Kalen’s eyes widened in shock when James Wils—my father remained impartial, not even acknowledging what I had just said. “I thought your parents tried to kill you…?” Kalen said, looking about as shocked as I felt.

My eyes remained fixed on James. I wouldn’t call him my father until he had earned that honor. “My mom and the man she’s married to did, but he isn’t my biological father.”

“I’m curious why you think I’m your father, girl,” James said, his voice remaining neutral.

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Don’t call me girl. My name is Lana.”

“Just Lana, no title?” he challenged. Figures. My biological father had to be an ass. I had the most awesome luck ever.

I balled my hands into fists, the rising anger increasing my level of confidence. “No title anymore. I kind of denounced my family after they tried to have me killed and all.”

James cocked his head to the side, observing me like I was a wild animal set free upon his house. “Then what did your title used to be?”

“Lady Lana Eleanor,” I spat out, the words burning my tongue. I swore to myself I would never call myself that again, and this man was forcing me. The memories that name brought burned to brightly, blistering the skin still left on my bones after everything. It was a flame I had no intention of igniting again. Kalen placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder; I shrugged him off, in no mood to be calm.

My biological father stiffened, but his expression still betrayed nothing. He opened his mouth to speak, but Natalia interrupted him before he could. “Father, you cannot seriously be trying to deny her accusations? How can you when she has your eyes?”

He fixed cold, deadly eyes on the daughter he obviously cared more for. “I was not about to deny it, only confirm it,” he said to her, before turning to me. “Your mother, her name is Jane Eleanor?”

“I no longer consider that woman my mother.”

James rolled his eyes. “I do not blame you. She has always been a spiteful woman.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Spiteful is not the word I would use. And I wouldn’t quite put you in a different category.”

The corners of his lips twitched up. “You think I’m spiteful, and what, you’ve known me for two seconds?”

“I second her statement,” the girl who called herself Mallory said, her eyes set into a scorn.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” he snapped, his gaze still focused on me.

“Before she thought I was going to die, in my cell that was the final stop to my death, Jane Eleanor told me everything. Her last gift to me. Telling me how glad she was to be rid of me because I shared even the slightest resemblance to you,” I took a deep breath, willing my emotions to stay at bay from the painful memory. “She told me that you know… about both my brother and me and you chose to leave us with that woman anyway… knowing that if we inherited your inclination toward magic we could die. What kind of father is that heartless? How does that make you any better than her?” I accused, my pitch rising.

Every single eye in the room was on me and I realized this might’ve been the wrong time and place to do this, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t known how much it actually did hurt me knowing he had abandoned us before he even got the chance to meet us.

“I have a half-brother and sister you failed to tell me about? A half-brother and sister younger than me that you failed to mention?” Natalia demanded, her eyes wide and her tone taking on a incredulous edge.

“I thought she was lying,” James said through clenched teeth, drawing out the last word.

“You deprived this poor girl of a decent father and me of siblings, because you thought the woman you were sleeping with at the time was ‘lying’. Great move, father. Honestly, I’m inclined to side with Lana on this one,” Natalia said, crossing her arms.

Points for my half-sister.

“The woman was crazy!”

“The why were you sleeping with her?” Natalia challenged. I didn’t think I could like her more.

James was at a loss for once, something I was sure didn’t happen to him often. I also got the feeling he wasn’t being completely honest with either of us. “No, she wasn’t. I hate her with every fiber of my being, but she was and is far from crazy.”

James pulled his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Fine, you want the truth?” Natalia and I nodded in sync. “I know about you and your brother. But I didn’t love her. She was needy and clingy and wanted to turn me in for my magic when I refused to agree to be with her after she figured out a way to leave her husband. She never allowed me to see the two of you, afraid I would taint you with my magic. And honestly, I already had one child to take care of, and I didn’t to add to the load. So yes, I left you. But that does not mean I haven’t been keeping tabs on you. I had my spies. Spies that told me too late about your execution or else I would’ve stopped it myself. Remind me to thank the person who did that.”

“Sure, if I don’t end up killing him first,” I replied with more venom in my voice than I thought I possessed. Perhaps the darkness inside me was more prominent than what Kalen and Andreas thought.

“Why would you want to kill someone who saved your life?” Mallory asked and I turned to her quickly, almost having forgotten that she and Kalen were still in the room with us. Her eyes were distant, locked in a memory; I recognized that look. She was thinking about someone special… someone she loved. My gaze drifted between her and Kalen and I was relieved to see she didn’t seem to notice his presence in that moment.

“Considering I’ve wanted to kill both people who have saved my life, I’d say it’s not as difficult as you might presume,” I answered, my voice slightly sharper than I intended.

“What could they have done to you to make you want to kill them?” Mallory challenged, her eyes narrowing. She must not have realized I meant killing figuratively… I would never be able to actually kill someone, but I didn’t even bother trying to explain it to her.

Kalen scratched his head. “Who in this room has heard of Andreas Scott Grigoli?”

I shot him a death glare. It was the first time in days since I’ve heard that name out loud, and there was no denying it stung.

“What does any of this have to do with him?” Mallory asked the same time I saw Natalia’s eyes widen in what could only be perceived as awe.

“Just knowing who he is should make you understand how you could want to kill someone who has saved your life,” Kalen stated dully.

