Aida Pov

As Arge leads us down a long corridor and past a series of closed doors, I can't help but realise the irony of the situation. All my life, I've wanted nothing more than to open all the locked doors in my head, but now as I march towards the first possibility of starting that process, I want nothing to do with it.

How messed up is that? It's so me. I'm a complicated mess. But somehow, I'm okay with it now.

So, when we reach the last door and I see that it's open, my heartrate immediately starts to settle into overdrive. I know that Arge is attuned to my body and its antics because he places his hand on the small of my back. In an instant, I'm somewhat calmer.

"Let's just see what he has to say before we get panicked, okay?" he says reassuringly, but I don't miss his slight frown before it's replaced with a stiff smile.

Crispin stands as we enter and comes around to the front of the table in the centre of the small room. He gestures to the seats he has prepared in front of his computer.

Arge guides us to sit down, and Crispin takes a spot to my right, pulling the computer towards him and flicking the screen to life. It syncs with a large screen on the back wall of the room and that too light up.

"Okay, I'm going to try to give you as much information as you can handle, and then we can take the next step from there. Is that alright?" he asks, his face laced with genuine concern. I find myself nodding slowly, and Arge places his hand on my knee for support.

"Okay. Let's begin with the background information. With your mother, Marina." The screen in front of us changes, and a picture of a young woman comes into view. She's vaguely familiar. Maybe it's because she looks a lot like me. The same hair, the same complexion, and the very same almond-shaped eyes.

It's an odd feeling, seeing my mother for the first time like this. Distant. Backwards, almost. The screen flicks again, and a picture of the woman and now a young man appears.

A young Jasper.

His smiling face looks at hers adoringly. It's not at all how I know his face. Happy. Jovial. It's another world away from the man that I once knew. Or thought I did, rather. In what moment in all of this did he turn from this happy man to the one I know now?

"As you are aware, your mother was bitten by a vampire when she was pregnant with you. She survived the attack and then went on to have a healthy baby. No side effects. Unheard of. Lucky, or so we thought."

Arge and I share a look but say nothing. This feels like a doomed story form the get go.

Crispin continues, "When we looked into the timeframe of the attack on your mother and compared it to other attacks at the same time, we came across one common thread. Attacks on other pregnant women."

I can see he's trying to speak slowly, but it's driving me insane. I can feel my heart literally beating its way out of rhythm and into a sprint. He needs to get to the point before I have a heart attack.

"We tracked down those other four women from packs around the globe and also, their respective offspring."

"And?" I ask, my patience wearing thing. Crispin has a flare for storytelling, but it's really getting on my last nerve. Argent's hold on my knee increases. Perhaps he's reading my mind because I feel like kicking Crispin upside the head to hurry him up.

"The four other children, one male and three females, all possessed extreme abilities. Heightened senses, strength, and agility beyond their peers and commonly, extreme cases of aggressive behaviour. The male died not long after his sixteenth birthday. When his body tried to shift for the first time, he became stuck in his half wolf and half human form and died from the exposure. The three girls left have never been able to shift. They can hear the link to their packs, they are strong in human form, but they cannot shift. And they cannot bear children."

Arge and I share a look and then look back to Crispin. No children. I haven't even thought about that before, and I wonder how that would affect Arge. Why can these others not shift as they were supposed to? Why am I able to?

"Are they okay now?" I ask, terrified that he will say no.

"They are ... Well, they're all living within the council institute grounds. As they grew older, not being able to shift or live life as other wolves in their packs, it sent them mad."

I swallow hard and feel like I might be sick. "All of them?" I watch Crispin nod. "And by mad you mean, crazy? But not dangerous?" I press, but I'm not entirely sure I want to know.

He shrugs. "Their power is unstable. They possess all the traits of our kind yet cannot shift. They recognise their mates yet cannot live in harmony because they are unnaturally edgy and withdrawn. And the voices they hear? Eventually, it sent them mad."

They both sit staring at me now. I feel like I might go mad too. I'm not used to such scrutiny. Crispin is looking at me like a lab rat to study, not a girl who needs help.

"What makes me different, then?" I ask, my voice small but my mind made up. I won't let any of this break me. I'm not like those poor girls. I'm strong. I've already proven my father wrong. I'll prove Crispin wrong too.

"I'm glad you asked," he replies, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. I feel like punching his smug ass. How can he be so happy when he just told me those poor girls suffer? "We believe it has to do with your mothers' origins. And we also believe the vampires were looking for something specific. These mothers were not targeted by chance. They all share a common thread. They all have lineage from one particular town in Romania." He says this proudly. Again, in slow motion.

"Crispin, I appreciate your flair for the drama, but get to the fucking point." Arge lets out a growl, and I can't hide my smirk.

He beat me to it.

"Aida, we believe your mother comes from a bloodline that already contained vampiric blood. The original hybrid line."

I look towards Arge, expecting him to wear a baffled look similar to mine, but he looks as though he doesn't believe a word Crispin is saying.

"I know what you're going to say, Arge. We didn't believe it at first either, trust me. But then we came across an old fable, written in Latin of all things. It describes the ancient, cursed love story between a wolf and an immortal. And their secret child."

The screen changes again, and now it shows us a picture of an old book written in light, scripted words with a very familiar looking leather covering."

I know this book. Well, at least something very similar. Because there was a book just like it in Jasper's office during all of our sessions. His journal, he used to say. Argent carefully studies my face, and I feel my cheeks go warm as he stares at me. Crispin doesn't miss this because his face then lights up like a Christmas tree.

"What? What is it? Do you know this? This book? I knew it! I knew you and your mother were the ones." He looks between the both of us, eyes wide, waiting for us to respond. All I can do is slowly nod.

"My father has a book with this very same cover and words written on it," I say quietly, my mouth dry and my stomach churning.

"Do you know what this means? What we believe it means?" he asks, and I swallow hard because I do. It's absolutely crazy but, as far as I'm concerned, crazy is literally my middle name.

"You think my mother and I are from that original hybrid line," I reply, and then I realise this means James is too. Shit.

Crispin nods. "Yes, I do. And I think you father does too. And I think he or his father have told Lukah."

Now more than ever, we need to talk to that fucker and find out what the hell this all means.

As I stand to leave, feeling somewhat bewildered, I realise something else.

The blood drains from my face, and I feel like the room is suddenly spinning. Sweat begins to pool along my forehead, and I feel warm all over.

"Aida? Hey! Hey! Are you okay? What is it?" Argent is immediately worried, but I can't speak. My mind is replaying the vision from my run this morning, my mouth dry and my vision blurred.

"That woman, that vampire woman we saw this morning ..." I trail off, but I know that Argent has realised what I'm saying. Crispin stares at us, trying to read our minds as we both stand silent, a shared conclusion between us.

"What? Who?" Crispin says frantically, waving his hands in front of my face.

"I saw my mother here this morning," I whisper.