"No, no, no, no! Guards, contain the new members until Mr. and Miss. Ashford have left the room!" Haimon exclaimed worriedly.

The guards immediately took action and grabbed the vampires who surrounded me. My father and I were escorted out of the room to our chambers by Luke. We sat down in my room and I changed into my pj's in the bathroom.

"Can we please get out of this hell hole as soon as possible?" I asked my father, letting myself fall onto the bed.

"Just two more days, kiddo. We're probably not going to be allowed to leave the palace anymore anyway." He said trying to reassure me with a smile. "How about we watch some Indiana Jones tonight huh?"

"Good plan." I mumbled.

He got up and went over to his room to grab his DVDs. A couple minutes later, he came back with a big smile on his face. We sat down on two comfortable chairs and he started the first movie. The only thing missing was the popcorn.

"God, I miss Mr. Anders." I sighed, making him chuckle.

Saturday we stayed in the castle all day long while my father wrapped up the vampire part of the investigation. At last on Sunday morning, it was time to head back to the human kingdom. My father and I had packed our luggage the night before, which was a first for the both of us. We really couldn't wait to get out of here.

The limousine brought us to the elevator one last time. Haimon and Kenzo escorted us up and led us to the jet above ground. My father said his goodbyes, which were useless as we would see them again tomorrow for the choosing ceremony, and waited for me near the stairs. I nodded to Kenzo, narrowed my eyes at Haimon and said my goodbyes as well.

I plopped down in a seat across my father and the second the plane was in the air, I cleared my throat, catching his attention.

He raised his eyebrow and looked up to me from the magazine he was reading. "Yes?"

I leaned back in my chair, resting my head on my hand, trying to act casual. "Soooooo, now that you've wrapped up your investigation in both kingdoms, are we Team Jacob or Team Edward?"

He rolled his eyes. "I still have to wrap it up and I'm not going to tell you the conclusion."

"Fine, ignoring your inner investigator, what do you personally think?" I narrowed my eyes. "You must think something."

"What do you think?" He asked me in return. "You have great intuition."

I shook my head and smiled. "I see. Trying to distract me from my question with a compliment and another question. Good tactic."

He chuckled and I continued. "From what I've seen, the sneaky way the murder was carried out seems out of style for the werewolves, but the brutality of it does match theirs. The sneaking around is definitely something the vampires do, but they certainly lack the skill or technique to murder someone in that particular way. Both kingdoms certainly hate and suspect each other, so the option of them framing one another could definitely be a reality, although it seems more like a vampire thing to do. Obviously, I haven't had a look at the evidence you found during our weeks abroad, so this is just my observation and something you already know."

To be honest, at this point I doubted whether any of them had done it. The possibility of the masked man actually murdering them moved through my mind, he was still a strange factor in this whole situation. Next time I would see him, I had to get more information out of him.

"Good observation." My father stated casually, turning his gaze back to his magazine.

I raised my eyebrows. "That's it? You're not going to give me the tiniest hint?"

He turned to the next page. "Not going to tell you a thing."

"Why are you such a perfect upstanding citizen?" I sighed, looking out the window again.

"To make up for everything you're not." He laughed.

"That's fair." I shrugged, joining in on his laughter.

Refusing to sleep because I wouldn't sleep at night if I did it now, I watched a couple of movies. My father glanced over to me a couple of times, probably wanting to bring up my powers, but he let me watch my movies instead. Time flew by and before I knew it, we had landed in the human kingdom again.

Back in the land of the living.

Rain poured down from the sky as we left the plane, soaking everyone who didn't have an umbrella down to the bone. Foxglove motioned for us to hurry and get into the car, but the second I felt the rain on my skin I stopped in my tracks.

A satisfied sigh escaped my lips and I closed my eyes, turning my face up to the sky. It felt so good breathing in the fresh air while getting drenched in the rain. A shadow fell upon my face and I opened an eye to see Foxglove towering over me. He had moved from under the umbrella a maid was holding and was now getting soaked as well.

"You good, Sunshine?" Foxglove frowned, the corner of his lips slightly moving up in amusement.

"Never better, why do you ask?" I raised my eyebrows with water dripping off my face.

He rolled his eyes. "Let's get into the car before we both get sick out here."

The ride back to the palace was uneventful. Foxglove quickly briefed us about what had happened while we were away, which wasn't much. He informed us the werewolf delegation and its top ten fighters for the conquest had already arrived before us. It surprised me, they were supposed to arrive tomorrow morning along with the vampire delegation and their top ten, so I wondered why they came earlier. The human top ten was also in the palace already, so lunch was going to be busy today.

Speaking of lunch, I was hungry. I had barely eaten in the vampire kingdom because I simply didn't have an appetite there and I had lost some weight. Since I was already on the fit side, I wanted to gain it back again to prevent myself from becoming underweight. Upon seeing Mr. Anders in the dining hall, I gave him a big hug, making him wet from the rain as well. Out of everyone, I swore I missed him the most. He handed me a big plate of chicken pasta and I sat down with my father in a corner of the hall.

