Chapter 41

• When we reached the dining room, Arius was leaning against the kitchen door frame, his arms crossed over his chest. Emil stood at the door we came in, his pose almost identical. “No family resemblance at all there.” I murmured, as Chase guided me to the far side of the table and pulled out a chair. I sat down and looked over to see my large, mute guard standing beside the door, watching Emil. I hoped some of the others got here soon, the tension was almost visible in the room. Chase stood behind my chair like a statue.
• Mitz came through the door with a coffee urn and then stopped and looked from Arius to Emil. She set the urn down on the table and rushed to Emil. “You’re home, finally.” Reaching him, she grasped his face in her hands and pulled so he was leaning down to her. “You are the spitting image of your great-grandfather, as Arius is.” She sniffled. “I can’t believe it’s really you after three hundred years.” Shaking her head, she sighed. “You never should have been out there on your own that long…”
• Emil glanced at Chase with a look of panic on his face.