So much for thinking that they had time and space for themselves, thought Julie in her mind. Donovan had a bright smile on his face and barely fazed for the fact that he had interrupted their private moment.

  As if finally realizing what he had done, the Elder vampire asked, "Did I interrupt something?" It was because Roman was glaring at him right now.

  "Yes," came the direct reply from Roman, and he said, "Go back to wherever you came from."

  "Why would I do that? Holidays are meant to be something where people get to spend time with their family. And what better way but spend it with the both of you. My son and my daughter-in-law."

  Julie wondered if their situation had turned worse since Donovan had found out that she was Opaline and Knox's daughter, compared to when the Elder vampire believed she was only a human.

  "Right now, Julie and I are spending time together. Take an appointment if you want to spend time with us, instead of just crashing into what we are doing," stated Roman, his eyes narrowed at the Elder vampire, and a frustrated sigh escaped his lips before he leaned his back against the seat. And though he moved away from Julie, he continued to hold her hand.

  Donovan looked around the place, looking at the ground as if he was a child. He then turned to look at Roman and asked, "So when can I get an appointment?"

  "How about never?" asked Roman, who was evidently annoyed as Donovan lacked the understanding when it came to personal space.

  "Now only if that was possible, Rome," commented Donovan with a chuckle. "And, Julie dear." He gained her attention. "As your mother's true acquaintance, I believe I should take good care of her daughter. What kind of friend would I be if I wouldn't look out for you? You both are young, like newly hatched chicks from the eggs."

  For someone who had once tried to kill her and had mistakenly killed Conner's girlfriend, Julie couldn't help but think that this Elder vampire had no shame in twisting things.

  Donovan looked quite interested in sitting in the giant wheel, and he commented, "How fun is this? I would have never guessed that things like these existed. Does this run on electricity?" With Roman, who showed no reaction, he turned to look at Julie, and she nodded. "How wonderful! Life is indeed wonderful. Did you know that Castiel has that ability? Lightning. Maybe we can put his ability to good use when it comes to creating weapons."

  Both Julie and Roman sat there quietly, not exactly happy with the Elder vampire's company.

  "Seriously, what are you doing here, Donovan?" questioned Roman.

  "Well, I heard the hunters are on the run and are trying to sprinkle Silverwater around the block. So who is the first person who comes to mind when it comes to worrying?" Donovan raised both his hands as if to emphasize his point.

  "What do you mean by block?" inquired Roman with a slight frown.

  "Well, the towns that are in and around near Veteris," replied Donovan, crossing his legs while he took a comfortable position to sit. "Though we got hold of one of the bodies near Veteris, Enoch has left a trail of them, as if to lead the hunters to the university and let them know that something is up. This has led to the other hunters being put on alert."

  "What an idiot," remarked Roman and Donovan nodded his head in agreement.

  "Unlike us, who were able to get an update on the current new world, Enoch has been living in a town that has been closed and he has been four centuries behind. He doesn't know that the hunters will track not just us but also him," said Donovan in a calm voice. "I don't even know who has that much Silverwater to supply everyone around."

  "Once they exhaust themselves of the Silverwater, it will make them vulnerable," Roman pointed out, which was the most obvious thing. The hunters spread the Silverwater to alert the other hunters about the vampire's presence in the towns. "Where did you even hear about it?"

  Donovan pushed his coat to the side and showed a stain on his inky hue shirt, "You see this. This is my blood."

  "You took a sip of Silverwater," Roman somewhere looked pleased by it, and Donovan wasn't happy with the stain on his shirt.

  "I was taking my time to get to know the town and mingle with people. So I went to this store and bought a drink, but who would have known that it was a drink that I didn't plan on paying for. Couldn't even compel them because there was too much crowd," Donovan pulled his coat back in place.

  "Did you find out where the source came from?" asked Roman.

  Donovan's lips twitched, and he tapped his finger on the edge of the seat, "I wish I knew but I didn't find anything in bulk. Seems more like they are sent from somewhere else? Moreover, I had to finish the whole drink before leaving the place because there were some suspicious looking humans, keeping an eye for the vampires. The store I was in wasn't too far from here, so maybe we can try some drinks to know how contaminated this place is?" He proposed the idea.

  "Isn't it better to let the other vampires know not to drink?" asked Julie, and Donovan's eyes shifted to look at her.

  "My dear, Julianne, going to alert others will end up with us being dragged into it. Let us wait for the little rats and mice to be caught, while having our own fun," remarked Donovan. And he then looked at Roman, "What do you think, Rome? Are you up to it?"

  "Fine," agreed Roman, and Julie's eyes widened in worry.

