Page 84 of Fallen Heirs

It didn’t escape my notice for a moment that he hadn’t asked me whatIknew about what Orpheus was doing. He knew I’d been with him, so it wasn’t a stretch at all to assume that I knew what he was up to, that he hadn’t kept it from me. But my dad was aware of the difficult position I was in right now and he obviously didn’t want to worsen that for me.

That was him through and through. Always thinking of me, always going out of his way to do what was best for me.

And he was also the most diplomatic person alive.

“Thank you, Dad.”

He raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Being you.”

He looked confused, and went to say something, as we reached the entrance to the lab, but then a shudder betook him and pulled him up short.

I understood what had happened right away. “This is the first time you’ve been back here since Constantine was resurrected, isn’t it?”

When he was burned to within an inch of his life by a Hellborn.

“Yes, it is.” He squared his shoulders. “Not to worry.”

“If you need some time, or to do this elsewhere—”

“No, what we need is here. I’ll be fine. Thank you, son.”

With that, he stepped over the threshold and I followed him into the lab.

I hadn’t been inside for a long time. He must’ve had it cleaned up since that night, because everything looked the same as I remembered it. White stone walls giving off a cave vibe, a massive supply of vials, potions, and magical ingredients on dozens of shelves inset into the walls themselves, a heavy stone door at the far end of the room that contained particularly volatile magical items, as well as a couple of grimoires that contained dangerous spells.

Yeah, it was the same, except for one thing.

There was a woman I didn’t recognize milling about over by one of the long stone benches in the far end of the space, which had been set up with my father’s research notes, vials of potions, our magic, test tubes of blood, and all the equipment we’d need for this particular task.

Platinum blonde curls cascaded about the jeweled straps of a neon-pink sundress. She had a pair of strappy sandals on and tattoos covered every visible inch of skin. Large gold hoop earrings were accompanied by several others in each ear and she even had a piercing through her nose and her lip.

She started when she noticed our arrival and her surprise gave way to mine as I saw her beaming out at my dad.

The surprises kept on coming when I caught him looking her up and down, trying to be discreet about it, but failing to hide his interest fromme.

He blinked and looked away, focusing on the table of equipment instead. “Excellent job, V. Everything is perfect.”

“Well, I know how you like it, El.”

What was happening?

She came around the table and smiled at me in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you finally. Vanessa Granger.”

“Finally?”

My dad cleared his throat and told me, “She’s been working with me for a few weeks.”

“As your lab assistant?”

“My apprentice.”

Huh.“You’re a light magic wielder?” I asked her.

“Yes. Before this I was workingforyour father atSabre Tech.”

“She was one of our top app developers,” my dad informed me.

---