“I don’t know. We learned how to do processed foods and add MSG to everything?” I laugh at the ecstatic expression on his face. “And how to fry things.”
He nods. “Yes, the frying. The frying is very good.”
He shoves the last of the fries in his mouth and wipes his hands on the stack of napkins at the bottom of the bag. “But we need to get back to learning.”
With the hand he just cleaned, he looks back at the tablet I let him borrow, which has a bunch of books on Python we downloaded. He taps through the pages so quickly I don’t see how he could possibly be reading them, but by the time I’m done eating, he’s finished two books.
And when he sits in front of the computer console, it’s clear he absorbed what he read about the computer language because he’s already got the basics down. We’ve only been at this for oneday, and he’s ready for more advanced things that would take years for a normal person to learn.
“How are you so good at this?” I ask, awed as he builds a practice machine learning model to predict weather patterns.
He shrugs but pauses, turning to look at me. “Human math follows the same logic as angelic runes.” He lifts his hand, and shining blue-white hieroglyphs appear in the air.
I gasp. “You did that before. When I first found you.”
He laughs as he swipes the runes away. They dissipate as quickly as they appeared. “I tried. I didn’t have enough energy to make a proper rune, or I would have blasted you.”
“Blasted me?” My eyebrows lift.
“You have your defenses; I have mine.”
“Wow, you really weren’t good at accepting help, were you?”
He looks at me, those eyes of his piercing. “No one had offered me help before. So I assumed you were a threat.”
He goes back to working on the computer while I’m left staring at him.No one had ever offered him help before. For at least eight years, I had a mother. I knew what it was to be loved. To have someone pick me up and coo over me when I fell down. From everything he’s told me, he had no mother. Only a cruel father and heartless brothers.
So, how is there any kindness in his heart at all?
Sometimes, I think it’s all been beaten out of me by my life with Vlad, but meeting Layden gives me hope.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out. It’s a text from Vlad. Automatically, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach.
I turn away from Layden as I click on the text.
VLAD: Now that you’re home, I expect you to continue working. Especially since you’ve brought a guest. If you want him to stay, go make this little problem compliant.
Attached is a photo and a location.
I sigh, which makes Layden look away from the computer. “What?”
“Nothing,” I say quickly. “I just need to go out for a bit.”
“I’ll come with you.” He starts to stand up, but I shove him back down by his shoulder.
“No. You won’t.” My voice is hard.
“What was that noise? And you just looked at something in your hand. A miniature tablet. What happened?”
“It’s called a phone, and it’s just some business I have to take care of. I have a life and can’t just babysit you all the time.”
He withdraws like I’ve stung him. “Of course. I would not expect you to. I am a grown man. Go do what you must.”
I cut off anything I’m feeling at having hurt him. This is my world. I am my grandfather’s pawn, and I always will be. I just explained to Layden how weak I am if I’m not in proximity to my grandfather while he feeds. I was pushing the distance I could be away from him at the cabin, and even there, I was starting to feel a little weak.
There’s no escaping Vlad, which means I will forever be under his power. This was the bargain I struck with the darkness.
I don’t see anybody in the hallways as I leave the compound, which is a good thing. Right as I swing a leg over my motorcycle, I text my grandfather back:On it.
