This has been a lot of fun for me. I want to thank you all for reading my fanfic. I never would've imagined this would amass over 100 reviews! But thank you all for sticking with it. My next project is entitled Dark Birth, which as promised stars Penny, Grace, and Hector from my Deidre fanfics. This will start on June 5th. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this last chapter of Dark Release.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."

- Mitch Albom

"…Parents?" Mikhail asked reluctantly.

Izzy nodded. "I can feel it. My mom and dad are here."

"I can feel them too," Serenity said, her voice full of surprise. "What are they doing here?"

"Worried out of their minds for us!" Izzy nearly snapped. "I haven't really spoken to them in a long time!"

"And they do not know you've been converted?" Gregori asked.

Izzy shook her head. "They don't even know anything about Carpathians."

"But it is both of their wishes to tell their parents," Marach said. He let out a long sigh. "I…do not deal well with human parents."

"But it's your duty to deal with them," Raven teased him.

"Should we go alone then?" Serenity asked.

Mikhail waved a hand impatiently. "No, no, I'm coming with you four."

"Is this a good idea?" Gregori asked. "If we're to tell the parents about Isabel and Serenity's conversion, then we must also tell their father about his lineage."

"I heard a little bit about that," Serenity said uncertainly. "But I still don't understand it all."

"Your healing blood is the byproduct of magical experimentation by your ancestor, Rothelmi Craneous," Pan said. He looked at Marach and Izzy briefly. "He was an ally of Xavier."

"Wait…" Serenity rubbed a hand through her hair. "Is that why Neve kept getting on about us? When she took me…I don't know, but she said something like how we "owed" her something."

"Despite your abilities, your family has never been harassed by hunters," Mikhail said. "Whereas, many psychics are being targeted for murder by an organization called the Morrison Center. It's possible that your family's allegiance with Xavier helped to keep you under the radar."

Marach locked his jaw. He didn't want to owe Xavier anything. But if he acted to protect his lifemate's family…but they'd been of mage blood, after all, and though Rothelmi never found immortality he still was able to alter his DNA so that he couldn't be easily killed.

And those antigens survived the conversion…

"I don't want to sound pessimistic," Izzy said. "But I don't my parents are going to accept this."

"Izzy—" Serenity began.

"No, I'm serious. Dad's afraid of vampires, and if everything about our family history is true, that fear might have been instilled in him as a child. And you know Mom, Serenity. She has this idealized vision of our families, our children. She wanted to have grandchildren—"

"And you still can," Marach reminded her. "Granted, any child we conceive will be Carpathian, but we can reproduce, Isabel. There has been a terrible problem with infanticide with our race for centuries, but thanks to the efforts of Shea, Ivory, Gary, and the Dragonseekers we have determined what has caused our children to die, and what has made conception so difficult for us."

Izzy looked at him. "…So we can conceive?"

Marach chuckled a little and slid an arm around her. "If we couldn't, how could Anya and Anastasia exist?"

Izzy had almost forgotten about the twins. She suddenly felt embarrassed by her lack of foresight in this. "…All right. But this is going to seem too quick to them, especially since we've told them nothing."

"It'll be all right," Serenity said. She smiled at her sister. "Mom and Dad will be happy to see us all right and alive. Just wait and see."

"How close are they now, Marach?" Mikhail asked him.

"They're at the base of the mountain," Mikhail said. "It feels like they're staying at the hotel Isabel and Serenity stayed at with their tour group."

"That was where we departed the group, after all," Izzy said dryly. Her stomach twisted up in knots, but she knew she couldn't avoid this. Their parents came all the way here to find them. It was a great reminder of how loved they were, and it broke her heart. Would they be able to accept their new lives?

"They will, iubita mea," Marach reassured her. "We will make them accept us."

"No, I don't want to force them into acceptance. I want them to accept us naturally." But Izzy didn't add that it might not happen.

Izzy never thought she would walk through the front doors of this hotel ever again, but she felt slight shivers as she did so. The last time she was here, she was human. Then again, the last time she was here, Serenity was beyond hope.

