The Blood Legacy (The Lost Heir Book III)

Dinner Date

Once Serena Silver decided to head up to the suite Elyse had reserved for her, the majority of the crowd in the lobby melted away. Isabella scanned the remaining people and locked eyes with Seth, but Cleo soon blocked her view of him as she hurried over to Isabella. By the time Cleo moved to the side, Seth, and the last few individuals who had gathered in the foyer were gone.

"Tell me you're taking me, Izzy?" asked Cleo, folding her arms over her chest, her serious stance the opposite of the jubilant twinkle in her eye.

Isabella hesitated, wishing that she had a moment to collect her thoughts. Instead, she stalled, "I don't know, Cleo." Cleo, who never plead with anyone slipped a sort of half-pout on her face as she waited for her new friend's answer. Isabella sighed, mustering the courage to tell the truth and admitted, "I was going to ask Lana to go with me."

Cleo gasped. "Seriously? You do know Serena Silver is my favorite author, right?"

Of course, Isabella knew that. Cleo had just told her. She was just so nervous about going she thought Lana would be the best comfort since she wasn't speaking to Seth. Why was that again? Ugh. She could really frustrate herself sometimes. "I'm sorry, Cleo. Of course, I'll take you with me. Lana reads Serena Silver's books, but they're not her favorite. Maybe that's because she knows I don't like her, so she won't allow her to be her favorite. We do share solidarity in not liking the same people," Isabella rambled.

Cleo laughed. "Izzy, you're so hilarious. I'll meet you down here at quarter to six."

"Wait. She's gonna ask me a lot of questions about my family. I don't want her making up things to make us look bad. I mean, I don't have anything but their...I know it sounds kinda stupid, but I don't have anything left but their legacy."

Cleo nodded. "Yeah, I get it, Izzy. We'll keep everything light – well, as light as you can get when you're talking to a woman who writes murder mysteries and fictionalizes real crime stories."

"This is horrible."

To her credit, Cleo tried to look sympathetic to her friend's misery. "If you want, we can try to catch her vibe. Although, I'm not really good at that when I'm not," she paused and looked around to make sure no one else was listening, "in the Underground, so it'll really be up to you. You've got really good control now over who you absorb. So, don't worry about it. I would tell you to bring Seth. He's almost as good as you at it, but I have to be selfish just this once. It is Serena Silver."

Isabella groaned. Serena Silver cared about the Foxworthy family because of the scandals and secrets people like to tell about them. But there was a lot of good, too. Isabella sighed, now off to deal with Lana, which would be about as easy as dealing with Serena Silver. With a heavy sigh, she proceeded to head to the hotel store where she needed to break the news to Lana.

As she expected, it didn't go over well.

"Isabella, I can't believe you're taking Cleo with you and not me," Lana said, closing the register at the gift shop.

Isabella tried to ignore the force that the register drawer slammed shut. She knew Lana well enough that she knew her best friend was angry. Isabella bit back the passive-aggressive response that was on the tip of her tongue. She was too distracted to sort through whether the emotion was hers or Lana's. Sometimes being an empath could be a real pain.

"Sorry, "she offered genuinely. "Cleo ambushed me." Although it was true, a pang of guilt washed over her. Logically, she had thought Lana wouldn't care one way or another. It wasn't like she was a huge fan of Ms. Silver's work, but it was evidently clear by Lana's mannerism that her longtime friend was disappointed.