“Oh, hello. I didn’t see you.” He crossed the room and stopped and stared at the chessboard. “If you’re white, you’ve gotten into a pickle,” he said.
“I’m playing white. Mr. Wayne left me to figure out how I got here and how to unpickle my situation. Mr. Wayne thinks I may have the makings of a chess player.”
“But you don’t think so?”
“It’s hard to sit still.”
“Ah,” Orion responded. He turned and looked around.
“It really is amazing, isn’t it?” Mia led.
“What?”
“The library,” Mia answered. “All those books.”
“Have you read any?” Orion asked her.
“Some. A lot of them are of a subject too grown up for me, or so I’ve been told.”
“How old are you?” Orion asked.
“Twelve. How old are you?” Mia asked.
Orion was startled by the question. He stammered, “Old enough to know better than to answer that.”
“Why are you here?” Mia asked.
“I… well, not I, but the concern I represent, has been offered a very rare book. One that we have been seeking for a long time. Mr. Wayne contacted my company to let us know he would consider letting it go if the price was right.”
“It must be some book,” Mia pressed.
“It is,” Orion said and seemed to really see Mia for the first time. “Do I know you?”
“Do you?” she questioned.
“What is your name, child?” Orion asked.
“Mia Cooper, my father is Charles Cooper, my mother is…”
“Amanda Neyer. You look like Émile Neyer’s wife Adele, your grandmother.”
“My grandmother’s name is Fredericka Cooper not Neyer,” Mia insisted.
Orion took this in and then said gently, “Mia, you’re allowed more than one set of grandparents.”
“I don’t have a set,” Mia spat. “I only have a grandmother.”
Orion was about to explain the fact that her mother wasn’t hatched when Wyatt Wayne walked into the room.
“Mr. Stavros, it’s good to see you again.”
Orion turned his full attention on Wyatt. Mia could tell that the bratty twelve-year-old had been forgotten.
“I was surprised you asked for me. There are other scribes who live closer.”
“But none with your pedigree. I would not be able to sit in the presence of a full-blooded birdman. You have demon genes. That makes your existence palatable.”
“Come now, we shouldn’t be speaking about such things in front of this innocent child.”
“Mia? Innocent? I suppose in the ways of reproduction, but she’s very smart and understands most concepts.”
“Ha, she doesn’t think that people have more than one grandparent,” Orion pointed out.
“Mia, are you teasing the man? Sorry, Mr. Stavros, she is a bad child. She also has a demon strain that runs through her grandfather’s side.”
“Émile is part demon?”
“Not to my knowledge, but perhaps her other grandfather.”
“You know, I’ve always suspected that Fredericka had a liaison with a fallen once, so it’s possible she would… No, that would make a Nephilim. Mia, Charles isn’t a bit crazy is he?”
“My father is as dull as dishwater. Although, he is crazy about my mother. But that could be the Cooper curse. Do you know anything about this curse?”
“I don’t. I could look it up for you.”
Mia could tell that between her and Wyatt they had rattled Orion, but he hadn’t put together that he could possibly be Charles’s father yet.
“If you do, you could send it to my grandmother Fredericka.”
Orion’s face softened. “I’m not sure that would be wise. She banned me from her home decades ago. I don’t know what I did, but it was enough to have her deny all my attempts at reconciliation.”
“She’s a peculiar old bird,” Mia said.
“Come now, that’s not kind.”
“Bad Mia,” Wyatt said.
“I’m sorry. I was being glib.”
“How is Fredericka?” Orion asked.
“She’s getting old. She must have known you when you were a young man.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Orion said.
“Mia, would you mind leaving your chess studies for now? Mr. Stavros and I have business to discuss.”
“Yes, Mr. Wayne,” Mia said dutifully and walked out of the room, shutting the door after her. She turned the corner too quickly and walked into a wall of muscle. “I’m so sorry…” words escaped her. Nicholai stood looking down at her. “Whoa, you’re tall.”
“Only because you’re so small,” he said.
“Hello, I’m Mia Cooper Mar…. Marvelous to make your acquaintance…”
“Nicholai,” he said. He took her hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed it.
The power the man exuded was so strong, Mia thought she was going to faint. “Whoa.”
Nordin walked into the hall. “Sir, can I offer you a beverage while you wait?”
“No. I’m on duty but thank you.”
“Are you a cop?” Mia asked, her legs recovering from her weak knees.
“No, I’m a guard.”
“A bodyguard, like in that movie?” Mia asked.
“I don’t know. What movie?”
Mia gave him a lopsided grin. “The Bodyguard. It’s an old one with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston in it.”
“Haven’t seen it. I protect Mr. Stavros while he is doing business.”
“Kind of a lame job for a powerhouse like you.”
“Mia Cooper!” Nordin scolded. “You apologize.”
“Sorry. I’m going to go. Nice to meet you, Nicholai,” she said, walking up the stairs.
“Nicholai, please excuse her. She was raised by wolves,” Nordin sniffed and left the room.
Inside the library, Wyatt watched Orion while he studied the book.
“Tell me, Mr. Stavros, are you married?”
“No.”
“So, there is no little librarian anywhere?”
“No. I was in a long relationship that ended oddly. I never really became interested in anyone else.”
“That’s too bad. We should all come fully
