Like fuck you do she hissed at me and then gave the best show ever as I watched her storm out of the room, trying to remain dignified as the muslin cloth moved upwards. It inched up her legs, revealing the edges of her very fine arse. I couldn't help but grin.

'When you are finished with drowning us with your drool Ethan we need to talk about that.' Preston gestures to the doorway where she once was.

'What about her?'

'We need her on our side, you can't be letting her get like this, hating us.'

'So what then? Stop entering her mind? How else will I know what she is thinking?'

'Ask her.' my mother interrupts. 'Ethan, you want her to willingly bind to you, to let you give her children, you need her to love you and at this point I would doubt if she even likes you.'

'Well she is going to hate us all when I tell her that she can't leave the castle.'

'Yes.' my father says rather curt. 'Best get that over and done with.'

Josie is now fully redressed, the cloth laying on the back of the lounge. She is sitting by the window sill staring out to the garden. Sitting on the lounge I pat the seat beside me, she huffs and reluctantly comes over to me.

'I will start at the beginning, please listen, try not to interrupt. I will answer questions at the end, yes?'

She nods.

'The day that we met, I was at the park with Claude across the road from the medical centre you were at. I had seen you and there was something about you that I could put my finger on, something that made me feel different.' I take her hand where the pink mark is. 'You have a mark here, undetectable to humans, some dark beings can see them. I can see a feint pink mark, Claude however is much better than I, he can see it as red, very, very bright. Being this bright it means that a witch has cursed the human. We were concerned for you, because this means death. I wanted to save you and turn you to have as a mate so Claude set about making the formula to lift the curse. He enlisted Stella's help, she is a good witch, but there are some that are not. She wanted to know who you had managed to piss off enough to get yourself cursed, so that's why we had lunch, the book that you looked through, that's all the witches and their families in this area.' her eyes widen. 'The fellow that you pointed out is the husband of a particularly nasty witch named Kendall. Stella set about making the formula but after our fun in the shower and I saw the mark on your back and fed from you I knew you weren't cursed.' she looks a little puzzled. 'Cursed blood tastes very bitter, very foul. Your blood is sweet; it is the most amazing blood I have ever tasted. When I taste you, I want no one else.'

Her jaw drops in shock.

'When you and Montana went to town, Stella came around to show me the book of markings, to try and figure out what it was. She also mentioned that she ran into Kendall who was adamant that she had not cursed you. So we were back at square one, you were marked but we did not know why. That is why she brought Preston here, he is a stronger witch than Stella. She cast the spell to put you out so that he could examine the mark without upsetting you. A side note on this, your dreams, they are from the fear of dying of cancer, cancer that you do not have. Stop thinking you are dying and they will pass.' she frowns as she thinks about it. 'So, back to the mark on your back, he did the test, revealed who you are and then we discussed the mark on your wrist. Claude could see a red circle, Stella could see a white ring on the outside of this red circle, but neither saw what Preston saw. A gold inner circle. This means that you are preparing to breed.' she looks at me like I have two heads. 'Preston thinks that you have come here to have children, but it is a one-way path, where you have come from, you cannot return, you are bound to the earth forever. So, the kiddies thing, the other day when we were leaving the pub, Claude told me that a vampire was lurking close, I didn't want to lose you, so I marked you.' I tap my forehead. 'Glowing gold, my initials, my scent, marks you as mine, so that no other dark being tries to take you.' she scowls at me, squinting her eyes. 'Yes, I get it, it's wrong.' I roll my eyes. 'What I didn't know is that in doing that, I have made it so that you only have one choice for mates when it comes to breeding.' she looks like she is about to say something and by the look on her face, it's not good. 'Please wait till then end because there is more. I believe that you ran into someone yesterday when you were out with Montana?' She nods. 'Clinton is a particularly nasty vampire, who upon seeing you, will no doubt instantly know what you are. Our concern is that he will try to take you by force and impregnate you and trust me, you don't want that.'

Her eyes widen again, shock and confusion reign. 'It is therefore necessary that you remain here until you are pregnant and Clinton has been removed. We can protect you so long as you are in the castle. Now, question time.'

She thinks about it.

'Is that what you were doing in the hall, trying to get me pregnant?

'Josie, you have to understand, that man that my father was talking to, Hesreth, he is a werewolf, a good werewolf but still a werewolf. He knew who you were, he would have taken you, not by his own choice of course, but his evil side was taking hold. We weren't meant to come out so soon. I had no choice, I am sorry, I would have preferred to wait.'

'So, I'm pregnant?'

'Yes.'

'From one time?'

'Uh, yeah.'

'How do you know you hit the mark?' She squints at me.

'Stella and Preston did a chant.'

I almost forgot about her father, might as well get that out of the way too.

'Your father, do you know what he does for a living?'

'He owns a gun shop.'

'Anything else? Hobbies maybe?'

'He would go duck hunting.' She shrugs.

'Ever bring back any ducks?'

She shakes her head, thinking about it she frowns.

'Your father is a vampire slayer. He is the head of the biggest grouping of slayers. You cannot see him again, ever. This isn't just because of me, you are quarter vampire, he will hunt you too.'

I expected her to slap me, I expected her to yell but there was nothing. She got up from the chair and sat back down by the window, looking out at the window again. For the rest of the night she refused to speak to me, out of anger or hurt I do not know. I contemplated entering her mind, to know her thoughts but decided against it, if she knew she would be angrier. There was nothing more that could have been said, at least that is what I thought. She was still hurting from the hallway incident and now the revelation that she isn't human, she isn't dying, her father is a vampire slayer and she is pregnant to a vampire. Her mind would be swamped with confusion. I would have liked to have been more helpful to her or at least give her some form of affection but I knew it wasn't wanted at the moment. I could see she just wanted to be alone.