"If anything happens to him, Dominik will pay for it. And I will make you watch," I threatened Ilona and I really meant what I was saying.

The mere thought of her putting her paws of Francesco made my blood boil. I didn't really care if he acknowledged being mine. I knew he was anyway. I was feeling more and more possessive towards him. The alpha just nodded in agreement. A mix of fear and defiance in Francesco's eyes made my heart skip a bit.

Tomek looked a bit dazed, so I took him by the hand, and guided him into the portal, motioning for Lily to follow us. We entered into a whirlwind of colors, for a moment blinded by the teleportation magic. When we could see again, we were in a richly decorated, kind of medieval looking chamber. The layer of dust on the floor and furniture told me nobody was here in a very long time. That was good – maybe we had a chance of staying unnoticed. Tomek was pale and Lily looked thoroughly drained, as if she was going to faint any moment.

I looked out through a high, gothic window. From what I could see we were in a stone castle – the view here was onto a square courtyard, generously covered in snow. There was a huge, round tower on its opposite side, that I guessed was the prison we were looking for. Then I checked the door – they were made of thick wood, so listening through them didn't have much sense. I pushed them ajar and looked into the corridor. It was poorly lit with some kind of blue torches – probably magical. Or maybe LED, I have no idea how much tech the witches possessed.

Thankfully the corridor was empty. We quietly traversed it in the direction of the tower, just hoping that we won't meet anybody on the way. I wasn't really keen on confronting the Cabal if I could avoid it. And from what I gathered we were about to steal their most precious prisoner. I doubted they would be glad to meet us.

The hallways were empty and dusty, as if they've been deserted a long time ago. Our steps were echoing slightly, but we didn't attract anybody's attention. I rubbed my fingers – there were still traces of Tomek's blood on them. I concentrated on them, trying to make the blood call to its kin. With a force I wasn't expecting the vision crashed into my mind.

I saw the platinum haired woman in an intricate gown walking through a corridor much like the one we were in right now. A gilded sculpture of a goat adorning the wall caught my eye for a moment. The woman walked past it and stopped before a massive door without any evident lock. She lightly touched one of the stones on its left side and the door opened with a quiet screech.

In the room, looking like a study or a library, there was a man, sitting at a desk and inspecting an old book. At the sound of the door opening he looked up and I saw his face. He was the same man I've seen in my visions earlier – I presumed it was Tomek's father. There was a flash of hatred mixed with fear in his perfectly blue eyes. That was enough for me to locate Robert, but the vision wasn't ending.

The woman, I guess it was the Regina, approached Robert with a cold smile. He stood up abruptly and backed a little.

"We'll have to try again," I heard her say.

This time there was sound in the vision. He protested but she extended her right hand and he was lifted into the air. Through an open door between the bookcases she threw him onto a huge bed with a canopy on carved, wooden posts. Magical chains appeared and bound his arms and legs to the bed.

At this point I was trying hard to stop the vision. I so didn't want to see her take Robert by force. I was left no choice in that matter – I watched it all, until her going out of the room and locking back the door with one light touch to the nondescript stone in the wall. Robert was finally alone, bruised and broken, curling on the bed, tears silently flowing down his cheeks.

I came to my senses with a gasp. Lily and Tomek were asking me what happened, but what was I to tell them.

"I think I know where your father is," I managed to say looking at Tomek.

The images of Robert were still burning in my mind – I tried to push them away as best I could.

I was right – soon we found the golden goat statue and the door without a lock. I instructed Tomek to touch the stone on the left, praying silently that my vision was of the past and not of the current events. I held my breath when the door opened and we could see inside the study. Thankfully Robert was sitting at his desk. When he looked at us utterly surprised I noticed black circles under his eyes.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Robert was the first one to break the silence.

"Father?" Tomek asked gingerly, blush coming to his cheeks.

"Tomek?" the disbelief mixed with fear rang in the wizard's voice. "They caught you?" there was a ring of despair in his question.

"No, I, we... came to get you out of here," the boy stuttered.

"Rescue me? How did you even know where to find me? And why on earth would you be looking for me in the first place?" the handsome mage was baffled.

The parasite's power kicked in and I started realizing how attractive this man was. Shit, this wasn't the time for this. Especially not towards him. Not after what I've seen.

Despite the urgency of the situation I kept my mouth shut, leaving the explanations to Tomek. This was a family matter. I was busy fighting my growing lust anyway. I wished Francesco was here – it seemed that his presence kept me focused on wanting only him. I concentrated on breathing slowly in and out, as the two men discussed the current predicament. I barely registered their tears and embraces of the unexpected reunion.

By the time I finally got my passion under control Robert has already been filled in on the state of the world and why we needed him.

"I wish I could help you, but I'm powerless. The Cabal blocked all my magic with a spell that could be undone only by a mage of the highest order."

