I saw Mom standing in the middle of all the preparations. She looked like a commander standing in the middle of troops directing them into battle. Simon caught up to me before I’d made it very far into the living room.
“Mom wants us to help the wait staff,” he said.
“Why?”
“They didn’t send enough people.”
“Great,” I said. “Nothing like spending your own party working.”
“She said it wouldn’t be for long.” We both grabbed trays of crab puffs from the kitchen and headed out to pass them around. We hadn’t been working long when Dad found me.
“Sophie, you look beautiful. Is that the dress your mother picked out for you?”
“Yes,” I told him.
“Well, despite what you told me about it, it looks splendid,” he said with a wink. I smiled. As he reached over to give me a hug around the shoulders, one of the dark gray scales on the back of his hand got caught in my hair.
“Oh, I’m sorry dear,” he said, untangling it gently.
“No worries.”
“Have you seen Simon?”
“Here he comes now,” I told Dad, pointing over his shoulder. Simon walked up behind him. Dressed alike in suits they could’ve passed for the same person if it wasn’t for Dad’s salt and pepper hair and beard.
“Simon,” Dad said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Come with me, there are some people here I want you to meet.”
“Mom wants me to help with some food first,” Simon said.
“Nonsense, there are more important things for you to do. I don’t want you walking around serving food like wait staff. You need to get out here and mingle with me.”
“Want me to come too?” I asked.
“No, Sophie,” he said. “You keep helping your mother.” He took Simon’s tray and handed it to me before draping his arm over my twin and steering him away. Simon looked back and gave me an apologetic shrug before being enveloped in the crowd. I watched until they were out of sight. Simon and I might be twins, but we were never equal.
Once they were gone, I turned to take the trays back to the kitchen. They both still had crab puffs on them, but I wasn’t in a serving mood anymore. I balanced a tray in each hand and walked slowly across the wood floors attempting to avoid any spots that looked slippery. I was just about to the kitchen door when something large and soft whacked me in the face. Startled, I jumped backward. My ankle twisted in my shoes and down I went, crab puffs and all. I landed on my butt and managed to catch one of the trays. The other crashed to the floor with a sound loud enough to wake the dead. My ears were ringing when it was over. People stared. I was sure my face was now the color of my dress.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” I looked up to see a girl my age. She reached a slender hand down to pull me off the floor. I took it and she hoisted me up like I was a feather.
“I try to keep these pestering things in, but they get away from me sometimes. They’re so different from my old wings.” I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the delicate features and bright blue hair that could only belong to a faerie. Something large was casting a shadow over both us. Wait? Wings? Yep. Sprouting from her back were two huge wings. They were the same shade of blue as her hair at the top and gradually changed to orange at the bottom. Black stripes like veins weaved throughout.
“Butterfly wings,” I said, impressed. “I’ve never seen a butterfly animage before.”
The girl blushed, “Me either, but it’s pretty obvious, right? But, what kind of magic could a butterfly possibly have? I woke up the morning of my thirteenth birthday and bam. There they were. What a surprise! No one in my family has been an animage for generations. It took me almost six months to learn to control them, so I wasn’t constantly hitting people. It was like they had a mind of their own. They may be delicate, but they can pack a wallop. They still get away from me sometimes. I’m Gracie, what’s your name?”
It took me a moment to realize Gracie had stopped talking and was waiting for me to reply, “Oh, I’m Sophie Pearson.”
“Are you related to Martin Pearson?”
“Yeah, he’s my dad.” I was used to this line of questioning.
“No way!” Gracie said. “You’re the daughter of the dragon? So, this is where you live? Your home is beautiful. How much land is in the estate here, anyway?” Gracie’s overt friendliness and chatter made me smile.
“Thank you. It’s around 100 acres.”
“That is amazing. Your father probably needs a lot of room if he’s going to shift, right? I’ve heard of the dragon’s son, of course, but I didn’t realize he had a daughter too!”
“Yeah, that’s typical. Simon’s my brother. I’m the forgotten twin. They’re around here somewhere.” I glanced at the growing crowd and could see my brother and father in the middle of a group of older men.
“So, he’s going to be the next dragon?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I always found it weird that most people in the supernatural community knew about my family. No wonder Simon had been acting strange all day. I’d be broody too if the whole supernatural community was watching me. At least I never had to worry about that. No one cared what I did.
“Oh,