I pushed down the rising knot in my stomach. “Andreas was the person that saved me this time.” There, I finally said it aloud, my voice constricted. Kalen’s eyes shot to mine.

“What?”

“He let me die!” I was surprised how easy all this was to say.

Kalen’s eyes widened, shocked. “There has to be some kind of mistake…. He wouldn’t do that… he wouldn’t,” he argued, his thoughts somewhere else. I had believed the same thing, but I was no longer that naïve.

I bit my bottom lip. “There’s no mistake.”

“Why would Andreas save you in the first place?” Natalia asked all of a sudden, her voice taking on an edge.

Kalen was about to answer but I shot him a look and the words died on his tongue. “He wouldn’t because he doesn’t care for anyone but himself.”

“That’s not true,” Kalen said softly. I was surprised to hear him defending Andreas.

“It is.”

“I’ve known Andreas for fifteen years, no offense, but I think I know him a little bit better than you do.”

“You’re not the one he pretended to care for only to leave you to die,” I fired back.

Kalen seemed like he was about to add something else when Mallory interjected. “If he didn’t save you, then who did?” I was grateful for the change in topic.

“Raphael Argeno.”

Kalen and Mallory’s eyes widened at the same time. “He saved you?” Kalen asked at the same time Mallory said, “That’s not possible.”

“Excuse my interruption, children, but I doubt my presence is necessary much longer, so I will be taking my leave,” James said as he turned to leave the room.

“Don’t think any of us are going to let you off the hook that easily,” Natalia said as she glared at her father.

James sighed and look directly at me. “Why is it you want to kill the Argeno kid?”

“He held me against my will, refusing to tell me his motives and is the reason your daughter found me the way she did.” James flinched when I referred to Natalia as his daughter, putting distance between me and his family.

“Raphael wouldn’t do something like that,” Mallory said out of nowhere, her eyes surprisingly sharp as she regarded me.

“How would you know?”

“Because he’s saved my life too.”

I narrowed my gaze on her. “So because he has saved your life he’s incapable of doing bad things? Do you even know anything about him or his family?”

“I’m pretty sure I know him better than you do,” Mallory said, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Oh, really? Were you engaged to his brother?”

Shock filled her expression and once again all eyes in the room were trained on me.

“Raphael doesn’t have a brother,” Mallory argued.

Kalen was uncomfortable as he stood between the two of us, debating which side he should take. I felt a sharp pang of betrayal. He said nothing, choosing her side. After everything we’ve been through he sided with Mallory.

“I guess sometimes we don’t know people as well as we thought we did,” I said, no longer referring to Raphael, my eyes focused on Kalen. He shrunk into himself slightly in shame, but didn’t back me still.

“Oh, trust me, I knew him very well.”

I glared at Mallory, an intense dislike started to burn through me. Perhaps it was jealousy for she was very beautiful and I could see why any man would choose her over me, but I was inclined to believe there was more to it than that. I wasn’t that petty, was I? “Why would I lie? What possible reason could I have to feed you lies about Raphael when I didn’t even know you knew him?”

That rendered Mallory temporarily speechless. Kalen remained as helpful as ever. “Kalen knows what I’m talking about, but for some reason cat caught his tongue.”

“Lana,” he pleaded.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I get it. You thought I was dead and you’ve moved on. It’s fine.” But it wasn’t fine. I was dead for less than a week and already he’s found someone else? I knew I wasn’t exactly being fair as my feelings for Andreas didn’t want to go away, but it still hurt knowing that he could shove me aside so quickly without even giving me a chance.

James sighed from behind me. “I’m getting quite tired of all this bickering. This, all of this,” he said gesturing to where Kalen, Mallory, and I were standing, “is why I do not regret having only one child I had to raise. Let me set some things straight: yes, Raphael Argeno does have an older brother, John Argeno. He was up until recently engaged to Lana until she was sent for her execution. Raphael might not have wanted to make his relation to John clear because John is a well-respected knight, with dark secrets, and Raphael Is considered the runt of the pack. Now that we have that cleared up, I’d like to readdress the very reason you are here, Mallory and Kalen. You came to seek information about Kalen’s past. Very well: your parents are dead. Both killed the day you were born, and you would’ve died too if you uncle hadn’t snuck you out. It was a raid on all those who are known magic users.” Kalen stilled, his whole body stiffening.

“Why couldn’t you just tell him that from the start?” Mallory demanded, her tone sharp and pissed. So maybe that’s why he liked her, she was more forward than I was.

“Because that’s not all there is to the story,” Natalia chipped in. “But I can now see why my father wants to keep that information from you. You aren’t ready.”

“Why does everyone get to decide that for me?”

James narrowed his eyes. “Because I care for this kingdom very much and do not fancy it being ruined by a boy who hasn’t matured yet.”

Both Mallory and Kalen looked at him with furrowed brows. I felt a stab of irritation; surely they couldn’t be this slow? The pieces locked together in my mind. Kalen’s eye color, the secretiveness? Purple, the color of royalty. Kalen was the prince, or what I assumed would now be king of Gynae and he was too preoccupied to realize that. I stared at them, dumbfounded. I was starting to agree with James, Kalen wasn’t ready for that responsibility.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Kalen demanded, his voice strained. I wanted to feel bad for him – he did after all just find out his parents died when he was born, but I couldn’t bring myself that far. The answer was staring him right in the face, but he was blind to it.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, you’re the prince,” I blurted out to put them all out of their misery.