I looked at the three of them.
“Where is your bathroom?” Blake asked Dad, and he pointed up the stairs. My eyes followed Blake as he climbed the stairs. He didn’t even look at me, just kept staring at the steps.
My gaze flickered back to Dad. “You speak another language?”
“Elena?”
“You need to tell her the truth, Herbert.”
“She is not ready for this, Bob.”
My arms folded as I listened to the two of them. My mind still didn’t know what to make of all of this.
Robert scoffed. “Yeah, and whose fault is that. What was the plan here?”
“What plan?” I asked as my throat became dryer than it was a few seconds ago.
“Why wasn’t I included in this one?” Robert ignored me.
“Because we didn’t know who was going to betray them. Last I heard, you were at the top of the list.”
Betray who?
“I would never have betrayed them. I would’ve died for them. Why didn’t you come back when there was no more threat? I’m sure Matt would’ve assisted you, and why the hell didn’t he tell you.”
Who is Matt?
“Matt doesn’t know.”
“What is going on!” I yelled. “Who the hell is Matt and what plan?”
A toilet flushed, and the bathroom door opened as Blake steps thumbed on the wooden stairs. It hit me. He was part of the plan. Did he even like me? I felt like crying, but I refused to cry in front of them. Even though the situation was okay to cry. For the love of blueberries, what was this?
My gaze flickered to my father as he stared at Blake and he spoke in Latin again.
Blake just glared at him.
“English,” I begged.
Dad didn’t listen and Blake didn’t reply, but the pumping of his jaws told me this entire situation pissed him off.
“Blake?” Dad asked, and Blake said a foreign word.
Dad answered in Latin, but the look on his face became soft and sad at the same time. It looked as if he was in pain.
Blake pulled out a dining room chair. His gaze locked on mine as he sat in the chair. My eyes flickered back to my father. “I need to know.”
“You are not ready?”
“I don’t care anymore. You need to tell me how you know the Leafs and what is going on here?”
“How do you know she isn’t ready?” Robert asked.
“Because I tried to tell her when she was ten. The plan was to train her for the last six years and then I would’ve taken her back so she could start at Dragonia.”
My eyebrows knitted. Training for what? Dragonia?
“And?”
“She didn’t handle it. Cried for weeks. I had no choice but to call Tanya to take it away?”
Who is Tanya? And what the hell was he talking about?
Robert huffed. “So she trusted the scaly bitch but not me.”
“She had a genuine bond with Tanya, Robert, you didn’t.”
Who had?
Robert pulled his hands through his hair.
“You haven’t answered my question yet. How did you find out?”
“I’m King Albert’s fucking—”
“Robert!” Dad yelled. He didn’t say that last word.
King?
“That is how I found out.”
“Dad,” Blake said.
“I told you to stay out of this, Blake.”
Blake looked away and folded his arms. He refused to meet my gaze.
I shook my head. All this time he knew, and I understood why his dad needed his help on this. He needed to get close to me any way he could to make this happen.
“You are coming back with us?”
Dad chuckled. “I hope you gave Fox that memo.”
Who the hell is Fox?
“How many?” Robert asked.
“Twelve that I know of. It can be more, and he is relentless. He already killed those who laid lineage to protect us. It’s only—”
“I met her. Why didn’t you phone her?”
Protect us. My eyes flickered to Blake. My heart was breaking as the picture became clearer with each word that left their lips.
“Because I didn’t want to put her life in danger.”
“She would’ve told you I’m looking for you. That I’m not a threat. You should’ve tried again and again.” Robert slammed his first on the table.
“Oh, and keep seeing the fear she has for me in her eyes. You might be all business about this, Bob, but that is my daughter.” Dad pointed at me.
“Can you two fight about the formalities later and just tell your daughter what is going on?” The words left Blake’s lips through gritted teeth.
Robert spoke in Latin again, and Dad’s gaze flickered to his. His eyebrows knitted.
“What?” Blake yelled and got up. He babbled in Latin to his father.
Robert said nothing as he stared at his son. He looked back at Dad.
“Fine, I’ll tell her.”
“Oh, we are not leaving your side, Herbert. This has strayed far enough. You are coming home.”
Home. Blake started telling me about home. That was what he meant?
“We don’t have resources!”
“You have the entire Paegeia at your call if you just opened your fucking mouth,” Blake yelled.
I jumped slightly. Why was he so angry? But he said a word that I knew. Paegeia.
Dad looked at Robert. “You told them.”
“I told them we need to sort something out that is crucial to Paegeia. That is it. Helmut is waiting. He’ll send more people to assist.”
