Page 49 of The Heir
Indiana’s family was one of the wealthiest in the Northlands so I knew buying me a pair of antique sunglasses wouldn’t be a problem for him. “If you’re serious, then I would treasure them as a wonderful reminder of my time here.”
The edges around Indiana’s kind brown eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Helmes. You heard the lady.”
We stayed in the shop long enough for me to ask Helmes and his employee questions about their spirituality. For the most part it wasn’t something they had ever considered much, but Helmes did say that he once saw a ghost, although he added that he was quite drunk that night.
Indiana and I made another stop on our way to the headquarters. This time he bought us delicious crepes at a street vendor.
Once we reached the Exploration Headquarters on the outskirts of the safe zone, we were welcomed by Indiana’s former colleagues and the new Explorers from the Northlands that Aubri, Sparrow, and Banni had trained. Shiva and his team were out on a mission, but I chatted with others that I had helped vet. They all agreed that they loved the work but that adjusting to the French culture was hard.
One of them joked, “I think something got twisted in their DNA with their ancestors living underground for so long. They’re like ants in a way, each one of them doing their jobs as a good citizen and following orders from the people in the Blue Tower.”
“That’s right. You call them ants, but we always refer to the French as worker bees for the same reason,” Indiana said before he pulled me away from the Northlander Explorer to introduce me to his former teammate Val.
Val was a man of few words but it was clear to me that he cared deeply about Indiana and missed his old teammates Banni and Aubri.
When Indiana and I left his former workplace and walked back through the streets, I exclaimed, “I’m so happy you brought me today. I’ve had so much fun.”
“Good. Today’s negotiations will be over by now, but we still have a few hours before tonight’s social event begins.”
For a while we walked side by side, without talking. Noticing the change in energy from Indiana, I looked up at him. “Is it nostalgia or sadness I’m sensing?”
He shrugged. “Maybe a bit of both. Everything here reminds me of Aubri. There are a lot of memories coming back to me.”
“You miss her.”
He nodded and smiled. “There are days when I still wake up and pinch myself that she married me. I was in love with Aubri for years before she saw me the same way that I saw her.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Hmm. I wouldn’t call my relationship with Aubri sweet. She’s a handful, but I have big hands.” He held up his palms with a grin.
“Are you excited about becoming a father?”
“Of course. And equally nervous that I’ll fuck it up somehow, but my dad says that it was the same for him when my mom was pregnant with me.”
“Please tell me that you’re not overprotective of her. I don’t think Aubri would like that.”
Indiana was quiet for a long moment. “Now that she’s pregnant it’s hard not to be on edge the entire time. It’s how my brain is wired.”
“I see.” It was easier to keep up with him now that he was walking slower.
“What about Finn? He must have been like that with your mom as well. I mean your dad is a Northlander,” Indiana mused.
“In a way my dad saved himself from a lot of stress by living in the Motherlands. There was never much to protect her from. I remember when we were kids, and my parents took us to the Northlands; that’s when my dad would turn into a crazy person and stare down any man who came too close to my mom.”
“I always thought of Finn as so relaxed.”
“Yes, overall, my dad is a pretty balanced person, but he still has the Nman gene like you and the others.”
“I get crazy protective but Aubri gets it. She’s the same.”
“I believe you. Freya told me that when Shiva and I hugged last night, she had to calm you, Thor, and Mason down.”
Indiana nodded. “She’s right. Mason and I watched the situation closely, but Thor was ready to kill him.”
“It was a hug, Indy, nothing more. I don’t understand why Thor is so controlling and overbearing.”
He slowed down and stopped. “Look, Linea, I know you didn’t grow up in the Northlands, but we men are raised to protect our women.”
