Page 66 of Heir

“Demons.”

“How do you know?”

“Zandren smelled them, and we had a necromancer mage come and he recounted her last few moments alive.”

She stepped out from where our legs touched and began to pace, hammering me with questions.

Questions I could barely answer. Questions that I’d asked a thousand times already since finding Delia there on her bedroom floor.

“How did this happen?” she asked, tears now trekking down her face, like they were mine.

“We think they’re looking for me. To take me out as heir . . . or something. We don’t know. But that picture of you and I at the beach is gone. So they know what I look like.”

“But why’d they kill her? I don’t understand.”

“Because she wouldn’t give up my location. Wouldn’t tell them what they wanted to know.”

“Which was?”

“Who my mother was. And it turns out she was human. I’m half human, half demon, which is apparently so rare that nobody has ever heard of it happening, or at least it’s not documented.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s not going to go over well with these pureblood loving immortals. I could tell that that femme fatale with the killer eyeliner didn’t like me. Is it because I’m human?”

My head bobbed and I sniffed and wiped away a tear. “She doesn’t like me either because I’m half human.”

“Jesus. Talk about living in the past. Let’s be a little more progressive and accepting here, people. Diversity, equity, inclusion.”

I reached for her to stop her from continuing to pace. “Gem, I’m sorry.”

Her chin quivered. “I’m sorry too. She’s your aunt.”

“She is an aunt to both of us. She took you in like you were her own after your own parents passed. We both lost someone special today.”

“Now all we have is each other.” She wrapped her arms around me and I hugged her back just as tight.

in the apartment pulled my attention. Zandren was back, and he had two big paper bags loaded with takeout food. He spotted me on the deck with Gemma and his face lit up like it wasn’t nighttime and a ray of sunshine had just burst through the wall and right onto his face. But when he realized that I was telling Gemma about Aunt Delia, his face sobered.

“Are you going to have a funeral?” Gemma asked.

“I’d like to. I’m honestly not even sure I’m her only family. Since Delia was actually a mage and probably centuries old, maybe she has other family somewhere and they have claim to her body and get to decide what to do with it.”

Gemma frowned. “Maybe. But I still think she’d trust you to do the right thing. Her favorite flowers, something in the garden. Maybe a celebration of life, rather than a dour event with people wearing black and crying?”

I smirked. “All I own is black.”

That made her smile, and she opened the sliding glass door. “That’s true. Okay, then make it a goth party. I think Delia would have liked that too.”

The scent of Indian food wafted up my nostrils. Zandren was busy unloading all the to-go containers onto the kitchen counter. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I just ordered like half the menu.”

Another surge of warm, comforting heat filled my chest, and I found myself deliberately sidling up closer to him, pulling in his cedar and honey scent. “Thank you. This was exactly what we needed.” I glared at Drak, who’d eaten Gemma’s steak and seemed to hold zero guilt about it. “I appreciate you taking care of us, and not just eating our food, but also providing some.”

Gemma brought plates down from the cupboard, and soon, we all had chicken methi matar malai, dal turka, shahi paneer, beef rogan josh, navratan korma, three different types of naan bread, samosas, pakoras, and basmati rice. I was stuffed by the time I put my plate in the dishwasher. But I was also really grateful. Grateful that I wasn’t alone. That I not only had Gemma, but for the first time since they showed up on my doorstep last night, that the guys were here and helping me figure out who killed Delia and why.

Zandren brought his plate to the dishwasher too, after having had four heaping helpings. “You sure you had enough to eat, Little One?”

“I’m full,” I said with a small smile. “But thank you for getting dinner.”

“Anything for you.” He cupped my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I hope you know that.”

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