weapon had always been his charm.
“Vincent,” Lucian said heartily and pulled you into a generous hug. I’d not seen that kind of affection from him in a long time. Was it only an act or was he truly happy to meet you?
“Hello,” you said shyly as he held you at arm’s length for a better look. You didn’t much resemble us, neither in appearance, nor in temperament. Lena’s ominous words came back to me then.
Anything can be used as a weapon, Andronicus. Even kindness, even compassion.
“I’ve heard so much about you from Mother that I feel like I know you already,” Lucian said warmly.
I wanted to assure him that he did not, in fact, know you. But I held my tongue and let this little family reunion play out.
“Me too,” you said with a hopeful yearning that made me ashamed of my possessiveness. Like it or not, he was our brother—flesh and blood. Family meant something different to you than it did to me. You were the only family I needed or desired, but I couldn’t expect the same from you.
Lucian gestured to the booth. I crowded him from the outside. We were both rather large, though Lucian was narrower in frame. The arrangement was awkward—especially with you sitting alone—but it meant Lucian wouldn’t be able to make any sudden moves.
When he wanted to be, Lucian was a master at the art of conversation, not only in putting his audience at ease, but in being effortlessly charming and having the ability to direct the topic precisely where he wished it to go. Once you’d spoken a bit about your life in Miami, Lucian shared with us his recent enterprises. He’d been involved with several tech companies in the 1990’s which were now providing a healthy return. He said his next investments would likely be in alternative energy and battery storage, which got you talking about the rapacious greed of the fossil fuel industry. Lucian pontificated on the importance of investing your capital in the causes you believed in, which I knew to mean bribing powerful people and funding Lena’s attempts at insurgency, though neither of those pursuits were discussed.
“And I had the opportunity to go to culinary school,” Lucian said with a winning smile.
“I love to bake.” You nudged my ankle playfully under the table, attempting to draw me into the conversation. I’d been casing the restaurant in the event Lucian had a party of fate demons standing by to abduct you.
“Well, with our very specialized diet, I simply can’t rely on human cuisine to properly satisfy my palate,” Lucian said.
What Lucian didn’t say was that he’d always had an appetite for human flesh, more so than even Lena or me. I could only hope his culinary delights had died of natural causes.
“I’m vegan,” you said proudly and perhaps a little bit to impress him. Lucian was enthusiastic about your decision and said that he himself had been trying to cut down on his cholesterol. I rolled my eyes. That gesture was my only contribution to the conversation. In response, you shot me a look that said, be nice.
Lucian then began reminiscing about our ancestral home, even going so far as to offer to take you there. That would certainly be my pleasure, not Lucian’s, and I didn’t appreciate him making promises within the first hour of meeting you. It reeked of false flattery and a weak attempt to ingratiate himself into your good graces, which could only mean he wanted something.
“If all you wanted was to catch up, Lucian, why go through the trouble of stalking us?” I said. And terrifying me in the process.
Lucian smiled brightly, then pivoted to address me directly. “You didn’t make it easy for me to find you, Henri. Miami is a big city, after all. And to be clear, I was looking for Vincent, not you. If I may speak plainly, I was worried you might try to hide him away from me.”
You glanced between the two of us, trying to decipher the source of our obvious rancor. I rarely spoke to you about him. Where would I even begin?
“We’re not in hiding,” I said. “But I am concerned for his safety. His powers make him a target.”
I said no more than that, but I was sure Lucian understood my meaning. There was a brief time in his late adolescence when Lucian had been abducted and tortured mercilessly. I’d dispatched his abusers, and Lucian had been an enthusiastic participant in their demise. Neither