“I am telling the truth. It is up to you whether you choose to believe it or not.”

“Well, I don’t,” I said. “Holy Poseidon, if my dad ever heard this, he’d have an absolute heart attack.”

“Remember when you felt nauseated after you drank from the Golden Chalice?”

“What about it?”

“That’s proof that you are a Pure Royal.” Drake gave me a pointed look. When it finally dawned on me what he was referring to, a small smile crept on to his rough features.

As if in a trance, I whispered just slightly below hearing level, “Regulars can’t drink the Royals’ nectar or vice versa without getting sick.”

“As for your dad, you don’t have to worry about Jared Montgomery,” Drake said.

At the mention of my father, I started having my earlier doubts again. Just because I had suddenly felt sick after drinking from the chalice didn’t mean that I was a Pure Royal. Perhaps I had eaten something bad beforehand that could have caused a similar reaction. “What’s the point of all this? Why are you two grown men, not to mention Court Guards, trying to prank me?”

“This is not a prank, and Jared Montgomery is not your father, Avery.”

Sure, I looked nothing like my parents, and we had never gotten along, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t their child. There were many kids in the world who had no physical resemblance whatsoever to their parents.

He was silent for a moment then sighed irritably before turning to Officer Warwick. “Tell them to come in.”

I had not believed a word he’d said until the moment I saw my parents walking in.

“Morning, Avery.” My mom greeted me with a smile that I had never seen in my entire life. Then, as if she remembered something, she cringed a little and clarified, “I mean Camila.”

My dad, always the more practical one, only gave me a formal nod. “Lady Stavros. My apologies for not calling you by your title before now.”

Completely speechless, I turned to face Drake, beginning to wonder if I was the insane one after all.

“They are Special Court Guards, part of the Myrmidons, assigned to raise and protect you.” Drake pulled a document from my file. There were my parents’ faces and information. But their names were different: Nathan Hawke and Sera Lincoln.

Hawke and Lincoln! The names from the phone call. “I was right! You were the voice on the phone.”

Drake’s reply was a short bob of his head. The two people I had thought were my parents were not; it was shocking and unbelievable. I asked, “Why them?”

“They’re the best teachers you can get.”

“Teachers? You’re kidding, right? They’ve basically abandoned me my whole life.” Again, I avoided making eye contact with the two people I had spent my entire life believing to be my family.