Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,46

of a supernatural war breaking out in Colorado.”

“You’re thinking like a soldier.” Simon’s voice was mild, but he brought me up short. When I looked at him, his eyes were fixed on the whiteboard. “There might be another way.”

“What are you thinking?” Lily asked him.

“Lex isn’t the only person in Boulder with boundary witchblood.”

I blanched. “You’re not serious.”

“Who? Charlie?” Lily said, looking back and forth between us. “She’s a null, she won’t have the boundary magic in her system—”

“No,” I said heavily. “Simon wants us to call my biological father.”

Chapter 18

As usual, Lily got straight to the point. “Do you trust him?” she asked me.

“I . . . don’t know if I trust him. I can’t figure out what he wants. Why would he contact me?”

“What do you mean?” Lily looked confused. “You’re his daughter. He wants to get to know you.”

I shrugged, uncomfortable. “Honestly, I haven’t really had time to process the whole thing. I just found out yesterday morning. And then Maven was shot, and everything went to hell.”

“And we all got distracted.” Lily concluded. She looked at me abruptly, like something had just occurred to her. “But why didn’t you call me right after he showed up?”

Her tone was so indignant that I had to smile. “I didn’t feel like dumping my family problems on you right now, give everything that’s been happening with . . . um . . .”

“Morgan,” Simon supplied. “You can say her name.”

“And yes, it’s complicated, but this is huge news, Lex,” Lily said. “You shouldn’t have worried about my feelings.”

I held up my hands. “Okay. I promise, the next time my biological parent shows up out of the blue, I will call.”

“That’s all I ask.”

Simon raised a hand. “Can we get back to the issue? You told me that Emil has boundary blood.”

“But it’s not active,” I pointed out. Like most males with witchblood, Emil had never had the chance to activate his magic. “Will it even work, with dormant witchblood?”

Both Pellars fell silent. “I honestly have no idea,” Simon said finally. “But I don’t see how it could hurt to try. Even if he’s human, the blood would at least help sustain her.”

“But assuming he agrees to this,” I said, “he would know where we’re keeping Maven. Unless we get him to donate somewhere else, bring it to Maven in bags?”

A smile spread across Simon’s face. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” he said. “One thing we know for sure about dormant witches—they can be pressed.”

We did a little more planning, and by midafternoon, I was ready to call Emil. I asked him to coffee, and I picked a location off the beaten path: Naked Lunch, a little café that was buried in a big apartment and retail complex off Arapahoe. It was cute, utilitarian, and the kind of place where people mostly tracked in and out with to-go cups rather than sat and chatted. We would have relative privacy while still being in a public space.

I had to make a quick trip to the cabin to change my clothes and take care of the herd, so Emil got to the café before me. When I walked in, he stood to greet me with a broad, nervous smile. He was wearing nearly the same outfit as the day before: chinos that hung awkwardly near the pockets and a slightly lumpy polo shirt with a tiny reptile over one breast. Maybe he had a heart condition and needed to wear an external pacemaker or something.

I really didn’t want to hug him yet, so I was relieved when he held out his hand for me to shake, taking it in both of his warm ones. “Good to see you again, Lex,” he said, beaming. He gestured toward the counter. “What can I get you? Coffee? Pastry?”

“Coffee and a cookie-dough ball, please,” I said. Ordinarily I would have fought one of my own family members—er, one of the Luthers—for the check, but it was obvious how badly he wanted to please me. I felt a little guilty that I was going to try to use that against him, but I could always make it up to him later.

When we were settled at a table, Emil and I chatted for a while about inconsequential things. I told him about my job at the Depot and my second job doing some “security consulting for a local business,” which was how I’d explained my nighttime hours to my family. He smiled when I asked how