Colin)

"Now hold on right there, Victoria. You know you are not a pet project of theirs. We were both orphans and we are true siblings. Born of the same mother and father. So, that was a little bit harsh of a statement. They love us equally, you are just as much their daughter as I am their son." Colin took a breath and then continued.

"Father explained that it is more than just a betrothal between our family and another. Mother and father could be murdered if they do not fill this contract. It is a contract that they made in order to secure their positions in vampire society. If they don't fill it by the appointed date, then they are to be killed and everything they have worked to reach will be stripped from them, including our inheritance." He remembered walking in on their father and another vampire lord one time and the lord asked if they had a vampire daughter as well. His father said that no, they didn't and the Lord had said something about hoping there would be when the time came. "Remember all those hushed conversations that we had tried to over hear or walked into and they suddenly ended with other lords? I think that is what they were discussing. Mother did seem uncomfortable around certain lords when they came to visit or came for the balls."

He looked to Tori, "wonder what else we don't know about?" He asked suddenly wondering what other secrets had been kept from them. "They never really have told us what happened to our real parents."

Tori

Leave it to her big brother to make her feel worse. That was Colin, for you. He came all the way up here to explain…nice.

“Harsh. Forgive me. As I said. I understand. I’m not the right species to fulfill a betrothal contract. You didn’t need to explain it to me. I got when father said it.”?

She leaned against her door. “Did they find someone who they found worthy enough?”

hugs, peace ?and blessings?