I felt myself gasping for breath.

Did he just say Elijah Lucia? As in, related to me?

But surely there were other Lucia's in the world, right?

I looked into the unmistakably blue eyes of the man in front of me. They were so like mine, so similar to the blue and shape of my own eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I hissed.

Ok, so maybe that wasn't the best response.

Cain--or Elijah--simply chuckled.

"I'm your uncle, Caley," he said.

Once again, the air was knocked right out of my lungs. You know in those cartoon shows, when the cartoon character's eyes bulge right out of his head? I'm pretty sure my eyes were doing that right now, if it were humanly possible.

"You're lying," I said, resorting to ignorance.

I couldn't believe that this man was actually my uncle, could I? I mean, I had no other family besides my mother and father. Where did this long lost uncle come from?

"On the contrary, I'm telling the whole truth," Elijah said, gazing at me with those blue, blue eyes of his. I shook my head.

"Mom and Dad said I don't have any relatives. They said they don't have any siblings," I said.

"Well, your mother was telling the truth," he said. "Your father, however, was lying."

I gaped at him.

He was related to my father? Of course he was. That's why he had the same last name. That's why he had the same blue eyes. But why hadn't my father mentioned him before? Why did he keep him a secret? Why did he lie to me?

I felt anger bubble up inside of me.

"Why didn't he ever mention you?"I asked, fighting to control my frustration with my father. It seemed like the list of disappointments he offered me was endless.

"Why would he? He hates me," he replied simply. I furrowed my brow at him.

"That still doesn't make any sense," I said. "Why does he hate you?" I asked.

"Well..." Elijah said slowly, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He intertwined his fingers in front of his face again and peered over them at me. "It could be because I believe in the very thing that he has spent his whole life fighting against," he said.

I realized just now how incredibly soft his voice was. It was almost soothing to listen to, so quiet. I almost had to strain myself to hear him. But underneath that gentleness was something that sent shivers up and down my spine. It made the little hairs on my arms stand up and goosebumps rise up.

"And what is that?" I asked. He smiled eerily at me.

"Dark magic," he replied, his eyes glinting manically.

I felt myself rise to my feet.

Dark magic? This was a mistake. What the hell was I thinking coming here? I should have known I was getting involved in something sinister when I saw the house. Hell, I should have known when I met Gerrard. Even he was the definition of evil.

"Leaving so soon?" Elijah asked.

"I don't think this is a good idea," I said. He raised his eyebrows, but shrugged.

"Pity, I thought you wanted to know about your mother," he said, standing up as well.

He rounded the couch he was sitting on to a table that had drinks on it. He poured himself a glass of crimson red wine and brought the drink up to his lips. I began to walk out of the room, when he said something else.

"Katerina," he added.

I felt my heart and legs stop momentarily. I turned to face him and he had a devilish smirk on his lips.

"How do you know her name?" I asked.

"Because your mother was one of our greatest assets," he replied.

I narrowed my eyes at him. What the hell was he talking about?

"What?" I asked.

"Ah, now she's interested," Elijah said to the two unnamed people that were still present in the room. The woman and man chuckled, their brown eyes glinting in the darkness of the room.

"Have a seat, Caley. Let's have a chat," he said, going back around and sitting on the couch. I hesitated, but took my seat again. I faced him, silent, waiting for him to tell me what he was saying.

"Do you know what the Trinity of Magic is?" he asked me.

I blinked, caught off-guard.

"The what?" I asked.

"The Trinity of Magic," he repeated.

I just looked at him, completely dumbfounded.

"I guess not. Honestly, what the hell did my father and your father teach you all at the God-forsaken school?" Elijah said, frustration appearing on his face. "This is going to make this a whole lot more difficult," he muttered to himself.

"What is?" I asked.

"You not knowing what the Trinity is," he snapped angrily. I sat back. What was wrong with him?

"Gerrard!" he called. I looked at the archway I had entered from and Gerrard appeared, his skin pale against the darkness of the room. The firelight illuminated his silver-blue eyes as he looked at Elijah.

"Yes?" Gerrard asked, standing next to the couch.

