Ashes and Obsidian

I boarded my private jet.

More than ten hours later, the aircraft landed in Foxbridge, Alderon.

The Blackwells sent a mold-stained cargo van to collect me.

The driver didn't even step outside.

He leaned on the horn and told me to hurry up.

I wore a black field jacket without a single visible label.

It looked ordinary.

In reality, it was custom-made from ballistic-grade fabric.

I pushed open the doors of the Blackwell estate.

Laughter filled the house.

Damian Blackwell wore a custom suit covered in tiny crystals.

He looked like a peacock showing off its feathers.

Gordon Blackwell and my mother, Patricia, stood around him, praising everything he did.

The moment they saw me, the laughter stopped.

Damian pinched his nose theatrically.

"What is that smell?

"Leander, did you spend three years sleeping next to wild animals in the Ravara mining belt?"

My mother pulled Damian protectively behind her.

She glared at me with open disgust.

"You spent three years at the bottom of the world and came back completely feral.

"You didn't learn a single manner.

"Go upstairs and shower.

"And don't bring that smell anywhere near Damian."

I stayed where I was.

I looked coldly at the little troupe of clowns in front of me.

Gordon slapped a document onto the coffee table.

"After you wash, sign this.

"If you marry into Gloria Dane's household, she'll put a hundred million dollars into Blackwell Forge Holdings."

I walked over.

I picked up the marriage agreement.

Damian chimed in from the side, sweet and poisonous.

"You ought to appreciate the opportunity.

"Ms. Dane's older, sure, but she knows how to take care of a man.

"Beats picking through garbage at a mine, doesn't it?"

I read the provisions.

The Blackwells meant to sell me outright.

The document even tried to name Damian as the beneficiary of any usable tissue or organs after my death.

I laughed.

I folded the pages between both hands.

Then I tore the agreement into strips.

I threw the scraps straight into Gordon's face.

"Whether the Blackwell company lives or dies is nothing to me."

Gordon froze.

He'd clearly never expected resistance. His hand came up toward my face.

"You ungrateful little animal."

My eyes went cold.

I hit him first, a hard backhand.

Crack.

Gordon spun halfway around from the force.

He went down headfirst onto the sofa.

One side of his face swelled up immediately.

The room went completely silent.

My mother screamed and rushed to hold him up.

Damian backed away several steps in terror.

He pointed at me with a shaking hand.

"You hit your own father?"

I ignored all of them and turned toward the door.

"I came back to collect what I'm owed.

"Get your affairs in order."