And this wasn't so long ago, and yet everything had changed since then.

Izzy looked towards the check-in desk and froze in her tracks. There they were; Mr. and Mrs. Crane were standing at the desk, showing the clerks a handful of photographs. The Carpathians had previously wiped their memories clean of their encounters with Izzy and Serenity, and they expressed not knowing of them. Mr. Crane was visibly growing frustrated, and Mrs. Crane looked like she'd been crying.

Mom…Dad…Izzy stood frozen in her spot. She'd wanted to see her parents for the longest time, but now that they were there she was terrified. What if they didn't accept them? What if they rejected them?

"Mom! Dad!" Serenity brushed past Izzy and ran straight for the front desk. "We're here! Mom!"

Mrs. Crane spun around so fast that she nearly lost her balance. "Serenity?! SERENITY!" with a wail she launched herself at her oldest daughter and threw her arms around her. "Oh, my God! You're alive! You're okay!"

"Isabel!" Mr. Crane shouted. Tears were filling his lilac eyes. "You're both here!"

The fear disappeared in the face of sheer relief. Tears flooded Izzy's eyes and she ran towards her parents. "Mom! Dad!"

The Crane family enveloped each other in a group hug, everyone hanging onto the other for dear life. Mrs. Crane was crying uncontrollably, and Mr. Crane was on the verge of tears. Serenity sounded like she was crying as well, and Parn stirred slightly at this. Izzy tried to hang onto her tears as best as she could. She had a feeling of what would happen if she cried.

Mrs. Crane finally drew away, scrubbing at her face. "Oh, this is too wonderful!" she looked at her daughter. "You both are—Serenity!"

Izzy quickly looked at her sister, and her stomach dropped. Serenity had cried blood-tears and not human teardrops. There was a smear of blood on Mrs. Crane's shoulder where Serenity had buried her face. Parn quickly rushed over and wiped his lifemate's face.

"Mom—" Izzy began.

"What's wrong?!" Mrs. Crane had begun screaming. "Why are you bleeding out of your eyes?! Are you sick?! Do you have some sort of bacterial infection?! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"

Mikhail quickly threw a cloak over them all, forcing unwanted attention away as Marach rushed over to Mrs. Crane and quickly silenced her. "Serenity is all right, Emä. We have many things to tell you."

"Who the hell are you?!" Mr. Crane shouted. He grabbed Marach's arm forcefully. "Get your hands off my wife!"

"Dad, calm down!" Izzy snapped, pulling him away from Marach. "This is Marach, and he's done so much for us!"

Mr. Crane looked at Izzy. "Who is this man, Isabel? Are you sleeping with him?!"

"Dad!"

"You're sleeping with some stranger?!"

"Everyone," Mikhail commanded sharply, though he looked as though he were in pain. "We will discuss this elsewhere. Now, all of you come with me."

"Who is he?" Mr. Crane demanded. He pulled Mrs. Crane towards him, who despite not screaming anymore was openly weeping.

"We'll explain everything, Dad," Izzy said quietly. She couldn't stop herself from feeling dread over what was about to happen.

They went to a private party room and locked the door behind them. "You both will want to sit down," Mikhail offered.

Mrs. Crane sat down, but Mr. Crane didn't. "What is this?! Who are you people and what have you done with our daughters all this time?!"

"Dad, we—" Izzy began.

"They've been missing for months! On top of everything else, we haven't been able to get a hold of them at all! Have you held them prisoner?! Is that why this is the first we've seen or heard from them?!"

"Mr. Crane," Mikhail said evenly. His tone seemed to instill a calming effect on him. "You daughters have been through a terrible ordeal that has altered their lives. If you would sit down, we shall explain everything to you."

Mr. Crane slowly sat down. Mrs. Crane dabbed at her swollen eyes. "What do you mean, their lives are altered?"

"Mrs. Crane," Marach said, picking up her hand and shaking it. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Marach, Isabel's lifemate."

"Life…what?"

