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Chapter Nine: Secrets in the Blood
If someone told me I'd be sitting in the queen's private chambers, wearing a silk robe while my feet soaked in rosewater, I'd have laughed in their face and thrown a stale biscuit at them.
But here I was. Soft pillows, warm tea, and about ten maids fluttering around me like I was some kind of fragile royal egg about to crack.
The queen sat across from me, hands folded tightly in her lap. Her eyes studied me with that same haunted intensity.
"Felice," she began, "I've waited eighteen years to speak to you."
My stomach twisted. "Why do you say I look like my mother… but not just like her?"
She hesitated, then nodded to the maids. "Leave us."
The doors closed with an elegant click, and suddenly the room felt heavier. More secret.
She leaned in. "Your mother didn't just disappear, Felice. She fled. And I helped her."
My jaw dropped. "What? Why?"
"Because she fell in love with the most dangerous man she could've chosen. A vampire prince."
"…You're kidding."
"I wish I were. He was charming. Mysterious. Infuriatingly good-looking. And completely off-limits." The queen's lips twitched. "Your mother never cared much for rules."
"So… he's my—?"
"Your father. Yes."
I stared at her like she'd just told me I was part dragon too. "So that's the vampire part. What about the wolf?"
Her expression darkened. "That's the part I never understood. Elira was never bitten. But during her pregnancy, her body changed. Her magic twisted. She said she felt something ancient awaken in her."
"Like... inherited?"
"Or cursed. We never knew. And then, just after you were born, they came for her. People who wanted to harness your blood. Use you as a weapon."
My chest tightened. "That's why she ran."
The queen nodded. "I helped fake her death. But we lost contact after that. I thought you both were gone."
I stared into my teacup, trying to piece together a puzzle I never even knew existed. Vampire. Wolf. Witch. A bloodline I didn't ask for… but one that might just rewrite everything.
The queen reached out, placing her hand gently over mine. "You are your mother's daughter. Brave, rare, and dangerous in all the best ways."
I blinked. "That… actually sounded like a compliment."
"It was. But also a warning."
"Classic royalty."
She smiled through a tear. "You're not alone anymore, Felice. We'll protect you. But the world will come for you when they find out."
"Let them," I said quietly. "I've got a dagger, glowing eyes, and years of suppressed rage. I'll be fine."
The queen laughed.
And for the first time, it wasn't sad.
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