It wasn't that far from the castle where Gavril had finally attacked us. It was like he knew and was waiting for us. I was cautious as we moved closer, fearful of another attack. But it never eventuated, obviously he had gotten the hint, I could take him on all by myself. When we arrived at the castle, I knew we were safe, I could no longer smell Gavril, I knew he wasn't around. The guards dealt with the van, now in its broken form, quickly disposing of it away from the property. Miranda had arrived with Terrance, waiting for us. We sat in the lounge as the maids fussed around with refreshments.

'I know you.' Mary says to Miranda.

'Melanie.'

'Miranda actually.' she says before she sips the tea in her hand.

'This is a rather long story, so settle in. But before we get going we might start with this.'

I change into Sophia, Mary and Dale sit there both shocked, turning to Ethan who turns into Oliver. Both of us change back to our normal forms. Both of them gasp, unsure of how it was possible that someone could change their features like that.

'My name is Josie; this is my husband Ethan. We are what is termed a dark being. Ethan is a vampire, I am a phoenix, a mixture of all dark beings.'

'Dark beings?' Dale says a little concerned.

'Yes, there are four forms, vampires.' I gesture around the room to the people that watch on patiently. 'Werewolves, shape shifters and witches. I contain all four of these beings.'

'But your sister...'

'Miranda is a phoenix too.'

'Are you going to kill us?'

'No. We are going to protect you from that man.'

'Who was that man?'

'So that you understand the complexity of it all, we have to take you back to the beginning.' Terrance steps out from the shadows.

'I am Terrance Waeston, head of the grand council for the Elm'Nyth realm or earth as the humans call it. Ordinarily our realm would be ruled by a king, nineteen years ago, it was ruled by a great man called Lucian Eliade. Under normal circumstances his ascension to the throne would have been with his father's passing, but the king had decided he wanted to let his son take over, opting for an early retirement. Lucian ascended to the throne and he and his wife Nicoleta ruled this realm with great love and care, no vampire wanted for a better king than what they had in Lucian. He was a fair man who gave without a second thought. He loved his wife and for many a year he and Nicoleta tried for a child. It was a sad story, Nicoleta was baron, an unusual trait for a vampire, we are naturally prolific breeders. But her incapacity to conceive was something that did not occur naturally, she was cursed by a rather nasty vampire. Anyway, a war that had broken out in the previous years between Lucian's father and the king of another vampiric kingdom was growing to a point that our maker could no longer stand it.'

'Sorry...' Dale interrupts. 'Maker?'

'Yes, Godfrey is his name, he is our maker. The average human or dark being is created by the natural course of events, procreation and birth but there are two that were not made in the usual fashion, they sit before you. Miranda was the first, created a few days after Elm'Nyth was made, she is as old as the earth itself, then there is Josie, who was created more recently.' he smiles at me.

'She was created by the maker and placed within a human mother. But that is getting off the track a little, Godfrey spoke with Miranda and told her to offer the kings a solution. Miranda would give Lucian and Nicoleta a child that they so desperately wanted and in return the child, a girl, would marry the other king's grandson. Everyone was happy, that was until the girl was born. There is a trait that the first born of the ruler receives, the ability to heal their own. It is not something new, it is as old as time itself this ability but Lucian's younger brother despised it. His own son was given no such ability and it angered him that his brother was shown favouritism. He especially despised the fact that his brother sat on the throne, not him.'

Terrance paced back and forth as he spoke, occasionally stopping by the fireplace.

'It was a dark day in our history, we do not have the proof of his involvement but we are positive that he has had a very big hand in it. Lucian, Nicoleta, their daughter Alina were being driven to a birthday party, to here.' he gestured around the room. 'Ethan was turning...' he frowned. 'How old were you, old man?'

Ethan chuckled at him.

'Two hundred.'

I could hear Mary and Dale gasp.

'Yes, young for a vampire, but still old.' he chuckled again. 'So it was not far from the border into this kingdom that the dark deed occurred. The brother was already here, obviously to maintain his alibi. A dark track, a gravel road is where they were set upon by an evil vampire, he drove stakes into the king, the queen and their driver, the princess was taken from the car. Miranda, Josie and Ethan happened upon the car, Nicoleta was still alive, barely alive but she held on long enough to tell them that Alina was still alive, taken by a vile monster.'

I could see Miranda wipe the tears from her eyes, it was a terrible day that I knew she wished had never occurred.

'Josie tracked them, found them, killed the two that had taken the princess and found her. Just as she was about to leave someone that had turned up at the residence, the brother. This is how we knew he was involved but still there was no proof that he ordered their murder, he could be just a minor player in the grand scheme of it all.'

