No one commented on my PDA with Arthur, but Amanda's eyes shone as brightly as I'd ever seen them, and my father focused an impressive blank look on Arthur.

I took a seat on the only armchair left in the sitting room. Other than the armchair, there was a loveseat. But I would gouge my left eye before I shared it with Arthur right now.

Ugh... That was so embarrassing.

I did not regret kissing him, but I certainly wished it wasn't in front of half a dozen people, among whom was my father. Although he was a virtual stranger, he was still... well, my father.

Arthur sprawled on the loveseat, one arm stretched lazily on its back. He did not seem bothered by Orion's look.

"His highness has informed us of what happened," Harvey said, "but I'm curious, didn't you know the man who attempted to kill Elle? He was fae, after all."

"Does Arthur know every single vampire under his rule?" Orion asked, "contrary to common belief, I do not know every single fae's identity and movements. However, I do know that the man in question was not part of my entourage for this trip. He must have arrived in France on his own, or perhaps with someone else."

"Can you find out more about him?" Arthur asked.

"I've already set someone to the task," Orion said.

"Given the way he died, it's safe to assume that another fae is involved in the assassination attempt."

"An earth elementalist." Amanda nodded, "that's the only explanation."

Considering that a root had shot up from the ground, it was a safe guess to make. Another fae had killed him. "To shut him up?" I suggested.

"Most likely," Arthur nodded, "he'd already given us a name. If he wasn't killed, he would have given us more."

Orion was frowning. "Earth elementals are the most common fae. I am one myself, though I can also manipulate water."

"What about the people who came with you?" Kat asked.

Orion's frown deepened. His jaw ticked. He did not like the implication that one of his own might have a hand in this. But already, a fae had tried killing me, so there was no use in denying the possibility.

"Among my company, six are earth elementalists, including Amelia," he said. "I am quite certain, however, that none of them has done it."

"Why?" I asked.

Orion raised his brow at me, "I may no longer be the fae king, but I am still a royal. I have had a sharp eye on the people who came with me since yesterday's events. If they used their magic, I would know."

"How?"

"That, my dear, is a secret." Orion said, his eyes smiling at me.

"Then it's safe to assume that there are other fae in the country," Marioano said, "other than the ones who had been captured yesterday."

"Possible," Arthur said.

"But how did he manage to escape?" I asked, "he must have been close by in order to use his magic to kill, right? But there was no one around."

"He is an Earth elementalist," Harvey said, "he can literally make the earth split and swallow him whole."

Lucky guy.

Silence lasted for a few minutes while everyone processed all the information. 

"Santos," Kat said, "Could it be the Santos?"

Everyone looked wary. I raked my memory, but the name did not ring any bells for me. "Who is he?"

"A vampire," Arthur said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back, revealing the strong column of his throat. "Someone who ought to have been killed centuries ago."

"Unfortunately," Mariano made a face, "he wasn't."

"Okay, am I the only one who has no idea who this guy is?" I asked.

"He's an old vampire," Amanda explained, "one of the oldest, I believe, other than the Five of course."

"Why should he have been killed?" I asked.

"He's..." Harvey said, making a face, "he's been known to skirt the line of right and wrong in so many issues. He was always careful to stay in the gray area, always careful not to actually cross the limits of what was allowed. No one has ever had proof against him."

"The amount of rumours that involve him are proof enough," Amanda said hotly, "if one is truly innocent, one would not find oneself the subject of hundreds of rumors and scandals."

"What kind of rumors?" I asked.

"Horrid, horrid rumors." Amanda replied, frowning, "you see, Santos, like many old vampires, has a gift. His is a special one, though, almost unheard of. He can compel others to do as he wishes."

I sucked in a breath. Compulsion was very nasty business. Some immortals, like Arthur and Venus, could affect other people's actions to a certain degree, but nothig as absolute as true compulsion.

"He can compel humans as well as immortals." Kat added, "the strongest of immortals are partly immune to his maic, however."

I shuddered, just thinking of being in the presence of such a person... The heinous things he could do with such a gift if he had no conscience...

"Santos is rumored to have turned hundreds of humans against their will," Orion said, "of course, with his gift, no one could truly know if it was really against their will. But he was careful, especially after the laws forbidding the turning of humans without direct supervision from the Five have been passed.