I remembered the vision of him being branded with the hot iron – that must have been the moment his power was locked.

"You have to become a real wizard yourself, Tomek. I have the book describing the ritual needed to save your sister, but you'll have to come to your full power to perform it", I heard Robert explain.

"You can teach me how to do it," the lad seemed eager to embrace his nature.

"Unfortunately I can't. I cannot leave this place – there's a powerful spell keeping me here," the wizard said quietly, sorrow echoing in his voice.

"But I opened the doors," Tomek almost exclaimed.

"The lock is only meant to keep non magical servants out of this room. But to make sure I stay here Regina used an imprisoning enchantment that would still be in effect even if the whole castle went down," Robert said bitterly.

"I won't leave you here!" the lad cried out.

"It's all right. They feed me well, I have my books. I can wait for you to learn what you need," the wizard tried to sound lightheartedly.

My stomach quenched at the memory of his suffering here – his bravery and resolve were stunning.

"And there's something else you need to do anyway," Robert didn't give his son time to worry. "Your magic is blocked by the other part of your nature. You need to embrace the dark arts."

That surprised everyone. Lily gasped. A necromancer could enslave a vampire with their blood – I don't blame our little red head for being moved.

"Black arts? But how...? And why", Tomek started blabbering.

"Your mother comes from a line of powerful necromancers. She didn't want to practice them though, so when she got pregnant for the first time she decided to cut the ties with her family," Robert explained. "Irena didn't want her children to be necromancers and her relatives respected that. But now this blood is blocking your magic. And it's probably also the cause for your blood not being potent enough for the cure. You need to find your aunt Cecylia. She'll help you with unlocking the power," Robert was trying to be as clear as possible.

Tomek was speechless.

'Where should we start looking for this Cecilia? I know it's been twenty years since you walked our world and there's been a bit of an apocalypse since, but we'll have to begin somewhere anyway," I said.

"When Irena got pregnant she offered to move out of town to get away from her necromancer sister. But Cecylia said it'd be easier for her to change the place and she moved to Torun. I heard that she posed as a vampire hunter at first and managed to trick a master vampire into drinking her blood. I wonder if she still keeps Cornelius as her pet," Robert answered.

"Holy fuck! That Cecylia is your aunt?! The fucking necromancer bitch that rules the whole Torun underground? The one that keeps enslaved vampires as trophies, showing off her power?" there was surprise and disgust in Lily's voice.

Tomek looked at her slightly dazzled.

"Great, then you know where we can find her!" I said, earning an angry look from the redhead.

She didn't say a word though. I was about to tease her a bit more, when her eyes lost focus and she collapsed on the floor.

Tomek ran to her and tried to get her to look at him, but she was unconscious.

"Did she drink your blood before you came here?" Robert asked suddenly.

"Yes, but why does it matter?" Tomek answered not turning back to his father.

"That's what I thought. Only because of your blood she was able to enter through the witch's portal. But she used all her energy on doing so. I'm surprised she didn't collapse at the entrance. She needs fresh blood before she slips into a coma," Robert explained.

"I'll let her drink," Tomek was quick to offer.

"No, the passage took its toll on you too, son," Robert approached Lily. "She should drink from me. It's not like I need much energy to do anything here," he smiled and I again was left in awe of his bravery and dedication to his child.

Not waiting for anyone to stop him, he knelt beside Lily, opened her mouth and cut his left wrist on her fang. As first droplets of blood fell on her tongue, her eyes glowed with intense red light and she began sucking violently.

Robert gasped but didn't back off. I watched him carefully and called out to Lily to stop, as soon as I noticed him getting weaker. Thankfully I didn't have to use force this time – the vampire regained control over her thirst and let go of the wizard's hand. Tomek helped him to his chair and I took care of Lily. She was almost radiant – the power of full royal blood burning in her veins.

"Wow! That is out of this world," she managed to say.

"Thank you," she turned to Robert. "I hope I didn't hurt you... too much," she added, a bit ashamed.

"It's all right. Your self-control is formidable," Robert responded with a faint smile. "I was expecting a bit of a fight to get you off me," he joked, despite his paleness betraying how much he was exhausted.

Not wanting to concentrate on this subject, I asked "While we're here we need to find a werewolf, that used an alpha's pass to teleport to the Cabal's hideout. And we need to get him out."

"I guess he'd arrive at the guard post, where he would be checked by protection spells. If he's not a rightful owner of the pass, then he'd end up in a cell, for further inquiry. The Cabal is never in a hurry... so he's probably still alive and waiting for any of the witches to look into his story." Robert's explanation gave me hope. "And for getting out of here... There should be a one way portal in the guardhouse. If they didn't change it, and I highly doubt they did, it should get you to the alpha of the wolf pack that used to be serving the Cabal. I have no idea who that is now or where he might be," the wizard added. That was perfect. Now we only needed to find Dominik.