My fingers clutched the sheets tightly as Emeric peeled the bandages from my back.

"Shit."

"What?" I breathed. "Please don't tell me that it's infected."

"The paste we use is to prevent infections," Grayson muttered as he turned away from the window.

"It's done more than that." Emeric gestured his brother closer. "Take a look at this."

With a frown, Grayson walked closer and stopped next to the bed. I stared at his face to try and read his expression. "What?" I asked when his frown deepened.

"You're almost healed." He leaned closer. "That's not possible. My blood should have worked out of your system by now."

I closed my eyes and loosened my hold on the sheets. It was probably the time to tell them that Ariana had fed me some of her blood. But I didn't want to share that intimate details.

My mouth watered and the urge to taste it again hit me hard.

"Where's Ariana?"

I opened my eyes and tilted my head to get a better look at him when he didn't answer. Grayson was staring intently at my back.

"In their rooms."

"I—"

"You shouldn't have left either," Emeric interrupted me. "You were just as stupid as them."

Checking on things had just been an excuse to go get some of my weapons. Mother had a secret spot in the basement where she hid everything from Samuel.

I expected him to be at work because his truck hadn't been parked in the driveway, but he had been home, and apparently he had been waiting for me.

The one thing Samuel hated was the people talking about him.

In his haste to find Ariana, Oliver had asked around town for me, and word had gotten back to him.

"Samuel's dead," I blurted before I could stop myself.

Both of them froze.

Swallowing, I pushed myself up onto my elbows. The skin over my back pulled tight as I slowly sat up. Nausea hit.

A groan fell from my lips as bile rose in my throat.

Grayson cursed and disappeared for a second before returning with a bucket. I emptied the contents of my stomach until I was left dry-heaving. Once I was done, I handed the bucket to him and then slowly lay back down.

"I-I don't feel so good," I croaked.

"This is disgusting," Emeric growled. "None of his food had been digested."

Grayson snarled at him. "Just go get rid of it."

The door closed softly behind him. I could feel Grayson staring down at me for a few more minutes before he moved. A loud squeaked filled room moments later.

I sighed when I felt the cool breeze blowing over my skin.

"Did you kill him?"

I forced my heavy lids open to look at him. "No."

"Tell me what happened."

"Promise me that you won't have Ariana punished."

He frowned. "Why would I do that?" Grayson took a seat on the edge of the bed and reached for the bowl on the bedside table.

I clutched the sheets again and squeezed my eyes closed when he started cleaning my back with warm water.

"Lucas."

My breathing sped up as I explained what had happened. By the time my back was bandaged again, I felt about ready to pass out.

"I'll take care of your stepfather, kid." Grayson pressed a hand to my forehead. "You have a fever."

"And a headache," I breathed.

"Who gave you blood?" he surprised me by asking.

"How do you know that someone gave me blood?"

"I smelt it on your breath," Grayson answered as he stood. "It's probably why you feel like shit. There's a reason why your mother always gave you those injections, Lucas. I'm not sure what those reasons were yet, but I'm working on finding out."

My lips parted but before I could utter a word, I passed out.

***

"Tell me about my father."

"He's a low-life piece of shit," she muttered. "What more do you want to know?"

"I'm not talking about Samuel." I paused and risked a glance up at her. "I'm talking about my real father."

Mother stilled. I held my breath as I waited for her to react. For a moment I feared that I had said something wrong, but then she surprised me.

Taking a seat, she lowered the syringe and placed it down on my desk next to the brown paper bag. A small smile twisted her lips as she stared out the bedroom window. It was easy to tell that her mind had trailed off.

Was she thinking about my father?

"He was everything I've always dreamed about," she said softly. "Kind, loving, strong. . .a great leader and he would've been a good father."

I swallowed. "H-how did he die?"

"We would've been so happy," she whispered, ignoring my question. "But then Silas showed up with that bitch!"

She stood and picked up the syringe. I tensed when she closed the space between us. Jerking my sleeve over my shoulder, she lined the syringe up and jammed the needle into my skin.

Cold slowly started to spread through my body as she injected the liquid into me.

"He killed your father," she hissed. "He's the reason for all this!" Mother gestured wildly around the room.

My body jerked when her hand suddenly shot out to grip my chin. Her fingers dug painfully into my skin as she forced my head back when she leaned closer.

"Don't worry, baby," she whispered. "We're going to make him pay."

***

"Hey."

I blinked sleepy eyes at the face that was resting on the pillow a few inches from mine. My lips slowly curled up into a lazy smile.

"Hey," I croaked.

Ariana reached out and brushed a few strands of hair from my forehead before her hand slipped down to stroke over my cheek.

I smiled and reached out to wrap my fingers around her wrist. Turning my head slightly, I pressed a kiss to her fingertips and then entwined our hands as I lowered them to the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better."

The smile disappeared from her face. "You don't look it," she whispered. "You're very pale."

Her fingers tightened around mine. Arian's eyes darted over my face and flickered to my back for a few seconds.

I licked my lips. "What time is it?"

"Almost five o'clock," she whispered. "Emeric's making dinner for you. He said that Grayson gave him specific instructions."

"Specific instructions?" I frowned.

"To make you certain food that you can eat that won't make your fever go up or make you throw up again," Ariana explained.

"Where's Eva?"

"In her room. I think that she's mad at me because I made her take me to get you."

"You didn't make her do anything," I told her. "There's no way she would've drove you if she didn't really want to."

Her brows furrowed. "She's mad at me."

I gave her hand a squeeze and waited until she looked at me before I spoke. "I told Grayson what happened."

Fear flashed through her eyes. Her lips parted but no sound escaped. Letting go of her hand, I cupped her cheek and brushed my thumb across her cheekbone.

"There's no need to panic, doll. He's going to take care of everything."

"He's—"

"Someone we can trust," I interrupted her.

It looked like she wanted to say more, but we were interrupted when Emeric arrived.