Emmanuel shook his head and cleared his throat. "I'll... go get them," he said, breaking the silence that happened between us. "Tell your Grandfather that he is gone."
I bowed, mockingly, causing him to smile sadly. "Yes, Your Highness," I said, causing him to snort. "Is there anything else that I need to do? Should I wipe your ass for you, too?"
Emmanuel scowled, but a smile appeared on his lips. "No," he said. "I don't need you messing with your butt, but you can wipe my feet for me."
'We are all dead,' Tasha said, linking only me. 'Once Manuel takes office and you are there.' She gave me a smug look when I gave her a dirty one.
I walked over to my phone and sent him a text saying that my uncle had left. I ignored the text message that I had received from him, knowing that he was "scolding" me from flicking him off.
"What'd she say?" Emmanuel asked, walking towards the door. He narrowed his eyes playfully at Tasha, causing her to shrug her shoulder. "Meanie," he said, sticking out his tongue at her.
Tasha didn't reply as she walked over to the clock. 'Do you want me to set the time up for Clarissa and Theodore?' she asked, causing me to nod my head. She did what I had said as Emmanuel left and I sat back down again.
I moved a hand through my hair and sighed. "Do you really think we are screwed when Emmanuel is King and I'm there?" I asked, feeling slightly insecure. I had no idea how the future would hold and prayed that we wouldn't screw it over.
"I don't think that you will," Tasha replied. She walked over to the table and sat down, looking at me seriously. "I think you will be able to keep Manuel's head screwed on better than he would have it if you weren't around."
I moved a hand across my face and nodded my head. "That's if we get through with whatever we have to do." I closed my eyes, feeling rather exhausted but knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep yet.
The door opened, causing me to open my eyes and stare at Grandpa Fernos and Cromwell. "Kyler Rose Peirce," he warned, folding his arms across his chest. "What was the finger for?"
"For you bluntly telling me to tell Uncle Maverick to leave," I replied, mocking him by folding my arms across my chest. "You know that he would have told me to do it."
Grandpa Fernos scowled but didn't reply, knowing that he would have told me to do it. He looked at Tasha who was watching us as the scene unfolded. "Can you step out?" he asked, causing Tasha to stand.
"See if anyone else is here," I said, causing her to nod. "I haven't heard from Orion, so I think that he is here. If he isn't, then I have no idea where he is. And, I think that Grandma Tabitha is here somewhere, probably in her office."
Tasha walked out of the room while my grandfather and his brother sat down in front of me.
"Do you have it?" Grandpa Fernos asked, causing me to nod my head. He reached into the shadows and pulled out an old looking box. "This is what it is for."
I stared at the box and furrowed my brows, frowning. The black box was shiny and had this silver lining all around it. The box looked to be made of scales of some unknown creature and looked rather old, but it still shone as if it had only been yesterday, but I knew that it wasn't the case. "I have seen this before," I said, looking at my grandfather. I furrowed my brows farther and cocked my head. "In a dream. When I was younger."
Grandpa Fernos kept his face blank, but his eyes flashed with something as if he knew what my dream meant.
"What was the dream?" Cromwell asked, looking at me. He glanced at my grandfather when he hissed in warning and scowled. "I can ask her, too. This has to deal with all of us, not just you."
"I was standing in a forest," I said, interrupting my grandfather when he went to say something. I furrowed my brows and tried to remember everything that had happened. "I was standing in the forest, and the trees felt weird like they were ancient and bitter about something that had happened. There were no birds. Not once did I hear a bird while I was out there."
"Was it cold?" Cromwell asked. His eyes glazed over as if he was doing something before he shook his head and was brought back here. There was a scowl and a look of pain on his face, but he looked like he didn't want me to ask.
"A bit," I said. "I remember wondering why everything seemed to be not as tall as I remembered, but I think that might be because I was older, more grown."
"Than when you had the dream?" Grandpa Fernos asked, causing me to nod my head.
"Who was there?" Cromwell asked. "Or was there anyone?"
"There were people around," I said. I closed my eyes and tried to remember who it was. "There was a girl," I said, remembering a girl with blonde hair beside me. "She had blonde hair, but that is all I know. Her face... was foggy. However, she had this power around her like Mom does."
"Who else?" Cromwell asked.
"You were, Grandpa Fernos," I said, seeing him in front of me clutching the box. My heart ached as I felt the same thing that I felt when was younger. I took a deep, shuddering breath and closed my eyes. "You um... you were clutching the box." My heart broke as it had that day, and my voice cracked.
To feel unwanted was one of the worst feelings in the world, especially when it was from someone that I had trusted and cared for.
"And?"
"That is it," I said rather quickly. I cleared my throat and opened my eyes, making sure that he wouldn't see the hurt I was feeling. "I woke up and didn't get a chance to look in the box."
Both Cromwell and Grandpa Fernos stared at me with identical expressions on their face. They both knew that I was hiding something, and they wanted me to get to tell them. However, they weren't going to push. At least, not yet.
Grandpa Fernos sighed and pushed the box in front of me. "Open it," he said, coldly. "This will help you with your discovery."
"Of who I am?" I asked, pulling the box closer to me. I was about to put the key in the box when the basement door slammed open, causing me to jump back in shock.
"Just wait one second," someone said, coming into the room. "Do not do it without me."