Page 39 of Heartless Legacy

“And I told you I think that’s bullshit. Are you really her grandfather? No one ever mentioned anything about you dating someone before your death.”

“Evangeline and I were quite close, and it wasn’t something we advertised to anyone since she wasn’t from a legacy family line. You, of all people, should be able to understand that.”

I let my irritation show. “You were a lower legacy line and still had the nerve to be ashamed of her?”

His eyes crinkle at the corners. “Everything isn’t always what it seems.” He stands walking to a table in the corner and pours himself a glass of wine. “Would you like one?”

“Will the bottom of the glass give me answers or poison?”

He swirls the wine goblet before sticking his nose in it and taking a sip. When he returns to his seat, he says, “I cared about Evangeline very deeply. I wanted to share our connection with everyone, but I knew going public would only end in disaster for us both.”

“All of you legacy types are the same. You chose to be selfish and leave a young woman who didn’t fit into your world to raise your child on her own.”

“I didn’t know about the baby until after I was gone, and I never would have left her in Canyon Falls if I would have known she was pregnant. I wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed and I never saw her as a dirty little secret. We were friends and then more than friends.”

His lips tip at the corner. “Evangeline was so headstrong. So vocal about everything. She didn’t care about the rules and I loved that about her. Her view on life, her rebellion, it made me free to admit that I didn’t care about the rules either. As a documented lower legacy line, I could have found a way to get permission to be with her. ”

Moreau has yet to outright answer any of my questions. “Enough with the vague bullshit about your history with Van. If you cared about her so much, and could have gotten permission to be with her, then why fake your death and leave everyone, including my grandfather, to deal with the fallout?”

He twirls the ring on his finger as he stares at me, and I replay his words in my head. I’ve never really questioned why his family was assigned a guardian line at such a lower level. Now I do. “Why was your family line paired with mine?”

“Now you’re asking the right questions.” He chuckles. “I guess you can say your grandfather was stuck with me from birth, because I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know him.”

“So you were friends?”

“We were great friends. Your grandfather learned about his connection to The Guardians when he was a child. Back then, the families didn’t hide it, and MISTIC wasn’t a separate campus or year-long program. Enrollment was optional and the cadets, as they were called, went to a four-week summer intensive program, starting in ninth grade. It was like ROTC, and as part of their high school curriculum, each cadet was assigned to a peer who was a member of a legacy twelve bloodline.”

It’s easy to follow the story he’s weaving, but I’m incredulous about how true it is. “I’ve never heard any of this.”

“Neither had I. I’ve always been into reading and research, so when I got tapped, I spent a lot of time in the archives studying league history. The more challenges I completed, the more questions I had about the purpose we served for the organization I was joining. Through your grandfather, I had access to the guardian vaults and learned that the original guardian families were assigned to a specific legacy bloodline, and only guarded the male heir of the line.”

He takes another sip of his drink before continuing. “There’s a delicate balance between reciting history and rewriting it. Years pass and soon, the only version of history that’s remembered, are the things that are written and preserved. When it comes to the school, the generally accepted history of its founding is immortalized in founders hall, and on the walls of The Tomb.”

Alexz smiles. “Your grandfather watched my back on campus. He was there with me for plenty of challenges, as part of his training to be a guardian.” His smile fades. “One day, my mentor told me your grandfather would no longer be shadowing me on challenges. The other lower legacy prospects worked in teams, and I joined up with a few others who were still working alone to form our own. Then, I started getting sent on solo challenges, which got progressively harder. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that someone was no longer happy with the research I was doing and the questions I was asking.”

I know what he’s going to say next and still it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I lift my brow in question, because I suspect we’re getting close to what he really wants me to know and how it all relates back to him lying about being dead all these years. “I broke into the guardian vault as an official challenge. It was also a challenge I wasn’t supposed to come back from.”

Rising from his chair, he walks over to his wall, revealing a safe. He pulls a pair of white gloves out of it and puts them on before reaching in to retrieve a leather pouch. He comes back over and places the pouch in front of me, opening it revealing a plastic sleeve with a torn piece of paper with smudged ink.

“My challenge was to retrieve a rare savings bond from the guardian vault. Getting into the vault was easy. But the challenge item wasn’t where it was supposed to be. By the time I found the shelf, the intrusion alarms were going off. I grabbed the bond case and barely made it out without being caught. I have your grandfather to thank for that. He told me about the escape hatch on the roof.”

“You’re saying my grandfather helped you steal it?”

“Can you really steal something that doesn’t exist? I liberated it from its prison, just like I have so many other things over the years.” He takes his seat, the smile on his face so similar to the one Thea gives me when she’s being a smartass.

Alexz leans forward and taps the document. “This parchment and a letter were in the case I liberated, not the bond I was sent to retrieve.”

“What is it?”

“I have no idea.”

Looking up at him, I ask, “Where’s the letter?’

“Don’t know. After my accident, I woke up on the bridge with nothing but that scrap of paper in my pocket.”

He taps the left margin. “Notice anything?”

The doodle in the corner is a picture. “It looks like the guardian crest. The design is different. The flames around it aren’t supposed to be there, and neither are the two scrolls.”

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