "why would the fae do something this idiotic? It makes no sense, they've always kept to themselves."

Venus shook her head, "I told you the day they declared their race will be living on that Island that it was not a good idea. Nothing good could come from being closed up that way."

"There was nothing we could do about it, nothing we can do about it now, either." Arthur glanced at me. I knew what he was thinking. Whether or not to share the piece of information that uncle Robert had revealed to me a long time ago.

I shrugged. It was his call. He knew his siblings better than I did. He also knew the immortal scene in Europe better than I did. Whether that information would help the situation or not, it was up to him to decide.

"I have reason to believe that someone in the fae land was involved in something like this a while ago."

Burak and Venus zeroed in on Arthur like crazed vampires smelling blood. "What are you talking about?"

"Around three decades ago, the rulers in Ireland had discovered a ploy to open a gate. The people involved have apparently been apprehended and properly punished. I don't know if someone escaped their clutch or if there's more to the situation than we know. But it is certain that three decades ago, someone from the fae land was involved in this mess." He indicated the map with a sweep of his hand.

Burak looked at me, "I thought you grew up with humans."

Of course they'd know I was Arthur's source of information.

"I did." For part of my life. It wasn't exactly a lie.

Arthur stepped closer to me, giving his brother a long, hard look. "Burak."

Burak straightened and returned Arthur's stare in a way I'd seen no one before do, "How did she know about this? unless she had an inside contact. Even spies we've planted there don't have this information."

"He's right," Venus said, her gaze falling on me. A mental touch grazed my mind, one I now associated with Venus. I shoved out with all my powers. No one was getting into my head. Venus shoved back, so powerful that I thought my head would burst from the effort it took to keep her out. Her mental attack lasted less than a second.

"Venus," Arthur snapped out. My eyes were locked with her silver ones as the black pupil dilated. The ground beneath my feet and the walls shook, the windows rattled, as if an earthquake was taking place. Every single object in the room was suddenly floating in the air, the table, the map, the chairs. One of the heavily gilded paintings fell from its perch and hovered inches above the trembling ground.

The pressure inside my head suddenly disappeared. I sucked in a breath, blinking at the sudden relief. Venus' presence was gone, and I felt my entire body being surrounded by a warm cocoon of magic. It was like pin pricks and needles, a little painful at the beginning. But as my magic rushed to the surface of my skin, as if in response, the prickling turned into a pleasant tickling sensation.

I realized, with surprise, that the magic blanketing me felt so much like Arthur. I didn't know how I could tell, but it was similar to how he had felt inside my head. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and made my magic dance like a drunkard. I kept a firm hold on it. The ground was still shaking.

Venus' eyes narrowed on Arthur, "you would take her side?"

"She's one of my people," Arthur replied, "don't do that again."

"You've known her a fraction of time," Burak intervened, "she may not be what she claims to be."

Burak's words were true. Arthur didn't know me all that long. Although it didn't feel that way; sometimes it felt as though we've known each other for ages rather than a few months.

"You will have to take my word for it," Arthur said, looking at Venus and Burak, the whites of his eyes slowly receding, "she's mine. You're not to touch her again. You're not to threaten her. I will not allow it. Even from you."

Warmth suffused my insides at his words. I stamped down on the sudden, ridiculous urge to lean my head on his broad shoulder. I tightened my hand on the hilt of my sword.

Don't let your guards down. 

The surprise was impossible to miss on Venus' and Burak's faces.

"I see." Venus said, her gaze holding a new glint as she stared at me. The quaking stopped, and the objects and furniture in the room made a thud sound as they settled on the floor. The painting fell facedown on the carpet.

"Very well, then." Burak said after shooting me a sidelong glance, "Let's assume there has been an attempt to open another portal on fae land. The fae, as you said, aborted the operation and captured those involved. But now, three decades later, we have a new attempt on our hands."

"That can't be a coincidence." I said, "the two incidents must be related. Opening a gate to the other realm is not something that could be planned in a matter of years."

The resources, the preparations and the research required, the time needed to gather enough people with the right type and amount of magic to pull off a never-before-done deed, all that could not be achieved in years. It would take decades, centuries even.

"You're right." Burak said, "which, along with the fact that Haviel's mind had been tampered with by a fae, means that the ploy to open another gate will be traced back to the damn fae."

Arthur and Venus nodded their agreement.

"What then?" Burak asked, "do you think the royals are involved?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Venus argued softly, "we need to be sure before throwing out accusations of that magnitude."

"So let's make sure," Burak drawled out, "the fae are coming, right?"

Venus paused, tilting her head as if listening to something, then nodded, "yes, on their way from the airport."

Arthur straightened, glancing at Burak who nodded with a cheeky grin, "I'll take care of the fae, see if they know anything. Discreetly, of course."

"Alright. Now that that's out of the way, let's discuss the witches who are supposed to be overseeing the fabric separating the realms," Arthur said.

"A few individuals of that committee arrived a little while before you did. I've already begun checking them. But it will take time to dig through the mess of their minds without alerting them," Venus said.

Arthur's brows shot up, "Are you sure about doing this? If news got out that you used your powers on unsuspecting guests it'll cause an uproar."

"This is an emergency. We cannot deal with another gate," Venus replied, "Besides, if they're watching the fabric as their job demands, they should've reported back the sudden tears and chasms in it, the sudden change of its behavior. Which means one of two things; they either know about the plot, which makes them guilty. Or they don't know about it, which means they're not doing their job properly. In both cases, they've committed punishable crimes considering the sensitivity of their task."

"Let's hope our suspicions are amiss and the fabric's odd behavior is simply a natural phenomena," Arthur said and the rest nodded, but we all knew it was highly unlikely. "Did you speak to Leon and Idar about this?"