While eating my lunch, my gaze roamed across the space. A couple of men I didn't recognize were having lunch with the generals. They had to be the top ten fighters. The men had the same built despite having different ethnicities, every single one of them was tall and fit as fuck, with broad shoulders, short hair and a sharp jawline. I could pretty much see the eight packs hidden underneath their clothing and I frowned. It was like the generals had picked their fighters based off their pictures alone.

My gaze moved over to the other side of the hall, where the werewolves were seated and I raised my eyebrows impressed. Their top ten was looking good but alike as well, although that didn't say anything about their wolves, but if I had to guess, I would think that they would have chosen werewolves high in rank and power. Even though it didn't actually matter, Valerio was more powerful anyway.

I locked eyes with the 'Alpha of alphas', who was looking at me strangely for eyeing up his men, which for some reason made me snort and then choke on my pasta because I couldn't contain my laughter. My father burst out laughing at the sight of my struggle and when I was done coughing and choking the whole hall had gone silent with everybody looking at me. Mr. Anders and my father were desperately holding back their laughter, scrunching up their noses as they did so.

I shook my head, blaming it on the sleep deprivation and hunger, and bit my lip in an attempt to stop more laughter from escaping. "I think I'm going to go."

"Good plan. I have a debriefing to give." My father chuckled.

I brought my plate back to the kitchen and headed towards the door. Every general, except for Foxglove, had left already along with my father. Before I was able to leave, Foxglove swung his arm around my shoulder. "Not so fast, Sunshine, you're coming too."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I could feel multiple sets of eyes burning on my back. "Why is that? Debriefings are classified aren't they?"

"This one's about you, so I thought it would be best to have you there instead of you dramatically barging in with force." He grinned, some werewolves laughing softly as they were able to hear him.

Must suck to only be able to hear one side of a conversation.

"Taking the fun out of the occasion I see." I shrugged, following him towards the war room.

When I entered the war room, I was welcomed with the all too familiar glares of the generals.

"Why is that girl here? Hasn't she caused enough trouble?" Hemlock scowled, earning himself a dirty look from Foxglove and my father.

Guess not everyone was happy with my attendance.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my least favorite general. What's up, old man?" I grinned, crossing my arms. 

Foxglove nudged me forward towards my corner chair. "Sit."

He walked to his own chair and as I sat down I let out a deeply annoyed groan, catching everyone's attention. My lips immediately turned into a big, somewhat fake smile and I scrunched up my nose, tapping my fingers against each other curiously. "So, why are we discussing me?"

They shot each other multiple looks, silently insinuating they didn't want to be the one who had to say what they wanted to.

Foxglove sighed, disappointed he always had to speak up, and awkwardly cleared his throat. "Uhm, you're actually here so that we can, uh, thank you."

I must be going mad once again.

I blinked a couple of times, raising my eyebrow while I leaned forward in my chair, a grin forming on my lips. "I'm sorry, I think I misunderstood. Can you repeat that again? I thought I heard you say you wanted to thank me."

"Yes, we, uhm, do. Because of your specific actions, the blood farms were discovered and the humans who survived have been brought back to the human kingdom." He said hesitantly.

I truly felt for them, who knew how many generations they had been in there. Reintegration into normal human life was going to be extremely challenging, not to mention the trauma they will have. Something about the whole thing didn't sit right with me though.

"Actually, I had a question about that." I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

"Can't just take a compliment and be grateful for it, can you?" Mallory scoffed annoyed.

"Of course not." I shrugged.

Foxglove sighed again. "What is it?"

I stood up and started walking around the table, folding my arms in front of me. "I was just thinking about the fact that every kingdom has spies in the other ones, yet for some reason the blood farms weren't discovered for generations. To me, that seems kind of, odd.

There's no way it could have gone unnoticed all those years. It's almost like you knew what was going on and just let it happen because nobody called you out on it."

"Are you insinuating we purposely let them have these blood farms full of humans, girl?" Hemlock hissed.

I came to a stop directly across from him, placing my hands on the table as I leaned forward, looking him dead in the eyes. "No, I'm simply speculating. Don't be afraid to tell me if it's true though, after everything I've witnessed you couldn't stoop any lower even if you tried."

The men exchanged looks, before averting their gaze to the table, not knowing what to say or do. Even Foxglove was surprisingly quiet. I rolled my eyes at their stupidity, if I wasn't suspicious already, I would have been now. Staring at the men, I looked around, seeing who would break first. After a couple minutes of silence, someone did.

"I can assure you, we had no idea." Briar stated firmly.

Tilting my head slightly, I observed him. Cortisol was being released throughout his body, causing his heart rate to rise. His breathing quickened just a little bit and the tiniest hints of moisture on his skin were revealed by the light of the chandelier falling onto his face.

He was lying.

"Okay." I relaxed my face, appearing more kind, and stood up right, removing my hands from the table.

"Okay?" Foxglove questioned.

"Okay." I nodded, rolling my eyes.