"Kindly take our lovely guest up to her room and explain what the Trinity is," he said, rising out of his seat. I glanced at his eyes and I was alarmed by how angry he was, considering how even and mild his tone was. I felt confusion flood my mind. Why was he so angry all of a sudden?

Gerrard pulled me up by my arm.

"Come on," he grumbled in my ear. His hand slid down my arm to my hand and he grasped it, pulling me forward and out of the room. I looked back at Elijah, who was standing by the fire now. The light from the flames danced eerily around his face, making him look manic.

Gerrard led me up a dark, spiral staircase that had a wrought-iron railing around it. I realized now that he still had my hand in his. I squirmed out of his grip and he glanced at me, an eyebrow raised. I ignored him and took to examining my surroundings.

The walls were painted with red and black stripes. On them were various paintings: a wilted rose, several portraits, a crest, a sword with a blood red ribbon around it that ended with droplets of blood. I felt a shudder run through me. The whole place screamed haunted and eerie to me.

Gerrard took me a room at the end of a hallway at the top of the first flight of stairs. He told me that there was another flight that led up another level, but that was where the Sanguine Circle resided. I decided not to ask what that was, because I had studied enough Latin to know that sanguine meant blood in Latin.

I entered the room Gerrard took me to and my jaw dropped. It was so completely different than the rest of the house. The first thing that struck me about the room was that there was no red in it. Instead, it was decorated entirely in a dark navy blue color, that matched the midnight sky I had been gazing a few hours ago, and black.

"This is where you will reside whenever you stay with us," Gerrard explained as I looked around the room. There was a large painting of a mirror and a white rose, whose reflection was a black rose. It creeped me out so I averted my gaze from it.

"So you're supposed to tell me what the Trinity of Magic is?" I asked him, ignoring what he said. There was no way I would ever stay here for more than a few hours.

Gerrard nodded and indicated the bed. I sat down and just as I did, I realized how tired I was. I yawned and looked at the head of the bed. There were decorative blue and silver pillows on the bed. I kicked my shoes off and climbed onto the bed, leaning against the plush pillows. I was slightly surprised when Gerrard took his shoes off, too and leaned against the headboard next to me. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Do you have any idea how much work it is to follow you around all day without being seen?" he asked.

I suddenly felt extremely self-conscious.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Well, it's my job to make sure you don't do anything stupid or say anything that you'll regret," he said. I frowned.

"You've been spying on me," I said. He nodded.

"It's for your protection," he said. "And I had to report back to Elijah. He needed to know what he has to work with," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"He needs to come up with a training plan for you," Gerrard explained, turning his head so he was looking at me. I noticed once again how incredible his eyes were. They were almost like Trey's.

Trey.

Trey. My boyfriend.

I turned my head away from Gerrard.

"Why is Elijah so sure that I'm going to buy into all of this? How does he know that I won't just run away after I find out what I want to know about my mother?" I asked.

"Well, for one thing, once you know, you won't run away. And for another, even if you did run away, you won't be able to," Gerrard replied. "Elijah has known about you since you were born, Caley. You won't get away that easily," he added, and the way he said it made it seem like it was a threat or a warning to not do anything stupid.

It alarmed me that Elijah had been watching me since I was a child. How had I not known? Surely I would have noticed if someone was following me. But until recently, I had no idea Elijah even existed. There was a lot I didn't know.

I had to keep remindng myself that I was here for answers and answers alone.

"So, are you going to explain to me what the Trinity is?" I asked Gerrard. He nodded and shifted so that the blanket we were sitting on was over his legs.

"Have you ever seen the Trinity crest?" he asked. I nodded.

It was my high school's crest, obviously: the branch, the sword and the staff. I relayed this answer to Gerrard.

"Yeah, do you know what they mean?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Well first off, the Trinity has been around for a really long time. Magic has been around for a while, as I'm sure you learned in your History class. But a government wasn't established in the wizarding world until after the Roman Empire fell. That's when wizards realized that an order was needed to keep magic in check. So the Trinity government was created. It was called the Trinity government because it balanced the three things that history had the most trouble controlling: magic, ordinary mortals, and peace," Gerrard explained.

