Chapter 29

I looked around and found myself standing in a large and extravagantly decorated living room. Around me I saw a large group of women clustered together around a couple of overstuffed leather couches, while a much smaller number of men stood near me. I turned to look at my father and ask what was going on but as I set my eyes on him he disappeared.

Before I could even process what had happened an older man I hadn't noticed before appeared beside me. "Daryl Wallous?" he asked.

I looked at the older man. He had short white hair that was slicked back and a meticulously trimmed mustache. He regarded me from an age weathered face that might have once been handsome, with pale green eyes that spoke of many years of experience. He was dressed in a black butler's uniform.

I nodded quickly not trusting myself to speak yet. While the old man looked well old, I had a sense that he was not a man to anger.

"Oh, nice place." Delilah said appearing on my left shoulder.

"Yeah this place is a lot nicer than your apartment master." Enya agreed from my right shoulder.

"Wait, how did you follow me?" I asked surprised.

"It is a part of our bond master." Enya replied.

Delilah giggled. "It will take more than a teleportation to get away from us." she explained.

The man regarded the pair of elementals for a moment, shock evident on his face. "Very well then. It is a pleasure to meet you young master." the man said politely, though I had a feeling he wasn't intending to be so nice when I first saw him. "Your father and uncles are gathering their sons so that we can uphold our agreement with the Alderan family." the older man informed me.

"I see, and what agreement is that?" I asked.

The older man looked at me with a surprised expression. "Has your father not told you?" he asked.

"No, I have not." My father said reappearing with a man who looked a bit younger than me but with the same straw blonde hair as my father. "The gates weren't supposed to open for another five years."

The older man nodded. "That is true, this hub is odd." the said seeming to consider that for a moment.

I looked at them confused for a moment. I considered keeping what mother had said to myself for a moment, but it was clear that they knew more about what was going on than I did. So I decided to tell them and see how they reacted. "Mother said it was a convergence, one much worse than a normal one."

All three men looked at me like I had grown a second head.

"Is that so?" a female voice asked from behind me. I turned to see an older woman with long silver hair pulled into a tight bun dressed in a dark blue woman's suit. She regarded me curiously with her steel grey eyes. "And what family is she from?" she asked.

I frowned for a moment then looked at my father. Despite the divorce she had continued to use his name until she had married Micheal's father. Only then did she change her last name. I personally had no idea what her maiden name was.

"Eldina." he supplied for me. "She introduced herself as Marilynn Eldina."

"Eldina? I never heard of them." the older woman said thoughtfully.

"Nor have I." My father said.

"What of the convergence she spoke of?" the butler asked. "This world has surprised us several times already, any information we can get on it, even unverified information could be useful." he said looking at my father and giving him a stern look.

"You listen to what that crazy woman has to say, I still have more to bring here." my father said then disappeared.

I stared at them in surprise for a few moments before looking at the man my father had brought. He did look a lot like my father, enough so that it would be easy to believe he was my father's son.

"The convergence?" the butler asked.

I nodded then turned away from the man that might be my half brother and began to explain what my mother had said with Delilah adding things from time to time.

"And you have heard of these convergences before little shadow?" the woman asked looking at Delilah.

"Yes, several times." Delilah replied.

"I see, interesting." the woman replied thoughtfully then looked towards the large group of young women that were now watching us curiously.

My father reappeared a moment later with another golden hair teen then disappeared a moment later.

The butler greeted him with a smile but stayed close to my side as he contemplated what I had said. A few other older men appeared to drop off other blonde men then disappear again. I assumed those men were my 'uncles' the butler had commented on earlier while the blonde men must be cousins of some sort.

I heard my phone ding signaling a text message. I pulled it out to see that the text was from my mother. 'Behave, be polite, and tell the old fart 1-3, 2-2, 3-4, 4-1, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2.'

"Who is it?" the butler asked.

Instead of repeating the message I handed him my phone. "A message from my mother." I told him.

The butler took my phone and looked at the message. A moment later his eyes widened then he passed my phone to the older woman before rushing out of the room.

The older woman looked at the message, chuckled then looked at me with hawk-like eyes. "What color is your core young man?" she asked as she handed my phone back to me.

I swallowed nervously.

"Purple." Delilah supplied for me.

The older woman glared at my shadow elemental. "Lying is a bad habit that puts everything you have told us into question." she informed Delilah.

I felt Delilah flinch under the older woman's gaze then scoot to hide behind my head. "Sorry, but it is none of your business." Delilah replied defensively.

"Actually it is. Per the agreement between my house and the Wallous house we will be cooperating together by uniting my families daughters, and the Wallous family's sons born native to this world. Before I can give any of our girls away I need to know they will be well cared for. Knowing his potential is important in reassuring our family that they will be well cared for." the older woman replied.

"Don't need to worry, master can already summon shadow fire." Enya spoke up then squealed as Delialh grabbed her hair and pulled hard.

"Delilah!" I yelled angrily, confused by her behavior.

"Shadow fire?" the older woman asked her eyes bright. "So soon? I would love to see that!" she told me.

I shift uncomfortably under her gaze. "I can." I told her after a few moments, "but I am still learning and have no idea how to get rid of it without using it." I told her honestly. I had no idea why Delilah was acting like she was but I didn't want them to discount what my mother had said. I also didn't like being considered a liar.

"Hmmm, you make a good point. Shadow fire is a volatile substance. Do be careful when you start to practice with it." she said then glanced at Delilah before turning away and heading for the group of women.

Unlike the men that were slowly accumulating in the room. The women's appearance varied in hair color and skin tone, including one woman who seemed to have a bluish tint to her skin. As for the men, they were all blonde men with broad shoulders, I alone stood out amongst the crowd. The men gathered together in their own group but left me alone. I considered trying to join them. I was curious to know if any of them were my half brothers, let alone whatever else I could find out about the Wallous family. However the looks the men were giving me did not seem to be welcoming at all. So I found a comfortable chair and plopped myself down in the chair.

"What was that about Delilah?" I asked to pass the time.

"I have heard of the Alderan family before." Delilah told me.

"Are you sure it is the same family?" I asked her.

"No, but…" she said then stopped. She walked around my head then slid down my chest so she could sit on my lap. "No, I can not be sure. With the number of worlds I have already been too it would not be odd if there were more than one family that went by that name." she admitted.

I chuckled.

"What?" Delilah asked, sounding petulant.

"I just thought it interesting to see that you have this kind of side to you too." I told her.

Delilah twisted around and glared up at me.

Instead of being intimidating it just gave me a nice view of her cleavage.

"Pervert." she grumbled.

I snorted but didn't bother replying. We both knew she wore such revealing clothes so I would look. I wasn't sure why she wanted me to look, her size made it impossible to do anything, but my best guess was she liked to tease.

"So what exactly are we doing here?" Enya asked.

"Master is about to receive a fiance. It is going to be so much fun seeing how he explains this to Karen and Megan." Delilah replied.

I flinched and wondered what I would say. I could blame it all on my father, but how would I justify bringing the girl back with me. My father could bring me here, but that didn't mean I had to bring a girl back with me. In fact if it wasn't for what my mother had said I probably wouldn't. Was that why she said that? Because she knew I wouldn't accept the girl?

I looked back at the group of women searching for a red head among the group. Unfortunately I spotted a couple of them. None seemed to be interested in me, but I didn't think that was a bad idea. Even with a gift my mother couldn't be right every time, could she?

Then before I could withdraw my gaze a pair of beautiful emerald eyes caught mine as a woman with dark red hair looked towards me. She gave me a wink then returned her attention to the woman beside her.

Shit.