Of all the insane things Zane had ever heard in his life, this stranger standing in front of him had to have said the craziest. He had a father. Lord Eleanor was his father. Why would this man claim to be his father when he already had one? It didn’t make sense. The only explanation there was, was that this man was mad. Zane started to close the door, but the man caught it and kept him from slamming him out.

“I know it may be difficult for you to understand, and you must think me completely mad, but please, allow me to explain,” the man said, his deep brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

Zane paused momentarily, trying to fully register what it was this man – James Wilston he had said his name was – was saying. “Why would I trust you, or believe you for that matter? You are a complete stranger and I know exactly who my father is!”

“But do you know who your mother is? What kind of person she is? What she might have done or been doing before she became your mother? You have magic, don’t you? Magic that you don’t know how to explain?”

Zane staggered backward as if James had physically hit him. How could he have known he had magic? It was impossible. The only person he had told had been Lana, and Lana was… Lana was…. The thought was still too painful to even think. His sister was gone.

“How could you possibly know that?” Zane demanded, anger boiling inside him. He probably should’ve gone the safer route and denied having any magic at all, but curiosity won out. Plus, he argued that he could silence this man before it would become a problem. After losing his sister to the stake, his qualms about killing people were just about nonexistent.

“We really should be sitting for this conversation, but I promise I will explain everything to y—“

“We will not sit! You will tell me how you know of my magic right now, or I will be forced to –“

“Make me disappear? Dear boy, that is my job. Now before you get all worked up and actually think that if it comes down to it that, you could take me in a fight, let me explain things and neither of us will be forced to do anything we don’t want to.”

Zane backed away slightly from the man that suddenly induced him with a spike of fear. He could’ve sworn the man’s eyes were brown, a color very similar to his sister’s, but now they were glowing a very faint green. There was no doubt that this man’s threat was very real, but that only made Zane even more hesitant to let him inside the house. James Wilston didn’t exactly scream trustworthy.

But Zane couldn’t deny the part of him that was curious. How did this man know of his magic? And more importantly, why on earth would he claim to be his father?

“You aren’t going to explain anything unless I invite you inside and we sit?” Zane asked, his eyes thin slits of concentration.

“Exactly. And I do promise to tell you everything.”

“How do I know that you are not just some madman planning on killing me and my family the minute I allow you entrance to my house?”

“I am not a vampire. I do not have to be invited inside. And if I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already. I’m not here to hurt you. That is that last thing I plan on doing, I assure you.”

Zane scrutinized the man. His eyes had returned to brown once more, and it picked at something in Zane’s mind. He was struck, by not only how similar the color was to his late sister, but also how much they reminded him of Lana’s eyes. Zane mentally shook himself. No, that didn’t mean anything. He had been seeing Lana everywhere over the past weeks. What he did find, though, was that James seemed sincere.

“Very well, if that is the only way I will get answers, then yes, you may come inside.” Zane stepped out of the way and gestured for James to enter. “Mary!” he called as he led the man who claimed to be his father to the lounge room where his parents usually entertained their guests.

Zane sat down on one of the hard couches, and James followed suit without further invitation. Mary came scurrying into the room, her narrowed eyes fixed on their guest with a quiet contemplation.

“You called, my lord?” she said politely, but Zane could pick up the strain in her voice.

“Could you fetch me and this gentleman some tea? It appears we have some matters to discuss.”

Mary’s hazel gaze drifted between the two men, as if sensing the tension, before she nodded and wordlessly left the room without further delay.

“Now, talk,” Zane demanded, sitting on the edge of his seat, angled toward James. His eyes were two orbs of concentration as his gaze settled on the strange man.

James on the other hand seemed completely at ease. He relaxed into the couch, and even proceeded to cross his one leg over the other. Zane’s hands balled into fists with the thought that this man could very possibly be taking him for the fool.

“I know you are reluctant to believe that I am your father, and I understand that.  You have been told your whole life that Fredrick Eleanor is your father, and I’m sure even he was led to believe that. But that is simply because Jane is a very gifted liar. She can spin any tale to fit her needs. And in this case, you and Fredrick had to believe that you were related.”

“You are insulting my mother and you expect me to listen to you reasonably?”

“I am not insulting her, in fact I am complimenting her ability to manipulate people. She has been doing it very well for very long.”

“Not helping your case.”

James sighed heavily and brushed his hair back. “You are so quick to defend your mother even though she sighed your sister over to the stake?”

Zane had to use every fiber of his being to remain calm. “Don’t you dare mention my sister.”

James uncrossed his legs and sat up, leaning toward Zane. “So you do harbor some ill feelings toward your mother after all. But you pretend to be a good son, keeping up that noble façade of always being on your family’s side. Except of course, when one member in the family proves to be a witch.”

Zane’s fist collided with the small coffee table separating the two men. “Enough! Stop addressing my family, and explain yourself.”

“Addressing your family is how I will get to explaining myself. After all, my claim is that I am your father, which would make me a part of your family.”

“At this moment I am still reluctant to believe that you and I share any blood at all. And unless you are able to convince me otherwise shortly, I will have to ask you to leave.”

James held up his hands defensively and relaxed back into his earlier position. “I shall start at the beginning then. Your mother and I met long before she became Lady Jane Eleanor. Back then I knew her as Jane Mistborn. Seventeen when she and I met, and already knew who she would marry, but she hadn’t met Fredrick at this point. Your mother was a much different person back then, wild and carefree, not stoic and self-possessed like she is now.”

“If you want to have this discussion, you are going to have to refrain from saying bad things about my mother.”

“I cannot tell you everything that happened honestly and leave out that bad things about your mother.”

