“We know you’re not like other kids. Does it bother you being in classes with students three years older than you? We can put you back with people your age,” Irina asked.
“Are you kidding? I’m already bored out of my mind at school. It’s all stuff I already know. I like reading and learning on my own. If I had it my way, I’d be done with school and working in my lab all the time.”
“None of your classes are challenging?”
Grigori’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Uh…no. Not at all. School’s a waste of time.”
“Irina, we should speak with the Prism Wizard. We need to find another solution for Grigori’s education.”
“I need a PhD, Mom. I want to be a scientist, and I need credentials. I prefer Nikolai’s company to get all the credit for my stuff, but I want his people to know I’m not just some kid playing in a lab.”
“Oh Grigori, youarea kid.”
He squared his shoulders and his jaw twitched. “I don’t care. This is my life, and I should be able to make some of my own choices. Normal kids can’t figure out formulas like I can. I think I deserve to be able to learn what I want. I’m supposed to graduate high school at the end of this year anyway. Why should I have to continue to wait for college? I’ve already looked through the curriculum of all the undergraduate and graduate programs I want to complete. I’m halfway through reading the required books for them.”
“You’ve been doing all that studying on your own?”
“Yeah, I used the gift card you gave me on my birthday to buy the last ones I haven’t read yet. I’m going to probably be finished with them by the end of next week. I hope so anyway. Unless I get another lame project at school where I have to write twenty poems like I did last month. That was the lamest thing ever. I suck at poetry.”
“That gift card was meant for you to buy something you really wanted, not textbooks.”
“Ireallywanted them.”
“Birthday money is for frivolous things.”
“I’m not a frivolous guy.”
“Grigori, when did you grow up on me?”
“I’m pretty sure I was an adult at five.”
Irina put her arm around him. “I know. How did that happen?”
“Probably because my parents are the strongest vampires alive. So there’s that.”
“I love that you’re smart, Grigori.”
“But no one likes a smartass,” he finished with a grin.
“Go to bed, young man,” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am.” Grigori allowed her to give him another hug; then he embraced his father. After Alexei released him, Grigori darted out of their room with his formula clutched in his hand.
“My child just created synthetic blood at fourteen.”
“Our son’s exceptional,” Alexei said. “But…”
“But we need to fix his education.”
“I know you don’t like it. I know you want him to have a normal teenage existence, but I’m afraid that’s not his destiny. He’s right, you know. He’s earned more.”
“If we’re going to do this, then we do it right. His education will scale with him. If that means he’s got his PhD before he’s twenty, then so be it,” Irina declared. “He’s made it perfectly clear over the years that he prefers for the creator of his formulas to remain a mystery, so his name won’t be associated with anything he produces until he decides he’s ready to deal with the press and everything else. If the world finds out that he’s a genius, there may be a lot of demands on him.”
“Especially since his mother rules the vampires.”
“His parents rule the vampires.”
Alexei strode across the room and trailed a finger up the gilded roses Fate put on her arm. Despite thousands of years together, Irina’s blood heated and goose bumps spread over her skin. “Last time I checked, Fate gave you this mark.”