Diary of the Unbroken (BOOK #4)

Dear Diary

Ava's POV

"Ava, wake up!" Angelina hissed.

My eyes snapped open. "I'm up! I'm awake."

"Dear God, you were practically snoring.," Angelina said, rolling her eyes. "I've never met a vampire who could sleep so hard. Actually, I've never met a vampire who could sleep. Though before you, I never met an Unnatural, I guess."

I sat up from where I had cozied up on the window seat and straightened my dress. "That's called being the mother of a newborn."

"Don't I know that life," Angelina sighed. "Oh, you meant the baby."

"She's got a pair of lungs," I told her, rubbing my head. "But I swear, she screams just in spite of me."

"Sounds just as stubborn as her mother."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't feel the need to remind Angelina that my daughter had two parents known for their stubborn tendencies. It was a well-known and observed fact viewing the three of us together—our little family.

Just then, the door swung open. Victor poked in his head, newly shaven, but enough facial hair to make up for it. Angelina had not been a fan of the look, specifically the facial hair.

"Sorry," he said in his classic Victor way. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

Angelina clucked her tongue, turning to the mirror to adjust her hair. Ever since the day at Daniel's, now months ago, the two of them acted differently around each other. Everyone was different. But the two of them were no longer the grossly in sync couple they were before. They tried hiding it from everyone—the way they avoided each other's eyes, how they barely mumbled a word in one another's presence—but I immediately noted the avoidance. It felt like the end of an era.

But it wasn't unwarranted.

A few days after the event with Daniel, we found out what happened to Gerard, his beta who had went against Daniel's command and sent William back to us. Gerard, the same man who had been Angelina's bond. The man she had thought been dead for over a century.

Evidently, Daniel hadn't killed him on sight, as was expected. Instead, my dear father locked him up in the same cage William had been kept during his time there. At one point, Gerard managed to escape. He ran outside in broad daylight. Without a dose of Mela in his system, he disintegrated right there in the backyard. No one in Daniel's crew even realized it until they noted his absence and saw a pile of ashes next to the swing set.

When we found out through word of a member of Daniel's cronies, most of us didn't know how to feel about his death. He had been a pain in the ass and caused so many problems, but he had gone against everything he believed and brought William back.

Of course, with word of the news, Angelina fell apart. After years thinking he'd been dead, he came back, a ruthless being still capable of one last act of kindness. Her face sat expressionless for days. She didn't move from her spot just sitting in her bedroom. Vampires couldn't cry, not normal vampires, at least. But even if she could, I wasn't sure if she would.

I didn't know how it felt to lose a bond. In her case, losing him a second time—this time permanently. In a way, Gerard's presence and death finally pushed her over the edge. She changed from the bubbly, fun-hearted, kind companion and Newborn trainer I knew her to be. Plus, it created a great amount of friction between her and Victor. I didn't ask any questions, though, not now. Part of that line shined through, more and more every day. I didn't want her to lose it.