Tarquin Bradford was curious. "What do you mean?"


    Elysia Thorne exined, “Back in Silver City, Hollis mentioned once that Lancelot Spencer chose to major in archaeology just to make them happy. Folly and Hollis always wanted Blossom to study archaeology, but her grades weren''t great, and she just wasn''t interested in it. The fact that Lancelot majored in archaeology to please them... it has to be for Blossom''s sake."


    Tarquin''s eyes narrowed. "Getting on his future inws'' good side early?"


    Elysia said, “That''s probably the idea. He''s been following Folly and Hollis around on their expeditions for years, like he''s their own son. I heard that on one dig, they went into a very dangerous tomb, and Folly and Hollis almost died in there. It was Lancelot who, against everyone''s advice, rushed back in to rescue the two of them while they were unconscious. He almost didn''t make it out himself."


    Tarquin was silent. Lancelot was that close with Blossom Blythe''s parents... This was going to be tough for Axel.


    Tarquin sighed. "Does our Axel still have a chance?"


    Elysia sighed along with him. "His chances are in his own hands. It''s up to him whether he seizes the opportunity or not. Blossom ispletely devoted to him, her whole heart is his, but even the warmest heart can grow cold. If he genuinely doesn''t like Blossom, that''s one thing. She''d be heartbroken, but she''d eventually move on. What scares me is if he does have feelings for her but keeps pushing her away. By the time he realizes what he''s lost, she might already be with Lancelot. And then it''s just going to be a massive, painful mess for everyone involved."


    Tarquin understood. "I''ll have another good talk with him when he gets back." Now that he had experienced how wonderful a happy marriage could be, he wanted his brother-in-arms to have that, too. His own childhood was unhappy, and so was Axel''s. If anything, Axel had it even worse than him. Tamsin and the others would whisper amongst themselves that Axel was colder than a statue, that they''d never even seen him crack a smile. They didn''t know that Axel wasn''t born that way; his past had made him like that. If there was anything in this world that could warm his heart, it would be love and a happy, fulfilling marriage. That''s why he kept encouraging Axel to give things a real try with Blossom. If he missed this chance with her, Axel might just end up alone for the rest of his life. After all, in all the years Tarquin had known him, she was the only one he didn''t seem topletely push away. There was hope for him and Blossom...


    Elysia asked, “When is Axeling back?"


    Tarquin snapped out of his thoughts. "If all goes well, he should be back before the holidays."


    Elysia asked another question for Blossom''s sake, "He won''t be in any danger, will he?"


    Tarquin replied, "Everything is going


    smoothly for now have people


    there, and they it contact me if


    nexpected happens."


    Elysia nodded and didn''t press further. She added Lancelot''s number to her contacts and put her phone away.


    "By the way, do you have any ns for the Thanksgiving break?"


    Tarquin countered, "Do you?"


    Elysia said, "Mom and Dad want to take a trip back to Oceanopolis, and Emmett wants to see his sister and grandpa. If you don''t have any other ns was thinking of taking the kids and going with them.


    Tarquin didn''t answer right away. His mind was on the situation in Border City. Now that he had confirmed the 8th generation virus was there, he needed to find an excuse to go himself-an excuse for the mysterious figure watching him. He couldn''t let them know he was going to Border City to search for the virus.