"Mom…" Izzy slowly sat down on the couch opposite her parents. Serenity took a seat beside her. She found herself gripping Serenity's hand tightly. "Something's happened to us while we were here. You see, we…" she faltered, and tears filled her eyes once more.

"What happened to you two?" Mrs. Crane asked.

"Mom…" Izzy forced herself to look at her mother. "We're not human anymore."

"W-What?!" both of her parents screamed. Mr. Crane jumped back up from the couch, and Mrs. Crane began crying again. Izzy winced, and closed her eyes.

"We're not human," Serenity said. Her voice was a little steadier, but now she sounded uncertain. "We've become Carpathian."

"Carpathian?! What does that even mean?!" Mr. Crane glared at the men present. "You—!" he grabbed Marach by his collar. "What have you bastards done to my daughters?!"

"Calm down," Mikhail commanded sharply. "And we will explain everything."

They didn't have very much time; the night wouldn't last forever. It was Mikhail and Marach who spoke the most to the Crane parents. They told them everything; about the Carpathian people, and Mr. Crane's mage lineage. They spoke of the trials that Izzy and Serenity faced, leading up to their conversion.

But, it was Parn who revealed the key thing that led them all there; what had caused Serenity's suicidal tendencies. He told them calmly, and looked at both parents in the eyes. Izzy could feel and hear his regret, and he made it known to her parents that Serenity's condition was his fault.

Mr. and Mrs. Crane sat very still on the couch for several long moments, after the explanations were over. They seemed uncertain of how to react to all of this. Izzy held her breath and held onto Serenity's and Marach's hands.

"You bastard!"

Mr. Crane suddenly launched himself from the couch and dove at Parn, his hands stretched out. Marach jumped up and pulled him away before his hands could get around Parn's throat. "Hold on!"

"You did this to my daughter!" Mr. Crane shouted, struggling violently against his hold. "YOU did this! You little—let me go right now!"

"Dad, stop it!" Serenity rushed over to his side. "Don't hurt Parn! It's all right!"

"The hell it is! It's because of this man that you attempted suicide so many times! I lived through your pain, Serenity! He DAMNED you to it!"

"Dad, he's not bad! It's wasn't his fault! It—Dad, I love him!"

This caused Mr. Crane to pause. He stopped struggling against Serenity and stared at his daughter as if she was crazy. "…Is this Stockholm? Did he brainwash you?!"

"No, I'm fine! I'm truly fine Dad, look at me!" Serenity cupped her father's face in her hands. "Look at me. I'm fine. I don't have a suicidal thought anymore. I feel whole for the first time in a long time. I know you're angry, but believe me when I say this wasn't Parn's fault!"

"But he gave up, didn't he?!" Mrs. Crane cut in suddenly. She stood up from the couch and waved an arm. "Oh, this whole thing is crazy! How am I suppose to believe you two are vampires and that your souls are linked?!"

"Serenity cried blood," Marach said. "The people of the Carpathian race do that. And Isabel cries blood too, which is why she hadn't cried yet."

"Y-You…" Mrs. Crane waved a hand at Izzy. "Is this what you two have been doing?! Running around with vampires and doing a cult?!"

"Mom, these people aren't vampires!" Izzy snapped defensively. "Without them, neither Serenity or I would be alive!"

"It…do you both have any idea how worried we've been?! The guilt we've felt at allowing you two to go on this crazy trip?! And now look at you! You're with men you don't even know and that we've never met! And you tell me you're vampire—Carpathians," she spat when Mikhail moved to correct. "And you just expect us to accept it right out of the blue?!"

"Mom, I…" Izzy wrung her hands. She had a feeling this was going to happen. "I'm not asking you to just accept this. I just…"

"You just what, Isabel? You both run off to Europe on some crazy journey, and now you're telling me you drink blood to survive?! And Serenity can't ever come home?! This is…" she sat back down on the couch, hugging her head. "This is a nightmare! A nightmare! My two babies…my only children…"

"Oh, Mom…" Izzy sat down on the couch beside her mother and hugged her tightly. "Mom, I'm so sorry. I-I never meant for any of this to happen…"

"If you think I'm letting YOU near my daughter, you're crazy!" Mr. Crane bellowed, jabbing a finger into Parn's face. "You stay away from her and NEVER go near her again!"

