Warrior (Book Three of The Silver Society)

Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

The next day, Aideen was hanging out at the Ashford, Clinton, Eckerd, and Winston law firm. Her father's best friends, Danny Eckerd and Johnny Winston, were two of the lawyers who worked there. Another was Beth's father, and the last was her uncle, Mark Clinton.

Although Lewis and Mark were both clueless about the supernatural, Danny was a vampire and Johnny was a witch. Aideen looked at Danny and Johnny like uncles. She was fond of Mark as well. She spent a lot of time in Lewis's office, having decided she wanted him to handle her will. Although Aideen was young, she had a living will, and strongly believed that all slayers should. After all, slayers were more likely than anyone to die at an early age. After Benny's death, Aideen had inherited a lot of his assets, making keeping her affairs in order more important than ever.

"Hey, Deenie," Johnny greeted her. He gave her a hug. "How's my favorite pyromaniac?"

"Looking for something to set on fire?" Danny teased. "I've got just the client..."

"Very funny," Aideen replied. "I'm here to see Lewis."

"Of course," Danny said dryly. "We are unworthy peasants in comparison."

Aideen rolled her eyes. "You guys know I love you. It's business."

"How many times can you change your will, Deenie?"

"A woman is entitled to change her mind," she replied. With that, Aideen walked into Lewis's office and closed the door.

Johnny shook his head. "Just let it go, Danny," he advised.

Mark came out of his office and joined them. "What's he not letting go?" He asked.

"Just a case," Danny replied quickly. "Statutory rape." Johnny elbowed him so hard that Danny cried out, "Hey, that hurt!"

"He's kidding," Johnny said.

"I fail to see the humor in that," Mark replied. "You're terrible sometimes, Danny."

"Only sometimes?" Danny asked. "I must be slacking. I'll work on that."

"You're an idiot, Eckerd," Mark said with a laugh. He shook his head and walked away.

"Did you forget that he's Maggie's older brother?" Johnny demanded. "He would freak out if you implied that Lewis was cheating on her, especially with a teenager. He'd kill first and ask questions later."

"Mark? Kill? Nah, he doesn't have the will to become a killer," Danny replied.

"Don't be so sure when it comes to his little sister. Besides, you and I don't actually know that they're doing anything other than going over her will... We have no evidence of any inappropriate behavior."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Right. They just want to look at the will from every position possible."

"Knock off the double entendres, Danny. I'm serious. We don't know what's going on with them, and we can't assume."

"Sure we can. I've been assuming for a while now. Man, Benny would roll over in his grave!"

"Lewis Ashford is not a pedophile. We've known him for years, Danny. Aideen just got attached to him because he's not involved in the supernatural and is someone neutral she can lean on for support."

"Normally, I'd agree, but Aideen's also not a normal kid. Maybe it's a karmatic thing between their souls."

"Okay, in which case, as a lawyer, I must still say it's immoral and wrong, and I'm disgusted by the very possibility, but as a witch, I'm slightly torn... Just not torn enough to condone it if it's true."