I smiled and said, "Good evening, Dad." "You little dem-" he started, but stopped abruptly when Valerian started up the lawn behind me."May I please enter the house?"I pushed past him and entered our house for probably the last time, I said, before he could respond.I said, "Good evening, Mom," to her.Her nose continued to run, giving the impression that she had been crying.Her face was tightly pulled back, and she was dressed in a white T-shirt and Dad's gray sweatpants.What have you done to him, exactly?She inquired.I felt my father's scorching breath on the back of my neck as he looked down at Balrus after coming up from behind me."Is that blood I see running down the front of his shirt?" I ask.My mother gasped as soon as he asked.After entering the house, Valerian slammed the door a little louder than was necessary, took a seat, and did not attempt to interfere with the conversation.It appeared as though he was simultaneously acknowledging that this was a family affair and r

"How long ago did all of this occur?"She let out a sigh and started shaking her head."Catelyn, there is nothing to be gained from—" "I am the one that decides whether or not I will gain anything from your answers, Mom, not you," said the mother.My tone of voice was even audible to my ears.It made a growl-like sound.She said, "Hundreds of years ago."“How old are you now if this happened when you were twenty-five, hundreds of years ago?”From his seat at the dining table, Sirius said, "Now you are just being rude."As he always did, he was scowling at me.I did not completely rotate my chin in the direction of his voice.He was not ignored by me, but I was ignoring him.My mother responded, "I am 578 years old."We did not live past the age of 25, but neither were we immortals in my coven.Due to the fact that I have lost all of my powers, I look slightly older than that.I nodded."Would you ever tell me anything if I hadn't asked or shot flames from my palms today?"I didn't think you

“Did you know that Eden’s family members moved out of the country only a few weeks after his death?” I turned to Valerian and began. He clenched his jaw and tried to ignore me. “His mother had been deceased for a few years now, but his father could barely go on after Eden’s body was found.”I was met with more silence and I didn’t care. I thought that if Valerian didn’t want some music then he could deal with me for the rest of the ride.“From what I heard, Eden’s father took to drinking, stopped eating, and began wandering the streets at night calling out for Eden. Kind of breaks your heart doesn’t it?”Then I muttered, “if you have one that is,” under my breath but loud enough for him to hear.Valerian took a deep breath, held it for a few moments, and exhaled it slowly. I smiled in the dark. My idea was working.“You know,” I went on, “there were several strange things that came up during the investigation after Eden’s body was fished out of that river. For instance, my interrogatio

He didn't respond immediately, but when he did, he said coldly, "I'm fine."After that, he got behind the wheel and started driving.He shut me out right away after putting on his mask once more.Again.I was almost moved to tears by it.What happened recently?This time, what did I do?How did he manage to do this so easily?Talk to me for one minute as if I were the center of his entire world, and then completely lose interest in me the next?Due to our connection, I was also experiencing his pain, and I felt his emotional withdrawal from me strongly.I could tell that the most recent attack had left him with more serious injuries.Before Ivan and the others arrived, Valerian had been losing to the rogue vampires who had snuck up on us and appeared to be stronger.The bone-deep cut under his left arm was bleeding profusely, and I could feel it.I felt his breathing as if it were my own and could feel the pain in his lower back.However, he had just excluded me.I turned around in my chair to face

I paused once more at his door, debating whether to knock or not.As I was putting my right hand on the door, I thought about the possibility that he was already asleep.As I thought, I started pacing and lowered my hand.I thought that today had been even more difficult for Valerian than it had been for me.I was aware that he had suffered multiple injuries and absolutely required rest.I decided that as much as I needed to talk to him, I would let him sleep if he was already asleep.I might sneak in and sleep right next to him to see if his eyes light up when he wakes up.Where did that originate?I shook my head and moaned internally.Catelyn, get your act together, I told myself.I exhaled slowly after taking a deep breath."You are aware that I can hear everything, right?"Empty air nearly caused me to vomit.Through our bond, he had reached out to me, and I could hear his voice sounding slightly amused.That was all he was hearing?I sighed.I wanted to hide forever and just go into a hole and