CHAPTER 22: THE UNEXPECTED VISITOR

CHAPTER 22: THE UNEXPECTED VISITOR

AMBER'S POV

The voice came from upstairs.

One word.

One terrifying word.

"Mine."

My entire body went rigid.

Steele was already standing in front of me, his body tense and his eyes glowing gold.

Elena stepped backward.

"Stay behind Steele," she whispered.

I frowned.

"Why?"

"Because whoever is upstairs isn't human."

I almost laughed.

"At this point, I don't think that's surprising anymore."

Steele glanced at me.

"This isn't funny."

"I know."

The house suddenly became silent.

Not the peaceful kind of silence.

It was the kind that made every instinct in my body tell me that something was watching.

Then came the sound of footsteps.

Slow.

Deliberate.

Someone was walking down the stairs.

I couldn't see him yet, but Steele could.

His eyes remained fixed on the staircase.

"Who is it?" I whispered.

He didn't answer.

"Steele."

"Don't speak."

I rolled my eyes.

Even now, he was still giving orders.

But this time, I listened.

The footsteps stopped.

A man appeared at the top of the staircase.

He was tall, dressed in a black coat, with dark hair falling slightly over his forehead. His face was unfamiliar to me, yet there was something about his presence that made my chest tighten.

He looked at Steele first.

Then Elena.

Then me.

His gaze stopped at my neck.

The strange symbol beneath my skin burned immediately.

I gasped and covered it.

The man's expression changed.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

"So it is true," he murmured.

Steele stepped forward.

"Who are you?"

The man smiled.

"After all these years, that's the first thing you ask?"

Steele's eyes narrowed.

"Answer me."

The stranger slowly walked down the stairs.

"You haven't changed."

"Neither have you."

That made me look at Steele.

They knew each other.

Again.

Another person from his past.

Another secret I knew nothing about.

I was beginning to feel like everyone in this supernatural world had already read the script except me.

The stranger reached the bottom of the stairs.

He looked at me.

"You have her eyes."

I clenched my jaw.

"Everyone keeps saying that."

"Because everyone who knew her remembers."

"Who?"

He smiled.

"Anna."

My chest tightened.

"Of course."

Steele moved between us.

"Leave."

The stranger chuckled.

"You still think you can order me around?"

"I can."

"And you still believe protecting her will change what happened."

Steele's expression hardened.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about."

The stranger's gaze shifted to me again.

"You want answers, don't you, Amber?"

"Yes."

"Then ask."

I looked at Steele.

He shook his head.

"Don't."

I ignored him.

"Who are you?"

The man smiled.

"Lucian."

The name sent an inexplicable chill through me.

I had never heard it before.

Yet somehow, it felt familiar.

"Are you a vampire?"

Lucian laughed softly.

"No."

"Then what are you?"

"Something you don't need to worry about."

"That's getting old."

His smile widened.

"You really are her daughter."

Steele's eyes flashed.

"Enough."

Lucian looked at him.

"Why are you afraid of her knowing?"

"I'm not."

"Then let her ask."

Steele remained silent.

I crossed my arms.

"Fine. I'll ask."

I looked at Lucian.

"What happened twenty-two years ago?"

His expression changed.

For the first time, the amusement disappeared from his face.

"Your mother knew the plane would be attacked."

My heart sank.

"She knew?"

"Yes."

"Then why did she get on the plane?"

"Because she had no choice."

"What do you mean?"

Lucian took another step toward me.

"Anna wasn't running from them."

"Who was she running from?"

"Everyone."

I frowned.

"That doesn't make sense."

"It will."

Steele suddenly spoke.

"Lucian, leave."

Lucian looked at him.

"You should tell her."

"I said leave."

"And how long are you planning to hide the truth?"

Steele's jaw clenched.

"Until I know what happened."

"You had twenty-two years."

The words struck him.

I could see it in his eyes.

Twenty-two years.

The same amount of time I had spent searching for answers.

"Wait."

I looked at Lucian.

"You were there?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"I was supposed to be there."

Steele's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

Lucian smiled bitterly.

"But your mother made sure I wasn't."

I stepped closer.

"Why?"

"Because she knew what would happen if I went."

"Would you have killed her?"

"No."

His voice became cold.

"I would have killed everyone else."

The room fell silent.

I stared at him.

"What are you?"

Lucian looked at Steele.

"Ask your protector."

Steele didn't answer.

I turned toward him.

"Steele."

He sighed.

"He's not a vampire."

"That much I've figured out."

"He's a hybrid."

Lucian smiled.

"Still keeping things simple, I see."

"What kind of hybrid?"

Steele's expression remained guarded.

"One of the rarest kinds."

Lucian's eyes flashed crimson for a moment.

"I'm a wolf with vampire blood."

My mouth fell slightly open.

I had already learned about werewolves.

I had met vampires.

Now I was looking at something that was both.

"That's possible?"

"Apparently," Lucian said.

"Why does everyone know my mother?"

Lucian's smile disappeared.

"Because Anna was not ordinary."

I swallowed.

"Neither am I, apparently."

He looked at the mark on my neck.

"No."

His voice became quieter.

"You are much more dangerous."

