If this group were satisfied with his work, they could provide him with a good reference, and he might be able to secure jobs with other animal reserves.This was the kind of work he could really enjoy.Creating magical solutions to other people’s problems.A magical fix-it man.Even Jaks couldn’t find fault with that.
Probably.
This could be his big break.
If he didn’t fuck it up.
The knock came again, pulling him from his thoughts.He let out a frustrated scream.
“Come in!”he shouted, then he remembered.They couldn’t enter if they weren’t added to the security matrix.“Wait, I’m coming.”
A quick look through the security camera had him yanking open the door.“What are you doing here?”
“Hello, son.Aren’t you happy to see me?”His words were teasing, but there was an uncertain glint in his eyes.
“No.I mean, of course, I’m happy to see you, Lars.It’s just… what are you doing here?I talked to you yesterday, and you didn’t say anything about visiting.”There that sounded non-confrontational, right?He didn’t ask why Lars suddenly became interested in him after years of absence, ex-wife or not.
“You could call me father.”
“I could.”
Silence.
“Come in.”He had to say something to break the awkwardness between them.
Lars slipped past him without another word.His gaze swept the workshop, the mangled remains of Quentin’s latest failure, and the large whiteboard with arcane symbols scrawled across the surface.“Your mother told me Jaks set you up with an amazing lab.I can see that she wasn’t exaggerating.What are you working on?”
He hesitated for a moment but realized it didn’t matter if Lars knew what he was working on.A fae king wasn’t exactly going to sell him out to competitors for fast cash.“Ice capture orbs.I’m trying to integrate freezing runes with containment magic.I’m not having much luck.”
“Interesting.”Lars walked up to the whiteboard and studied the equations while Quentin fidgeted behind him.“Your mother often bragged about your intelligence, but she never mentioned your creativity.Did you make all these?”He waved a hand to encompass the items on the long table beside him.
“Yes.What are you really doing here?”He didn’t need his deadbeat fae father to approve of him.Or at least that’s what he told himself while trying not to preen beneath his father’s proud gaze.
“Can’t a father visit his son?”
“He can, or maybe he should’ve when his son really needed a father.”Quentin winced internally.He hadn’t meant for that to slip out.Instead of backing down, he folded his arms and waited for the fae king’s response.
“You know I’m sorry about that.I would’ve visited if I hadn’t been confined to my realm.”
Damn, he had really good puppy eyes even when he wasn’t a bone wolf.
“That doesn’t make everything all right between us.We aren’t going to run off and go to father-son baseball games because you finally remembered about me.”
Lars picked up a spell ball and tossed it from one hand to another.“Your mother called me.”
Quentin blinked, not expecting that turn of the conversation.“Why?”
“She was worried about the demon and Grevin’s attack.She’s also worried about the rogue vampire who changed your friend.”
“My friend’s name is Glenn.We think his sire lives in the forest by the hospital, but Jaks can’t rush in there due to vampire politics.I think he’s also the one who is interested in buying my house, and I might or might not have convinced some bounty hunters to look into things.”
“Good.”The air grew heavy.“If they can’t do anything, I will take care of him.”
“Control your magic inside my lab.It will damage my more sensitive experiments,” Quentin snapped.
Lars closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again.The same silver ring around Quentin’s eyes glowed in his father’s.He hadn’t noticed the bright contrast with Lars’s purple pupils before.“Sorry, I promise I didn’t come here to cause problems.I just want to help.”
“I can handle things myself.”He didn’t state it was a little too late to show fatherly concern.“I’m not brashly rushing into anything or endangering myself needlessly, and Jaks is following proper channels to pursue Glenn’s unknown sire.”