"Dad, that's not possible," Serenity spoke up. "He's my lifemate, and we're now bonded together. We can't be apart. Besides…" she puffed out her chest slightly. "I love him, and there's no place else I want to be."

"Serenity, you…" Mr. Crane pulled himself out of Marach's arms. He now looked as stricken as his wife. He wrung a hand through his hair and hissed out a sob. "Our daughters…for this to happen is…" he fell back onto the couch.

Mikhail was watching him closely. "I have noticed," he said quietly. "That you weren't surprised by the revelation of your lineage."

"Of me being a witch?!" Mr. Crane laughed scornfully, but…he gradually calmed down a little. "My grandmother always kept drilling it home for me. Vampires are evil, vampires are evil. I never believed in vampires, but the stuff she showed me…" he shuddered involuntarily. "She showed my vampire stuff that was absolutely disgusting. Nothing glamorous like you see now."

"There is nothing glamorous about vampires," Mikhail said quietly.

"It was disgusting, and…I didn't believe it. But I thought…I can't ever get hurt. On the outside, at least." Mr. Crane pulled out a switchblade and stabbed himself in the hand. Mrs. Crane cried out in shock, but predictably the wound sealed shut a few moments after he pulled the knife out. "I've been alive for fifty-two years. Every one of those fifty-two years I've broken so many bones, torn cartilage in my knees, and have been ripped up. I don't have any scars on my body, and my knees don't ache me. I knew that my children would inherit this, and I was correct." He looked at Izzy and Serenity with open sadness. "Was it so wrong for me to be so scared? To have this blood…even if I didn't believe in vampires, it was frightening to think that someone would just take my blood.

"And someone has taken this blood…my money treasures' bloods. And now…" He hung his head. "I've lost you."

"You haven't lost us!" Izzy cried out. "We're still the same! We may be Carpathians, but we're still the same! And we love you both so very much! And so many horrible things have happened to us! But I'm alive! Serenity's alive! This is a miracle, Dad! Mom! Please…" she buried her face into her mother's hair. "Don't be upset. We're still here, like we always will be. We're just…different."

Silence followed Izzy's words for a long time. Serenity had taken a seat beside her father and hugged him tightly.

It was Parn who broke the silence. "Ferris…Isa. This is all truly my fault. And I have hurt your daughter in ways I can never repent for. But I love her, sir. She is my light and my whole world. I have made a solemn oath before my Prince, and before Marach and Isabel that I would protect her and keep her happy. I know I can't do the same with you because you don't understand our cultures." He knelt before the Crane family, bending his head in submission. "I offer my being to you. I will forever be at your service."

Mr. Crane remained sitting there, staring at him in silence.

"Will they accept you?" Sara asked.

"…In time," Izzy said. "They've gone through so much through this, too. It will take them time to adjust, as it's taking me time."

"But your father…he didn't hurt Parn, did he?"

"I thought he would. But he…he wouldn't say anything more to him. But he didn't try to hit him anymore."

"Where are your parents now?"

"Shea is talking with them, as are Gregori and the other healers. I looked in on them, and I think it'll be all right." Izzy sure hoped so. She'd seen her mother smiling as Shea spoke to her, and that was promising. "I have a feeling Shea wants to use my dad's blood for the serums."

"Is he still uneasy about us anymore?"

"He's still scared of vampires, if that's what you mean. But, he's not scared of Serenity or me."

"Dragă," Marach said suddenly.

Izzy saw what was causing him unease and sprung into action. "I have to go!"

She met with Marach halfway and took off flying in the form of hawks. They didn't have very far to travel, thankfully, but they wanted to get there as soon as possible.

They found their trio quarry on the path leading down the mountain. "Serenity!"