"He does, however, find other ways to test the limits of morality... Anyway, if Santos is truly involved in attempting to murder Elle, then I fail to see a reason for it. People who want Elle dead are usually ones who are worried about what she might become because of the vampire venom in her veins, they are concerned for their lives and want to rid the world of a supposed evil before it ravages the world. But Santos doesn't usually concern himself with the wellbeing of others. He would have no interest in killing Elle."

I frowned, remembering the dead fae's words. Arthur, apparently, was on the same wavelength as me. He opened his eyes and looked at me.

"The fae spoke of a prophecy," Arthur said, "he said something along the lines of thinking that Elle wasn't alive."

"A prophecy..." Kat sat forward, the green in her hazel eyes almost glowing, "I haven't heard of a prophecy since the last Seer had disappeared."

A Seer is someone who has visions of the future. They are usually humans. I had never met one myself, because only one is born every century. The history of Seers in the immortal world is a bloody one.

Usually, the Seer is a female. It is a known fact that they do not survive the change from humanity to vampirism. Countless immortals have tried to do it over the centuries. They wanted to have the gift of foresight under their thumbs, because it would be an invaluable weapon. So they had tried time and time again to turn a Seer into an immortal, except the Seer always died in the process.

When that did not work, they tried to produce a line of Seers. Forcing the Seer to carry child after child in order to find the one who might inherit their gift. Of course, not all Seers were on board with those efforts, and so they were forced to do that. Raped and forced to carry children that they had to abandon afterwards. The gift of sight was not a hereditary condition. This all happened centuries and centuries ago. 

After the humans realized that a Seer's fate is most likely death and rape and torture, they started hiding their gift. Humans started hiding the children born with the gift of sight.

"Who's the last known Seer?" I asked.

"A woman from Norway," Orion replied, "she was found almost fifty years ago. She had been an old lady then, almost in her seventh decade of life. After she was found, the council did their best to protect her. But she disappeared shortly after. No one knows where she is, or whether she's still alive or not."

"If there is, indeed, a prophecy involving Elle," Marianno said, "then we must be extremely cautious about this entire matter altogether."

I had a feeling that I was stuck in the middle of a snowball rolling down a mountain. It keeps getting bigger and bigger, and I could not get out of it no matter how hard I tried.

"You were right, Orion," Arthur said, his eyes impossibly cold, "the reason Santos wants Elle dead might not be because of her tainted blood. It could be that there is a prophecy that he knows about, a prophecy involving Elle, and that's why he wants her dead."

"If that's the case..." I mumbled, cogs coming together with a snap in my head, "then maybe it's all connected from the start."

Of course. It made perfect sense when I thought about it that way. I had always thought that my blood was the only reason anyone would want me dead. I had thought that was the reason for my mother's murder, the reason for Robert's murder.

But what if that wasn't the case? What if there was something else about me that rubbed the wrong people the wrong way?

"What do you mean, Elle?" Amanda said, leaning forward in her seat.

"Let's assume that there is a prophecy involving me," I said, "though I have no idea what it could be about. If we assume that the prophecy was pronounced even before my birth, which is possible, then that explains my mother's death. They weren't trying to kill her, but me. Maybe that's why my mother asked Robert to take me away in the first place."

I could feel everyone's attention on me. I kept talking. "And when they realized that I might be alive, they sent Martin Malone and his squad after uncle Robert and I, except that I made it out alive and uncle Robert didn't.

"It would also explain the attempt on my life today. It would make sense. But," I made a face, "why would a prophecy be about me?"

"Oh, I can think of a few different things," Harvey said, a smile breaking through his wary expression, "you're quite special, my dear."

I guess that's a nice way of saying I was pretty weird, but...he was kind of right.

"Your magic, for one, is almost unique." Marianno said, glancing at the french doors. Two of the phoenixes were asleep, while the third was perched on the terrace railing, looking over the garden. Their feathers were still alight.

"Ah, yes. The birds." Orion said, frowning at me, "how did you manage to control them? I have heard of immortals who could control certain species of animals, but that magic is very rare. I have never, however, heard of someone who could control Phoenixes."

