Moon Lovers: Bound by Blood and Revenge

Marceline and Kira already had a strategy on how they would search the whole house just to find the Ametiz stone.

In fact, the two had an argument before going to the Zhou Family Villa. Marceline was aware that Kira couldn't touch the stone so she volunteered that she would be the one to search for it.

Though she had an allergic reaction to Ametiz Stone, she thought she could endure it as long as she would take the medicine coming from Aunt Brianna.

But Kira opposed that idea as he knew that Marceline's wolf, Stella, would be hurt and affected by Ametiz Stone. Marceline was clueless about this fact. 

So Kira suggested that since he was the fastest between them, he should be the one to search the whole house while Marceline would try to keep the other members of the Zhou Family busy and occupied.

When it came to the effect of Ametiz Stone, Kira reassured Marceline that he could tolerate its negative effects since he was strong. He just needed to find its location and later on, make Grandpa Roland see the stones which were previously owned by Marceline's parents.

But the main question was 'Did Ronan Zhou keep the stones or he destroy them, not leaving any evidence behind?'

If searching for the stone would not work then they had to use an alternative plan. It's either they would imitate the Ametiz Stone or just show Grandpa Roland the same scene Marceline had seen coming from Cedric's memories.

But to do this, Kira's identity as a vampire would be revealed to her family. They didn't want to take that risk since Ronan was still pro-werewolves. He even formed an alliance with them.

Though Cedric's pack was under Kira's control right now because of Cedric's secret, they were not certain if Ronan Zhou would suddenly inform other werewolves that were loyal to Dominique Silvano about Kira's identity as a vampire.

Now it made sense as to why Ronan Zhou could still interact with the werewolves despite the fact, his brother and sister-in-law were killed by them. He was involved with their deaths.

The Zhou family including Marceline were still having dinner when Kira excused himself. He told them he needed to go to the comfort room. 

Kira grabbed this opportunity to search some parts of the house. Marceline made a map of the Zhou Villa. He could see in the spot map the location of the guest rooms, the respective rooms of the Zhou Family members, the studies as well as the other areas wherein Ronan possibly hid the Ametiz Stone.

Kira used his vampiric speed to do the search in just a few minutes. He started to move, scanning the house from one area to another. Fortunately, there were no CCTV cameras inside the house. The CCTV cameras were installed outside and around the vicinity of the villa.

While Kira was searching, Marceline started a conversation. And she chose a very sensitive topic, making Ronan lose his appetite.

"It's been so long since the last time we gathered like this. Grandpa, do you think it's best if my husband and I will stay here for a week for you to get to know him better?" Marceline said, assessing Ronan's reactions.

She smiled inwardly when she saw her Uncle's darkened expression. It was obvious that he didn't want to see Marceline and Kira around the villa. Aside from her Uncle, Natasha was also displeased about this.

"Yes, Marceline. It's best for you to stay here with us. You distanced yourself from the family for a long time. It's good to see you reaching out to us." Evelyn spoke up, forcing a smile on her lips.

Marceline arched her eyebrow. 'Family? Are we truly a family? A family betraying a family? A brother killing his own brother just because of materialistic gains? Hypocrite!'

"I'd rather stay alone in the old mansion. There… I feel like I am still with my parents who died eighteen years ago. Oops, I think I said the wrong thing. What I mean is... I still believe that they were murdered."

The dining area was engulfed with deafening silence when Marceline brought up her parents.

Ronan and Evelyn gave each other a meaningful look. They knew it! Marceline's presence would only bring tension among the family. Even Grandpa Roland was caught off guard.

'What is she trying to do? She has no proof. Is she trying to reveal something to her grandfather?' Evelyn mused to herself. She maintained her innocent look as if she had no idea what Marceline was talking about.

"Why are you bringing this up? Are you being sentimental? Do you think it is proper to talk about this during meal?" Natasha broke the silence. "Drama Queen," she murmured, rolling her eyes.

Grandpa Roland was about to scold Natasha for being insensitive, but Marceline held his hand under the table thus stopping him from speaking.