  Julie turned to look at Roman and said, "But it isn't safe. It's going to corrupt your heart further."

  Roman brought his hand to caress her cheek, "Don't worry, it will be fine. Donovan wants to test my heart and see how much it can handle."

  Julie didn't know what Donovan or even Roman were planning to achieve right now. The last time he had taken the bullet, it hadn't gone well and purposely going to test the food and drinks around was nothing less to exposing themselves to the hunters who could be on patrol.

  When their compartment had moved down to where they had first started, the man responsible for opening the doors reached his hand for the lock.

  "We would like to have another round of this," said Donovan, and the man looked confused because this was not how it worked. Who knew that the Elder vampire would come to like the giant wheel to spare a few minutes, thought Julie to herself.

  "Sir, you will need to buy another ticket at the counter," said the man, and Donovan pulled out a wad of notes, pulling out a bill before offering it to the man.

  "How about now, boy?" Donovan's words were smooth, and so was his action, and maybe if it was a woman, she would have been fazed by it, but the man stared at him.

  "I am sorry, Sir. It is the amusement park's rules. Everything will need a ticket before you start to ride on it," said the man, firm with it, and Donovan slightly frowned.

  Roman pulled Julie's hand, and he waved at the man to open the door before stepping out of it. His hand fished for something in his pocket before he pulled out a ticket and handed it to the man, "This should do."

  "You aren't going to ride with me?" asked Donovan, his eyebrows raising.

  Roman turned to look at his father and said, "We'll pass. You can finish your ride, while we use the spare time without you and spend it all alone. Enjoy your ride."

  Donovan didn't mind that and said to the man, "You heard him. Put the door back," and he went back to sitting as if he owned the compartment, which he did for the next few minutes before it would come down again.

  Julie turned to look at Donovan, who seemed excited to take another ride in the giant Ferris wheel, and she turned to look at Roman and asked, "Were you serious when you said you are going to drink everything around and look for Silverwater?"

  Roman watched how worry marred her features, "Donovan and I had a bit of talk. You mentioned the dark stone?"

  "What about it?" asked Julie.

  "Donovan believes that my heart holds those qualities. Technically I am not supposed to be alive. When I died the first time, I was supposed to stay dead because I died in my human form with not a drop of vampire blood in my body. Regardless if I was the vampire's child, I was still very human. I didn't return as a vampire, and was still a human when I was caught by the hunters."

  "How is it possible though? Doesn't one have to drink or consume it?" If Julie wasn't wrong, her father had mentioned that there had been only one stone, or it was still only in talks? She asked herself.

  Roman looked around the stores standing in the middle, watching some of them serve cold drinks. A sigh escaped his lips, and he said,

  "I don't know. If it didn't come from Donovan, it must have come from my mother," he explained to her and Julie's eyebrows furrowed deeply.

  But from what they knew, Roman's mother was a human. Julie wondered if there was more to the woman.

  When Donovan returned after his ride, he straightened his coat and a pleasant smile on his lips. "What a wonderful time I had, if only I could have a warm drink up there," commented Donovan, and he looked at Roman and Julie, who stared at him. "What?"

  "Where do you want to start?" questioned Roman, not wanting to waste any time.

  "How about we start here? Look at the colourful drinks there, what is it called?" Donovan didn't ask Roman but Julie.

  Julie turned to look behind her shoulder and said, "Those are sodas. Do you think they would have gotten here? These are just vendors who have no connection to the water that comes from the town."

  "Never too bad to try new things," said Donovan, and he walked to the shop that was set up.

  "I feel like we have adopted a child," murmured Julie and Roman's eyes squinted.

  "I don't think it would be too bad if the child was to go missing, would it?" Roman asked her, and they heard Donovan call them to join him. While they made their way there, he pulled Julie back into his arms, hugging her back with his arms around her. "I am annoyed that our date was cut short so quickly."

  Julie smiled at Roman's words, and she placed her hands on his while hoping Donovan wouldn't turn impatient and turn to look at them. "There are many more dates to come in the future, I will try to figure out how to keep him away and from apparating to where we are."

  "Yeah, I would like that," replied Roman, and he pressed his lips on her temple before unwrapping his arms around her.

  Once Donovan was done drinking the cold drink within a minute, he turned to look at the couple. "Alright, how about we step out of this noisy place, and get some peace and quiet. The music is blaringly loud and I feel like my ears are going to start bleeding. Don't you feel that?" he asked them.

  Roman rolled his eyes, and he pulled Julie's hand so that they would walk out of there, and Donovan followed them. They crossed a couple of streets, and the crowd started to lessen.

  Donovan said to Julie, "How are things at your relatives' house?"

  "It is fine," replied Julie, a little wary that he was asking about them.

