Page 11 of Midlife Demigod Unexpected

“Maybe, but I never felt that way about it. I always felt like I was just the steward,” I said. “It all comes from somewhere else. I inherited the whole thing lock stock and barrel from my father, a man I never knew.”

“Have you ever thought maybe that’s a good thing?” Jag asked.

“No,” I said. “I never considered that at all, because basically if a man fathered me, even if he’s the devil himself, I should know what my ancestry is and what’s in my blood.”

“You think knowing is going to make a difference?” Jag asked. “I mean, you are who you are already by now. Do you think knowing who your dad is going to change that?”

“It might fill in some of the puzzle pieces.” I pointed out. “I mean seriously. How am I going to know until I know?”

“What clues do you have right now as to who he is?” Jag asked.

“Well, the pub didn’t come with any further information. It was just a plot of ground purchased in my name. The building was built in my name. It looks like everything done was being done by me. The only problem is, I wasn’t even conceived. If you look at the paperwork it was purchased in my name before I was born.”

Jag raised his eyebrows. “That’s a strong bit of magic to be able to do something like that.”

“You’re telling me,” I said. “I’ve been around magic my whole life. My mom can do amazing things even though I can’t do shit, mut even my mom couldn’t predict my gender or birthday.”

“What if he didn’t predict it? What if he magically backdated it?”

“That would be more reasonable,” I said. “To be honest, as much as I want to know, I haven’t spent a lot of time delving into it. I looked at all the paperwork and he’d done it in such a way, he made it clear he didn’t want anything to do with me. I’m not the kind of girl who chases after a guy.”

“Well, there’s no reason why a woman like you should ever chase after a guy anyhow,” Jag said.

I whipped around and looked at him, a bit surprised. “Are you flirting with me?” I asked.

“Flirting? No, I don’t think that was flirting,” he said. “I was stating a fact. Flirting would be like, I don’t know, if I made it personal somehow. “

“Well, if you just said you think I’m pretty amazing, which is not what you said. If it was, though, it’d be personal, in my opinion.” I said.

“It’s no surprise I think you’re amazing,” Jag said with a shrug. “Why would that be a surprise? Everybody thinks you’re amazing.”

I chewed on my lip for a second, not wanting to say anything, not wanting to speak. I wanted to make out with him. We were walking through Cougar Creek and the sun was setting. The air was brisk and cold. I wanted him to pull me into his arms and heat me up.

That wasn’t what he was doing.

He wasn’t coming onto me. He wasn’t flirting with me. It was as clear as day, and I should take it at face value. I couldn’t be chasing after younger men. If he wanted me, he would come to me. If not, his loss.

The sun set behind the mountains as we arrived at the blackened remains of my pub. My heart felt as blackened as the ruins. It hurt to look at it. It had been less than twenty-four hours. It wasn’t long enough to get over the loss of, well, everything.

“You managed to save a couple of things?” Jag asked.

“A sword and a box,” I said. “The box is the one I grabbed right before we got out of the building. The sword saved itself. We found it in the stones of the fireplace.”

The breeze lifted his hair, showing the sunset in his dark eyes. “What is inside the box?”

“I’ve never been able to open it,” I said. I looked at my hand. It was glowing gold in the evening light.

“You might want to try it out now you’ve got magic going on.” His smile was warm and lifted my spirits.

“I don’t understand why I’ve never had magic powers before. Suddenly one day my pub disappears, I’ve got magic powers and all I have left is a sword and a box.” I mused.

“What’s there to figure out? It just is,” shrugged Jag.

“I don’t know if the magic came because the pub burnt down or if my magic came and then the pub burnt down,” I explained.

“The pub burnt down before you got your magic, “Jag said. “I was standing right next to you when it happened. Maybe it was a sacrifice.”

“Yes, but beings are attracted to magic, right?” I asked. “I remember that much from what my mother taught me. What if the cambion was coming to me because my magic was coming out?”

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