CHAPTER SIX

FIONA'S P.O.V

Jace led me to a room with a brown door, which I guessed would be my new room. I entered and looked around—the walls were painted grey, and the bed had matching grey duvet and pillows.

"This will be your room for now. There are some clothes in the closet," he told me. I looked at him strangely, wondering where he'd gotten the clothes from.

He must have noticed me staring because he suddenly added, "This room belonged to my younger sister. She used to live here before she, um, got married and moved out. But her clothes are still here."

"Oh, in that case, thank you," I said, feeling embarrassed for making assumptions.

"No problem. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me," he said with a smile.

I nodded, and he left. I dropped onto the bed with a groan. *What have I done?* I thought to myself. Why did I have to tell such a lie?

Well, I already knew the answer to that question. I'd only had three choices:

1) I could tell them the truth. (Not happening.)

2) I could kill them—something that didn't feel right to me. In fact, anytime I thought about harming them, it brought a feeling of dread, and I didn't like it. Maybe it was because I knew they were innocent people. I wasn't raised to kill innocent people, even if they were annoying and made me want to roast them alive.

3) I could tell a little lie, which was the option I'd gone with.

It seemed like I'd have to change my plans, and all my investigations would have to be carried out from this house.

I took a shower in the bathroom and got dressed in a short matching pink top and bottoms before climbing into bed.

I tried to think of a plan for how to handle all these lies, but I could only picture one person no matter how much I tried to clear my head. I kept seeing Mikhail's face over and over again—his eyes and everything about him kept playing in my head.

I knew I wouldn't be able to plan anything tonight. I was far too tired to think, so I just let sleep take me.

---

I woke when the rays of the sun hit my face through the curtains. As I got out of bed, I groaned loudly and rubbed my face. I went to the closet and picked out some undergarments, a knee-length blue dress, and black shoes to wear today.

I contemplated what to do. I needed to start investigating the kidnappings, but how could I do that when I'd just gotten myself stuck with this weird clan—especially with the lie I'd told them about not remembering anything? If I snuck out and they found me, I'd put myself in a suspicious position. But I couldn't delay any longer, or my people would suffer for it.

After getting dressed, I realized I wasn't getting anywhere with my thoughts, so I decided to leave my room in search of the guys. I slowly crept out the door, moving carefully down the narrow passageway and down many unfamiliar staircases before ending up in what I assumed was the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, I saw many people cooking, and from the amount of food I could see, I'd say thousands of people would be fed. I guess this clan really was large.

Suddenly, one of the cooks turned to face me—a woman who looked to be in her forties. She smiled before walking toward me. "Hello, miss. Can I help you?" I smiled back.

"Yeah, I was wondering where I could find Jace," I answered.

She was quiet for a while and seemed to be staring out into space before finally looking at me. "Oh, Beta Jace is upstairs doing some work. He said he'll be down in a few minutes to meet you. He also said we should serve you food before he gets back," she said with another smile.

I didn't return the smile this time because I was wondering why she called him "Beta" and how she'd spoken to him without even leaving my presence.

"What do you mean by 'Beta'? And how did you know he said that?" I asked suspiciously.

She looked uncomfortable before stuttering out, "Um... you see, this clan was, uh, started by three people, and so we call them Alpha, Beta, and Gamma as a sign of respect. And also, Beta Jace already informed me that when their, um, guest wakes up, I should inform her about his whereabouts."

When she said this, I immediately believed her, but I was curious, so I asked, "If the Alpha is Mikhail and the Beta is Jace, then who's the Gamma?"

"That would be Gamma Mark," she answered.

"Okay, so what's your name?" I asked her.

"You can call me Mary." After telling me her name, she directed me outside.

I noticed that everyone in the kitchen kept looking at me with something close to pride. Why would they be proud of me? They didn't even know me.

Did they know who I really was? Was that why they were treating me like this? A lot of questions swam through my mind, and I didn't even realize we'd gotten to some sort of open garden.

There were many long tables and chairs, which I assumed were for people to sit on while they ate. She led me to the front table, and I wondered why she didn't let me sit in the back. But I realized they were probably treating me this way because I was a guest.

I sat down on one of the chairs, and Mary left after informing me that food would be served soon. I was looking around at the beautiful flowers when I decided to talk to my dragon, Alice. I hadn't been talking to her lately.

The last time I'd talked to her was the day I decided to come to the Mortal Realm, and I thought she was upset that she'd had to leave her home.

"Alice, are you okay?" No reply.

"Alice, please talk to me." Again, no reply.

"Alice, I really need you. Now is not the time to be upset." Still no reply.

"Fine, be like that," I said with a sigh before closing my eyes.

"Wow, you're giving up on me so easily?" I heard Alice say.

"Well, yeah. I tried my best to talk to you, but you didn't answer."

I heard her scoff before she replied, "Please, that wasn't even half of what you do when you're angry."

"Well, I know you miss home, but we have to do this, so you're stuck with me."

"I don't see us doing anything to help our people. In fact, the only thing you've done since we got here is tell lies," she said angrily.

"What do you expect me to do? Should I walk up to the guys and say, 'Hey, I'm not human—yeah, I'm a dragon princess from another realm here to investigate my people's disappearances. Can you help me?'"

"Well, when you put it that way, it does sound crazy," Alice admitted.

I was about to say something when I heard footsteps and smelled that same weird scent that everyone in this clan seemed to have. I turned around to see Jace and Mark coming toward me.

When they reached me, I stood up to greet them. "Good morning," I said with a smile on my face.

"Good morning, Fiona. How was your night?" Jace asked, and I gave a small smile, quickly telling him that my night was fine.

"Hey, is it just me, or do the people here look at me with respect?" I finally asked the question that had been on my mind.

"Well, obviously it's because you're the lu—uh, I mean, it's because you're a guest, and we treat our guests with respect," Mark said quickly.

I knew he'd been about to say something else before he changed his mind—something that definitely wasn't "guest."

We all sat down, and food was served to us. I started eating, noting that it tasted absolutely delicious. After we finished eating, I turned to the guys and asked, "Why didn't Mikhail come for breakfast?"

I don't know if it was just me, but I could have sworn I saw them hide smirks before Jace answered. "He's busy with some paperwork, so he couldn't come for breakfast."

I didn't know why, but I was a bit disappointed that he didn't come for breakfast. I'd been looking forward to seeing him again.

It was right then that a plan began to form in my head. I knew exactly what to do if I wanted to get to that building to check for clues, and if my plan was going to work, I needed to start now.

"Hey, Jace, can you take me to Mikhail's office when he's through with his work?"

"Oh, of course. I'll take you to his office in an hour—by then he'll be done with his work," Jace said with yet another knowing smirk.

"Okay, thank you. I mean, for everything you've done since yesterday to make me comfortable."

One hour before I'd meet Mikhail again. One hour to perfect my lies and see if my plans would work. Even though I kept telling myself that I just wanted to see him because of my plans,

I couldn't help but feel excited to see him again.

I couldn't wait for an hour to pass so I could see him once more.