Steele immediately turned toward him.

"Don't."

Lucian ignored him.

"Your mother carried a bloodline that had been thought extinct."

I frowned.

"What bloodline?"

"The bloodline of the First Wolf."

I stared at him.

"The what?"

Elena gasped.

Steele looked at her.

"Elena."

She lowered her gaze.

Lucian continued.

"Long before our clans had names, there were creatures who could cross the boundaries between species. They could heal like wolves, move like vampires, and possess abilities neither side could understand."

"Your mother was one of them?"

"No."

He looked directly at me.

"Your mother carried their blood."

My heart pounded.

"Then why was she killed?"

"Because the Black Shadow believed her blood could be used to create something powerful enough to destroy the balance between our kinds."

"What?"

Lucian didn't answer immediately.

Then he looked at my neck.

"The seal."

My fingers moved toward the mark.

"You said this isn't Anna's."

"It isn't."

"Then why do I have it?"

"Because Anna placed it on you."

I froze.

"What?"

"She knew they would come for you after she died."

Steele closed his eyes.

I looked at him.

"You knew."

He opened his eyes.

"Not everything."

"You knew she put the seal on me."

"I suspected."

I felt anger rising.

"How could you keep this from me?"

"Because knowing too much would have made you a target."

"I was already a target!"

My voice echoed through the room.

"You keep saying you're protecting me, but everyone around me keeps lying!"

Steele's face hardened.

"We were trying to keep you alive."

"And now?"

He looked at me.

"Now they know you're alive."

I stared at him.

The words felt heavier than anything else.

Lucian slowly walked toward me.

"There's something else you need to know."

Steele stepped forward.

"No."

Lucian looked at him.

"You can't stop this anymore."

I turned to Steele.

"Let him speak."

He hesitated.

Then stepped aside.

Lucian looked at me.

"The mark isn't only a seal."

"What is it?"

"It's a key."

My stomach dropped.

"A key to what?"

"To the place where Anna hid the truth."

I stared at him.

"Where?"

Lucian smiled faintly.

"That's the problem."

He pointed toward my neck.

"Only you can find it."

I touched the mark.

"How?"

"Your blood will remember."

I shook my head.

"That makes no sense."

"It will when you see the memories."

"What memories?"

Lucian's eyes darkened.

"The ones your mother took from you."

My heart stopped.

"What?"

Steele suddenly moved.

"That's enough."

He grabbed Lucian by the collar.

But Lucian didn't fight back.

Instead, he looked amused.

"You can't hide it forever, Steele."

"I know."

"Then tell her."

Steele released him.

I stared at Steele.

"What memories did my mother take from me?"

He looked away.

"Your mother didn't take them."

"Then who did?"

Silence.

I stepped toward him.

"Steele."

He finally met my eyes.

"You did."

I felt as though the floor disappeared beneath me.

"What?"

"After the crash, you were dying."

I couldn't speak.

"You were unconscious. Your mind was unstable. You remembered things you shouldn't have remembered."

"Things about Anna?"

"Things about our world."

"And you erased them?"

"I had to."

My eyes burned.

"You erased my memories?"

"To protect you."

"You had no right!"

"I know."

His voice was unusually quiet.

"But I would make the same decision again."

I stared at him.

The anger in me battled against something else.

Something I didn't want to acknowledge.

He had saved me.

Twenty-two years ago.

He had saved me again at the school.

At the villa.

And now he was standing in front of me, willing to become the person I hated if it meant keeping me alive.

I didn't know whether to forgive him or hit him.

Maybe both.

Lucian suddenly looked toward the window.

His expression changed.

"They're here."

Steele immediately turned.

"Who?"

"Black Shadow."

Elena moved toward the curtains.

"How many?"

Lucian smiled.

"Enough."

A distant howl echoed through the forest.

Then another.

Then several more.

Steele's eyes turned gold.

"Amber, stay here."

"No."

He looked at me.

"This isn't a discussion."

I stepped beside him.

"I'm tired of being protected while everyone else fights for my life."

"Amber—"

"If they're coming for me, then I want to know why."

Lucian smiled.

"That's the spirit."

Steele glared at him.

"Don't encourage her."

The windows suddenly shattered.

Dark figures moved through the trees outside.

Steele's expression became deadly.

He looked at me one last time.

"Whatever happens, don't remove the mark."

"Why?"

"Because if you do..."

He paused.

"...they won't be hunting you anymore."

I frowned.

"What will they hunt?"

Steele looked into my eyes.

"You'll become what they're afraid of."

Before I could ask what he meant, a massive howl shook the entire house.

The front door exploded inward.

And a voice from the darkness called my name.

"Amber."

I froze.

I knew that voice.

It was the voice from my dreams.

The voice that had whispered to me since childhood.

The voice of the man I had never seen.

The voice that had always followed the memory of my mother's death.

"Amber..."

Steele moved in front of me.

Lucian's eyes turned crimson.

Elena backed away.

Then the voice spoke again.

"Your mother promised she would give you to me."

My blood turned cold.

And for the first time, I realized the mystery I had spent twenty-two years trying to solve was never about discovering who killed my parents.

It was about discovering who had been waiting for me to grow up.