"And they're vampires, too?" Faith asked again.
"No. There are only four of us in the clan. Myself, my uncle, and his children," Aldric knew that the next statement would not help her maintain her newfound calm. "Marc, Jake, and Tamika are wolf shifters. Werewolves."
Faith didn't say anything this time. No laughing or pacing or panicked breathing. Had she come across wolves before?
"Of course they are," she said. She took a deep breath and pressed her lips together and nodded. "Naturally. And you have unicorns out in a back pasture and dragons for an air force. Just how gullible do you think I am? Just because I have some... some skills and I saw those dog-things this morning, doesn't mean you can bullshit me like that."
She grimaced and clenched her jaw, and he could sense her anger rising. While anger at the situation was preferable to blind panic, Aldric needed her to accept the reality of the situation so that they could adequately plan their next steps.
Faith, look at me,” Aldric said. He felt the shift come over him, tingling over his skin like it always did. His gums twinged and his vision shifted, Faith's body heat standing out with a beautiful glow.
He knew what she saw when she turned: dark eyes stared back at her unblinking from an ice-pale face. His dark hair made the look even more dramatic and when he bared his teeth in a grin, his fangs scraped against his lower lip. If she could tear her shocked and frightened gaze away from his face, she would notice that his body was slightly leaner looking now, his muscles ready to burst into action and catch his prey with dark claw-tipped fingers.
Her eyes grew large as plates and her jaw hinged open and shut twice, silently groping for words.
"Breathe, Magaestra, I will not hurt you."
He pulled his human form back to the surface and stepped away from the window. He took her elbow gently and led her back to the bed to sit, and crouched at her feet to look up at her. All the blood had rushed from her face and she stared back at him with wide, frightened eyes. The same eyes that had looked at the rogues.
That hurt in a way Aldric was not prepared to analyze.
"I will not hurt you. I swear it on my life. I promised you protection, and that is what you will have here. Marc is the leader of the Frostwalker Clan and he has promised me and Kaylee to keep you both safe, and he is a man of his word if nothing else."
Faith just sat there, breathing noisily. her eyes squeezed shut.
"Please, Magaestra. Say something?" Frightening this woman was the last thing he wanted to do. She had enough stress already to spur anxiety, he himself should not be one more thing on that list.
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Faith didn't open her eyes, or move, and her voice was shaky and weak, but it was words as he had requested, and they weren't hesitant.
"That is the title that my parents used when addressing the clan's last magic using human. She was a kind woman, but very old for a human at the time when she finally passed. I was still young and new here and and busy with my own affairs, so I only have a few memories of her. Mostly her laugh has remained in my memories," Aldric said, a half smile on his face at the memories that poured through his mind. "But also her hands as she baked. I remember she baked cookies for us. Something spicy and sweet. Oh, I haven't thought of those cookies for years."
He blinked away the memory to find Faith's eyes open again and staring at him. She looked uncertain.
"What is it?"
"I..." She pulled her lips between her teeth and the uncertainty in her eyes increased now. "I suppose we should talk about that."
Ah.
"Your magic? I would like to, yes," he said. She was no longer nearing panic, so with a last searching look, he stood and resumed his seat. "It has been a very long time since I saw a human capable of using magic."
"It can't be that strange, I mean, you just changed your whole body!" Faith said. “You’re a vampire!” She still sounded slightly
"Generally, it is possible to either use magic or to be magic. I cannot manipulate anything outside of myself. That has long been the domain of you humans. The very special ones attuned to it," Aldric said. There was no easy way to say the next part, so he simply left it with a statement. "And I had thought your kind was extinct."
Faith drew in a sharp breath and seemed to process that. "I guess that's why Mom always made us swear to keep it a secret."
"Very wise advice," Aldric nodded. "Nearly anyone other than myself and a few others I could name– such as Marc and our inner circle– and revealing that secret to them could have had horrible consequences. This may be the key to why your sister is missing, however, and it is one reason why I am so concerned for your safety. Does your sister also possess magic?"
Faith chewed on her lip. Her gaze shifted from Aldric back to the window where the faint sounds of laughter were still seeping through the glass. He waited. Either she would trust him with her sister's secret or she wouldn't.
He could guess, though. This skill ran in families, which is why it had proved so easy to snuff out. End the bloodlines that could use magic, and the human's access to magic– and the paranormals access to outside magic– was wiped away.
Finally, Faith turned back to him and nodded. "A little."
He nodded. "I have not told anyone else about what I saw you do. Only
