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Felix cheers. “I feel like a proud father.”
I slap his chest. “That’s weird.”
“Oh, Daddy,” Griffyn sings.
I laugh and go to Rion and Aksel.
“Thank you,” I say softly before hugging Rion.
When I go to Aksel and hug him, it feels less awkward than usual. He wraps me up and holds me close. “Anything for you, Willson.”
“What are you guys doing back here? Did you forget something?” I ask.
Blaze and Aksel frown.
“Bad news. The artifact is already gone from this collection. We weren’t there long when a team from the council showed up to investigate the disappearance. We pulled rank and took the investigation over since we know where it’s gone but this isn’t the lead we thought it would be,” Aksel says.
“Fuck!” Griffyn shouts.
“We still have the last ingredient. Now, we have to find it and do a better job of beating Killian to it,” I say.
“I can reach out to collectors and say I’m interested in it. Word will get around but someone still needs to search through the list online in case the name is different. We know what it looks like and we need to use that to our advantage.” Aksel uncrosses his arms.
“I’ll start right away,” Felix says.
“We should all take a piece of the load and split the website up,” Blaze adds.
“Let’s do that then.” After being underground, I’m not ready to hole up in my room to do this research so I settle on the deck in the backyard.
The summer sun blazes down on my skin and it smells like fresh grass as I examine the website.
The bench shifts as Rion settles next to me. “I don’t think I will be of much use on my own when it comes to technology but maybe I can help you.”
Sometimes it’s weird to remember he’s so old and was raised in a time without technology. He’s learned the basics like using the internet and making calls since he woke up from his sleep, but this requires a better understanding of how to use a website to your advantage.
He doesn’t act differently most of the time, he has adapted so well.
“Of course, you can help me. It’ll be nice to have two sets of eyes while we work.”
We go through collection after collection to try and find the remaining item.
There are a couple of times an artifact looks similar but when we examine them further, they aren’t the same. It’s frustrating.
“Anna!” Felix shouts pulling me out of the mindless scrolling I’ve been doing.
Rion and I share a look before rushing inside. I can feel Felix’s anger and frustration through our bond.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Did you find it?” Rion asks.
“No, I found something else.” Felix sounds furious.
He’s standing by the front door staring down at the floor. All of us gather around him to see what it is.
A. Red. Freaking. Envelope.
My head starts to fucking ache. I am so sick of these headaches.
