Magic In My Blood

by Kellie Sheridan

  Except I didn't know if it ever would. I didn't know much of anything besides the very truth that Bryan was looking to find.

  "Do me a favor," I said, hoping he realized just how many favors he owed me for the whole breaking in thing. "Start from the beginning. Like, the very beginning. I've never really talked to Cooper about his change or how you factor in to any of this. Take me through, step by step, how you got to this point. And then I'll do my best to tell you what I can." Assuming Bryan's story gave me enough time to figure out exactly what that was. And, with a little luck, figure out how the two of us could help one another.

  Bryan's answer came immediately. "I'm not supposed to talk about it."

  That was a surprise. "You and me both. Talk anyway." After everything, what would cause Bryan to even consider keeping his mouth shut? Loyalty to Cooper? The idea seemed absurd.

  I did my best not to point out that I was very much on the clock, but Bryan considered his options for so long that I thought he might actually end up just getting up and leaving my apartment. When he made up his mind and started speaking, his voice came out in fits and spurts to start before finally settling into a rhythm. "It seems strange to say now, but Cooper and I used to be close. We were born only a year apart, and there was a time where I would have called him my best friend."

  That part did seem a little odd, but it only took me a moment to work out the details. Looking at Bryan now, I would have placed him as being in his mid-thirties, give or take, whereas Cooper looked far closer to my age, somewhere in his twenties but leaning toward the younger side.

  He'd look that old until the day he died.

  Werewolves don't age, at least not in the traditional sense. Someone bitten young would continue to age in the normal way until they reached their prime. Those bitten later would heal any signs of aging as a result of the same infection that had turned them into a wolf in the first place.

  "When Cooper was bitten, I was the only person he told. Right after it happened, before we really knew what was coming for us. He was about eighteen, I think. We were both home from uni for a holiday. I don't remember which one any more. Probably summer, since we were back home for a good while. He'd been out drinking with some buddies and had walked home across the fields. He'd seen what he thought was a massive, injured dog—wolves aren't really something you see around here—and figured it belonged to the neighbor. He had tried to help it, getting himself bitten in the process. From the sound of it, he'd barely managed to escape. His back had been cut up pretty badly, and it looked like the thing had managed to hook its teeth into his arm."

  "You didn't take him to the hospital?"

  "He swore up and down he was fine. And he knew that if he reported the dog to anyone, especially our Da, it would start shit in the community that would take years to settle. Our father had never been a particularly forgiving person. By the time we were that age, he'd declared at least three of our neighbors as our lifelong enemies." Bryan finally seemed to relax a little as he remembered his father, taking a seat once again. "By the time he'd gotten back, it was nearly morning anyway. I told him to get some sleep and that we'd figured out the rest in the morning."

  "And by morning, he was healed?" I guessed, using what I knew about the virus that created werewolves.

  Bryan nodded. "Almost completely. I guess I thought it had simply looked worse than it was. Or maybe even then something seemed off. I don't know anymore. We didn't talk about it. Not until the night after the next full moon when I woke up to see Cooper wandering toward the house, completely naked and looking like he'd spent an entire night running around in a forest. That was the same day when my brother stopped talking to me about anything important. He swore he'd just been out getting pissed with the lads, but he seemed shaken. I pressed; he only retreated farther. We both went back to school after that."

  As Bryan continued to tell his story, guilt rose in my chest. Because this wasn't his story, not entirely. I'd hope that if I'd asked Cooper about when he'd turned into a werewolf, he'd have told me. But I hadn't given him the chance, and here I was, hearing it all from the person he felt like he could trust the least.

  "The next time we were both home from school, he was different. More confident, stronger. More himself, but still distant from me and our parents. He stayed two days, just long enough to tell us he was transferring over to a school in Dublin, and then took off. We didn't see him again for two whole years. At first, I was hurt. Then, I was mostly just angry. He didn't come home again until our father passed away. Three nights before the full moon. I didn't understand any of this until after, but he'd planned to leave with a day to spare. But my mother is good at two things. Pie and guilt trips. She convinced him to stay.

  "I found a wolf curled up in my brother's bed that next morning. I'd gone in to try to finally talk things out, and there he was. He, the beast, was awake and looking at me. I was dialing for animal control when I saw him change into the same man I'd grown up with."

  Shit. "What did you do?"

  "Damn near wet myself. My first thought was that the devil had taken my brother for one of his own. I wanted to run, call for my mother to get out of the house, and just leave him there. But as though nothing were the slightest bit wrong, he got up and put on his pants and asked me to have a seat. The first thing he told me was that if I ever told anyone any of what I'd seen, he'd be killed. Or I would. More than likely both of us. He explained what had happened and when, but nothing else. He said he'd found people to look out for him, but they had strict rules about keeping their secrets. His leader hadn't even wanted him to come back for the funeral.