"They'll be here later. I'll tell them, but," Venus shook her head, "you know Leon will only get involved if he absolutely has to. And Idar," she sighed, "you know how he is."

A muscle jerked in Arthur's jaw at the mention of his other two brothers.

"I heard Idar is bringing Natalia along," Burak remarked, crossing his arms and looking at Arthur with an overly smug grin. Who in the world was Natalia?

Arthur arched a dark brow at his brother, "and?"

Burak's grin vanished, replaced by a disgruntled scowl, "you're no fun."

Arthur shook his head with a sigh. Venus clapped her hands once, "very well, let us go back to the party. I trust you will have information by the end of the night, Burak?"

"If the fae show up, I certainly will."

Venus gave a firm nod right as her eyes glazed over. She blinked, "It appears our dear siblings are here. The Five are finally reunited again."

Our return to the hall was greeted by more curious glances. Arthur lagged behind Venus and Burak and leaned his head down closer to mine. "I believe your family will be here soon."

"Who?" I whispered back, schooling my features to remain expressionless.

Arthur hesitated, and it was all the answer I needed. He replied anyway, in a whisper I could barely hear, "Rion."

The word filtered into my ear, but my brain did not process it. I nodded, numbly aware of Arthur's keen gaze on the side of my face.

Rion. My father. The abdicated king of the fae. My father. Who had loved my mother with such a passion that when she was attacked by a vampire, and thus was supposed to be killed before she went murderously insane, decided instead to protect her by taking her into hiding while she was pregnant with me. My father. Who lost the woman he loved and presumably, his unborn child, in a vicious attack when he was away from them on royal duty.

Uncle Robert had fulfilled my mother's last wish; I was to be raised away from the fae land, my existence was to be kept a secret from everyone including my father.

Uncle Robert had kept his promise. Though the reason why my mother didn't want even my father to know about my existence was not truly known. We could only speculate. And uncle Robert had a lot of time to do so. His best guess was that someone from the court was involved in her murder.

Though uncle Robert always had averted his eyes whenever this particular subject was brought up, I had always guessed it was because he'd been suspecting that maybe, just maybe, my father had something to do with it. But he never spoke the words out loud. My father adored my mother and his unborn baby, according to uncle Robert. Still, his involvement was a possibility that I could not brush aside merely based on sentiments.

Now, I looked at Arthur, "I don't know if I can do it." If I could meet my father, knowing full well he would recognize me. He definitely would.

"Of course, you can," Arthur said with a look that implied I was stupid to even think I didn't have the courage. He continued, "And you will, you cannot spend an eternity as a hermit. Though you could certainly try. In fact, I would encourage you to do so. That would stop other men from ogling you and would put an end to my murderous tendencies towards said men."

The jokingly spoken words pulled me out of the numb state I was descending into. I looked at Arthur as if he were crazy, and was surprised to see his eyes were not joking at all. Far from it.

He was looking at a male witch a small distance away from us like he wanted to slowly break every bone of his body and enjoy it. The male, a gentleman with wavy brown hair, olive toned skin and hazel eyes that winked when they caught mine, didn't notice Arthur's attention to him.

I felt a flare of magic and put my hand on Arthur's arm on instinct. The flare died down. The witch, having noticed he was the center of attention of one of the Five, stiffened up considerably. I could see his face paling even from a distance. He bowed in a jerky manner to Arthur, turned on his heels and all but ran away, disappearing in the crowd.

I turned to the vampire lord to find him still staring after the poor man through narrowed eyes.

"What was that about?" I hissed out.

"I don't like others thinking they can have what is mine."

He did not just say that. Oh, yes, he did.

I forced my expression into a neutral one. "I am not an object, Arthur. And I certainly am not yours."

He looked at me with an arrogant raised brow, "You didn't seem to object when I said the same to Venus and Burak."

He did use the word "mine". But I had naively assumed that he meant I was his, as in one of his people. Not his his.

"You did not mean it that way!" I whispered.

"Yes, I did." He said, "and you better get used to the idea."

"What-"

He didn't wait for me to argue. He strode forward with the grace of a dragon.

"Urgh." I almost stomped my foot on the floor. A strained cough came from my left, where Charles had been the entire time. I had completely forgotten he was with us. He was good at remaining unnoticed, and he was clearly amused judging by the way his eyes crinkled in the corners even though his face stayed stoic. I glared at him. His amusement deepened. 

"That is not funny!" I said. Being pursued by Arthur was not very amusing, at least to me.

"Oh, I beg to differ," he replied.

"He's joking, right?" I pleaded with him.

"The sire doesn't joke in such sensitive matters," the blond vampire replied, his face touched by a mocking smile. He was obviously overjoyed by my demise. Asshole.

"I spoke to Irene earlier." I told him as we followed Arthur and stopped a few feet behind him when one of the guests engaged him in conversation. "She went on a date with one of the soldiers."

Like water on a falme, Charles' amusement died down. I was at the receiving end of his full blown glare. I grinned at him and added, "it's their second date."

And the last one, too, according to Irene. She liked the man, but only as a friend. But Charles didn't need to know that. His glare intensified, and his jaw hardened to granite.

Sweet payback.

Satisfied, I reigned in my smile and looked ahead of me. Arthur glanced over his shoulders while the man he spoke with gestured enthusiastically. I caught the smile in Arthur's eyes before he turned to the guest. 

It dawned on me then that he'd done it again. He'd distracted me from the impending meeting with my father by making me think about the scandalous statement that I was his.

He did it to take my mind off of my father. And successfully, too. Because now I was left wondering if he was serious at all about me or if he was simply being an outrageous flirt.

Only time would tell, I guess.

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Thoughts???

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Also, I'll try my best to update as often as I can. Thank you so much for your love!

Mia