The house felt different when we got back from the mountain. Not spooky different. The opposite. Like someone had gone through every room and quietly turned down the noise you don't notice until it stops. Dad set me down, and the blue roses on the balcony pretended they weren't eavesdropping.
"Daddy," I said, because if I didn't say it right away I knew it would get stuck in my throat, "tell me about him."
He didn't ask who. He just nodded once and sat. I pulled him to the couch and folded my legs under me and waited the way I wait for a tricky proof to start making sense.
"Magnus Draykar," he said, like the name fizzed on his tongue. "Martial King. Warden of the East. Slayer of the Vampire Monarch. And my master."
The way he said master made my chest feel warm and careful at the same time.
