Luke was sitting in Principal Weems’ office. There were Natasha, Veronica, the principal herself, and two people Luke didn’t want to converse with.
His grandfather and his uncle are on his mother’s side.
His uncle’s name was William Umbrio. He was older than Sophie, Luke’s mother, and Veronica’s father. He is an elegant, well-dressed middle-aged man. He had a neat beard and sky-blue eyes, just like Luke.
To Luke, he is like the stereotypical successful businessman who plays golf and laughs like a millionaire. He wasn’t far from the truth. The Umbrio family were millionaires with a
presence in the Normie and Outcast worlds.
William’s face was serious and slightly frowning as he examined Luke, the son of his deceased sister. At no time did he show any affectionate emotions towards his nephew. Even though it was the first time he had seen him.
His grandfather’s name was Stanley Umbrio. The current leader of the Umbrio family. His face was wrinkled. His hair and beard were white, and he had sky-blue eyes. He wore a white formal suit with a tie.
Stanley’s expression when he saw Luke changed and showed much more emotion than William’s. In his grandson, he saw a strong resemblance to his daughter, Sophie.
“So, Luke… Are you alright? I heard from Veronica that you got injured against those hooded men,” asked Stanley in a concerned tone. He sounded like a grandfather concerned for his grandson’s health.
“Yeah, great. I’m almost dead, but I feel great,” said Luke in a sarcastic tone.
“Respect your grandfather,” said William in a stern tone.
“Grandfather? Don’t confuse things. I do not consider you my family,” Luke said with little patience. What he was missing was that now these strangers wanted to resume their family ties with him. After fourteen years!
The atmosphere in the room fell into an uncomfortable silence.
“I didn’t gather you here to have an emotional family reunion,” said Natasha, breaking the silence.
“What did you call us here for, traitor?” asked William in exasperation. Like Luke, the last thing he wanted was to continue to have ties with the Poe family. It was not good business.
“Traitor?” repeated Luke in confusion.
“Yes, traitor. Your ‘housekeeper’ was a servant of the Umbrio family. Or do you think your father, the last member of the ruined Poe family, would have a servant? Of course, he wouldn’t. She followed my sister into the Poe family’s personal war. We are putting our family in a very awkward situation,” William explained with some derision.
‘Well, I didn’t know that,’ thought Luke without giving much importance to the mockery of his nice and sympathetic uncle. From what he heard from Edgar, Natasha was closer to his mother, so it made sense that she belonged to the Umbrio family.
“That’s enough, William. Why did you ask us to meet here, Natasha?” asked Stalin, looking at Natasha.
“For you to read this,” Natasha replied, pulling out two old rolls of paper from one of her pockets. Both rolls were old, they looked to be several years old since they were used.
“What is this?” asked Stalin, taking one of the rolls passed to him by Natasha. The other roll she handed to Larissa, who looked on in confusion. Luke had no idea what was going on either.
“The last two letters Sophie wrote days before her death,” Natasha replied. Stalin’s hands shook, and he looked at the letter with some regret. Larissa also seemed to go through many emotions as she looked at the letter.
“Why are you handing them over now?” asked William cautiously.
“I got them back recently. When I returned to Jericho after many years, this was the right time for them to be read,” replied Natasha.
Both Stalin and Larissa unrolled the letter, which was long, and began to read it in silence. The atmosphere in the room was silent again. William approached his father and read the letter.
[What does that letter say?] asked Luke, mentally having a bad feeling.
[Something that will save us time to fight the Spellmans] replied Natasha.
[I thought the Poe family’s problems should be solved by the Poe Family] said Luke, remembering an old phrase Natasha said when she talked to Larissa months ago in this very office.
[Just shut your mouth] said Natasha with a slight frown. She said that phrase referred to normal Poe family grudges. Like vendettas, family wars, and the usual stuff. However, when demons are involved, it’s different. It’s already a much bigger problem.
At the time, she met with Larissa months ago and said that phrase was because she couldn’t tell her that the Spellmans were making deals with demons. Instead, she will now read Sophie’s letter.
[I’ve got my mouth shut] Luke said through his mind.
[You’re very annoying when you put your mind to it. Just shut your telepathic mouth] said Natasha, rolling her eyes.
“Is this true?” asked Stalin, who finished reading the letter. His eyes were shining. It seemed that at any moment, a tear or two might escape his eyes.
“Why didn’t she ever tell me? I would have helped her no matter what,” Larissa said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Father, this doesn’t make any sense at all! Is the prestigious Spellman family making deals with demons? Impossible. My sister wants to manipulate you so that the Umbrio family will help the Poe family with their war,” said William, raising his tone of voice.