"I can't control them. I just..." I wrinkled my nose, trying to find the perfect word for what it was, "I don't know. I feel them with my magic."

"But they did your bidding," Orion said. "How did you make them do as you wished?"

I sighed. It was quite difficult to put into words. "I didn't make them do anything... they just know what I need?" I looked around the room helplessly. No one seemed to understand me. I made a frustrated grunt.

"Anyway, it has to do with your magic," Amanda said, "this, along with the blue flames, makes your magic extremely special."

"Back to our topic," Arthur said, "if we believe Elle's theory, then we need to know what this prophecy entails."

"Right now, the only one we are aware of and who knows about it is Santos." Harvey said, "we have to find Santos."

"That should be easy enough for you," Orion told Arthur.

Arthur raised a brow, "not quite. I was not the one who turned Santos, and so I have close to no power over him."

"Who made him?" I asked.

Arthur sighed, looking pained, "He's of Burak's line."

"If anyone can find him, it's burak." Harvey nodded.

"Very well. I will await any news about Santos. I will also update you if I do find anything of interest," Orion said, standing up and adjusting his sleeves, "Arthur, a word in private, if you will."

Arthur and Orion then proceeded to try and outstare each other. I looked between the two men. I could almost feel their magic coiling and curling about them. The promise of violence was thick in the air. I didn't know what that was about, but behind that veneer of civilisation, Orion looked ready to tear Arthur to pieces.

I discreetly pulled two knives from my thigh sheaths, then threw them at the same time at my father and Arthur. Orion held the knife from its handle and looked at me with raised brows and a stunned expression. The knife I threw at Arthur hovered a few inches in front of his face. Amusement shone in Arthur's eyes.

Someone choked back a laugh.

"Did you just throw a knife at me?" Orion asked slowly.

"Not exactly," I said, "It wouldn't have even grazed your nose. Probably. Maybe."

I grinned.

Orion blinked, his expression blank. But his lips twitched up when he threw the knife back to me.

Arthur and Orion left the room after that, a little calmer. The rest of us all went to the terrace, joined by Charles.

Amanda looked dubiously at the bird who'd just jumped from the railing to land in front of me. She, the bird, cocked her head to the side and looked at Amanda.

"Do his feathers burn?" Amanda asked.

"It's a she," I said and scratched her neck, "and they don't burn, no."

Amanda reached out carefully. Harvey, who had been content with watching from a distance, sprung up to life. "Amanda, my love. I don't think that's a sound idea."

"They didn't burn Elle," Amanda said over her shoulder.

Harvey chuckled, "you should know by now that Elle is a special case."

I frowned. "You think touching them would normally burn?"

"It's not a known fact," Marianno replied, "People have not interacted with phoenixes for ages."

"Hmm." I looked at my hand. It was not burnt. In fact, touching the fiery feathers was quite pleasant. It tickled my magic. "But the ground is not burnt, and the railing."

"The flames' magic might be reactive," Kat said, "meaning they will only react when certain conditions are met, for example, when a living creature is touching them, or only when immortals do. So just because they're not burning everything they touch, doesn't mean they actually won't burn us."

"We should put it to the test," Marianno said, looking at Charles with mischievous eyes.

Charles snorted, "be my guest. I don't want to nurse a third degree burn for the rest of the day."

"No one wants to try?" Marianno looked at Kat, who shook her head, then at Harvey who merely raised an incredulous brow. When he looked at Amanda, she grinned.

"Amanda, really..." Harvey said.

"Oh, don't fret so, Harvey," she said as Marianno advanced to stand next to her, "I will be just fine."

"Worst case scenario," Marianno said, looking back at Harvey and wiggling his eyebrows, "you get to be Amanda's hands for the rest of the day."

Harvey and Amanda both ignored him. Amanda put her hands on her hips, "well, Marianno, are you going to talk all day?"

As if sensing their little game, the phoenix hopped closer to the two vampires.

"Whoa..." Marianno said, wide eyed. Then they both reached out to touch the bird.

It did not take long to figure out that, indeed, touching the birds did burn. Amanda and Marianno both retreated their hands with a hiss. They hadn't even touched the actual feathers, their fingers only grazed the halo of fire around them.

