Page 86 of To Vanquish Darkness

Oren’s jaw worked. “You said you’d be here in the morning.”

Amalie’s jaw dropped. “That’s what you’re saying to me right now?” He was alive. He was human. That mattered more than the fact that he’d lied to her again, didn’t it? She nearly choked on the rage punching its way through her chest.

Theo lifted his hands. “Let me explain.”

“Explain?” Amalie’s eyes burned. “Do you plan toexplainthis like everything else?”

Oren’s brow pinched, and he turned to Theo, his face flushing red. “You know my niece?”

Amalie laughed out loud, clawing her hands in her hair. “This is unbelievable!” She spun in a circle, searching for something she could punch or shatter.

Amalie whirled, her eyes filling with tears. She ran to Oren, throwing her arms around him.

“Amalie—”

“How are you here?” She squeezed him tight, and after he’d gotten over his shock, he returned the embrace. “Are the girls safe? Maurielle?”

“Yes, of course.” Oren pushed back, cupping her face in his hands. “Amalie?—”

“You.” Amalie rounded the desk, storming up to Theo. “You knew about this and forced me to stay behind?”

Theo rounded the desk, his eyes dark. “Knew about what?”

Amalie opened her mouth, but the words died on her throat. What had he kept from her? Oren was here. Safe and sound. She frowned, thinking back to Ren sitting outside her bedroom door. He’d told her that Allard was the name of the attacked Guardian. Had it been a mistake? Had he gotten the surname wrong?

Theo took a step closer. “Amalie, it isn’t safe for you here. The attacks?—”

“If there are attacks, then none of us are safe.” She looked between the two of them. “Why are we not taking the girls somewhere? Why is a vampirein our home?”

“Amalie, sit down.” Oren pointed to the chair in the corner by his bookshelves. The last thing she wanted to do was sit, but the room was beginning to spin. She’d traveled all day. She hadn’t taken a single breath that didn’t ache.

She did as he asked, her throat beginning to burn. Theo was there. Oren knew him. She’d been with Theo for days and he’dsaid nothing. She’d lived with Uncle Oren her whole life andhe’d said nothing.

Oren exhaled. “Your sister is well. Bethany is out back in the garden with Maurielle and my girls.”

A pang shot through Amalie’s middle. She’d been here. Standing in this very room, a ring dropped on his desk as proof that vampires existed. Now he stood here with one of them while the girls he was supposed to protect were out back picking flowers? Amalie’s chest cinched so tight, she could barely breathe.

Oren ran a hand through his thinning hair. “Theo has been working with us for years to protect the guardianship. Your mother made me promise—made me swear I wouldn’t tell you about our history until you were eighteen. I’m sorry—” His voice broke, and Amalie felt the urge to go to him.

She didn’t. “I didn’t realize ‘our history’ included colluding with the vampires that killed my mother.”

Theo’s jaw ticked. “We have protected the guardians since the beginning.”

“Who’s ‘we?’” She couldn’t take any more of his cryptic talk.

Theo turned to Oren, and something flickered over her Uncle’s face. Oren turned to her. “How do you know Theo, Amalie?”

“I tried to kill him.”

“More than once,” Theo muttered under his breath.

Amalie’s eyes flashed. “With yourpermission.”

Oren stared at her a moment too long. Finally, he turned to Theo. “You believe it is her?”

Theo nodded. “I know it.”

“Have you tested?—”

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