My mom looks ready to faint. I don't want to sound like Amber, but is my mom broken?
Amber:
"Sorry about Alastair, he is a very overprotective older brother."
Marcus nods and finishes measuring out the next ingredient.
"He hates me."
"It's not you. He hates everyone, not family. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if he is even ok with me being around."
"So how much fairy dust goes into this?"
I really want to point out the very subtle change of subject, but not everyone takes my sense of humor in stride the way Alastair does. Marcus especially is very docile and would be offended.
"Here, try this." I hand him the ingredients as he asks and correct any mistakes he almost makes. For a potions witch, I have a feeling he will not be wonderful in a potions shop. He is so jittery. He is much better with the plants before they are harvested. Everyone wants his help with their raw ingredients garden. His family should think about putting him in charge of the garden instead of the shop. It doesn’t seem like he has much of a choice… or that he will have the backbone to stand up for himself. Poor Marcus. I can’t imagine him being very happy dealing with customers all the time. If only he could get the courage to talk to his family…
Alastair:
"Alastair, you and Amber, you haven't… I mean intimacy…"
"No, we have not had sex or been intimate. Why would you even think we would be?"
"Never mind. Alright. Well, I think you and Amber have worked things out nicely between yourselves. You make a very good brother and sister… well, whatever. You both will be going your separate ways soon. You to the academy, and her to college."
"I know."
Mother nods but looks at me… with a look on her face that I have never seen before on anyone. I can’t place it. I could ask to take a picture and show Amber later. She might know. She is much better at reading facial expressions than I am. I don’t think mom will appreciate that though. Maybe I can draw it and have Amber look. Or look for a similar one online.
"Are you okay, mom?"
She smiles and wipes the odd look and posture from her body.
"Fine just. I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about you growing up to the point of mating."
"I wouldn’t go there yet, mother. I am not even through the academy and the king has indicated no pairing."
"Fiona, we have to talk! Work today was horrible… what is going on in here?"
Dad, as always, has impeccable timing. Normally his interruptions are unwelcome. This time, for some reason, I can only be grateful. Amber is definitely right. You do not ask parents for advice on anything like this.
"Nothing. Mom was just scolding me for being rude to a witch."
"Alastair, please at least pretend to be diplomatic when dealing with the other races."
Mother nods and go to the fridge, grabbing blood and a glass. She seems as relieved as I am.
"I will apologize at dinner. I should finish my homework until then. Let me know when it is done."
Dinner is silent and uncomfortable. Amber is the only one talking. Mom attempts a few responses but doesn’t get very far. Father ignores everything going on as usual. The little witch boy is silent and pale, flinching if any of us other than Amber looked at him. Amber tries to create a better atmosphere, but what can she do? She has us to work with. We are all terrible companions.
After we all go our separate ways, with Amber and her little witch running off to make sure the potion don’t overcook, mom off to meditate until Amber comes to visit her for their talk, and father and I off to train. Amber still has a couple of weeks of recovery before she is allowed to train again. I need to work with someone I can hurt, anyway. It has been too long.
Amber:
After I see Marcus out the door, I go to change and head to the meditation garden. Mom waits inside, looking more than a little unsettled. She waits until I am settled in to pounce… but only barely.
"I talked to Alastair. He told me… about the bloodlust and attraction. Is this going to be a problem?"
"No. I don’t think it will. I just don’t think he was ready for the feelings that came with the enhanced senses. He doesn’t have any experience with the opposite gender, so I think they were things he wasn’t ready for it when they hit him."
"You are much calmer about this than he was."
"Well, I was only embarrassed because of how intensely I reacted, and I was upset because he and I hadn't talked through it yet. Now that we have I am fine. It was a bit awkward, but he jumped right back into overprotective brother mode and all seems to be fine."
"It is so odd, seeing you two switch how you handle things."
"It only bothers Al so much because he is such a control freak. I am well versed in the whole life does not always go as planned thing. You know that. I can handle the weird twists and turns better because I have accepted I cannot control everything. He, on the other hand, has no experience in rolling with the punches."
She sighs and it seems to deflate a bunch of the worry and stress she has been carrying. What had her conversation with Al been like? Maybe I need to talk to him again if mom is this worried.