"You're going to let it go, just like that?" He said surprised.

Of course I wasn't going to let it go, but I wasn't going to confront them now since it would be useless. I would use it against them when the time was right.

"There's no more reason to waste more of my time on you today, is there?" I sighed, my voice irritated.

"Well no, but -" 

"I'm going to go." I shrugged, walking to the doors.

"The epitome of manners and grace." Hemlock mumbled.

The doors were opened for me and I shot him a fake smile before walking through them. "You know me so well."

I got back to my room, sensing the hole was still in the bathroom, and chuckled. I just knew Mr. Anders had left it there on purpose. My eyes fell on a black box with a purple ribbon that was placed on my bed and I immediately became suspicious. Knowing there was no one around, I focused on the box to sense there wasn't anything dangerous in it, only fabric. I walked over to it and picked up the card.

'Buttercup,
Open the box tomorrow for the ceremony.
It has a black tie dress code, so Agatha made you something to wear.'

At least I didn't have to worry about what I was going to wear tomorrow, if it fitted that was. I was afraid it would run a bit too big now. I placed the box on an empty shelve in my closet and decided to go on a stroll through the actual real gardens. I sat down again on the same stone bench overlooking the pond and I completely zoned out. So much in fact, I found myself standing on the bloody burning field covered in bodies again.

Ah fuck.

I locked eyes with the marked man and instantly grabbed him by the throat, hissing in his ear before I lifted him up. "You and I need to talk."

A small grin appeared on his lips and I tightened my grip on his throat, suffocating him. As his breathing became fainter and his eyes turned inward, the earth started trembling severely beneath my feet. I released him, dropping him down on his knees where he struggled to catch his breath.

"And here I thought you were invincible." I tilted my head.

His voice entered my mind while he slowly got back on his feet again. "What do you want to talk about?"

I crossed my arms. "Multiple things. For starters, did you murder the king and queen?"

"No."

Although he was the shittiest guide ever and a gigantic pain in the ass, he was telling the truth.

"Great to know." I gave him an irritated thumbs up. "Second, what is going on with my powers?"

"Have you figured out the prophecy?"

"Obviously not. Otherwise I would be asking you these questions." I frowned, earning a glare and raised eyebrow from him in return. Sighing, I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I know it has double meanings and some of it has literally come to life multiple times, but I still don't understand most of it. Just like I don't understand my powers."

"Your real powers are yet to be unlocked." He stated casually.

I blinked a couple of times, waving my hands in front of me. "Hold up, are you saying the powers I have now are only the beginning? Like the tip of the iceberg?"

"Yes."

"Well fuck, what are my powers then?" I groaned, frustratingly throwing my head back.

"I cannot say."

My eyes rolled to another universe. "Of course not."

He was getting on my nerves with his constant cryptic bullshit, having him as a guide was like having no guide at all.

He looked at me blankly. "All I can reveal is that they are both mental and physical." 

"Tell me something I don't know." I glared at him, my voice laced with anger.

"Fine." He sighed and rolled his eyes. My sass was rubbing off on him. "I have multiple names, but you can call me Jorden."

"Well I'll be damned." I blurted out.

I opened my mouth to say something else, but before I was able to a hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality. Valerio was crouched down in front of me, both of his warm hands resting on my shoulders. I subtly glanced around me noticing I was still sitting on the bench, but I was slightly confused when I noticed staff members and guards were running around the gardens and palace.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Valerio's low voice boomed through the garden with a harsh tone, causing me to snap my eyes back to his instantly. I furrowed my eyebrows confused, which only made him more angry as he stood up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"A severe earthquake happens and you decide to stay seated outside on a stone bench surrounded by tons of rocks and other nature that could crash down on you at any time?"

"There was an earthquake?" I blurted out in amusement, putting together it had to have something to do with what happened on the field.

"A stone did drop on your head, didn't it?" He rolled his eyes. "Yes, there was an earthquake. A rare one since this palace isn't located near any boundaries of tectonic plates."

Now probably wasn't the time to tell him there was a huge chance I had caused it.

"Oh right! The earthquake! How could I forget!" I laughed, slapping myself on the forehead. "Must have been the shock, last time I encountered one was when I was little."

I had never seen this man so confused and I desperately held back a snort at the sight of him.

"We're going inside. Now." He grabbed my arm and dragged me along with him.

We headed for the chambers and he started talking about something but I completely tuned him out. I was too busy thinking about the marked man and what just happened.

"Jorden, Jorden." I mumbled, my speech being too incomprehensible for Valerio to understand as my mind raced over the name again and again.

No way.

Suddenly, it clicked and I came to a full stop in the hallway where our rooms were, yanking Valerio back because of the force behind it. My eyes widened in realization as I connected the dots and I knew I wouldn't get any sleep tonight as excitement ran through my body like it was on drugs. A big smile formed on my face as I shook my head and I was sure Valerio thought I was having a mental breakdown right now, but I couldn't keep the words from spilling out.

"Son of a bitch!"