“Yes, it’s a calling, a task, handed down through the Brassard side of your family. My grandad was one, my mother was one, I was one, and your mother. A long time ago a witch named Lucia gave us the gift of touch. It’s a strange buzzing feeling when you touch a paranormal, which helps us track vampires.”

“I have it. I call it my spidey sense,” Daisy whispered.

“That’s it.”

“Wait,” Daisy said, “is it the same Lucia that was Byron’s great-grandmother?”

“Yes, that’s her. A wise woman whose power for love changed the world and turned around the ethos of the Debrek clan. She saved many millions of lives because she loved Byron’s ancestor, Cosimo.”

Daisy rubbed her forehead. It was all too much to take in. “Was Dad a hunter?”

“Your father didn’t have the gifts your mum had, nor the necklace around your neck, but he believed in her cause—to protect humans from vampires who had no care for the life of a human.”

Daisy pulled the necklace from under her collar. “This?”

“That necklace stops you from being enthralled by a vampire. It was passed down through the family and helped and protected us in our cause. It was originally one of five necklaces, but they were captured, one by one, until that was the only one remaining.”

“Why have you not told me any of this before?” Daisy asked.

“When your parents died, I wanted to protect you. The Brassards had given too much to the cause. I thought if I didn’t tell you, then you’d always be safe.”

Daisy got up and walked to the kitchen window. She stared out, trying to make sense of all this new information. Her whole world had been turned upside down.

“You should have told me.”

“I know that now. I didn’t want to lose you, but obviously the power of destiny was too strong. You ended up studying the paranormal with your friends, and now…here we are.”

“You did this, too?” Daisy asked.

“Yes, I’m a Brassard, your mother was a Brassard, and now you are.”

Then Daisy had a thought. “The work you do at the Ministry of Defence. Was that a cover for you and Mum to hunt vampires?”

Her grandmother joined her at the kitchen window. “No. We—your mother and I—worked for a secret agency within the ministry. One that monitors and protects the public from vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, dark witches, and many more.”

“The government knows about this whole paranormal world?” Daisy asked.

“Not all of it. The agency has a level of secrecy that even the prime minister and their cabinet don’t know about.”

“Why doesn’t the prime minister know? That’s who we vote for.”