The Blood Legacy (The Lost Heir Book III)

The Landry Brothers

The false sun blazed high in the sky as they moved from the dim corner of Morphling village into the outskirts of the Violet City. Isabella thought that only the canals would bring them to another part of the Empath Society, but she was wrong. There were roads and tunnels and all sorts of things to take them to different ends of the world. Mimi's grandfather was a wonderful guide. The little man in his gray news cap wasn't a fast-talker like Mimi, but he was a talker. He'd given them so much information. Micah and Cleo ate it up, naturally, but Isabella found herself fascinated as well.

"My granddaughter has a love for the Skyside, and you empath folks, and I'm afraid she's gotten that from me."

Isabella couldn't believe her ears. The man who'd nearly thrown them out of his house in a rage at the idea of being caught with empaths in his home had Mimi's penchant for adventures Skyside?

"I was once a cartographer for your grandmother, Isabella. I think she kept some of my old maps in her favorite room beneath your hotel."

"The speakeasy room!" Micah cried out, a blush tinting his cheeks. 

"Yes. I worked with Mr. Theophilus on many a rendering. That's why I allow Mimi to work at his shop, but she's been urged to stay Underground. She is still a child, but, of course, she doesn't listen to me."

"Mimi doesn't listen to anyone," Xander piped in, earning him an elbow from Cleo.

"Quite true."

"We hope she gets better," said Cleo with a polite smile. 

Mimi's grandfather nodded. "She's a strong one. I know she'll be fine."

Micah stepped closer to the older morphling. "Um, so you made those maps? Can you tell us how big the Violet City really is? I can't quite figure it out."

The gray-faced morphling's mouth ticked up a bit. "If you think of the Violet City as being the same size as Los Angeles County as they call it up above, you'd be over-stretching. The Empath society extends out around its boundaries, but the city itself is only about half the size of the Western portion of what you Skyside folk call, L.A."

"I remember that from your maps," said Micah. "I'd love to study cartography someday."

"He likes to study everything," said Cleo.

"Says the girl who speaks how many languages? She's more linguistic and cultural studies to my scientific," Micah explained with a hint of pride. "But map-making has always interested me. It's like puzzling. And that I really love. Mathematics. All that kinda thing."

Mimi's grandfather laughed before he escorted them through into a short tunnel. "This will take us to the Field of Hope. It's really just farm land. The Landry Brothers have their home there. Elias has a zip car that shoots straight into the portal beneath the Landry House on the Brightwood Studio lot. He built the tunnel with a few private hands. But it's the only mode of transportation out of that area aside from walking on foot or a harvest mobile, which is only suited for moving food from the field to the hub on the city. Because of that, not many inhabitants leave."

"You're not going to report the Landrys for going Skyside, are you?" asked Isabella, speaking up for the first time in a while. 

Mimi's grandfather laughed as they made their way through the wide tunnel. It was damp at the bottom but the footpath was solid, made of concrete it seemed. "No one would listen to an old morphling coot. I just hope they aren't caught. They are good boys. And I don't think they should be punished for their parents' sins. We should create our own legacies, not be held down by the past."