Assist. “Paegeia?” I asked.
“You know about Paegeia?” Blake asked.
“Yeah, from stories my dad used to tell me. It’s a world hidden behind a magical wall, but that is it. I don’t remember the rest.”
Silence lingered.
The story was true. A place like that existed? I knew there was more, but I couldn’t remember it. Tears welled up in my eyes.
“What do you mean you don’t remember the rest? Bear, I told you about the princess and the Rubicon.”
“The what?”
“What did you do?” Robert asked Dad.
Dad shook his head. His gaze became glassy as he tried to think.
“Herbert,” Robert yelled.
“Tanya. She is close to Elena. She loves her, she must’ve erased more than what she meant.”
“Erased?” I asked.
“It’s because it’s Tanya,” Robert roared.
“Who is Tanya?” I yelled.
“Your mom?” Dad answered.
“She is not….”
“Robert, please,” Dad begged.
“What?” A tear rolled down my cheek. The revelations were too much.
“Let me tell her, please,” Dad whispered.
“Mom isn’t my mom. Then who the hell is my mother!”
All of them stayed quiet and the only person that looked at me was Dad.
“Speak, dammit!”
“Okay, let’s sit down.” Dad walked over to me and led me to the table where Blake sat at.
Robert took another chair as I chose a chair on the opposite side.
I saw Robert staring at his son, and Blake shook his head. He got up.
“Blake.”
He spoke to his father in Latin, speaking in a harsh tone, and left.
“Where is he going?” I asked.
“He needs air. This is difficult on him, Elena.”
I huffed. Difficult on him. How did he think I felt? He made me fall in love with him for nothing.
I folded my arms. “Who is my mom?”
“I’ll get to that, but you need to know first about why you are here. The reason we run every three months, Elena, is because of who you are. I made a vow to keep you safe until it’s time to go back to Paegeia.”
“Dad, Paegeia is a make believe world.”
Dad looked at the table. His shoulders slumped. “It’s not. It’s real.”
My jaw pumped. “Invisible walls don’t exist.”
“They do in a magical world?” Robert answered.
My gaze flickered to Blake’s dad. “Magical world?”
“Magic exists. Thousands of years ago, your world and our world were part of each other,” Robert answered. “Humans got greedy and wanted the magic all to themselves and started killing many beings that were connected to it.
“So we had to protect the magic we had by erecting the wall. You are human, but through your blood flows magic and the humans with the magic are what we call Dragonians.”
“Bear, you remember nothing?” Dad asked.
I shook my head.
My dad rubbed his face.
“So you tried to tell her?”
“Yes, I tried, Robert.”
“Too bad Tanya fucked it up.”
“Don’t. You do not know what she went through when Kate died.”
“She had a genuine bond, so I can only imagine, but it gave her no right to leave her. I would’ve stayed.” Robert tapped with his finger on the table.
“Yeah, and maybe that is the reason he didn’t tell you.”
“Who?” I asked Robert.
He looked at Dad.
“Your biological father,” Dad answered.
My gaze flickered to Dad. “What?”
“Nobody knew about your existence because of how important you are to Paegeia. Your parents ordered us to keep it that way until it was safe to take you back.
“But with Fox on our tail every step of the way, he drove us deeper into America and made it harder to connect with the news of Paegeia.”
“It’s not a reason,” Robert hissed. The vein in his neck pulsed.
Dad glared at him. “Every time I went to find some slither of news, he was on to us. I had no choice. It’s a miracle she reached fifteen, Robert. How, how was I supposed to get word to you and keep her safe? So I stopped trying to find news and just protect her until she is ready to go back.”
Robert nodded.
Dad wasn’t my dad. Mom wasn’t my mom. “I want to meet my birth parents.”
Robert’s face fell and Dad shook his head.
“You do not have a say in this. I want to meet them.”
“You can’t, Bear. They died protecting you.”
It hit me like a tidal wave, and tears pooled in my eyes. One rolled down my face, but no sound escaped my lips.
My lower lip wobbled.
“I’m sorry.” He touched my arm. “I tried to tell you the truth. You didn’t handle it and you loved my stories. The reality of it was just too much, Bear.”
I pulled away my arm. “Maybe I was too little. Have you ever thought about that.” I got up and rushed to my room.
To hell with all of them. I was just some project that they needed to keep alive. No wonder my dad didn’t take any of my feelings into consideration. He wasn’t my real dad. He was just someone that they ordered to make sure I didn’t die.
I shut the door behind me hard and fell on my bed and cried my heart out.
