He pushed his hand forward, his fingertips nearly touching the ward. Somehow he knew exactly where it existed. The vial lay on his palm.
“This is a vampire’s best kept secret. I cannot tell you what it is, but I can tell you that it is your only hope. It will restore your energy and then some. It is like a drug, however, and it will not last forever. You will crash at some point, but hopefully you will find your people before that happens.”
“We’re still days away,” Emery said.
Vlad shook his head, analyzing Charity. “You don’t have days. Take the fastest route.”
“But—”
Vlad held up his other hand to silence Emery. “The elves are following you. They have not guessed your destination yet, dimwitted and uninformed about the wilds as they are. If you take the fastest route, by the time they realize their error, you will be in the Flush. I will clear the way, have no fear about that.”
“What are you, the godfather of the Realm?” Penny asked. “You can’t have everyone in your pocket.”
He laughed. “Those who don’t want trouble will find somewhere else to be. Those who are more audacious are either in my employ, or are too stupid to realize their position on the food chain. I will simply…educate them.”
“And if they are minions of the elves?” Emery asked.
Vlad’s eyes sparkled with malice. “I will kill them, as they would me.”
Charity shook her head and took a step back, her eyes on that vial. “How can I possibly believe you?”
Vlad’s hand swung in Emery’s direction. “I trust you would believe him?” He raised his eyebrows. “He has no doubt heard certain rumors, and is wondering if one of those rumors could possibly allude to what is in this vial. Let him convince you. But do not dawdle. You have precious little time before that elf will break up this camp. You had best be on your way. Oh, and one more thing…”
He bent to place the vial on the ground next to the ward and extracted a piece of paper from his pocket.
No, not a piece of paper. A picture.
Charity’s stomach flip-flopped as he held it out.
“How did you find that?” she asked, nearly charging through the ward to get it.
“What is it?” Devon asked.
Vlad placed the picture next to the vial.
“A picture of a man,” Penny said, squinting down at it.
“It’s my mom’s. Her first love,” Charity murmured, staring at her BFF in blind rage. “She never spoke of him—I think he broke her heart—but she always kept his picture. It was in the package I left for her in the little cubby in the closet. How did you even find the cubby? Did you go through that whole package?”
“I do apologize,” Vlad said, taking a step away. “When it became evident your stepfather would not be very helpful, I had to investigate further. That picture struck a particular interest for me, so I needed to borrow it to ascertain the man’s identity.”
Charity gritted her teeth, the intense need to piece more of her mother’s life together fighting her outrage at the incredible breach of privacy. The feeling of longing won out. If Walt wasn’t her father, then maybe her father hadn’t been some anonymous fae passing through the Brink. Maybe her mother had actually loved him.
She wasn’t sure if that made his decision to leave better or worse, but she wanted to know more. Besides, she recognized him. How could she not? He’d been standing right next to her in her hallucination, wearing battle gear with pride sparkling in his eyes.
“And did you?” she asked, centering her weight, unconsciously preparing to fight out her feelings. “Did you find out who he was?”
“Of course I did.” Vlad’s smile was serene. “He is your biological father.”
Charity stared after Vlad with a slack jaw, watching him saunter away like he hadn’t just dropped a bunch of bombs. Once he made it across the path and between two leafy trees, he turned on the jets, giving the illusion that he had vanished.
The man sure knew how to make an exit.
Charity stared down at the photograph. She’d wondered why her mother had left the photo behind. Charity hadn’t known the man, after all—the photograph wasn’t sentimental to her. Now, it struck her that it had been her mom’s way of telling her about her real father.
It had taken a nosy, arrogant vampire to solve the riddle.
“He didn’t say who your father was,” Penny said, anger hot in her voice.
“Her father is exactly who Vlad always thought he was, or did you miss his smugness?” Emery waved his hand through the air and quickly bent to collect the vial and photograph. Even as he was straightening back up with them, Penny was working magic, probably putting the ward back in place. “Her father is Arcana, he’s warrior fae, and the elves are coming. We gotta move. Devon, get your people ready. Rest time is over.”