Serenity didn't seem surprised to see her. "Oh hey, Izzy. I was just about to call for you."

Izzy looked at Serenity, Parn, and the hunter who was escorting him. "You're leaving now?! You're going off to do your punishment NOW?!"

"I have to," Parn said quietly. "I've heard it…her mother's crying again."

Izzy felt bile in her throat. She knew he was talking about his very first victim. She kept her eyes on Serenity. "Our parents are struggling to accept us and you're up and leaving?!"

"Mom and Dad know that I have to leave," Serenity said. "This is the choice I've made, Izzy. It was selfish of me to do so, but I belong at Parn's side. He wants to make amends so terribly, and I want to help him with it."

"But…" Izzy swallowed thickly. "I-I thought we could spend a little more time together before you left."

"We'll be right back, Izzy. We just have to go to Frankfurt to see the girl's parents. I'll definitely come back and see you, okay?"

Izzy didn't want to accept it, but she knew Serenity wouldn't change her mind. She gripped her hands in her own. "I love you, Serenity. You're one of the most precious people in my life. Please take care of yourself, okay?"

Serenity positively smiled at her and gave her a hug. "I love you too, Izzy, and you are precious to me. Trust me, I'll be back soon."

Izzy gaped at her, and she stammered to form a response. "All right! But you'd better be back soon or else these will go to waste!"

She waved her hands and produced a pair of rollerblades out of thin air. Serenity squealed when she saw them. "Oh, Izzy! Are those for me?"

"Not so fast!" Izzy snapped when Serenity reached for them. "We're going blading when you come back! So you'd better be back!"

Serenity let out a laugh and tossed her head. "Then I'll definitely be back soon! Right, Parn?" she smiled at her lifemate.

Parn smiled back at her shyly. "Yes."

"Shall we go now?" the hunter asked.

Parn nodded. "Of course, Ryker. Goodbye Marach, Sisar."

Serenity gave Izzy another hug and a kiss. "Bye, Izzy!"

Izzy was gaping once more as they left. Marach could feel her uncertainty and anguish and game to her side. "Are you all right, iubita mea?"

Izzy looked at him slowly. "She…She smiled, Marach." The tears she'd suppressed all this time finally spilled out. "She smiled at me, Marach! She smiled! I haven't seen her smile in months! And she laughed too! I thought I would never see her do either ever again!"

Marach took her into his arms and cradled her to his chest. He whispered soothingly to her and flooded her mind with his love.

"I'm so scared, Marach! What if they're hurt along the way? What is something happens? I nearly lost her so many times! I can't stand this anymore!"

"Then you mustn't worry anymore, Isabel." In truth, Marach was also very worried, but he remained strong for Izzy's sake. "Serenity is an adult woman. And we have entrusted her into the care of her lifemate. Parn has shared blood with over thirty hunters, and they will all arise if something happens."

Izzy sniffled. Marach produced a handkerchief out of thin air and handed it to her. She gratefully wiped her face and blew her nose. "I'll try, Marach. I really will try."

"Put all worries from your mind, draga." He gathered her back into his arms and kissed her on the lips. "I am here for you, as I always will be."

"Marach…" she dug her fingers into his sleeves. She'd been embarrassed of her feelings for him before, but now it felt so natural. "I do love you."

"I love you, too." He couldn't disguise the joy from his voice. "And everything will work out for us. Serenity is fine; she is whole again. We have guided a vampire back from the darkness. And slowly but surely, we will guide your parents around to understanding you."

"Mmm." She smiled at him slightly. "I was wondering if you could do something for me."

"What is it?"

"I need a vacation. A real vacation, Marach. One without worries or responsibilities. Can we do that?"

"We'll need to check with Mikhail to make sure he doesn't need our immediate help, but I don't see why not. Although, I cannot help but think you too are bailing on your parents."

"We'll bring them with us," she said impulsively. "We won't be going far."

"Where would you like to go?"

She smiled brightly. "Greece. I have some ouzo I need to buy."

And Marach smiled back at her. "I will take you wherever you need to go."

The End.