Mary looked at me with a little bit of shock, she sat on a lounge beside a killer. I could read her mind; I knew she thought of me differently now.

'It was at that point that it was decided that Alina should go into hiding until her eighteenth birthday, when she could legally take the throne. Until that point we knew she would not be safe, she would not be safe even with her own kind, our maker had chosen a human couple to look after her, to watch her and raise her as a human.'

Mary gasped as the tea cup rattled on the saucer in her hands.

'Are you saying that Stephy is...'

'Yes, your daughter is our missing princess. Her true name is Alina Stefania Nicoleta Eliade. She is the heir to the throne of this realm. Your daughter is a vampire.'

'Well that certainly explains a lot.' Dale grumps.

'How so?' Isabelle questions him.

'She's a bloody biter.' he groans. 'Do you know how many times she has drawn blood?' he rolls up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing a lot of scars.

Terrance looks at me with raised eyebrows.

'I guess she really didn't wean off it.' I mutter.

'Sorry? Wean off it?' Mary says a little concerned.

'Josie and Ethan were placed into a task as requested by our maker, their duty was to watch over you, to ensure Alina's safety, to protect you whilst you raised her. It was fortunate that Josie was pregnant with Evangeline at the time, it made the bonding between your families a lot easier.'

'Evangeline?'

'Evie.'

'Oh.' she whispers.

'Now, back to tonight. We knew that Alina would be safe where she is, the king of Santrina has ordered extra security to monitor her every movement, we have no concerns for her welfare. It is in his interest that his son and Alina marry, he stands to lose his entire kingdom if they do not. Our concern was with you two, that is why Josie and Ethan remained at their other property to maintain their watch over you. Our sources close to the brother had noted that his movements in recent days had become rather erratic. There was not a single point in time where they could place him at any given location. We were concerned that he would make a move on you. And I believe, that is where you would take over Josie, fill us in on the rest of your evening.'

'I could smell him on the wind, I knew he was hanging around. I turned into a bug and checked out the area, found him in the tree across the street, outside Mrs Wilson's unit. He was in it, watching your unit.'

Mary looks at Dale, the concern in their faces was shining through.

'So Ethan and I bugged it up and entered your unit. That was when we appeared and I cast a spell on you to freeze you. If I hadn't, Gavril would have entered your mind, he would hear your thoughts, it would cause problems. We took you and found a van but we only made it to Greenacres before he caught up to us. That was where I took him on, I had no choice, he was out to get you. In his panic of the spells being cast he let his defences down, I entered his mind.'

'And?' Terrance says ever hopeful.

'Our assumptions are accurate. He has had a direct involvement in the ordering of the murders. He ordered Clinton and Hesreth to kill all occupants of the vehicle except for the princess. They were to wait at the unit for his arrival, she was going to be dumped into an orphanage. Obviously when he discovered them dead and Alina gone, he feared the worst, laid low for a few years. It wasn't until recently when the king of Santrina started to scale up the efforts to find Alina that he too started to look for her.' I frown as I think about it. 'Did you not tell the king that she was in hiding?'

'No.' Terrance mutters. 'That was probably an oversight on our part.'

'We should have.' Miranda adds.

'Well, you should make sure he isn't lax on the security because Gavril has figured it out, he was after Mary and Dale, his intention was to take them and hold them captive until Alina handed over rule of the realm.'

Mary and Dale both gasp.

'Where is Alina now?' Terrance says to Miranda.

'In the shifter realm.'

'Why?'

'Alex.' she mutters a little curt.

Terrance huffs as his fingers tap on the mantle of the fireplace.

'They were in the club.' Claude speaks.

'What do you mean?' Terrance frowns.

'They were in the club.' he repeats, this time much slower.

'Your club? As in for. you know?'

'Yep.'

Terrance looks at Miranda, the exchange between them was obviously going on in their minds.

'Do you own a nightclub?' Dale quizzes him.

'Yes.' I interrupt. 'Just a club, for vampires to relax and not have to worry about the humans.'

I could hear a collective sigh from everyone in my mind as Dale doesn't press the subject. Conrad frowns at Claude, clearly he was being told off in his mind.

'I think that it would be wise for Miranda and I to speak with Alexandru and prepare them for leaving as soon as possible. In the meantime, I think Mary and Dale should learn how to lock their thoughts. I also think it would be wise for their security team to remain close to them.'

He looks at me and instantly I know that my duties have just been extended to a holiday in Rostonin. Great.