"Well, that confirms our suspicions," Harvey said, coming closer to inspect Amanda's hand. Her skin was slightly red. Harvey looked at me, "You're the only one they don't burn."

*** ***

It was late in the afternoon when Arthur appeared again.

I was sitting cross legged on the floor of the terrace, surrounded by the three phoenixes and trying to understand this new aspect of my magic. Charles loomed close by like a dark shadow. He didn't admit it, but I suspected Arthur had put him as a guard on me.

Arthur looked impressively irritated when he finally appeared in the doorway. He crossed his arms and came to lean on the railing. With a curt nod from Arthur, Charles took his brooding presence and left, closing the french doors.

Arthur looked like he was deep in thought, so I left him to it and focused inward again.

My magic felt as it always had. There was the energy of the blue flames rooted in my heart, I could feel it within reach. I pulled on it, and it came willingly, eager to please.

The phoenixes stared back at me. I couldn't put into words what I was doing, maybe because even I didn't know what I was doing. This aspect of my magic was purely instinctual.

For example, right now I knew that the three birds wanted to fly, but they were afraid. How I knew that? I had no idea. I just did.

I rose and rubbed each bird in their necks, the fire of their feathers pleasantly warm on my skin.

"Will they be okay if they fly around here?" I asked Arthur.

He blinked and looked up at the darkening sky, "as long as they fly high and stay close by, I don't foresee a problem."

"Hear that?" I whispered to the birds, "it's going to be safe. Just be careful."

They twittered and beat their blazing wings, rising into the air with a strong gust of wind. I looked up. They flew high until I could no longer see them.

"Do you feel them?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah," I frowned, "I actually do. They're close by."

I could even pinpoint the direction they were in. That was really tricky. I shook my head.

"Anyway, what's got your panties in a twist?" I asked Arthur.

He raised an arrogant brow, probably unamused by the elegant expression I used. I wiggled my fingers towards his face, "use your big boy words, Arthur, I can't read your brow language."

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. Suddenly he looked tired and I felt bad for teasing him.

Well, maybe not bad enough to actually stop.

"So what did Orion want?"

"He wants to know what kind of relationship you and I have," he replied.

My cheeks flamed, remembering our PDA earlier. Ugh. I couldn't believe I did that in front of everyone else. Heck, I couldn't believe I did that, period.

Some of the wariness left Arthur's eyes. He smiled and uncrossed his arms, "why? Are you getting cold feet now?"

I glared at him. "I'm not getting cold feet."

"Good," he stepped closer, "that would be a shame."

"What are you doing?" I asked when he kept getting closer. I put my hand on his chest.

"Why, kissing you, of course."

"That's a bad habit you're getting into," I said, his firm chest pushing my hand even though I was trying as hard as I could to push him away.

"Is it?" he whispered, his voice intimate. My heart was performing acrobatics inside my chest, and my magic was not complaining. Damn him.

"Yes, it is." I said, then abruptly took my hand away and side-stepped him. He should've fallen forward. Anyone else would have. But it was Arthur, unfortunately, he had lightning fast reflexes.

I cleared my throat and walked to the railing, keeping him in my sight. His smile turned rogish. The sun had started setting, and its glow turned his eyes into viscous honey. Sweet and warm and irresistible. Why in the world did he have to be so damn good looking?

"Anyway," I said, "what's the plan? Did you speak to Burak about Santos?"

He sighed and straightened, "not yet. We had a meeting with the council where we discussed yesterday's crime and criminals."

"Did Venus go through their heads, yet?" I asked.

"She is doing so as we speak," he replied, "with the presence of the esteemed council and my three brothers."

"Shouldn't you be there?" I asked.

He waved his hand. "Being present is useless. No one will know exactly what Venus is doing or what she finds out. She will use her magic and extract the information all on her own."

I frowned, "then why did the council insist on being present?"

"Power play," Arthur said with disgust, "they just want to flex their muscle. They know they will have to actually believe that whatever she tells them is the truth. Preventing her from extracting the information unless they're present is simply the council flexing their muscles. Idiots, the lot of them."

"So, are we going to visit the underground again?" I asked, "you know, to see why I reacted to the spell the way I did."

