Legacy Disowned - Book 2

Chapter 20 - A Silver Christmas

The sun had yet to rise over the Burke estate in the early hours of Christmas morning. A warm orange light was cast across the shimmering snow laden flower beds from the drawing room window where little Herbet Burke had woken his family to open presents.

Vinnie leaned against the doorframe, an amused smile on his face as he watched Eddy allowing their kid brother to bury him in wrapping paper. As insufferable as Eddy was, he'd always been good with children. Vinnie always said it was just cause of that funny looking face of his, but perhaps his brother actually had a talent for something. It was rare moments like this that the warmth in his brother's chocolate brown eyes was able to shine through the elongated feature's he'd inherited from their uncle, and you could really see the resemblance to their mother.

Lydia, his father's current wife and Herbert's mother, was smiling warmly at the interaction. Vinnie liked her, it was hard not to. She was kind and doted on him and Eddy as much as she did her own son. But that only seemed to make the one notable absence in the room all the more infuriating. Their father.

Vinnie began to fiddle idly with the glass vial in his pocket, his thoughts travelling far away from the wholesome scene in the drawing room. There were only two times in his life that he had seen Maggie Darling afraid. At the Solstice Gala, just before he'd found the vial in Arsene Gaunt's pocket, and a few years ago, in his father's study after the old man had taken out a box of vials just like this one.

Gripping it tightly, he pushed off from the doorframe, spun on his heel and marched through the halls towards his father's study. As he burst through the doors, Alphonse looked up from his parchment, his eyebrows raising as Vinnie chucked the empty vial down onto the desk.

"Is this meant to be my Christmas present?" The old man drawled lazily, picking it up as if very interested in inspecting it. "Well, my boy, I dare say you've finally topped your third Father's Day when you gifted me back my own tweezers."

"So it is yours then."

"I'm not sure," Alphonse replied smoothly, a smirk curling his lip. "Where did you get it?"

"Off Arsene Gaunt the other night," Vinnie replied bluntly, though he was quite certain the old man already knew that.

"Ah, well then, I suppose you have your answer then. It is his," he said dismissively, the smirk never leaving his face.

Vinnie's eyes narrowed. "But you gave it to him, didn't you?" he pressed, his jaw clicking in irritation.

His father paused, and for a moment Vinnie thought he wouldn't answer. But then the old man's smirk deepened. "No, I did not."

Vinnie's brows knit together in confusion. He knew that his father could not be lying, but there had to be something to it. Finally, he shook his head and said, "You know I've seen— I was there when you started giving that stuff to the Black Sun— I saw what happened."

Alphonse surveyed his son for a moment, his amber eyes calculating, and then he jerked his head in the direction of the chess table in the corner. "Sit, let's have a game."

Vinnie clenched his jaw, this was turning into a pain, but he knew if he wanted answers, he would have to play the old man's game. With a reluctant sigh, he sat down, watching as the intricately carved chess men filed out onto the board.

"Are you done with Maggie?" Vinnie asked, getting straight to the point.

"Ahhh, you and Miss Darling are on a first-name basis," the old man said cheerfully, gesturing for Vinnie to open the game. "Wonderful."

Vinnie shot his father an unamused smirk. "Pawn to E4," he said, and the little white soldier hopped forward on the board. Determined to keep the conversation on track, he added, "Answer the question."