Lilith scanned the obituaries column. "It looks as though your father has made it through another day, Lex."

"Don't remind me," Lex muttered.

Lilith peered at the paper. "Oh, dear. Cassie Carver. I went to school with her."

Lex looked at his grandmother over the top of his orange juice glass. "Hm."

Lilith sipped her tea. "It doesn't say how she died."

Lex finished his juice. "Really."

"She was always a bit odd," Lilith reflected.

"I don't doubt it," Lex said.

"She read Revelations a lot." Lilith drained her tea. "Wilting sunflowers, rains of blood." She rose. "That kind of thing."

"Right. I'm going somewhere now."

"What, you don't want to spend any time with your old grandmother?" Lilith carried her cup to the sink and deposited it.

"If I had to, I'd rather not hear you reminisce about your old school friends," Lex muttered.

"Did I say she was a friend? My mistake. She always thought I was a witch."

"Odd. Dad always said the same thing."

"And I bet you thought he was speaking euphemistically."

"Actually, he didn't call you a witch."

"What did he call me?"

"Take a wild guess."

"I just love it when my offspring insult their ancestry."

"Speaking of which…"

"Of what?"

"Ancestry."

Lilith laughed. "Don't say you want me to tell you stories about your predecessors."

Lex shrugged. "I really don't have anything else to do today."

"I thought you had somewhere to go," Lilith protested. "Don't let me keep you."

"I just have to meet Victoria at the airport," Lex said.

Lilith made a face. "Little Vicky Hardwick?"

"She's no longer little," Lex corrected.

"I'm sure," Lilith muttered.

Lex sat down. "So. What was my father like when he was young?"

"A brat," Lilith said. "Absolutely insufferable. He threw tantrums." She dug in her pocket and brought out a slim packet of cigarettes, drew one out. "Want one?"

Lex wrinkled his nose in disgust. "You really shouldn't be smoking at your age."

Lilith shrugged. "I know. Filthy habit, isn't it? And what do you mean, at my age? I'm not a day over eighty." She made a quick motion with her hand, producing a small blue flame that spurted from her index fingernail. She then lit the cigarette and blew the flame out.

Lex stared. "How did you do that?"

Lilith took a draw of her cigarette. "It's a secret. I can teach you how later."

Lex shook his head as if to clear cobwebs out of his ears. "Never mind." He crossed his legs. "So what about my grandfather? What was he like?"

Lilith leaned back. "First, why don't I make us some tea…"