Nita snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing the stern order coming from the side.
Before she could comprehend it, her hand lifted off of Jodie's shoulder, setting him free from her grasp.
'Not this again...' She frowned as she turned her gaze toward her father, the one who had just spoken.
As the Head of the Valken clan, Uri Valken was in a position of absolute power and control over those who were under him.
This meant that every word of his was to be taken seriously by those within the Valken clan.
However, when he gave out an order, the clan members had to obey it without a second's delay.
The authority that resonated in his voice earlier hence had snapped her back to her senses, even against her will.
For a vampire, an order from the head of the clan was like the absolute law that could not be broken.
As long as they heard his order, it was essential for them to follow through with it to avoid any repercussions for disobedience.
After all, members of the clan pledged loyalty and servitude to the Leader or the Head of the clan.
This formed a lifelong bond between the Leader and his members.
If this bond were broken, it would lead to a disastrous outcome for the culprit.
In the same way, disobeying a direct command from the Head would lead to a severe backlash for the member.
Therefore, all vampires who had taken the pledge would subconsciously obey any order given by the Head as though they were under a spell.
This was exactly what had taken place with Nita, who, upon hearing the order her father had given, was quick to let go of Jodie's shoulder.
Now, turning in her father's direction, she saw him looking at her with a frown.
"You need to control yourself." He continued with that same authoritative tone, making her clench her jaw.
Before she could speak up in her defense, her body moved of its own accord once again and she nodded at her father, accepting his order even though she did not mean to do so.
Jodie was being disrespectful to her and she had every right to put him in his place if he thought that he could get away with treating her in that way without consequences.
However, her father's words now put an end to her thoughts as she could no longer act against him.
'At least when Father is around...' She reminded herself of this loophole, which she had known for quite some time now.
Shaking this thought away as soon as it had appeared, Nita let out an annoyed sigh before she unclenched her jaw.
She was about to speak up once again but her father beat her to it as he turned toward someone else in the room.
"This is for the both of you!" Uri fixed his stern eyes on Jodie, reminding him that he too was an equal contributor to the chaos that had just ensued.
If he had not baited Nita then she would not have tried to hurt him.
Therefore, Uri made sure to let Jodie know that he too needed to keep his emotions under control and not cause any more trouble for everyone around them.
After all, there was already enough chaos in the family ever since Detrim had disappeared.
"And you need to keep an eye on them for me." Uri gave out his next order, this time to Rowan, the oldest among the three youngsters.
Having received his order, Rowan bowed his head as he would have done just that even without the Head's order.
Now that he was given this task by the Head himself, he would ensure that these two brats would not quarrel among themselves every chance they got.
Once Uri completed giving out his orders, he once again turned to his daughter who stood next to Jodie.
"We will have to discuss what just happened." He added, but this time there was not an ounce of authority in his tone.
Instead, there was concern and curiosity that reflected in his voice and his gaze, which he directed toward his child.
One of them had gone missing and the other, who returned, was vastly different from how he recalled her to be in the past.
This made the old father wonder if he had truly made a mistake by letting her leave all those years ago.
She had grown up in those years, and he, as the father, wasn't aware of this growth at all.
Therefore, he now wished to learn more about her and what had caused all of these changes, not just in her strength but also in her personality.
'She was such an obedient and sweet child back then...' He reminisced about the past which no longer existsed.
"Nothing happened." Nita mumbled her response, breaking the silence in the room.
She hadn't even gotten the chance to complete what she had planned to do, so there was nothing to discuss between the father and child.
However, Uri did not seem to like this answer, which he could hear quite clearly thanks to the excellent hearing powers all vampires possessed.
"You know exactly what I mean!" He scoffed at her for trying to sweep this incident under the rug.
He knew exactly what she had planned to do with Jodie, after all, he had witnessed it firsthand in his vision.
Though the other two men weren't aware of what he was implying, Nita, his daughter, was sure to know what he was talking about.
After all, only a few crucial members of the Valken clan and his family members were aware of his special powers.
Therefore, Uri knew that Nita was simply trying to avoid having this conversation which he intended to see through at all costs.
Nita felt the need to roll her eyes at her father but chose to hold it in, as there were others present in this room.
'What use are those powers other than in situations like this?' She scoffed inwardly but this time, nodded her head in acceptance.
If he wished to have this conversation then she would reluctantly oblige.
"Can we leave now?" She asked, annoyance evident in her tone as she faced her father head-on.
No one dared to speak to the Valken Clan Head in this way but this was his precious daughter who had been away from him for years.
Therefore, the doting father chose to ignore her tone and nodded his head at her.
Having received his answer, Nita turned towards the man standing next to her.
Though she could not accomplish everything she had planned to do, she had at least been able to set something straight with this person.
"Shall we head out, Cousin Jodie? Or..." She paused and made it a point to slowly shift her gaze towards the shoulder she had touched earlier.
Jodie felt a shiver run down his spine when he saw her eyes land on the shoulder which was still throbbing in pain.
"Uh-uncle!" He yelled with a tremble in his voice and hurriedly averted his gaze from her, facing Uri Valken with a terrified look on his face.
Rowan rolled his eyes at his tattletale little brother while Nita scoffed at his cowardly behavior.
'Bringing in an adult when you cannot sort out your own mess? You still haven't changed a bit!' She shook her head at this cousin of hers who only seemed to have grown in size but not in brains.
"Or would you like to rest for a while before we head out?" Nita completed her sentence and enjoyed the look of disbelief on Jodie's face.
"You!" Jodie glared at her, raising his hand to point a finger in her direction as she had twisted her words right after he had told on her to her father.
However, in the very next second, a shooting pain arose in his shoulder which forced him to put his hand down without delay.
Watching him massage his throbbing shoulder, Nita smirked as she had already achieved her goal long before her father had ordered her to stop.
She had just planned on going the extra mile when he had forced her out of her thoughts and halted her plans.
Therefore, now watching Jodie look at her with an expression of both annoyance and fear, Nita knew she had succeeded.
"Let's leave if you are feeling fine." She tossed these words at him before heading out of the room, without a care for those she left behind.
"We'll take our leave, Uncle!" Rowan announced and hurriedly followed after Nita.
However, he paused after taking a couple of steps when he noticed something odd.
Shaking his head, he rushed back and began to drag his troublesome brother along with him.
Thus, the two brothers soon headed out, leaving Uri Valken alone with his thoughts in this large office room.