"Somebody murdered your parents, but it wasn't Henry," Glenda speaks thoughtfully, and I know this part isn't an act. She's truly seeing everything now.
Britney leans forward. Her eyes flick to me—with a flash of relief?—at the confirmation that I'm indeed not the one who took her parents from her.
"The Department has told you it was a vampire who killed your parents, but it wasn't a vampire." Glenda's brows furrow, and Britney sits up straighter at this, her own brow furrowing.
"But their throats…" Britney begins," they were…"
"Completely torn out," Glenda finishes for her as she continues to gaze into her ball. She glances up at Britney and clucks at her as if she should know better—and, honestly, she should.
"That's not the style of most vampires. If a vampire had killed your parents, there would likely not have been a drop of blood wasted."
Britney blinks, and I see her digesting that information. It indeed makes too much sense because it's true. My kind wouldn't have been so messy as to waste blood. She'd have been more likely to stumble upon perfectly clean, pale corpses had it been a vampire who murdered her parents.
I watch as the realization that the people she trusted lied to her dawns on her pretty face. Her cheeks flush, and her eyes begin to turn hard and angry. I remember what it felt like to have those heated, angry eyes on me, and while it was a bit thrilling, at least now she has that anger directed toward the right people.
"Cut to the chase, Glenda," I growl at my seer, my patience with her theatrics starting to wane in the face of Britney's obvious distress. "Who really killed Britney's parents?"
Glenda finally looks up from her crystal ball, dropping all pretense, and her face looks troubled as she glances between Britney and me.
"It was the Department," she states ominously. "They did it."
* * *
Britney
My world feels like it's crashing in all around me as everything I've believed is proved false in a moment.
The department killed my parents. It wasn't a vampire after all. So, all this time, my life's mission of hunting vampires was all for nothing.
I glance over to Henry in horror. What if all this time I've been killing innocent creatures?
Well, vampires aren't entirely innocent, but I've been killing them thinking that they were monsters who had stolen my parents' life.
Yet, it wasn't them. I look back over at the seer. Could she be lying?
No. The pity and worry in her gaze let me know that she's not. Besides, what would she have to gain from lying? No, one look into the woman's green eyes, and I can tell she's telling the truth.
"Why would they deceive this child like this, Henry?" the seer asks while casting a concerned glance my way.
"She might be their little vampire slayer, but they had to have known she was no match for me," Henry voices thoughtfully.
I glare at him, but even I have to admit the truth in his statement—however begrudgingly. I'm no match for him.
"It's almost as if they wanted to put her in danger and have her killed," Glenda surmises.
I feel a shiver of fear run up my spine as that realization crashes over me.
The Department must have wanted me dead. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent me on a futile mission to kill him. All this time they told me that they safeguarded the name of my parents' murderer to keep me safe. Why would they all of a sudden give it to me?
I should have known something was up, especially when they gave me the name of the most powerful vampire in the world.
Glenda's eyes take on a faraway look, though she's not gazing into the crystal ball this time. She's staring off into space, and when her eyes finally refocus, they do a curious dance back and forth between Henry and me.
"It all makes perfect sense to me now," she remarks in wonder. "I can see why you feel the way you do," she's speaking to Henry.
I stare at the pair of them in confusion. Her words are admittedly making no sense to me, though they seem to make sense to Henry. His eyes are burning with a golden light as he asks her, "Is it fated?"
Glenda nods at him before she glances back at me. "But Britney, you're not what you…"