When they got to the end of the alley, one of the Debrek limos pulled up, and Byron, Alexis, and some of her guards jumped out.

Byron gave Sera a hard stare, and said coldly, “Amelia, get in the car.”

Amelia’s anger was already at boiling point, and now Byron was ordering her around like a naughty child. She got in the car and slammed the door, her anger simmering. Out the window she saw Byron giving Sera an angry lecture. Byron got in the car, and Sera got into the car behind with some of the other guards.

Byron never looked at Amelia, and Amelia never said a word. Her mind was a mixture of anger and confusion. Anger at Byron, and to a lesser extent, Sera, at the way they were ordering her around. The Debrek family was strange and dangerous, and there was a big part of Byron that she was hiding behind a façade, and Amelia didn’t know if she could live with it.

* * *

When they got back to the house, Amelia ran upstairs to their room without saying a word or looking back at Byron.

Alexis got out and opened her door. “What are you going to do, Principe? She’s seen things she shouldn’t.”

“What I always do, Alexis. Put the needs of my clan first.”

She walked upstairs with a heavy heart and knocked on their bedroom door. When she received no welcome, she walked in and found Amelia standing by the window, looking out absently.

“Amelia, we need to talk about what happened.”

Much to her surprise, Amelia spun around with a look of fury on her face. “Yes, we do need to talk, and talk now. Why are people trying to harm you and your family? How can Sera fight like she did? She was so fast and so strong—fighting off those people was easy for her, not to mention your bodyguard, Bhal, who wields a medieval looking sword like some kind of ancient warrior. It’s crazy. Everything about your life is strange and you are not telling me the truth.”

This was what Byron was frightened of—Amelia finding out some of the things she was hiding for her own protection. But if she thought those things were strange, what would she think of the fact Byron and her family were immortal vampires?

Maybe she can’t handle the truth, Byron thought sadly. She walked over to Amelia and cupped her cheek, but Amelia batted her hand away.

“No, Byron. I need answers. I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to work out all these strange little things about you, and about everyone around you. Where do you disappear to all the time? It can’t be business every time. We get close, you run, and then come back to me as if you were high almost. Are you into drugs?”

“Amelia, please, don’t be—”