Betrayed, Then Back For Blood

Chapter 36

Joshua and Marvin, well past middle age, fell into heavy silence after broaching such a somber topic. Finally, Marvin sighed and urged, “Alright, our old bones can still hold up.

“Let’s give youngsters more time. When the moment comes, they’ll definitely do better than we did back in the day. Go on in, don’t keep Briar

waiting.”

Joshua nodded, waving Marvin off. “Go on, scram before our close contact draws attention.” With that, he shut the lab door,

Bored of waiting in Joshua’s office, Briar got up to check out the space. The room was simply furnished–just a desk and bookshelves lining

the wall.

Alongside traditional medicine texts, the shelves held countless specimens of rare herbs, some of which Briar had only seen in Tristan’s private vault.

But what truly caught her eye was an old picture frame nestled amongst the specimens. The photo showed five young men. The one in the center was clearly a younger Joshua.

A

To his left stood Marvin, whom she’d just met. To the right, she recognized Griffin in his youth. The man next to Griffin was unfamiliar to her.

But the real shock came from the long–haired, black–rimmed man on the far right–he was the spitting image of a young Tristan.

‘Whoa, she thought, ‘didn’t know Tristan was such a trendsetter back then.‘

he caught Briar staring at the photo frame. “Briar,” he chuckled, “bet you can’t guess who’s the

turned with a smile. “Obviously you, Mr.

that alone, I’ll make

this seemingly stern, old–fashioned Joshua to be so witty.

show you around the lab first and introduce you to your seniors. In our traditional medicine program,

behind, nodding along, his warm demeanor sparked a flicker of

would’ve thought I’d ever

men, many from hereditary practitioner families. With Dasmieca cracking down on

a brutal 8:2 male–female ratio,

so, enrollment in Shoneport’s Traditional Medicine department rarely topped

to join his lab was rare. Including two new additions this year, the lab

students.

and only one female. So this young lady instantly became

moment Joshua led in the pretty, doll–faced Briar, every guy in the lab stopped what they were

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Chapter 36

“Alright, let me introduce–this is Briar, our new transfer student in first year. She’s 18,

James Garcia was the first to applaud enthusiastically. “Hey there, I’m James, head of the lab

fourth year.”

I’m