"Yes," he nodded, looking at the darkening sky, "we should get going now. I need to speak to both Venus and Burak when we get back. Come."

The woods were dark, only the most stubborn of sunset beams reached the grass.

"By the way. Why is he stuck to my side all the time?" I asked Arthur, pointing my thumb to Charles who walked behind me.

"You're a target."

"I can take-"

"Care of yourself, I know," Arthur interrupted, "that doesn't mean you have to do it alone. Besides, appearances are important. You cannot be seen wandering about all alone. People might get the idea that I do not care for your safety. Charles' presence is enough to keep you safe, but not too much as to imply that you are weak."

I pursed my lips. As much as it grated, I had to trust Arthur in this. He knew more about the politics and the workings of the immortal world than I did.

"Don't worry," Charles said, "I'm as delighted about this as you are."

"Oh, no!" I blinked sweetly over my shoulder, "did I hurt your feelings?

"No," he replied dryly, "but baby sitting you isn't my idea of a good time."

"And here I was thinking we'll have loads of fun together," I said, "you know, braiding each other's hair and all. You wound me, blondie."

"Alright, you two. Enough playing," Arthur said, "we're close by."

I looked around. We were close to the spot. Already, the number of guards around the area had increased.

Minutes later, we reached our destination. The trap door was surrounded by four vampires and three witches. Of course, these seven people weren't the only security detail around. There were more immortals, split into groups surrounding the trap door's location in several security perimeters.

"Charles, stay here," Arthur said.

Charles frowned, "Are you sure, Sire?"

"Yes." Arthur nodded.

The guards did not stop Arthur and I from going down. It was as dark as I remembered it being. I let my magic flow out of my hand and did what I had wanted to do the first time I went down these stairs. 

The blue flames popped into existence, a hovering ball that illuminated the way ahead of us.

"Much better," I mumbled.

Arthur went ahead of me down the elliptical stairs. There were people downstairs, I could tell from the voices filtering up to us. He stopped when we were far enough down that the guards up wouldn't hear us, and faced the wall.

"So, this is the spell," he said.

I frowned at the wall. Sure enough, there were the glyphs I had seen the night before. But...

"Something is different," I told him, touching my hand to the wall. There was none of the energy that had called out to me the night before. "It feels like it's asleep."

"Hmm. Perhaps it is because the spell is inert," Arthur said, "yesterday, they had been working it."

I wrinkled my nose, "so we can't find out the reason I reacted to it so intensely yesterday?"

"Hmm.." Arthur touched his fingers to the glyphs on the wall, deep in thought.

I could understand some of the words, just like yesterday. But it didn't call out to me anymore. It felt completely inert, as Arthur had put it.

"A shame we can't activate the spell again," Arthur said, dropping his hand from the wall.

Something else popped into my head, something Arthur asked me to keep private.

"Arthur?" I said.

He smiled, "yes?"

His smile distracted me. It was so unlike his usual smiles. This one felt like it was... innocent? "Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing," he replied, "what did you want?"

I shook my head, "about the owl that showed me the way yesterday. Why did you ask me to keep it a secret?"

"White owls and white stags," he said, "are notorious creatures in the history of magic. It is believed they are messengers of Fate. All throughout history, the two creatures have been linked to world changing events... and people."

"World changing people?" I whispered, raising my brows.

"Yes. don't look so stupefied," he said, "in light of our recent discovery; the fact that you might be the subject of a prophecy, I do believe you will have a hand in shaking the immortal world's status quo."

Breath stuck in my throat, "okay, I think you're being a little bit too dramatic here."

"Am I?" he asked, "you have already changed our view of the world, Elle. After all, you are the very first fae who holds the venom of a vampire and the promise of insanity in her veins."

I rubbed my face. "I came to Europe to find answers. Instead, I ended up with more questions!"

"Don't worry, honey. You'll have your answers," Arthur said, looking at the glyphs on the wall then at the blue flame hovering around us, "we have stirred up the hornet's nest. It is only a matter of time before even more interesting matters come to light."

He reached up a finger and touched the flame. I jerked. I felt his touch in my veins. He smiled and retrieved his hand. "Let's go back."

The blue flames hadn't hurt him.

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