"So have you unearthed anything about these Normal people?" Duke paused in his work, glancing towards the front of the car he and Sasha were currently working. "No," he said, raising an eyebrow. "And why would you ask me? You know how busy we've both been lately."
"Hey you're the dhamphir," Sasha replied defensively. "I mean you gotta have some supernatural buddies with info!"
"The vampires fear me and my brother cant stand me," Duke chuckled. "And in case you hadn't noticed we have the same friends Sasha." Sasha furrowed her brow, grumbling as she went about fixing the engine on the car the pair were servicing. Although the young couple had been enjoying their lives, free time wasn't exactly something they had alot of. Between classes and work, the pair had just enough time to collapse on the couch at night before passing out in eachothers arms.
"I know," Sasha grumbled. "It's just so...frustrating! I want to help but when do we have the time? You're training to be an EMT and I'm going to technical school and when we're not doing that we're at the shop working. I just, I just wish there was more we could do."
Duke now paused in his work, approaching his girlfriend as he hugged her tightly. Sasha was never one to sit on the sidelines. Ever since she had discovered magic, she was always there to stop whatever threatened anyone. Now though, things had changed. The young couple were busy establishing a life for themselves with little time for anything else. "I know it's hard," Duke said softly. "I want to do more as well but it's difficult right now Sasha. We've spent the last year building a life for ourselves."
"I know," Sasha sighed. "Couldn't these guys have shown up a few years down the line when we had more time?"
"Probably why they came now," Duke chuckled. "If it helps, why don't we check in with the Morelands or Nat after work. Neither one of us has plans tonight. All we were going to do was crash out on the couch." Sasha grumbled, resting her head on Duke'sshoulder. "Fine, but I really do like our couch naps."
"Duke Tepes?"
Sasha and Duke turned, noticing a business woman in her 20s now staring at them. The fact this woman had referred to Duke as Tepes and not Thomasson was alarming. Few knew who Duke's true parentage was. Those that did were either a friend or an enemy. Considering the young couple didn't recognized the woman, they believed the latter. Duke's eyes now taking on a magenta hue, his muscles increasing in size as he instinctively stepped in front of Sasha. "I'm Duke Tepes," he growled. "Now who are you."
"Easy you two," the woman now said. "And that includes you too girl. I know you're preparing a spell behind your boyfriend." Sasha now stepped beside Duke, her ring still glowing as she furrowed her brow at the woman. "Okay lady who are you?"
"Sorry my names Ashley Moore," she said. "I'm a friend of Gloria's sister, Katie." Sasha said nothing, studying the woman carefully. She looked vaguely familiar yet Sasha couldn't quite remember from where. Ashley now smiled, pushing a stray brown hair from her face as she studied the pair. "We met few years back," she said. "You were friends with Katie's little sister Gloria. It's Sasha right?"
"Yeah," Sasha replied cautiously. "So what are you doing here?"
"Actually I came here for Duke," Ashley stated. "And it's nothing bad. See I work in Boston. Recently I was working with Gloria and her boyfriend. They've already told me about everything that's been happening, that's how I partnered up with Gloria to check something out."
"So you're a wizard?"
"Yeah one of the few in Boston if you can believe it," she smiled. "Anyway, Gloria told me all about this Normal. We did a bit of digging and long story short nothing much turned up but, we found this." Ashley now slowly approached, handing an envelope to Duke. Inscribed on the plain Manilla envelope was Dukes name. "See our company had some problems locating Duke Tepes," she continued. "Thats where Gloria came in. She recognized the name, said you were going by Duke Thomasson. She told me I could find you here."
"What is it," Duke asked. Ashley simply smirked, indicating Duke should open it himself.
Slowly the young dhamphir now opened it, noticing a letter written in his mother's handwriting. Dukes throat now began to close with emotion as he read over his mother's will. As he now reached the end his eyes went wide, a single tear now rolling down his cheek. "What" Sahsa asked. "What is it? What's wrong Duke?"
"Its my mother's will," he whispered. "She left me an inheritance of $50 million dollars!" Sasha gasped, snatching the will from Duke as she quickly scanned over the will. In accordance with Sophie Thomasson's wishes, her only son would receive her assets from her marriage to Miro Tepes on his 18th birthday. In sum total those assets would be worth $50 million.
"Apparently your mother had an insurance policy with our company," Ashley stated. "She apparently also placed your inheritance in a high interest bond thats matured over time. While we were unable to find you when you turned 18, the account remained, acrueing interest so that it now stands at $50 million."
Sasha and Duke were speechless, this amount of money was life changing. With it the couple could start a life together without any of the burdens their friends would face. "I don't know what to say," Duke whispered. "Thank you."
"Welcome," Ashley smiled. "And if you need someone to handle your investments I'm available. Plus, you should probably thank Gloria too for spotting this." Sasha and Duke nodded, at the very least they promised to pay for Gloria's honeymoon whenever she got married.