My gaze jumped from Gramps, who had his eyes closed and was breathing in and out so slowly I thought he might have fallen asleep, to Reyna, who ignored me.
“Kian is inside,” Grandfather said.
I stiffened. How did Gramps know that from all the way out here? I didn’t want to know.
But it was a cool Jedi power I hoped to learn eventually.
Reyna tightened her grip on her sword and snarled. “That old bag of bones is going to try to stop Nai from signing her name as your heir.”
Grandfather grinned. “That ‘old bag of bones’ is at least five hundred years younger than me. But you’re correct; he’ll try to stop her.” He tapped his chin then shook his head. “He must’ve gotten wind of Nai’s presence here.”
Reyna rubbed her hands together. “What’s the plan? Want me to light his house on fire or something?”
Gramps tsked at her suggestion, but I actually thought it was a decent idea.
Shaking his head, my grandfather maneuvered out of the bushes with his cane, surprisingly silent considering his rapid deterioration of agility. “No, no, that won’t do. It would only come back to bite us. But, wedoneed a distraction.” He looked at me. “When Kian runs outside, you slip in, find the Master Scroll, and write your name under your mother’s. Understood?”
I gulped and then nodded because what choice did we have? “Understood.”
Write my name in a book. How hard could that be?
Reyna bounced on her heels, grinning like a loon. “What’s the distraction? Want me to kill someone?”
Gramps rolled his eyes. “I’m going to fake a heart attack. I hope your acting skills are as strong as your thirst for blood. Come on.”
He toddled toward the building until he stood in full view of the glass double doors.
“Ahhhrgggh,” he yelled and clutched his chest.
“Showtime.” Reyna winked at me and jumped out from behind the hedge to join him.
“Help!” She dropped to her knees and clutched her chest, wheezing dramatically.
I frowned, confused for a second why she was also pretending to have a heart attack; then it dawned on me. Reyna was his shield. If he had an illness, she took it on…
Did that mean she would die in a few months too?
The thought horrified me, but before I could dwell on it, the glass doors slid open, and Kian and his son Julian, who I’d spotted on Alpha Island, raced out of the building and skidded to a stop.
“What’s happening?” Kian looked down at Reyna and Gramps with alarm.
Reyna’s neck veins bulged. “Can’t. Breathe.”
Gramps lay on the stone patio, shaking so much he appeared to be having a seizure. I wasn’t sure that was a heart attack symptom, but both Kian and his douche-canoe son were transfixed. Taking advantage of the distraction, I slipped through the doors, squinting while I waited for my eyes to adjust to the bright lights. The scent of oil and leather hit my nose, and a single breath later, I raised my chin, and my jaw dropped.
Holy Mother Mage.
The records hall was … huge.
Bookshelves spanned from floor to ceiling, andallof them were filled with coffee-brown leather tomes, each one about a quarter of an inch thick. A reception desk sat to my left, thankfully unoccupied, and I darted into the first row to scan the spines.
10000 BC.
9999 BC.
9876 BC.
Omg! They were dates—older than Gramps! I guess that made sense since he’d lived a thousand years, and I’d met five of his predecessors. That alone was six thousand years … assuming they all lived out their full lives and weren’t killed.
