“I know, and it’s good to have family who cares.”
The word “family” lingered in Shay’s mind for a few seconds.
Family? Is that what this is? Is that why I’m bothering to show this girl I have no relation to all this when I didn’t care about my blood family? Why I worry about her at school? Why I killed men to protect her?
James taught me I could love, but with Alison, it’s a different sort of thing. Caring about someone else and wanting to improve them, rather than them being a partner or lover.
Shay blew out a breath. She hated epiphanies. They were so annoying.
Alison blinked. “Something wrong, Aunt Shay?”
“Not really…just thinking. We already covered how you’re not gonna be a tomb raider. Maybe. Have you thought much about your plans for after school?”
“Not sure, to be honest. I hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about what I might do when I was an adult. I always thought being blind meant I couldn’t have a normal job.”
Shay scoffed. “Screw normal jobs. You’re a half-Drow princess who can see souls. Get a cool job, not a normal job.”
Alison laughed. “Like what, bounty hunting or tomb raiding?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure you’ll figure something out, kid.”
“And if I asked you to start training me as a tomb raider?”
Shay snickered. “I’m sure your dad would have a few choice words for me, and a boot he’d stick up my ass.”
“Then what about something just a little less dangerous? What about parkour?”
“I don’t know, Alison.” The tomb raider rubbed the back of her neck. “That’s a lot of movement and a long way to fall.”
Alison shrugged. “But I can do the pulse.”
“Maybe we can talk about it in the future when we’ve got the vision artifact.” Shay laughed. “Then I can be the woman who taught the blind girl parkour.”
“Is that better or worse than training a teen to be a tomb raider?”
Shay shrugged, but her smile slowly faded.
So teaching Alison is silly, but training Lily isn’t? Shit, I’ve brought her on tomb raids with me already. She can see, but maybe Alison would have been able to see those invisible ghosts in England with her powers.
Damn it. I’m worried about Alison and making sure she’s safe, but I’m letting Lily live underground by her own choice. Wonder what she’s up these days? It’s been a while.
She sighed.
What a complicated damned world.
A few hours later, Shay climbed a rolling ladder toward one of her stacks in Warehouse Four. She had a little additional background research she needed to do for a lecture at the university tomorrow. Her hand glided along until she found the title in question, and she pulled it from the stack and moved down the ladder.
She turned to leave but stopped and glanced back over her shoulder with a frown, her thoughts from earlier in the day about Lily bubbling up again.
Alison lost her parents but ended up with a rich if rough guardian and a beautiful and badass aunt. Lily only has those other kids.
Maybe it’s not my business to give a shit about the girl, but I do, and the least I can do is help a little with her education.
Shay walked over to a different section of the library. Time to grab a few books for Lily. Maybe she could stop by the tunnels and chat with her.
Chapter Two
Shay smiled at the gathered students in the UCLA lecture hall. It was time to drop some more truth and open some minds. Maybe giving lectures wasn’t as exciting as slicing up a bunyip or taking on ghosts, but it was far less likely to end with her head bitten off or soul siphoned away. Always needed to look at the advantages and disadvantages.
A lot of students here today, and even a professor or two. Not bad. My academic rep must be growing on campus. Badass killer. Badass tomb raider. Badass professor.
A wide grin replaced her smile. Triple threat.
The gathered students were all older than Lily and Alison. More than a few were older than Shay, but she found she had no less desire to pass on her hard-earned wisdom to them.
The university was a place that was about your achievements, not your age. In a sense, it was similar to tomb raiding.
“Religion, myth, history, legend,” Shay intoned. “We like to tell ourselves these things are different, how the categories vary in truth and meaning. That’s how scholars were taught to think for decades, but we know now that viewpoint was myopic to the say the least—and downright stupid in many cases.”
Several students nodded their agreement. A few others frowned or laughed. Being provocative was always a good way to start a lecture. She’d started doing it more and more. What was the worst thing that could happen? Someone was offended? Big deal.
Shay cut through the air with her hand. “But if Oriceran has taught us anything, it’s that we have no business blithely declaring what’s true and what’s a mere story, not anymore. We need to make sure we don’t ever again fall into the arrogant pattern of thinking we know with absolute certainty what the truth is and that we’ve uncovered all the relevant evidence. We can get close, but there might be some other piece of information out there we don’t know about. That should always be at the back of our minds, taunting us. In a world where magic is real, the possibilities are endless.”
The eager students in the front row leaned forward, their eyes locked on her. Even though the lectures weren’t for credit, it seemed like more students attended each new session. Shay couldn’t help