“Why would she tell you after she’s dead?” asked Natasha angrily.
“I don’t know! Who knows what was going through her head. Those accusations are very serious. A simple letter saying that the Spellmans make deals with demons is not enough,”
said William.
“Silence. Why didn’t Sophie tell me this before?” asked Stalin regretfully. If he had known sooner, he would not have abandoned his daughter. Unlike William, he did believe Sophie’s
letter.
“Because she didn’t want to put the Umbrio family in a difficult position. She knew she needed hard evidence so that the Umbrio could intervene directly,” replied Natasha.
“And why did she write this without any hard evidence?” asked William.
“Didn’t you read the letter?” asked Natasha.
William looked at Luke for several seconds, clicked his tongue, and stopped looking at him, ‘What was that?’ thought Luke.
“All right. I’ll comply with Sophie’s last request,” said Stalin, putting the letter in one of his
pockets.
“Father, we can’t do that! That will show that we will take a stand against the Spellmans. A war is not good for our family,” said William in disbelief.
“The decision is made, William,” said Stalin in an irrefutable tone.
“I don’t want them to face the Spellmans. I just want Luke to spend his summer vacation at the Umbrio farm. You know, a grandfather sees his deceased daughter’s grandson for the first time. That position will keep the Spellmans from freaking out, and they won’t want a war,” Natasha explained, and Luke’s expression turned ugly. He didn’t want help from anyone, and as he was about to speak, Natasha kept talking.
“I want you to know that the thing about Sophie’s letter is real. You can believe it or not. For now, that would be all the help we need,”
“Fine. We’ll do it,” nodded Stalin. After a few more words, the entire Umbrio family left the room. Luke was still silently processing what had just happened.
“I believe Sophie’s words. I will help in any way I can,” Larissa said in serious tones. “Thank you. I won’t ask anything of you for now. I don’t think it goes without saying, but keep everything under wraps. Until we have proof, we can’t bring this information out in the open. It’s very sensitive,” Natasha said, and Larissa nodded.
If they accuse the Spellmans of making deals with demons without any proof, it would put them in a worse situation. The Spellmans would be perfectly justified in attacking with all
their might in the face of such unproven accusations.
Luke and Natasha left Larissa’s office and began walking down the halls of Nevermore. “Why?” asked Luke. He was not at all at ease about having to spend his vacation at the Umbrio farm. Natasha didn’t even ask for his opinion about this.
“You’ve been attacked three times already. Twice at Nevermore. If you stay in Jericho, you’re not safe, and even less so now that you’ve put a Spellman’s eye out,” Natasha replied, and Luke regretted telling her about that part of the battle.
“Where is the evidence my parents collected?” asked Luke. If they had that in their hands, they could show it to the world, damage Spellman’s reputation, and make the authorities keep an eye on them.
It wasn’t that Luke was afraid to take on the Spellman on his own, but it wasn’t logical. He was only one person, two if you counted Natasha. The war with the Spellmans is about 170
years old. How many members do the Spellmans have? There must be dozens of members, and the final boss is still alive since he got immortality through his satanic deal. If more former members made demonic deals that granted them immortality, he would face more people.
No matter how super powerful he is, he would die when facing dozens of members, some with demon-enhanced powers, and the person who killed his great-great-grandfather, who knows what power he has now.
“I don’t have them in my possession… I’m tracking them down it won’t take me long to find
where they hid them,” Natasha replied, biting her lip.
“You don’t have them in your possession?” asked Luke.
“No. Your parents were hunted down by the Spellmans and killed. Before that, they had to
hide the evidence they had collected. I wasn’t with them because I was babysitting a stupid crybaby. After they died, I had to change my identity and hide with you,” Natasha replied.
“I’m not stupid,” muttered Luke.
“Do you hate my father?” asked Luke after a few seconds. “What’s with that question?” asked Natasha with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, you were very close to my mother, and her getting together with my father got her involved in a war against the Spellmans, and she ended up dying,” replied Luke.
“I didn’t like your father at first. If you’re part of the old outcast families, it’s easy to find out about the silent war that was going on between the Poe’s and the Spellmans. None of the Umbrio liked your mother wanting to marry your father, who was on the losing side,” Natasha
said.
“But your mother didn’t care about that. She found out the real story, and her reasons for being and fighting with your father became stronger. I as your mother’s servant, followed her
and believed in her judgment. I was not wrong,” she added.
“Mm, I see,” Luke said.
“Worried about your wolf girlfriend?” asked Natasha.
“It’s not that. I’m going this way,” Luke said, waving goodbye to Natasha.
“It’s hard dealing with teenagers,” Natasha muttered, shaking her head.
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