Page 114 of The Seducer
With Athena’s hand in mine we walked as fast as her leg would allow her. When we entered the laboratory in the basement, I turned on the harsh light and pointed to a chair by the door. “Rest your leg.”
With eager movements, I got to work and ran the test.
“Don’t be disappointed if Tristan isn’t your son,” Athena warned. “It would be against all odds that you would father a child without knowing it and then meet him fifteen years later.”
Giving her a sideways glance, I said, “A wise priestess once told me that there are no coincidences and that everything happens for a reason.”
“Yes, and now that same priestess is telling you not to get your hopes up,” Athena said with concern.
She hadn’t needed to warn me, because the test was a match.
“Tristanismyson!” I breathed in disbelief when the result was clear.
Athena gaped. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. The test is a clear match.”
“That’s incredible,” she exclaimed and pushed up from the chair to hug me.
My nose started itching like it always does when I feel tears coming, and I blinked to avoid spilling them. “He’s my son,” I repeated, as I processed this new information.
Athena moved back to look at me. “Are you going to tell him?”
“Hell yes, I’m going to tell the whole world.”
A triangle formed between her eyebrows. “Randa Christine isn’t going to like that the father of her son is an Nman. Mothers across the Motherlands would be very upset if they knew there’s a chance that they were inseminated with sperm from Nmen.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t care about that. All I care about is the fact that I have a son, and I want to have that recognized somehow.”
“Why?” Athena asked. “What would it change?”
It was my turn to frown. “It would change a whole lot. I would have rights to see him, to make decisions that involve him, and Tristan could inherit from me when I die.”
“Tristan is a Motlander, Finn.” Athena stroked my face. “He doesn’t care about possessions or money.”
“Maybe not now, but if he stays in the Northlands, he will.” With a determined nod, I moved to the door of the lab with Athena’s hand in mine. “Come on, I have a lot of questions for Khan.”
“It’s still early in the morning,” Athena pointed out. “He and Pearl are probably sleeping.”
“Then we’ll go wake them up,” I said with fire in my chest, and a smile pressing under the indignation that Khan had held something this important from us.
Khan and Pearl weren’t sleeping when we burst into their bedroom. They were making love; already two steps into the room, I clasped a hand in front of my eyes at the sight of Pearl scrambling to cover herself with the covers on the bed.
“Finn, what the fuck?” Khan’s voice was a mix of concern and anger. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
I was still covering my eyes, but spoke up. “There’s something urgent that we need to discuss.”
“Can’t it wait?”
“Would I burst in here if it could wait?” I said, feeding on my anger at him.
Khan groaned and threw a short command at me. “I’ll meet you in the dining room. Just let me get dressed.”
Closing the door behind me, I faced Athena, who stood right outside with her eyes big and round. “I told you to knock,” she whispered.
“Yeah, next time I will,” I agreed and led her to the dining room, where waiters were preparing breakfast.
Khan and Pearl joined us ten minutes later and the first thing Khan said was, “Why the hell are you dressed like that?”
