"Oh, cut the crap," said Andra, flashing her card to the server and wordlessly pointing at the drink she wanted, signing the word 'please' in American Sign Language to place the order. "This is getting so old and so pathetic. It's been a thousand years. Yes, your stepson killed his mother after she enabled you to abuse him and then locked away a part of him he only had because she cheated. Yes, he lied to your kids about it and turned them against you but they found out and are stillsticking by him. Face it, Mikael, it's time to get over it!"

She slammed her hand down on the table when he made to leave. "I am not done! Nobody is going to help you kill Klaus, least of all your kids! You have not managed to kill him in a thousand years despite numerous opportunities to do so. I found him for you a million times and you still couldn't kill him! You couldn't even successfully convince your kids to turn against him! Nothing you ever said to them in past encounters led them to abandon him. You think he ruined your family but you are the real culprit. You hurt him even when he didn't deserve it, your other kids saw it and were afraid of you and supported their brother, and even now will never respect you again because you repeatedly hunted them and ruined their happiness. This hunt is getting really old and so are you. Jesus, old man, you need to fucking retire and do literally anything else with your life!"

She accepted the drink from the very confused (and frankly, afraid) server, gulping down the alcoholic strawberry lemonade then asking for another. "I am not here to talk about Klaus," she said to Mikael, who was just staring, and waiting to see what the point of her visit was. Was that look in his eyes consideration of her words, or was he still being a stubborn prat? "I am here to tell you something I found out. About your daughter, Freya."

"Do not speak to me about Freya," he warned.

"I will, because there is a chance she is alive." She leaned closer when she sensed him wanting to leave again. "Listen to my heart. It is, for all intents and purposes, the heart of a human, even if I am not one. I can make it be quiet with the help of magic but I can't change how it beats. I am telling you the truth. The truth that I just learned from your son, Finn."

She accepted the next drink, sliding a twenty dollar bill into the server's palm. "Esther made a bargain. She was barren, and she needed the help of her sister, Dahlia, to conceive. She was with you, she wanted a family. Her sister gave it to her with a catch. She demanded her firstborn child. And she came to collect when you were in battle. Esther told you Freya died of plague but Finn saw her be handed off to Dahlia. She lied to you, and forced Finn to keep his mouth shut. I've just learned of the possibility that Dahlia is still roaming around. Which means Freya might be. You and I can find her, Mikael. Two of the best trackers in the world... we could see if it's true. We could reunite you with your daughter. The little girl you thought you lost could be out there waiting for you to find her."

His glass shattered in his hand, fist having been clenched too tightly for it to withstand. His face was red, veins bulging in his throat and forehead. "That cannot be true."

"It might be. We need to find out if it is or it isn't. If you want, I can get Esther here for you. She's in a vampire body, able to be compelled. Or I could arrange a meeting with Finn. But I think that's not necessary, is it, Mikael? You know who Dahlia is better than I do. Some part of you already believes this. Hell, I believe it. So what do you say? Do you want to find her or not?"

"How?" he muttered. "You no longer have your network of monsters, or so you claim. My daughter was a witch. Dahlia is a witch. She will be cloaked. Blood cannot locate her and you do not know the first thing about her. I last saw her when she was but five years old. If she is grown, I would not recognize her."

"No. Probably not. But we can test a few things out. I didn't inherit any powers from my father but I am still a golem, still created from him, and he was made to detect and consume supernatural creatures. Perhaps there is a way to use your blood and my body to draw me to anyone who carries it. They can hide beneath a thousand spells and if my body senses something to be eaten, it will find it. Or, if we find out we can't get to her, we can bring her to us. You are her father. Perhaps there is a way of getting a message to her, of leaving a note in her mind or in her hands telling her that you're alive. If she is somewhere out there, she will come to you."

Valor | Marcel GerardWhere stories live. Discover now