"I suppose you are right. This is just another thing to make Fergus and I feel like complete failures as parents. Now it is not just socialization we forgot, but emotions and hormones as well."
I shrug. "I somehow doubt anything would be different. I think being an OCD perfectionist is in his DNA."
Fiona finally cracks a smile, accompanied by a tiny laugh and settles. This is much more mom.
"So that boy, Marcus. Are you two a couple?"
I roll my eyes. "As if. Even if I did like him, he would die of shock and fear if I asked him out. Alastair terrifies him. He is too shy to answer our teacher half the time. That’s why I am paired with him. To be the spokesperson for our group. I feel bad for him though. His family is making him take over their shop when they should have him taking over their gardens. The boy is a genius with plants. I even had him take a look at a sick one I have. They should have someone else running the business and leave him in charge of the gardens."
"Poor boy, he did seem a bit too timid for you."
I laugh. "That is the understatement of the century mom."
We chat a few more minutes about Selene and Heather before we settle in for some deep breathing exercises and yoga. Finally, things are getting back to normal.
Chapter Thirteen
Things go on as normal during the school year. Classes, training, yoga, my gardens, and spending time with my sister. Clari has started creating and selling sculptures. She is not even done with school yet and she has found her niche. She is an artist and horsewoman through and through. She is making money off of it before she is even eighteen. I know she plans to stay with Helen. Helen and Clari both will be too lonely without one another. I have to decide what to do with my future. I know what I want to do, but I am not sure it will pan out. If it doesn’t, I need a backup, which means applying to colleges with strong medical programs.
We are halfway through the school year when my future became very, very clear. I have a meeting with the council. Not just one supernatural council, but all of them, meeting together in one place, with me under oath to share my ideas and the path I hope to take. This is it. This is the moment that will decide everything. I have two weeks to gather my thoughts, make a presentation and be ready to convince all the supernaturals why a human with skills to make them all weaker or stronger should be left in the middle of everything. This is it. Hit or miss. Make or break. I have to ace this beyond anything I have ever done before.
Every spare second is spent on it. On perfecting it. I have a speech prepared with printed out copies. I have a bunch of visuals. I make so many samples of different medicines that I start to permanently smell like herbs. I spend more time with Fergus than I ever imagined possible. I sleep in my cabin more often than not. Alastair doesn’t let me slip on homework and F
iona makes sure I am well fed, but I am so immersed that it seems like overnight the two weeks are up. Fergus is taking me. Asking Fiona and Al to not come with me is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I know I won’t be able to do this without leaning on them if they are there. I have to stand alone if I want to impress upon them the seriousness of what I hope to accomplish. So Fergus drives me; he informs me Fiona and Al will come to get me after my presentation is over and leaves.
This is it. The big day.
I go in and give my presentation to lots of different supernatural beings. All of them in one room is unnerving when they are all staring at you. This is not like at school, they are all powerful and leaders in their community.
I refuse to flinch or stutter… I want to, but I refrain. When I am finished, they kick me out of the room to deliberate. I am sitting on a hard, wooden bench for two hours before the door opens and someone drags me in by my arm. It occurs to me to fight back, but there are so many of them that I figure being docile will lull them into a false sense of security so I can escape… yeah, escape witches, werewolves, vampires, and Fae… that will happen. Damn, my brain has obviously stopped working.
"I am telling you, what she wants to do should be just the start. We can only hide from humans for so long, and when we get pushed into the open wouldn’t it be better if we were all siding together instead of fighting? We have uneasy truces and some variances, not even that. Hell, some of the Fae fight amongst themselves. The wolves and vamps still cannot be in one place without disagreeing with what the other is saying, even if they agree with the other party. If we want our coming out - whether by force or choice - to go well, we need to prove we get along with one another and humans. She is human, what she is proposing gives us the perfect opportunity to take it a step further."
So the witches are in favor, I had expected them to be on my side, but what the hell more are they talking about? What more? And coming out to people? Who the hell decided that?!
"What have you been talking about for two hours?" I really should have just smiled and nodded, but well, I am already down the rabbit hole. Might as well explore.