  "Since then, I've learned bits and pieces. I figured out witches and have my suspicions about the faerie legends that have existed in this country for a millennia. It became all too clear what my brother had actually been changed into. A monster. I'd been hired to the Garda by then, so I went back through old police reports and learned that a young boy had been mauled to death by a wild dog the same weekend my brother had been changed. I also found a trail of death by blood loss and neck rupture. Neck rupture," the second time, he spat the word out like poison. "A completely unexplained medical phenomenon."

  I tipped my head in agreement. I didn't think the wolves were the monsters he thought they were, but I knew that the alpha before Ethan had been less than perfect. And I'd yet to meet a vampire that didn't feel like a predator.

  "And now with everything else that's been happening since Cooper and his kind showed up in Galway. I need to know how to stop this." Bryan's light eyes seemed to plead with me from across the room.

  "Cooper has nothing to do with what's been happening. I promise you. He's no monster."

  "Are you one of them as well? A wolf?"

  "No. Something else entirely. I'm not even sure there's a name for what I am. I was born into this world, but I didn't ask for it any more than you did. It's been...hard." That was a bit of an understatement, but by then I was certain that Bryan could hear the truth in what I was saying. He and I were maybe a little more alike than I'd wanted to believe. I understood too well the feeling of being sucked into the supernatural and trying to make sense of what had happened to my family.

  "Bit of a random question for you," I added before Bryan had a chance to switch gears and demand information from me. "Do you think more people should know the truth about people like Cooper?"

  "No," was Bryan's immediate reaction. "They won't understand. Most people I know try to understand the world they live in through either the Bible or science. This doesn't fit. They wouldn't take it well."

  That hadn't been the answer I was hoping for. But an idea was already forming in my mind, and I needed Bryan's help to shape it into what it could be.

  "What about the people like you, whose families are affected by all of these things they don't understand? Is there maybe some room there for acceptance? Would things have gone more smoothly for you and your family if Cooper had been able to tell you what was going on?"


  Bryan's yes came as quickly as his no had before it. "I still have so many questions. But if Cooper had been straight with me from the beginning, maybe things would be..." he considered. "Not good. But better. Easier. Safer."

  His last statement didn't seem to fit with the rest. "I promise, wolf or man, Cooper would never hurt you. Or anyone else." Who didn't deserve it, I finished in my head. I had no delusions about werewolves being big cuddly puppy dogs. Cooper, Ethan, and every other member of their kind had abilities and instincts that set them apart from humanity. But what they used those things for varied as much from person to person as it did in any other group.

  And they were the good guys.

  Bryan's thin lips pressed together in a tight line. "Then why is it that people in this city seem to start dying whenever he's around?" He didn't believe me. "I've held up my part of the deal. Now I need you to tell me what's really going on here."

  Chapter 5

  That was one of the more uncomfortable conversations I'd ever had.

  I got the impression that when Bryan left my flat to head to his shift, he wasn't exactly satisfied. He'd told me his story, and I'd skirted around the details of what he wanted to know. It probably wasn't fair, but there was so much to go over, and no time to waste. And while there was no particular law that governed me, and no one to enforce the veil of secrecy, telling Bryan too much could get any number of people into trouble.

  I also couldn't imagine how to explain that all kinds of magickal beings were descending on his city without putting him on edge. Instead I'd walked the line between truth and white lies more often than I'd wanted, knowing that most of the information he sought he should be hearing from his brother. I didn't know the details of why Cooper had chosen to share as little as he had, but it was easy to imagine. I'd seen the way my biological grandparents had pressed the importance of secrecy on my mother when she started growing into her own abilities. Things were likely even more intense in the factions, where power plays were not uncommon, and so many myths and legends had already become part of popular culture.

  I'd left Bryan with the promise that his brother would be in touch soon, but he seemed less than encouraged. He'd given me far more than I'd given him. Although I hoped that if I was on the right track, the idea he'd planted would one day help him and Cooper to repair the relationship a little as well.

  The coming summit had been called in order to find a way forward into the twenty-first century, when mystical secrets were getting harder and harder to keep. If Aoife was right, and unfortunately I had no reason to think she wasn't, the best idea anyone had come up with so far was starting with exposing the smallest and weakest among us as a test balloon.

  I was beginning to think there might be room to move in a different direction.

  Humans. While the strongest of the fae mostly kept to themselves, most everyone else dealt with humans on a daily basis. They were our neighbors, our friends, our families in some cases. But for many of us, they remained a world apart. There was no universal set of rules, but the rules were almost always in place, outlining who could be told what and when. But I'd known too many kind-hearted humans to ignore the world of possibility in those who didn't know the truth about their loved ones... Or, even better, those like Bryan who suspected but wanted to know more.

  If we could start talking to those people, opening up the circle of who to trust, we could cushion the blow for everyone when it came time to share our secrets.

  That was, if I could get anyone else on board with this idea. And the opinion of one mildly annoying human wouldn’t be enough to convince anyone.

  Leaving my apartment behind once again, I took off into the sunny Galway streets, doing my best to look completely uninteresting. I didn't want to risk any of Bryan's strange tourists seeing me where I was no longer welcome. There hadn't been much in my flat that would count as a disguise, but a hoodie and a pair of oversized sunglasses were usually a safe bet.

