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Kenton sighed. “You don’t need to convince me. It’s done. I will never harm another of your kind. Alessandra, I’ve pledged myself to help protect your ancestors.”

But he wasn’t happy about it.

“For me. You did this for me.”

He opened his mouth and then closed it.

“I’d never have done such a thing if not for you,” he agreed. “But no, I did not do it solely for you.”

She waited for him to explain.

“It was time. When I saw Rowan standing there next to you . . . and then Toni explained that you value loyalty above all, and I thought back to the vows of loyalty and honor I took the day I was knighted. I swore to protect my kin, and for years I did just that, but I failed to protect the innocent, as you call them. Others like you who may never pose a threat. Some are not so innocent, mind you. Just as there are vampires, indeed humans, whose narrow-minded ways threaten all those who don’t believe as they do.

“But you, loving you . . .”

He shook his head.

“Rowan and Drake will hate me.”

“They are your brothers. They will come around.”

The look he gave her said otherwise.

“It matters not. It needed to be done.”

Her heart ached for him.

“I’ve always wanted more siblings . . . a big family.” She paused. “I won’t give up until they see things as you do. I refuse to gain two brothers just to lose them,” she vowed. They meant the world to Kenton, and for that reason, she had to help them understand. Even if one of them had tried to kill her.

“This bracelet . . .” She lifted it up, remembering Lawrence’s words. “It contains the stems of dried wild roses.”

She stood and walked toward him, holding out her hand. “Do you feel the ridges?”

The tiny bumps melded into the gold were easier to feel than see.

“I do,” he said, his thumb slipping from her bracelet to her wrist. He’d done it purposefully, but she’d not let his warm, clever thumb distract her.

“When Lady Isobel buried her husband, she laid wild white roses on his coffin. Those very same roses protected her children from being detected. The roses, or their stems, have only to be carried to ensure the safety of the Cheld. Which raises all sorts of questions about my father, to be honest, since we found a satchel of what I assume are dried rose stems in his belongings.”

His eyes went wide. “Alessandra, do you understand what that means?”

That her father must have known about the Cheld? It hardly seemed possible.

“Your father—”

“I’ve barely had time to process it. Garrett is doing some digging, but yes, I understand what that means. At least I think I do.”

Thomas Fiore had not abandoned his family. He left to protect them.

“You mother—”

“Cannot know,” she said, her voice firm. “Telling her about that particular discovery means I’d have to tell her everything.”

“And your plan is currently. . . what exactly?”

She frowned. Alessandra didn’t have a plan for her mother.

“Ok, so your mother remains in the dark, for now. But we still don’t know how your father learned about the Cheld or what prompted him to leave.”