  "By the way, where are your other friends, Rome? Everyone seemed to have disappeared and Castiel was wondering where Maximus went," said Donovan, walking on the other side of Julie, where she now walked in between the two vampires.

  "Who knows," replied Roman, least bothered chatting or keeping up the conversation with the Elder vampire.

  "Where are we going to look first?" asked Julie. "The one with a lesser crowd or with a lot of crowd?" If they were looking for a crowd, the amusement park was the best spot, but it seemed like Donovan and Roman had already turned the place to be vampire safe with no trace of Silverwater.

  "Less crowded. But let us see where the vampires often like to go and find their prey. Do you know which is the best spot, Rome?" Donovan asked Roman, a smile on his lips as if he knew his son would have previously come by this place and picked up humans to feast on.

  Roman didn't reply, but he continued to walk as if telling them to follow them while also wanting to have the least interaction with the vampire.

  Coming to one of the stores, both Roman and Donovan ordered drinks as if they were pub hopping, only that, in this case, they were looking for Silverwater. When they found nothing, Julie could only let out a sigh of relief.

  "Is there no way to find where this Silverwater is grown?" inquired Julie. At least they would be able to restrict a few things.

  "You think we didn't try to burn the entire fields of the Silverwater plants? In my time, it was the witches who grew them, and the ones who thought that they were smart, they let the humans know about it, but look now. The witches are being hunted along with us, sometimes I am so glad to be alive and witness such things," commented Donovan with a small smile on his lips while he tapped the straw on the surface of the glass. "Do you want to take a sip, Julie? We wouldn't want you feeling left out."

  Julie shook her head, "I am good, thank you."

  Having Donovan behave all nice to her was nothing short of unnerving.

  They visited some more shops until they finally came to one where there were many people. It was a diner, and there were a lot of college students who seemed to be having a good time. "Do you see anything?" questioned Donovan, his eyes leisurely looking at the people, where some of them stared at them. "Why do you think they are staring at us?"

  "I think it is the coat," whispered Julie, which stood out as much as Donovan did like a sore thumb. If she thought Roman stood out in the past, his father took it up a notch to make sure everyone noticed him.

  While Donovan and Julie were having a little chat, Roman's eyes fell on a few people spread around the diner. Three of them were outside the diner, and he caught one of them inside the diner, their behaviour slightly suspicious.

  "I don't think we need to enter this place to know that they are serving Silverwater," stated Roman. "There are four hunters in here, actually five of them. One is the waitress," he said, his eyes zeroing on the young woman who had a bright smile on her face.

  "Mm, I would say we could pass but it seems like one of them has their eyes on us," hummed Donovan, and he said, "Leaving so abruptly will only make them question and follow. How about we all order something sweet. Come on," and he headed towards the diner's entrance.

  "How many times have you come across hunters until now?" asked Julie while they slowly made their way towards the door.

  "A dozen times. It isn't unusual for us vampires to not come across the hunters, especially when we like to hunt and drink fresh blood," and Roman put his arm around Julie, pulling her to him when one of the boys was about to bump into her.

  Roman and Julie stepped into the diner, making their way to one of the booths that was being cleaned right now. Donovan spoke to the waitress, who was probably in her early thirties. Julie took a seat, getting in first and was soon followed by Roman.

  Somewhere, knowing the hunters were here, it turned Julie anxious.

  They ordered their food while Donovan came to join in, "A shame that she's a hunter, else I would have thought of taking her out for a stroll." It seemed like Donovan was trying to flirt with the waitress, who was, in fact, a hunter. "She seemed sharper."

  "The next thing you know, you will be having a stake through your heart and we'll be bidding you farewell," deadpanned Roman in his usual lacklustre tone.

  "I might be old, but I am experienced when it comes to dealing with hunters, especially women who think they can try to lure my vampire self," Donovan lightly chuckled, and he took a look at the menu. "So what are we having for dinner?"

  "Burger and fries, and cold drinks," informed Julie, and Donovan didn't seem too pleased. But the Elder vampire didn't comment on it. Instead, he spoke to Julie, "How are your abilities coming along? Anything interesting? Sent anyone anywhere?"

  "I didn't get the time to venture into it," replied Julie, and even if she did, she doubted she would like to share it with this person. As much as Donovan was Roman's biological father and acted as if everything was fine, it didn't mean she trusted him. Something hit her mind, and she said, "I thought the abilities that were taken by the witches couldn't be used on them."

  "Are you speaking about me apparating where you were earlier?" Donovan's eyes sparkled that Julie asked good questions instead of making unnecessary talks.

  She nodded her head.

