"You are a Sire Avery. You know your place. It is not acceptable for you to question me."

I hated him, so much in that moment.

"I'm tired Silas. I don't want to talk any longer."

The truth was I had reached my limit and I needed time apart from him to calm myself down. I was far too angry, not to escalate this argument.

He nodded. "If you need anything. I'm down the hall."

I remembered where his room was.

"You will see our sons in the morning so ensure you get sufficient sleep."

I was far too worked up to be able to get some sleep.

I watched as he left, feeling like I had lost the battle and the war. In this situation I was no better off than I had been before.

The life of freedom and choices was gone. My shoulders slumped. There was no point in wishing for a life that was no longer within my grasp. I had to figure out my way through my new life.

I would be able to see my children but the danger of Vampire council still loomed over me. There was nothing I could do about it now.

My clothes still hung in the wardrobe. He had kept my clothes, even when he had believed I had died. There were memories in almost every dress. Our nights together. I sighed. It felt like it was such a long time ago.

Sleep eluded me. I was tired in the morning but excited to 'meet' my sons. There was a moment of apprehension to their potential reaction to me.

I soothed my nerves before I knocked on the door to Silas' study.

"Come in," he commanded.

I opened the door. He stood by the windows and turned as I entered the room. The sight of him made my heart gallop in my chest.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Can I see them now?"

He gave a brief nod. I followed him out the study up the stairs. Three doors to the left he stopped. He glanced back at me and I took a steady breath before he opened the door.

Silas entered the room first and I took a tentative step behind him.

The sight of two little boys playing with an inquisitiveness brought a flood of emotion and my eyes began to water.

"Daddy," the one little dark haired boy said when he noticed me.

"Son," Silas said as the little boy stood up and walked over. He held his hands out to Silas who scooped him up.

To see Silas affectionate with their children was unexpected.

The other boy who was still seated with the toys looked past his father and brother to look me straight in the eye. There was recognition there. The boy stood up but didn't walk to his father. He approached me and took my hand into his like I wasn't a stranger, like he knew me.

He stared up at me with his dark eyes, the same color as Silas. "Friend."

The word vibrated through me. It was what Jude had introduced me as to them the first time I met them.

"This is your mother Avery."

Avery continued to stare at me with fascination. "Mom?"

I nodded. My felt it was being physically squeezed in my chest.

Archer wiggled free from Silas' hold to stand beside his brother.

"You're our mother?" Archer asked.

I nodded, unable to talk because of the intensity of the emotions I was experiencing. I bent down to level my gaze with theirs as I smiled, wiping the wetness from my cheeks.

"She was dead," Archer directed the statement to Silas.

"We were mistaken. She is very much alive," Silas clarified.

"Friend," Archer repeated more insistently.

I hoped that Silas didn't question why Archer kept calling me that.

"Jude's friend." Archer added. He remembered.

I held my gaze steady and refused to look up to Silas. I hoped with all my heart that he would just brush it off as a confused comment by our son.

Silas bent down to Archer. "What did you say?"

I froze, unable to look away.

"Jude's friend." The confidence with which Archer spoke was fate sealing.

Silas' gaze found mine. I had lied and now he knew. He didn't explode with anger, instead it simmered beneath the surface but I felt it in his gaze. We finished up my visit with our kids with the promise of seeing them a little later.

Archer had watched me with deep thoughtful eyes while Avery had hugged me.

My stomach knotted as Silas opened the door and waited for me to pass through it. As soon as he closed the door behind us he grabbed my elbow and led me to his room.

Once inside, he let me go.

"You lied to me." His voice was filled with rage.

I swallowed, unsure how to navigate this minefield. I owed Jude a lot, if it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be free. The last thing I wanted was to reveal to Silas how his friend had lied to protect me.

This was all my fault. If I had not requested the visit with my sons before I left, this would not be happening.

"Why would you lie?"

I kept my mouth shut. He was so angry I could feel it radiate from him. I knew how to handle the cold, cruel Silas, not this one.

"If you won't tell me the truth I'm going to have to get it from Jude." He got his phone out of his packet and dialed a number before placing it against his ear.

"Don't," I murmured.

I didn't want Jude to face the brunt of Silas' anger. It had been my mistake that had unravelled Jude's plan.

Silas ended the call. "Answers. I want them now Avery. No more lies. Do you understand?"

His anger glittered in his eyes. He had never seemed more dangerous than in that moment.

I nodded slowly.

"You met Archer and Avery before you left?" He spoke the question with tight control.

Again, I nodded slowly.

His body stiffened. His eyes held mine. I felt so exposed that I let my gaze drop from his.

"I wanted to see them, just once." Even now it was hard to talk about that time without the emotion creeping into my voice. "I couldn't spend the rest of my life without seeing them at least once."

"But you had no problem abandoning them," he shot back.

"My life as a Sire has never been as simple."

He frowned as he crossed his arms.

"I woke up after having the boys having now idea what happened. All I knew was that after the boys were born I had been taken. I didn't even know if they had survived." I swallowed hard. Reliving those vulnerable moments were difficult.

"Talon was out for revenge. And then Thane was released." I took a moment to pull myself together before entering into the next phase of my trauma. "In this world I have less rights than a slave and I had no idea when I'm going to outlive my usefulness."

"Did you feel like a slave when I slid my mouth against your skin while you were pleading for more?" he asked.

I swallowed, remembering our nights together. His eyes dark and stormy.

"Did you feel like a slave when your cried out when you came when I was buried deep inside of you?" His words heated my cheeks.

I shook my head slowly. "Those were the only moments when I had felt truly free."

His eyes held mine. Anger still radiated from him but he was silent.

"What happened after Thane was released?"

"He tried to attack me again and I had to fight him off. And then I was sure they would continue to punish me but Jude saved me."

"How did he know?" His tone was cold, his control was back in place and that was more scary than any visible anger.

"He was convinced Talon would try and cause trouble so he had her watched. When she ordered more blood than she needed he became suspicious and broke into the house while she was out to snoop around."

He was so still.

I still got emotional when I thought about that moment Jude had found me.

"It's not like I left you. I never made the choice to leave. I was taken, against my will Silas." I tried to explain myself but from his distrustful glare I wasn't sure it was working.

"But after Jude saved you, you never came back. When you had the chance, when you were given the choice. You chose to leave us." He crossed his arms and it was going to be more difficult to get him to see why I made the choice I did.

I had done it for him and my sons.