"A BEST FRIEND," Grayson whispered, the words sounding like a foreign language. "I had a human best friend who bought me a... a vineyard? And I told him my parents died on a boat?"
Grayson stood frozen, his eyes fixed on the empty doorway. He looked like a man who had just been told the moon was made of blue cheese and he was responsible for the monthly rent.
He slowly looked down at his soot-stained hands, then at his brothers, and finally at Mailah.
"A yacht, actually," Carson corrected, helpfully leaning against a charred bookshelf. "Very tragic. You always did have a flair for the dramatic, Gray."
Grayson ignored him, his brow furrowed in deep thought. "He seemed... annoyingly cheerful. And he knew my name. He knew my business. He even knew about..." He glanced at Mailah before snapping back to his brothers. "Are there more surprises? Should I expect more humans to walk through the door next? Or perhaps a collection of vintage stamps I've forgotten about?"
