Chapter 35 Lucian
Ididn’t know what my parents could possibly say to me after just letting me get kidnapped after knowing my feelings on the subject. I hadn’t texted them, but they hadn’t reached out either to explain a damned thing.
Morgana always knew what her birthmark meant and that she’d end up here.
My parents did, too, or thugs wouldn’t have been allowed in our estate to manhandle and drug me.
I probably wouldn’t have believed them if they told me I was the reincarnation of Vlad the Impaler and I needed to go to magic school, but they could have just said they decided I was going to a different university than the one I’d chosen and just lied that it had a better computer program.
Headmaster Mykene could have brought out the magic tricks and her rabid pigeon after I was here.
But I needed my tech, so whether I was ready or not, I needed to contact them. I should do it alone. This was between me and my parents and I’d always had a fierce independent streak. I’d never needed anyone to hold my hand for difficult things.
But then I met Sage, and I was doing all kinds of things I thought I’d never do and I was completely sure I hated.
Yeah, I needed Sage to hold my hand while I did this because it might get ugly.
She did it without question and Liam didn’t give me a single ounce of shit about it.
He and Khalid left to go help Mazen and Ari draw Adrian’s phoenix out.
I didn’t just need her to hold my hand. Ugh.
I needed her to cuddle me. My father had always thought I was defective.
I didn’t like being touched and I didn’t enjoy the pastimes he thought were masculine like hunting and boxing.
He was never rude or ugly to me about it, but he’d never shown any interest in the things I liked the way he had with my brothers.
My mother tried, but I could always see her eyes glaze over when I started talking.
They honestly probably couldn’t wait to get rid of me and that was why they never contacted me to explain anything.
I nuzzled Sage’s neck and took in her scent as she wrapped herself against me.
I pulled up my contacts and called my father.
They knew it was serious because I loathed talking on the phone.
Unexpected phone calls were rude, as were texts that just said call me.
You should send a text first that there was no emergency, and you felt like talking instead of texting unless it was an actual emergency.
My mother answered my father’s phone. I guess they figured it would be less ugly if it were her instead of him.
“Lucian. We’ve been waiting for you to call or text.”
“You didn’t contact me, either. You didn’t tell me anything at all about my birthmark or why people were constantly trying to kidnap me.”
“We actually didn’t know. We knew your birthmark ran in the family, but we were contacted by a gentleman who said he was on the board of a very special university and your birthmark meant you belonged there.
He made it seem like this secret society where you’d be getting the kind of education you needed.
He asked for securIty to clear out so they could approach you were no one could see them.
“It was only after we viewed the security footage that we realized you were drugged and taken. Before we could even contact the authorities, all our devices lost the ability to make outgoing calls, but one of them rang. It was the same gentleman who assured us they took all their students this way. We didn’t believe him, of course, but he sent regular photos of you in class looking like you were enjoying yourself.
He assured us it was all explained to you and that you’d contact us when you were ready. ”
I could have gotten furious with Headmaster Mykene for lying to my face, but then I remembered what Khalid told me. She didn’t agree with how we were taken, but her hands were tied by the board. She even asked Khalid to help her get it changed.
I rather imagine I put her off when we first met since I was very upset about getting kidnapped and any logical person would believe they were hallucinating from drugs rather than magic being real.
Still, I’d gotten to know her, and I respected her.
If she’d known any of this, she would have told me.
I felt like I needed to let her know one of the board members was lying to her.
“You really had no idea what my birthmark means?”
“Just that it shows up in our family and the person born with it is destined for greatness. I know it runs in the family because I’ve seen photos and portraits, but I always thought it was an urban legend that a birthmark could shape a man’s destiny. Are you happy?” my father asked.
I guess the previous reincarnations in my family kept it a secret, and I got it. We lived a very public life and it would mess with the succession. I didn’t want to be king. I was pretty sure my parents wouldn’t have forced me just because I was the reincarnation of Vlad the Impaler.
My grandparents weren’t the same way. They were ambitious and wanted to go back to the days my family had absolute power and didn’t answer to parliament. From what I understood, my family had always been like that until my father.
Whichever of my ancestors had ended up with it must have chosen to keep it a secret so they couldn’t be used. It would be impossible now, anyway. Everyone had cell phones, and I was about to stop aging. Headmaster Mykene was hundreds of years old and she only looked like she was in her thirties.
I always got the feeling my father thought I was a disappointment because I was so different from my brothers, but he seemed genuinely interested if I was happy here.
My parents could handle the truth just fine, but I wasn’t sure what the future would hold for my family and anyone else who was born with the birthmark.
So, I decided to keep some things secret, but be honest about the rest.
“I’m happy here. I have friends and a girlfriend. I really like her.”
I heard my mother little out a tiny squeal. She never outright tried to set me up against my will, but I knew she wanted me to find my person.
“Will we get to meet her? Are you coming home for winter break?”
Winter break. I hadn’t even thought about it with everything else going on.
Sage and Liam couldn’t go home. I didn’t think Khalid would let Sage stay and go back to Egypt to visit his family.
I didn’t think I could leave her here, either, but I also didn’t think inviting everyone back to Romania was the answer.
We needed to stay and figure out how to stop Lola and Radames.
“Not this winter break, but soon. I have a piece of tech in my room that I need for my studies. In the second drawer of my armoire, there’s a box labeled adapters.
Just ship the whole box because I’ll probably eventually need all of them.
You’ll need to ship it via the Howling Wolf courier service as it’s the only way to get it to me here. ”
“I never understood any of this computer stuff you’re into, but I admire it. You’ve always been much smarter than any of us. I’m not shocked this special school recognized your intelligence, though I can’t say I agree with the kidnapping.”
Sage squeezed me because yeah, I needed to hear that. It wasn’t that he was disappointed, he just couldn’t relate to it because he didn’t understand.
“I promise, I’ll visit soon with Sage and my close friends. Can you send the box overnight?”
“Of course. And call more, Lucian. We’ve never treated you that way because you hate it, but you’re still the baby of the family and you’re so far away.”
Yes, I would have completely loathed it, but I found I really needed to hear that. Things were definitely changing.