Zane sat back in his seat, taking a similar relaxed position, his eyes still in careful slits as he observed James. It wasn’t like he actually cared that someone had something terrible to say about Lady Eleanor; he was defending her more out of moral obligations than anything else. He had a few choice words to say about her himself. Not even if the sky fell and the earth began to crumble would he ever be able to forgive his parents for what they had done to Lana. His sister – his best friend.

“Very well, continue.”

“Anyway, as I was saying, when I first met your mother she had this wild, carefree spirit about her that immediately drew me to her, even though at the time I was seeing someone else. There was just something about her laugh and the way she carried herself that made her seem different from any other woman. She was like a siren, calling to me even though I knew I shouldn’t go to her. I will spare you the details of our relationship, but simply put, she shared the attraction I had to her.”

Zane wasn’t sure he wanted to even know where this was going. Thinking of his mother as anything other than the statue she has become was a very difficult task. She never showed any warmth toward anyone, not even while he and Lana had been young.

James continued without missing a beat. “Not long after we had met, I learned of her betrothal to Fredrick Eleanor. She came to me in haste, begging me to understand. But as you could probably imagine, I was furious. I hadn’t known that she would marry someone else, and I had fallen in love with her against my better judgment. I tried to end things with her the moment I found out about her upcoming marriage, but she was a beacon, and I couldn’t leave her.

“The night before her wedding, she came to the inn I was staying at in a disgruntled state. She had been crying and I tried to comfort her. When she confessed that she had fallen for me as well, I almost couldn’t believe her. But there was a sincerity in her gaze that has been absent since after your sister was born. You were conceived that night.”

Zane closed his eyes to keep his emotions intact.

“Your mother still proceeded to marry Fredrick, and I was enraged, especially after the night we had spent together. I had offered to marry her also, but while your mother had claimed to love me, her social status mattered to her more. Marrying me would have brought her into a lower social standing, while Fredrick could give her the world. There was never really any choice on her part, and I’m sure you know of your mother’s quest for power.” Zane could do nothing more than nod. There wasn’t anything he was quite as familiar with as his mother’s insistent need to further her family higher up the social ladder.

“Even back then, she had been a master manipulator, and she managed to convince me to stay even though she was married to another man. We continued to see each other for three years after her marriage. She had gotten pregnant twice during that time, once with you and the other time with Lana.

“One day, after Lana was born, she comes up to me and tells me that both you and Lana are my children. At first I didn’t believe her. Surely, it made sense, but I didn’t want to believe her. It would make both of you bastards, and that was the last thing I wanted for my children. But after I saw the two of you, there was no doubt in my mind. I mean, Lana has my eyes, and you have my jawline. Not a single thing about the two of you even bared the smallest resemblance to Fredrick.”

“You are claiming that Lana was your daughter as well?” Zane cut in, his voice sharp.

James suddenly sat upright in his chair. “Yes, Lana is my daughter.”

“You must not be aware that when people burn on the stake, they die,” Zane replied slowly, his jaw locked.

“Lana is still alive. Raphael Argeno had a spell placed on her that made her appear dead, but actually kept her alive. She’s at Grigoli’s mansion at this very moment, awaiting our arrival.”

Just at that moment, before Zane could even formulate a response, Mary had entered the room, the tray with the teapot and cups on it falling from her hands and cluttering to the floor. Both men’s gazes went to her as she covered her mouth with a hand. She stared at James, her hazel eyes wide.

“Lady Lana is still alive?” she asked, her voice small and broken.

Zane fixed a deadly stare on James, but addressed Mary. “No, I held her in my arms. She is dead and this man is lying! Enough already! First you claim that I am your son and that my mother, Lady Jane Eleanor of all people would be reckless enough to taint her own bloodline! If you know her like you claim you do, you would know she would never do such a thing. And then you dare assert that my sister is still alive when I know for a fact that she is dead. Just who do you think you are?  I want you out of my house right now for your lies!” He was beyond his breaking point.

James was a cruel, cruel man for even kindling the small flame of hope inside Zane’s chest that Lana might possibly be alive against all odds. A small part of him did in fact believe if anyone could survive burning alive, it would be her. But it was impossible. He had seen her scorched body. He had held her in his arms. He had seen the way Andreas Grigoli reacted to her death. Zane was not the only one that saw her lifeless body. Whoever this stranger was, he was spewing lies. But Zane still couldn’t help but wonder what James would have to gain by telling him these lies. Was he after money? A title?

“I am not lying to you! And if you would only come with me, I can prove it to you.”

Perhaps that was the man’s plan all along. Convince Zane to leave with him so he could kidnap him for a ransom! It all made sense now. As the only living Eleanor heir, Zane would fetch quite the price for his safe return.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it? For me to go with you! Just how much money do you think you will get from kidnapping me?”

Before James could respond, Zane’s mother’s voice drifted over to them from the hallway. “Zane Sebastian Eleanor, what in heaven’s name is all this noise?” She walked into the lounge area and completely froze in her tracks the moment she spotted James.

Her eyes were wide and bewildered as she regarded the man.

Zane’s mouth dropped to the floor as he gauged her reaction. “Mother, do you know this man?” he asked cautiously.

Lady Eleanor fumbled for words, but could think of no excuse for her strange reaction. “Yes,” she replied breathlessly.

Mary walked over to Zane and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. They shared a look. “He’s telling you the truth Zane.”

Zane’s expression was a vision of vulnerability as he gazed back at James. “She’s really alive?” he asked, his voice cracking. James nodded and Zane shifted his focus back to his mother, a sudden rage so hot overwhelming him as he took in her disgruntled demeanor. “Mother, you have some explaining to do.”