A. Poison in the Blood

A.15. Where There's Smoke

Aiden climbed up the ivy that grew on the side of the orphanage. He pulled himself up to his bedroom window. He reached the wooden frame and climbed through.

The room was shrounded in darkness, just like he left it. Aiden leaned against the table, panting.

The lights turned on.

"Morning Aiden," miss Miranda said with the calmness of the night air, stirring her tea.

"Where was it tonight?" She paused to take a sip. "Club downtown, cute girl at the coffee shop, running an errand for Pollux?"

She stood up from her chair and walked forward to Aiden, looking him right in the eyes. He stared back, not daring to break eye contact.

"Or were you getting information on your birth parents?" She asked calmly, but the old tiredness was still in her voice.

Aiden looked away. Miss Miranda gently removed his hair out of his face.

"Make all the excuses you want, you can't get anything passed me." Her smile turned into a serious frown. "Give it to me."

Aiden sighed and took the black and white dagger out of his shoulder bag. He stared at it. The only link to his birthparents.

He handed it over. "You can get this and the information when you're 18."

"That's a year away! Why are you making me wait?" He asked.

Miss Miranda sighed and turned toward the door. "Because I know you. You would want to get involved, be part of the action."

And with that she left.

"Part of the action?" Aiden wondered what she meant by that.

.....

"Hey bro, sleep well?" Pollux asked from the table.

Aiden sat down next to him and took a bite out of his toast. "No, remember I snuck out to meet with that chick last night. The one with the cerberus." Aiden frowned. "Miss Miranda caught me."

"How? You snuck out the window."

"You know she has a way of knowing these things." He started cutting his eggs. "She confiscated my dagger," he finished bitterly.

"That's bad." Pollux paused to take a sip of orange juice. "Did you at least find any information on your birth parents?"

"I have to pay her first, then she'll help me and I'll have to get my dagger back first. She needs it for tracking."

"How exactly were you caught?"

"Miss Miranda waited for me in our room. I don't know how you didn't wake up."

"I'm a heavy sleeper, man."

Aiden swallowed the last of his breakfast and leaned closer to Pollux. "Will you help me? I'm meeting that bounty hunter again today and I need to get that dagger back."

Pollux nudged Aiden as a caretaker approached. "You two should get dressed if you want to join that trip to town today."

The boys nodded. She collected their plates as they left.

Pollux whispered to Aiden, "Of course man I'll always have your back."

.....

Aiden and Pollux waited by the entrance after they got dressed. One of the caretakers will escort them to town then they'll be free to do whatever they want.

Miss Miranda coughed to grab their attention. "Aiden, you won't be going today," she said firmly.

"What, why?" Aiden asked despite knowing exactly why.