"So the three parts of the crest represent the parts of the Trinity?" I asked. He nodded.

"The staff represents magic. The sword represents power, and the branch represents peace," Gerrard said. I nodded.

"I don't get why Elijah couldn't just tell me that..." I muttered.

"Because there's more to it than that," he said. I looked at him, crossing my legs and facing him, waiting for him to continue.

"You see, there are two ways that the Trinity can be interpreted: the way your father teaches his little angel disciples and then there's the real way it should be interpreted, the way Elijah teaches it," Gerrard said. I furrowed my brows.

"How does Elijah know his way is the right way?" I asked.

"Because, his way interprets that magic should be used to control ordinary human power. He thinks that peace can only be reached when the Magii Non are under our control," Gerrard explained, also turning towards me. "And it makes sense. If us Magi have magic, which is powerful in and of itself, why should we hide from the world? It should be the humans that hide from us. We shouldn't have to hide our magic and who we are," Gerrard said.

I frowned.

It made sense to an extent. But it was a little harsh. I thought back to my old high school classmates and shuddered at the thought of subjugating them under my control. I mean, they weren't my friends. I had no real friends until Trinity. But the thought of putting helpless human beings under my control was frightening.

"What's the way my father teaches it?" I asked.

"He's been teaching it the way all of your ancestors have. Using magic to initiate peace amongst the Magii and Magii Non. But not for power. Just to keep peace. Like the way things are now," Gerrard explained.

"What's so wrong with that?" I asked.

"Do you want to go your whole life unable to perform magic out in the open out of fear of a Magi Non seeing?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but didn't know how. He was right. What would happen after I graduated from University? Go on living my life in the dark and never be able to be who I truly am, a witch?

"Did my mother agree with Elijah?" I asked.

"Well, Elijah wasn't the one in charge back then. It was someone else. But this is as far as I'm supposed to tell you," he replied. I looked up at him, my eyes intense.

"Gerrard?" I asked. He looked at me and I found myself staring into a pool of blue.

I brought my hand up to the necklace Trey had given me for Christmas. I ran my fingers over the intricate patterns etched into the blue-green crystal. I felt a calmness fall over me instantly, as if the stone sent peace throughout my body.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you Elijah's son?" I asked. He looked at me, not answering, his eyebrows knotting together.

Just then, the door opened. It was Dominic. He took in what was before him: Gerrard and I leaning in towards each other, on the same bed. I moved away from Gerrard, who retreated also. We looked up at Dominic, who had an amused expression on his face.

"Elijah is asking if you would like to continue the conversation now or at a later time," Dominic relayed.

I blinked and realized how late it must be. I had to get back to Trinity before someone realized I was gone for so long.

"I think another time would be best. What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost 2 in the morning," Dominic replied.

"Shit!" I hissed, clambering out of the bed. I held onto my head as a dizziness took over. I was really exhausted. Dom grabbed onto my arm to steady me and Gerrard came around on the other side.

"Are you all right?" Dom asked. I nodded.

"I think I'm just tired," I replied.

"Elijah will contact you to meet again soon," Gerrard said. I nodded. "Come on, I'll take you back," he said, taking my arm.

Apparently, we had to walk outside to Transport. I felt the sickening suction feeling as we transported back to Trinity High. Gerrard had to steady me on my feet so that I wouldn't topple over.

"Are you all right?" he asked. I nodded. "Will you make it back to the school by yourself?" he asked. I shrugged his hands off of me.

"I can manage," I said.

"You better," he replied, his gaze stony. "Because if you end up getting hurt, it's my ass that Elijah will kick," he said.

"I'll be fine," I assured him.

"Good night, Caley," he said.

"Good night, Gerrard," I replied.

And then he disappeared into the darkness. I sighed and looked at the woods, preparing myself for the trek back to school.

It was going to be a long night.

_________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Wowza. Lots of information in this one. Next time she meets Elijah, she'll find out all about her mother.

POLL: Gerrard or Trey?

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