Does Love Really Fade? {Vampire Academy}

Worst Case Scenario

Really into this story currently.

---

I didn't know where Sydney had been before hand but she'd beaten me to the diner, and there was already a coffee and a plate of two burgers and fries sitting on the table. Clearly, the burgers and fries were for me, since they hadn't been touched. I frowned, I'd forgotten how little she ate. But I sat down across from her and thanked her for the food.

"Don't thank me yet, you're still paying. I just didn't want for food to get here to get started."

I laughed, "Thanks for the thought then. But hey." I cut one of the burgers in half and put aside a handful of fries, "Eat. Seriously."

She rolled her eyes but nibbled a fry. "Fine, now, what exactly is all this about, anyway?"

"So, ah. You know my friend Lissa?"

"The Dragomir Princess? I know of her, of course. All Alchemists do, especially after that little stunt you pulled five years ago."

I kept my voice low as I leaned in to explain, "Yeah. So. Apparently, she has an illegitimate sibling that no one knew about besides the Queen. Our job is to find this kid and bring them to Court to give Lissa her rightful place on the Council."

Sydney apparently wasn't expected that because her eyes widened and she gasped, "There's another-"

I slapped my hand over her mouth, "Not so loud, Sydney. We're not that far from Court."

"Right. Of course." She smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles out of her shirt and pulled out her laptop, "So, what do we know?"

"They were born after Lissa."

"And?" She asked as she typed away.

"That's it."

"What? Then what are we supposed to go on?"

I shrugged, "I figured you'd have some crazy Alchemist insight."

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Can you think of anything that might tie Eric to this child?"

I frowned, it had been a long time since I'd been part of this world, and even longer since I'd thought about him in any serious capacity. Not since that trip to Vegas when some drunk had rambled on about all his infidelities. I hadn't totally believed him then, but now... "I don't know. Not really. Wasn't there something about him a couple years ago though?"

Sydney smacked herself on the forehead. Apparently whatever revelation she'd had was big enough that she took a bite out of the half burger and started typing away rapidly. When she swallowed she explained, "A bunch of files about him were stolen years ago. We never found out who took them, and honestly, at some point, we figured it wasn't worth the trouble. The records were just personal info and some financial records."

"Right! You accused me of stealing them. Weren't the financial records from Vegas?"

"And covered up extremely well. We found them, of course, but you'd have to be really skilled to have done it from what I can tell. Anyway, the records should have some sort of name attached."

That got me excited. We'd be one step closer to figuring this out. But, after ten minutes of nothing, I got restless. I finished off my portion of the food and put the rest right next to Sydney in hopes she'd munch a little as she worked. She did to some degree, but only small nibbles of fry. I, on the other hand, ordered a hot fudge sundae while I waited. I itched to help but computers weren't my forté.

Two coffees and most of the fries later, Sydney finally had an answer. "Well, I'm not sure how helpful it will be, but I found a next of kin note in the old bank account. I haven't had a chance to look up the name yet, but maybe you know her. Sonya Karp."