  The city was alive with colors. All around me, otherwise innocuous looking humans swirled to life with the colors of their magicks. Green, blues, and purples decorated the city, leaving me wondering if what I was seeing was anything like the effects of synesthesia. Or LSD. I even caught sight of someone touched with the red of vampire magick slipping into a pub. Colin maybe? I turned in the other direction, needing to be as far away as possible from anyone who might recognize me.

  Usually, I could have simply slipped my hand into my pocket and touched my phone in order to do everything I needed to, but it felt safer to blend in and do things as normally as possible.

  I grabbed my phone and joined the countless other pedestrians walking around with screens in front of their faces. It kept me from doing any reconnaissance of my own, watching out for any of Aoife's people or to spot danger before it found me, but I'd planned to be out of harm’s way within a few minutes. To Nina I sent...

  Melanie: Back when everyone was at the Castle. With Aoife. There was this guy from Poland whose wife was human.

  I hit send, hoping my rambling train of thought would be enough to jog my friend's memory and point me in the direction of who I needed to talk to.

  Nina: Eugene and Michelle? The witches in their city killed her family because she told them about magick.

  That was the one. Though I suspected there were countless others with stories like hers.

  Melanie: Can you put me in touch with either of them? Or any other people you know who have humans in their lives that know the truth?

  The truth. It sounded so simple there on my phone. I was looking to talk to people who had lived in fear, lost family members, and undeniably suffered under the guise of hiding the truth. But I liked to think I'd learned better than to simply, blindly assume I knew the state of things because of the quick glimpse I'd had of this world since Ethan had first arrived in my town.

  My plan felt like a good one, or at least something I could offer at the summit that could continue to evolve. But I needed to talk to more people who had lived through what I was proposing.

  Sure, I'd told my parents all about my gifts. And they'd taken the news like absolute rock stars. But it had been a matter of days since they'd gotten the news, and they'd spent most of that helping me harbor some Greek fugitives. I didn't know what kind of long-term strain I'd placed on our relationship, or if I'd planted seeds of doubt in their hearts about who I was.

  As I rounded a corner that would take me back toward the rabbit hole, I forced that thought away. Did I really believe for a second that my parents loved me less because of my connection to magick? No. Maybe. But mostly no. Any doubts I had were coming from within me, not them.

  And I wasn't self-important enough to believe that my family was the only one who loved their people unconditionally.

  All vampires and werewolves started out human and would have had families of their own at one point though some of them might be long dead. Fae and witch magick were passed through family lines, but over time those lines had mixed with human blood.

  Unless there was some piece of all of this that I was missing, it felt like families were the place to start.

  Nina got me the contact information of a few different people she'd met whose families knew about their magick, before sending off one final message that helped me to breathe a bit more easily.

  Nina: This is just the beginning. I'm curious where you're going with this, but we can talk more when I see you tonight.

  Nina was coming! I'd known we'd be looking at more and more people every day, but Nina had never really confirmed one way or the other.

  Melanie: Yessssss! You got the time off work?

  Nina: This is more important. If someone needs me, I'd never forgive myself if I'd missed out just because my boss feels like being a jackass.

  I'd have loved to have been able to tell her that she had nothing to worry about, to focus on her own life. But she was right. As a healer, her skills could be invaluable, and at a moment’s notice. I hoped we wouldn'
t need her, but if we did get into some real trouble, there was no one more qualified to help keep our people safe.

  It didn't take long to get back through the rabbit hole though I did have to pass through a small pub that was currently being patronized by three witches who sat huddled together in a booth in the corner. Doing my best not to look up, I rushed through the ladies’ bathroom and back through to Castle Elgan.

  The transition was still as jarring as it was the first time. Less strange than having Simon move me between places using his own magick, but it always took a few seconds to reorient myself.

  When the world stopped spinning under my feet, I found myself in a small sitting room on the ground floor of the castle. Someone was talking loudly in a room nearby, but otherwise everything seemed calm. No disasters while I'd been away.

  "Hey there, stranger." I jumped two feet in the air at the sound of a man's voice coming from somewhere nearby.

  I spun on my heel, half-ready to defend myself if needed but found a welcoming smile waiting for me.

  Ethan!

  Without a moment's hesitation, I leapt into his arms.

  Chapter 6

  Ethan's strong arms wrapped me up in a hug so intense that it pulled me a few inches off my feet. I squeezed back for as long as I could before he placed me back down again.

  "You're here." I was still a bit too dumbfounded by surprise to do much more than state the obvious.

  "I told you I was coming." Ethan's handsome face grinned over at me. As always, he looked to be in peak condition. Not a wrinkle to be seen or a muscle less than perfectly formed. And still, a hint of something else rested just beneath the surface of his expression.

  "Did I know that was today?" I asked as Ethan opened the door that would take us back to the main hallway. I'd have loved to have stayed put for just a little longer, to spend some time alone where no one could find us. But I walked through to the hallway, giving myself yet another reminder that we’d run out of time for any of that. Even if there was, I couldn't risk it.