She scowled and shook her head.
“We were on a mission in Italy, back to the old world to wrap up loose ends. It was one of our last ones out there. Kenzo, always rambunctious, decided he wanted to break orders and go out drinking that night. That we would finish our objective the next day.”
“Really?” she asked with a shocked expression.
“Oh, yes. Your father was quite the foolhardy strongblood.”
“He was always so…”
“Uptight? Old? Yes,” the old man chuckled. “But not in those days. Youth and folly and a love for the world. He caught the attention of a woman in the tavern that night, and he fell madly in love with her. They spent the night together, and in the morning, he had to leave her. He left a necklace there for her, with his name inside of it. He was a hopeless romantic, Kenzo.”
She found herself smiling in surprise, against all odds. “I had no clue.”
“The woman’s name was Lucidia. We never learned her family name. I’ve no doubt that if we had, Kenzo would have broken rank to go find her again. He was so vibrant like that.”
Lucidia gave a reminiscent smile. “He is, isn’t he?”
Seldon nodded and let out a long breath. “You will be safe here. Nobody will harm you, and you are welcome to stay as long as you need.”
Lucidia’s eyes widened. “Thank you.”
“You are my kin, and the daughter of one of my greatest friends. That makes us family, does it not?”
She nodded.
Seldon’s eyes shifted to the rest of the room. “Besides, we are all united in mutual injustice.”
“Yes,” Lucidia whispered. She glanced to the woman and the boy, still glaring at her, but resigned to her acceptance by Seldon.
“What are you running from, Lucidia Draxos?” Seldon asked her, with a curious gaze.
“It’s a long story,” she said.
“Nothing would make my last days happier than to hear a long story from you,” he chuckled.
Lucidia returned his smile and began telling him the tale of Robin Wright, the human girl with lightning-red birthmarks that could inspire rebellion with one glance of her crystal blue eyes.
Chapter 10: Journey
Reykon
They were in the car now, a thick spell of concealment enshrouding them as they moved south.
Willow and Reykon sat in the front, with Reykon in the driver’s seat. Robin and Dag took the back, both of them still passed out from the previous night. Willow had crafted up some supernatural hangover cure but opted to let them rest as long as possible.
There wasn’t much they could do, anyway.
“So,” Reykon said softly, “Let’s go over the plan.”
Willow pulled her legs into a criss cross position. “Shouldn’t we wait for them to wake up?”
“Doesn’t hurt to go over it twice. I like to be prepared.”
She raised an eyebrow and gave a coy smile. “Well, I know that.”
This made Reykon smile back, despite the impending danger they drove straight for. House Demonte would surely be crawling with Xander agents, every entrance blocked, every road for miles being monitored. It was like a hellish game of football, and they had to make it through the most fortified offensive line the world had ever seen.
Otherwise, they’d get Robin. And she’d be executed.
The stakes were pretty high, to say the least.
“Alright,” Willow said. “We’re driving to Corpus Christi, concealed the whole way.”
“What’s in Corpus Christi?”
“A boat.”
“A boat?” Reykon echoed. “Wow, that’s smart.”
He hadn’t thought of it at all. But it made sense; if the whole world was looking for your car, then why not arrive in style?
She smiled, her green eyes shimmering from behind the sunglasses. “The boat will be concealed, as well. Dag will pilot-”
“Why can’t I pilot?”
She turned and gave him an amused smile. “You’re a bit of a control freak, you know that?”
“Yes,” he said with a slight shrug. “It goes with the territory.”
“I’m sure.”
“Alright, so, whoever’s piloting. What port are we docking at?”
Willow checked the weather on her phone. “If conditions hold up, we’ll be coming into Vermillion Bay around 5 p.m.”
“Vermillion Bay, that’s… what? An hour south?”
“Hour fifteen.”
“Okay,” he said, nodding.
“Dag and I will part ways with you at the marina, but we’ll keep you concealed through the focus.” She held up a necklace, made out of bark from a specific tree (he wasn’t sure which one – there were so many). “Wear this, and then trash it as soon as you get to House Demonte.”
“Okay,” Reykon said, letting out a long breath. “This might just work.”
“It will work. With just you, success was iffy, but now that you’ve got some brains on the team, your chances are way better,” Willow said with a grin.
Reykon chuckled softly and looked in the backseat.
A silence slipped between them, and the miles passed, bringing them further south, and closer to the Gulf of Mexico.
A few minutes later, he spoke. “You know,” he began, his voice a whisper. “I don’t want to bring her to him. The idea of him, touching her….” His hand tightened around the wheel. “It infuriates me.”
“Why, then?” she asked.
“Because she will never be able to hide from Darian Xander. Everybody knows that it’s within his abilities to wipe out every safehouse on the face of the planet. He doesn’t do it because half of his spy network comes from them. But if she goes missing, he’ll kill every refugee, every hidden creature, until he gets retribution. He’s too prideful to leave a sin like that unpunished. Even if we manage to run, it’s borrowed time.”
“Borrowed time is better than no time at all.”
“She’ll have time with Magnus.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Reykon sighed. “He’ll take one look at her and become enamored, just like everybody else. Magnus is brutal, and strict, and he doesn’t tolerate disobedience, but he’s also loyal. He cares about the people who care about him, and who follow the rules.”
“You think he’ll care about Robin?” she countered.
“I think he won’t kill her,” Reykon settled.
“And that’s such a good fate?”
“If she can show loyalty to Magnus,