  "It isn't entirely true that you cannot harm or use the ability on a witch. There are some loopholes in the spells and the earlier stones," Donovan, who had interlocked his fingers, let them go when the waitress came to place their food.

  "I made sure to not make use of tomatoes as requested in your order," said the waitress to Donovan with a smile, and he returned it to her.

  "How thoughtful of you, now only if I knew when you would be off of work tomorrow," said Donovan to the waitress, who continued to smile at him.

  "Maybe I will tell you tomorrow. I hope you enjoy your meal," said the waitress, returning to take orders from the other tables.

  "How much should I bet that she already believes that you are a vampire?" asked Roman lowly. He pulled the plate of food near him and added pepper on top of it.

  "Then let us behave like this is the best meal we have ever had so that I can get more information from her. Also, she doesn't look that bad," stated Donovan, picking up his fork and knife, ready to cut the burger into little pieces.

  Looking at Donovan, Julie could tell this was the first time he was eating a burger, and her gaze moved to look at Roman, who didn't bother to comment on it. Both Roman and her had spent a lot of time in the amusement park, and she realized how hungry she was now.

  "What an interesting way to eat," murmured Donovan, looking at the person at the other table, who had picked up the entire burger. He quietly harrumphed before elegantly continuing to cut the bread and the meat and then put it in his mouth. "Seems like they haven't limited the ingredients to just drinks, but also food."

  "The quantity is right enough to kick in the vampire senses," murmured Roman as he continued to chew and swallow the bite he had taken.

  "Kick in?" asked Julie.

  "There are dosages of how much can be used to get what type of reaction. Usually this kind, it brings out the colour of a vampire's eyes, dear," Donovan took his time to explain and teach Julie. "The higher ones will often leave a vampire spewing blood. But these, it lets a hunter know that there's a vampire, and it doesn't catch much attention to the other humans, who are unaware of the vampire's existence. Less panic."

  Julie looked back and forth between the two vampires, seated at her table, but so far, they appeared to be calm, and their features hadn't changed.

  Roman noticed Julie's curiosity, said, "If it were any average vampire, you would have seen the change in physical features. We are good at holding the vampire self back."

  "That's right. Our blood is much purer than the now contaminated ones," agreed Donovan, stabbing the bread and trying to get the meat along with it before putting it in his mouth.

  As if to check on them, the waitress came to the table and asked, "I hope the food is to your liking. Is there anything else that I could get you?"

  Donovan looked up, smiling, he said, "I don't think I have ever tasted anything as good as this," he waved his hand to his plate, and the waitress noticed the way the burger had been butchered.

  The waitress gave him a look before looking at Julie, where Julie smiled kindly.

  It didn't go unnoticed how the woman's eyes moved back and forth, and very quickly as if she was making a check to make sure they were perfectly normal. When her eyes shifted to look at Roman, he only glared back at her, which was the usual way he looked at people.

  "That's good. Do let me know if you need anything, I will be right here," said the waitress, and she left the table.

  And even though she left the table, Roman sensed her eyes had gone back to observe them from afar. Julie said,

  "We already know this place is contaminated, is it necessary to stay around and continue eating?"

  "We are building trust with the hunters, showing them that we are harmless. This way it is easier to befriend and get more information, Winters," stated Roman, his fingers wrapped around the cold drink, and Julie took a deep breath.

  Both Donovan and Roman brought the glasses near their lips before taking two sips and placing it back on the table. They went back to eating.

  Back near the counter, the waitress had placed both her hands on the counter's surface, and she heard the man behind ask, "How was things looking up?"

  "So far good I think," replied the woman, while looking at one of the tables from the corner of her eyes.

  Suddenly, when one of the men stepped out of the diner, he was suddenly surrounded by the fellow hunters and dragged behind the diner. The waitress said, "Looks like we finally caught one of them."

  "You stay here, and keep a watch. Some of these Silverwater are triggering late, and it looks like it was mixed with something else. Make sure to see which one shows signs," said the man before leaving the counter.

  The woman didn't know why, but she felt something very odd about the man who had tried to flirt with her. The way he ate the burger was even stranger. She kept a close eye on the customers.

  Back at the table, Donovan lightly cleared his throat, and he pursed his lips. He subtly placed his hand on the table, tapping his fingers before smiling. Julie's eyes shifted to look at Roman, quietly eating his burger. He then finished his entire drink calmly.

  Roman wiped his mouth with the napkin.

  With Donovan's back facing the waitress, the Elder vampire asked, "How are you eating this thing? I feel like someone is sewing needles through my skin."

  Dropping the napkin, Roman's cold eyes subtly glared at Donovan because his eyes were threatening to change colour, and he was turning thirsty for blood.