Randy was jogging up the driveway of the home he shared with his father. He had just finished his run with Astyr and he was really looking forward to picking her up later and taking her for a ride. He loved having her behind him on his bike with her arms wrapped around his waist and her warm body pressed against his back. She was much more relaxed now when they rode and he knew she loved it when he rode fast enough for her hair to whip out behind her. He loved seeing her face when she got off and pulled off her helmet, she would have a smile so big it made him want to snatch her up in a big hug. She was definitely getting to him. He would have to keep that information away from his father.

His father was becoming a big liability in Randy's life. The old man almost never left the house; he just sat drinking himself into a stupor in an attempt to forget about his troubles. Randy sneered at that, the old man's troubles were all self-inflicted and he didn't have a single problem with spreading those troubles around and passing them down. Randy was tired of having to keep him alive and bail him out. He swore to himself that as soon as this latest mess was cleaned up, he would set himself free like his mother had done. She hadn't bothered to feel responsible for her husband's weaknesses and mistakes and she certainly didn't feel responsible for the son she had left behind. No, Randy thought to himself, there was nobody in this world who would take care of him, so why should he have to take care of someone who didn't even care anymore if he was alive or dead. Randy knew his father only cared about Randy's ability to bring him booze and keep his debts paid. And as soon as this last marker was clear, Randy would head out on his own or maybe with Astyr if she wanted to come with him.

But Randy had a sinking feeling that Astyr wouldn't want anything to do with him once she found out who he was and who he was working for. He knew that she didn't know who her parents were so there was no way she could understand the plans people were making for her or the schemes that were in motion to get revenge on her father. Randy hated being involved in this, it left a bad taste in his mouth dealing with the man who was forcing him to go along in order to save his father. The old man wasn't worth half of that girl. She was kind and sweet and warm and she definitely deserved a break after all she had been through. He didn't want to add to her sorrows and he didn't want to leave her in the hands of Lucky.

Lucky was bad news. He was on the short-list for evil incarnate and he took pride in it. If a man could think of a way to cause trouble and hurt others, Lucky could tell him ten ways to make it worse without blinking an eye. He was almost seven feet tall because his mother was a giant but his build was leaner than was normal for pure-blood Jotnar. His face was long and thin and he had a long pointed nose and a very prominent chin. He wore his dark brown hair down to his shoulders and looked out at the world through bland brown eyes that were usually filled with bitterness and contempt.

Lucky had spent thousands of years trying to find a way to get back at the man who was responsible for the imprisonment of Lucky's favorite oldest son and the death of his younger son. Tyr had managed to keep himself invulnerable for most of that time but he had finally made a mistake. And Lucky had seized on it right away. He wanted Tyr to feel what it was like to lose the most important thing in his life. But that oaf had messed up and Tyr's wife had managed to get away long enough to hide the baby. By the time Lucky found her again, the baby was gone and there wasn't any way for Lucky to get its whereabouts out of her. She would rather die than let Lucky get his hands on her baby.

But Lucky had managed to find the child by keeping an eye out on her old friend Grima. Trust Grima to not give up or leave any stone unturned in her search for her friend. As soon as Grima started filling out paperwork to have the girl brought to her, Lucky had sent the oaf and his son to get close to the child. The oaf's son was turning out to be a real asset for Lucky; it was a shame he had to threaten him with his father's life and his own to get him to do the job. Randy was very resourceful and creative and was the only one of Lucky's great-grandchildren that he was proud of.

Being Lucky's great-grandson wasn't something that Randy was proud of, though. It was something he would rather forget. He hated having that wicked man's blood in his veins and he hated being forced to do this job for him. When this was over, he was going to get as far away from all of this as he could.

Coming up to the house, Randy could see that getting away from Lucky wasn't going to be possible today. Sitting in the driveway close to the house was a black 1964 Lincoln Continental with Randy's hated great-grandfather leaning against the side, waiting for him with an evil grin on his face.

"What do you want?" Randy didn't bother with greetings, he wasn't happy to see him and he didn't want to spend any more time than was necessary talking to the old man. Lucky just laughed, he was actually glad to see the boy had a backbone. "I want to know what little Astyr has learned so far."

Randy hated being used to spy like this but he knew it would go a lot easier if he just got it over with. "She doesn't know anything yet," he said.

That didn't seem to make Lucky very happy; he obviously expected to hear something else. "Maybe she's not confiding in you as much as she should be. Maybe she doesn't trust you. Maybe," he paused ominously before finishing, "you aren't doing what I told you to. I know you don't care enough about your father to care what I do to him, but I made a promise to you that whatever happens to him will happen to you, too. And that's a promise I'm going to enjoy keeping, son."

Randy gritted his teeth and clenched his fists to keep from jumping for the old man's throat. "I'm not your son, and I'm doing exactly what you told me to. Now, if you're done, I have a date with Astyr to get ready for."

As he walked past Lucky to get to the stairs, the bastard reached out and grabbed Randy's arm. All of a sudden Randy felt a crippling pain shoot down his spine. His back arched and his knees buckled but he didn't make a sound as he fell to the ground in agony. As soon as Lucky let go of him he shot back up to his feet and brushed the dirt off of his sweatpants. He turned and walked up the stairs without saying a single word.

Up in the living room he found his father once again sitting in the ragged chair and he completely ignored him as he made his way to his room. He had had enough of his relatives for one day. In the peace and quiet of his room he opened the small refrigerator he kept by his bed and took out a couple of packets of donated blood. He ripped them open and drained them one at a time and when he was finished, the rest of the pain from Lucky's attack was gone.

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