Grandpa Roland just watched his granddaughter with puzzlement. It was very rare for Marceline to bring up the topic of her parents' death as she was still hurting and hadn't moved on. But tonight, she's the one who started to talk about them. Something strange was going here.

Meanwhile, Marceline just let out a soft giggle at Natasha's last remarks. But her laughter was humorless. She stared at Natasha with her sharp gaze, intimidating her. Her cousin just looked away as she was overwhelmed by Marceline's overbearing aura.

'This bitch is scary and… cunning!' Natasha lamented to herself.

"How I wish they are alive right now. It will be more joyful to have a family dinner with a complete family. Too bad, they aren't here now. They are gone. But until now, I can't get justice for their deaths. The people responsible for their deaths are still at large. They haven't received their punishment yet."

Among the people at that dining table, only Natasha and Enrique were clueless about the real cause of the deaths of Marceline's parents.

"Marceline, it was an accident in the forest. Why do you keep insisting that Uncle and Auntie were murdered?" Natasha spoke again to counter Marceline's statement.

"Do you have amnesia?" she added, mocking her.

"Natasha!" Evelyn called her out, giving her daughter a warning glare.

Marceline seemed unaffected by Natasha's mocking words. She just took a spoonful of soup before speaking another word.

"No cousin. I don't have amnesia. The things I saw that night are already engraved in my mind and my soul. I know what I saw. It's not my imagination. It's just that... everyone here refused to believe my words."

Grandpa Roland's heart clenched. As much as he wanted to stop Marceline from talking about the incident eighteen years ago. He had no right to do that. He already owed her a lot. He was powerless at that time and he couldn't do anything against the powerful creatures such as werewolves and witches.

But the things were now different. Aside from forming an alliance with the vampire rebels, Grandpa Roland built his own army… train his own people. They were ordinary humans with excellent fighting skills– A Group of Hunters. They were developing technologies to be used as weapons against those powerful creatures.

'Granddaughter, please be patient. This grandpa of yours is doing his best. I am preparing for a big war against those creatures responsible for the death of your parents,' Grandpa Roland glanced at Marceline with his solemn eyes, grabbing her hand and gently squeezing it.

On the other hand, Ronan remained quiet. His expression was now unreadable. He just continued eating, ignoring Marceline's words. He thought Marceline was just testing him. He would try his best not to react. 

Though Marceline was his Dad's favorite granddaughter, Ronan was also confident that his father would not believe Marceline's words without concrete evidence.

"By the way, your husband… did he lose his way back to the dining area?" Evelyn blurted out, changing the subject of discussion. She tossed a look at the entrance of the dining area but there was still no sign of Kira.

Marceline pursed her lips. She was trying to distract them by bringing up this sensitive topic about her parents' deaths to give Kira more time to search the house, but Evelyn noticed that he hadn't come back yet.

Marceline wiped her lips using her face towelette and put her spoon and fork down as she stood up.

"Please excuse me for a while. I'll just check on my husband. Maybe he got lost as the mansion is large and spacious."

Without waiting for anyone's reply, Marceline left the dining area. She was dying to know about the progress of Kira's search that's why she decided to follow him since her Aunt already mentioned Kira's absence.

She was walking in the hallway of the second floor when someone grabbed her, pulling her into one of the empty rooms. It was Kira.

"How is it? Did you find my parents' protection stones?" Marceline asked him eagerly. Kira was already familiar with her parents' stone as he saw it in Cedric's memory. Ronan showed Cedric the fake ones which he used during the swap.

Kira shook his head in disappointment. "I didn't see them." Marceline was disheartened upon hearing that.

"But… I have here the alternatives," Kira said, smiling mischievously as he pinched her nose.

Kira opened his palm and showed Marceline the exact copies of her parents' protection stones. Her mother's was in a form of necklace while her father's was in a form of a bracelet.

Her eyes lit up when she saw the Ametiz Protection Stone. "Where did you get these?"

"Do you remember Serafino? He made these for me. I met him this afternoon. He has this special ability to imitate objects and other living things even a face of a person through illusions. That's his vampiric ability." Kira proudly said.

"Amazing, Hubby! Now, let's reveal the truth to my Grandpa.." Marceline pounced on Kira, hugging him because of her excitement.