“Which is why I invited them here as well.”
The door opened and the Leclair family walked in. They had been noticeably absent from both the engagement party and other events my brother held.
The father came first, the daughters followed. There was a rumor about the second daughter being from an affair he had, but I had never seen her out in public. She had mismatched eyes and scars all over her body, and she never once looked up at Kyan.
“Mr. Leclair, can you please confirm?”
“My daughter made the trade,” he said, obvious disdain in his voice for the actions of his daughter.
“Charlotte?” Kyan asked with a sickly-sweet tone.
“That is correct.”
There was a pause before Kyan looked right at Atlas.
“Do you think I'm an idiot?” she asked, the smile never leaving her face.
The question was rhetorical, and obviously no one would actually confirm or deny.
Kyan looked around at all of us, waiting for someone to answer, but no one dared to speak. Then she turned to me, her eyes already red, a warning sign of how mad she was, before they finally landed on Vesper.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Vesper Monroe? I like the new look, by the way.”
Her voice was harsh, contempt dripping from every syllable. The last part was dropped as an obvious insult, no doubt because she knew what happened to Vesper. Anger boiled in my veins.
“As you can see, it's true. So we'll just take Vesper back—” Atlas said, taking a single step forward, keeping her head bowed.
“I wasn't talking to you,” Kyan spat, then looked back at Vesper. “They made a deal, you were transferred, and somehow you're now under Aurelia's care? What a coincidence.”
“It was a wedding gift,” Atlas offered. Kyan was getting angrier and angrier every time Atlas responded. “You know how the princess likes her toys.”
Kyan’s lips pulled into the slightest bit of a smirk.
“As does the whole vampire world. Vesper, do you have anything to say for yourself?”
I couldn't understand why she kept addressing Vesper. And I knew that with one wrong word out of her mouth, she would be hurt even more than she already was.
“It's as they said. I had no say in the matter. This was all a deal between them.”
Her voice was so weak. I could feel how much effort it took for her to speak. Cedar was feeling an immense amount of guilt, no doubt because she listened to us and stayed back.
“Were you unhappy with our arrangement?’
I tried to send her a wave of caution through the bond, as she wasn't looking at me anymore.
“I don’t know anyone who would like indentured servitude,” she replied, and panic grew in me.
A muscle in Kyan’s jaw twitched.
“Apologies for her crudeness. Vesper is?—”
Kyan stopped me by holding up her hand.
“Well, I do not appreciate her candor. But I will allow it. Once. Vesper, General Lee sent the body of your father along with you. It was actually in my mind to go after the hybrid vampires of your family. Now tell me, where are the other three?”
Her father?The pain coming from her felt like a punch to the gut. Her grief was now starting to make sense.
Vesper let out a growl and tried to fight the guards holding her, but it was no use.
