The pounding in my head matched the rhythm of my heartbeat. My stomach rolled with nausea as I tried to lift my head.

Grinding my teeth, I forced my body up. A few deep breathes and the nausea slowly passed. With my eyes still squeezed closed, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed.

I couldn't sense anyone in the room with me, but the fucking problem was that I had no idea where I was. My brows dipped into a frown as I tried to pull up the last memory I had of where we were.

All I could remember was Eva trying to force the knife into Ariana's hand.

Fear hit me hard.

Had they been captured by them?

Fuck!

My eyes snapped open which I instantly regretted.

I dropped my head into my hands with a groan. A stabbing my pain flashed through my head. I waited a few minutes and then opened my eyes again.

The room was strangely familiar.

A few more seconds of confusion passed before it cleared. I knew exactly where I was but I had no clue if the twins were with me or not.

"You're up."

I raised my head to look at the man who entered the room.

Emeric, Grayson's brother, walked over to me and lowered a plate of sandwiches to the bedside table.

"Where are they?" I asked him.

"At Grayson's house," he answered. "Grayson wants you to stay here until he comes to get you."

"Why?"

Emeric hesitated. "He healed you and he doesn't want anybody else to know."

"I want to see the twins," I demanded.

"You can't," he growled.

"Then let me talk to Ariana."

My eyes shot up to his when he pulled his phone from his pocket and then dialled a number.

"Give the phone to Ariana," he ordered whoever answered. "He wants to talk to her."

Five minutes passed before he handed the phone over to me. I pressed it to my ear and waited.

"Lucas?"

My shoulders sagged. "Ariana, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just worried about you. Are you okay? Where are you?"

I swallowed. "I'm fine." I hesitated a moment. "Eva?"

Ariana sighed. "She's fine. Pissed at me because I..."

"You?" I urged when she fell silent.

"I confronted her about...what happened at Ethan's house in the bathroom," she said but her voice lowered a few notches.

I glanced up at Emeric. "Is Grayson with you?"

"Yes." She sucked in a breath. "Lucas, are you sure that you're okay? I-I saw the w-wound and—"

"Doll," I breathed when I realized how close she was to tears. "I promise you that I'm okay."

"I want to see you," she whispered.

Emeric stepped closer and held his hand out. Our time was up.

"Soon, doll," I told her. "Stay with your father, okay?"

I hung up before she could utter another word. Handing the phone over to Emeric, I stood and swayed. His hands shot out to grab my shoulders. Letting out a low growl, he pushed me back down onto the bed and flashed his teeth at me.

"Eat, shower but stay in the room until Grayson come gets you," he ordered before he walked out..

My eyes locked onto the plate of sandwiches. I hesitated a moment before I reached out and picked one up. I finished the sandwiches and then stumbled into the bathroom.

Getting my pants off was a struggle because the moment I bent forward to push it down my legs, I lost my balance, but after some struggles I finally managed.

I stepped under the warm water and tilted my head back. A sigh fell from my lips as some of the tension drained from my body. When was the last time I had a shower in warm water?

How had we gotten here? Why the hell had Grayson healed me?

It wasn't the first time he'd done it.

My memories were a bit hazy but I remembered that day.

Mother had hired a trainer from the black market to teach me how to fight using knives. The man wasn't as good as he had claimed to be. While training he'd ended up cutting me. I had bled so much that Mother had panicked and called Grayson.

He'd taken me into a room and slit his arm near his elbow. I didn't want to drink his blood so I fought him, which backfired since he easily overpowered me and forced his blood into my body. While I was floating, high as fuck on his blood, he'd confronted my mother.

Long story short, by the time I was five I was a pro at fighting with knives and hand to hand combat.

Grayson had more deaths to his name than me, but if things kept going the way it was, I would soon catch up with him.

My lips curled into a cruel smile.

A killer trained by a killer.

Fucking ironic.

I wish I knew more about the man but there were no records of his past. He was older than he told people which made me all that more curious about his history.

Opening my eyes, I lowered my head to take a look at the wound that fucker had inflicted. All that remained was a white line, surrounded by pink skin. I traced the line with my fingertips before I straightened and reached for the soap.

Washing my body and hair, I closed the taps and stepped out of the shower. I tried my body and then wrapped a towel around my waist as I walked out of the bathroom.

My steps faltered when I glanced up and spotted Grayson sitting on the edge of the bed.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Like someone's using a jackhammer in my head," I told him. "At least I don't feel as high as fuck like I did the last time you gave me some of your blood."

"I didn't feed it to you," he said. "I poured it into your wound to heal."

"Why?"

Grayson got to his feet and turned to glare at me. "Because Ariana was about to give you some of hers."

I licked my lips and turned away to hide my reaction from him. For some crazy reason I wasn't so turned off by the thought of drinking some of her blood. I actually wanted to have a taste. My mouth watered as I pictured having Ariana's sweet blood filling my mouth.

"You shouldn't have stopped her," I muttered.

"What game are you playing at, kid?"

"What do you mean?" I turned to face him and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Don't start your bullshit with me," Grayson hissed. "We both know what I'm talking about."

"Then you should know—"

"You're going through with your mother's plan?" he questioned in surprise.

"Well, obviously not everything's going according to plan," I told him. "I'll have to make some adjustments."

Grayson muttered something under his breath as he ran a hand through his hair. I wasn't prepared for his sudden attack. His first shot out and connected with my jaw, making me stumble backwards. Before I could hit the ground, he grabbed hold of my neck and spun me around to slam me against the nearest wall.

Grayson wasn't choking me, but his hold was tight enough to warn me that fighting him would get me killed.

"Leave the twins out of the animosity you have with Silas," he growled.

My eyes darted over his face. "Can't do that. They're part of the plan."

"Make another plan then or I'll—"

"You'll die for your mate?" I sneered. "Won't do you any good since she'll follow you straight to hell."

His fingers twitched. "What's going to happen to your mate when she finds out about you and your mother's sick plan?"

"She won't find out," I hissed.

He gave me a mocking smile. "I won't tell her, but I promise you that she'll find out." His smile faded. "Think about it, kid. What good will revenge do you?"

I didn't have to think about the answer. "It will give me great pleasure to watch them suffer like I've been suffering every fucking day of my life."

"Including Ariana?" he questioned. "Don't you think that she's already suffered enough? How much more does she have to endure before she's allowed to—?"

"You know nothing!" I interrupted him.

"I know enough to know that your mother was a sick woman." His fingers dug into my skin. "You were raised to be a killer, Lucas. It's not normal. Nothing about the way your mother raised you is fucking normal."

"They ruined her life!"

"You don't know that!" he yelled. "Your mother set you on the wrong path from the day you were born." Grayson's voice lowered. "I'm urging you to think things through before you do anything. Talk to Silas, make sure about the facts before you go through with your mother's plans."

I swallowed.

Grayson hesitated before he stepped away.

"I want to see Ariana," I told him.

"No," he growled as he stormed out of the room.