"There has been some talk about the success of the joint high school project. Some of us want it to go a step further. A joint college. Some laws would have to change. We will be outed eventually, and we need to keep up with the times. No more hiding everything from one another; loosening our control of our species, more free will amongst the people we rule. Right now, for us vampires, we choose mates and occupations for our people for at least the first fifty years of their lives. Things would change to make us seem… well, more human."
All I can think is ‘holy shit’, but I don’t want to say that. So far they have thought me eloquent and intelligent. I don’t need to ruin that any more than the fish out of water face is.
"I am telling you, it's a bad idea!"
"You say that because humans won't like you chasing their kittens and rabbits for breakfast."
Oh, well there is the vampire king and local alpha arguing. Awesome, I am going to see someone die. Maybe I can get covered in blood too!
"We don’t hunt pets! Humans kill deer and wild pigs as well!"
"Yes, but not with their teeth."
That smile is terrifying. The fangs, yeah, definitely the fangs.
"Says the assholes that hunt humans!"
"We do not hunt. Everyone bitten knows of us and is well taken care of. Otherwise, we get our blood from blood bags."
"Way to take all the blood that dying humans need."
Growls and hissing ensue.
"Excuse me, I know I have no right to say anything, but if you are going to try to fit into the human world, wouldn’t getting the opinion of a human be a good start? I mean, I can tell you right now, I am far more terrified of werewolves than vampires. My vampire family has been teaching me to defend myself and all the local teen wolves have done is make me more terrified than I ever have been before."
I turn to look at the local alpha. "If you want people to not fear you, then you should realize your son is a bully. He is the type of alpha that will rule entirely through fear; humans are hunting toys to him. If you cannot keep him in place, you cannot come out to humans without them fearing you. There is no way you can keep the wolves under control."
The vampire looks smug until I turn to him. "And you. Twenty years ago you had the vampires on blood bags only, but it is not helping them control their bloodlust. In fact, because they do not know the taste and smell of fresh blood, when presented with it they do not know how to resist. You need to work on a medium. Blood bags are great, but they need to know how to control themselves.
“And the Fae. Overall, great, but some of you think humans are for sport, others hate their own kind, by which I mean another Fae, and hunt them. Get your shit together and make them join this century. I mean seriously, the old grudges no longer matter!
“And you silly witches think because you are neutral, that everyone will leave you alone. If any of the witches in my school got picked on by any other Fae, they would fail worse than me. I can at least defend myself until help arrives, but they would be toast. There's pacifism and there's stupidity. You guys have crossed over. Get some butt kicking skills! At least learn self-defense!"
I stop and heave as everyone stares at me. Oh, my… what did I just do? I am so going to be murdered. Still, it needed to be said and maybe coming from a human girl will make them realize how damn immature they are being.
"Listen, I mean no disrespect, but obviously none of you have any idea how to fit in with humans. So when you start this college, or even if you just stick with high school, let the humans that know about you in so the next generation isn't as hopeless."
Yup, now I wish I had hugged Al and Fiona longer before coming. Or let them come with me. They wouldn’t let anyone eat me or anything, would they…?
"She is right."
My jaw hits the floor.
"Would you like to help us start this joint college project? Humans involved and as equals. We need someone who knows both sides and, with what you wish to do, the project you are trying to start, you are the perfect person. I have a spot that would be perfect. It's out of the way, and species from around the world could come. You need to attend college this coming fall, yes? You could join as well. Help us work out the kinks before everyone rushes to it."
The vampire king is asking for my help.
"I was going to go to medical school…"
"You will be given any and all records you wish for from my personal library."
The vampire king just offered me open access to the library in the palace. The one that houses their entire history. Holy shit again!
"If everyone agrees and offers the same, I will do it."
This is the best chance. For all of them. For me. For the future.
The king looks around, and one by one, they all nod. This is going to happen. This is actually going to be a thing. We will be creating a joint project to bring the supernatural community together and make them more human-friendly. I will be on the ground floor. Wait until Fiona and Alastair hear this!
I text them quickly, knowing they are on the edge of their seats waiting to hear from me. The text read: IT'S OFFICIAL! I AM PART OF YOUR WORLD!
Yes, I so meant the Disney reference, even if neither of them will get it.
Adopted Into the Supernatural Page 11