Page 108 of The Order of the Bitter Hunt

“I see it now.” We’re still acting, but the look he gives me feels real, his eyes boring into mine.

I forget my parents are here until my mother claps her hands together.

“Such a lovely story,” she says, sighing happily.

I turn to her, and although I haven’t fed in days, my face is hot. “We met in freshman year. It took a while for us to realize what we are…”

My father chuckles. “You had to spend years complaining about him first. You’ve always been stubborn.”

“How did you two meet?” Jun asks.

I have to commend him—Jun easily takes the heat from himself and puts it on my parents.

“You don’t know what you just started,” I mutter. “They love telling this story.”

“Allow me to set the scene,” my father says. “It was France, 1924. The summer Olympics were being held in Paris, and I went with a group of friends. There, I met the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“That was me.” My mother’s eyes sparkle. “I was betrothed to someone else, but from the moment our eyes met, I knew I would let him take me wherever he wished.”

“We traveled the world together, and after a decade, she finally asked to join me in my immortal life. I already knew we were mates—I knew for years.”

My mother says, “That night, when I sprang from the earth with new life, I knew we were as well.”

“How did you know you were mates?” Jun asks.

“I could feel her,” my father says. “No matter how far she went, her essence followed me.”

I can’t meet Jun’s gaze, but I feel him searching for me.

“It’s a beautiful story,” Jun says. “You lived a decade without knowing whether she would want to be a vampire. You must have had faith in your relationship.”

“Oh, I always knew I wanted to become immortal, but I wasn’t sure when I wanted to stop aging,” my mother says. “Thirty-eight felt like a wonderful time to stop.”

I frown, moving my attention to my mother. “Do you think I’m too young for immortality?”

I’m only twenty-five, after all. Over ten years younger than my mother when she was turned. Do I want to be frozen here forever?

“Not necessarily.” She shrugs. “It depends on your preference, darling—and there’s no rush. As a born vampire, you have more control. You don’t stop aging until you want to, even after the ceremony.”

“It is different,” my father says.

Everything is changing. They’ve never told me this much about the immortality ceremony, and they’re saying it in front of Jun. I suppose that means we’re portraying convincing mates. It’s a small win, considering how stressful everything else in my life is.

At least I can still act… but it’s not an act at all. Not anymore. Hell, I’m all over the place.

The rest of the night passes smoothly, with my mother telling tales of her travels and my father gushing over her at every chance he gets.

At the end of the night, my father stops us before we can leave. “Margaux? Jun? Let us meet in my study. It will be quick.”

I exchange a look with Jun, my stomach churning, and we follow my father up the winding staircase.

His study—it’s always reminded me of him. The real him. Unlike the office at Strode, it is anything but generic. Trinkets of centuries of travel scatter about the room, and he has a self-portrait hanging on the wall. The room smells like him, too—sandalwood, leather, and his subtle cologne.

I know my parents by scent more than sound or even appearance. It’s always been my strongest sense, and my earliest memories are of their comforting smells.

Now, this room reminds me of Tobey as well. I can’t be here without thinking of them screaming on the floor, and their fear of my father’s portrait. They were right to be afraid all along.

“You’ve both impressed me in the trials,” my father says. He rummages around his desk without looking at us. “And I know you’ll be victorious in the last trial…”