Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Iparallel parked my car outside of the condo building downtown where Blake lived with his uncle.
He'd texted me the address this morning, and I was meeting them here for lunch and, hopefully, coffee.
I'd dressed casually in my acid-wash skinny jeans and a slouchy, fuchsia long-sleeve T-shirt with my black Chucks.
I hoped Uncle Ian wasn't the fancy type.
The building and downtown location was cool—it seemed like it was a trendy area that used to be kind of industrial but was turning over.
I passed a mint-green food truck parked at the curb in front of Ian's condo with a colorful Dia de los Muertos skull painted on the side, and I caught the delicious scent of tacos wafting from it as I wandered by.
One climb up four flights of stairs later, and I was knocking on the door of the condo.
Blake opened the door with a wide grin, then he pulled me inside and immediately enveloped me in a hug, which turned quickly into a pretty hot kiss.
"Hey, Wolf Girl," he grinned at me after we'd broken apart. "Welcome to our abode."
I looked around the modern condo. It was super open, with exposed brick and industrial-looking finishes. I saw an attractive man who looked to be in his thirties standing in the sleek black kitchen messing with something on a griddle that smelled fantastic.
We approached the kitchen, and the man turned. I could see the family resemblance—Ian had the same dark hair and green eyes as Blake, but he was a bit shorter and much leaner, more like a runner. He gave me a warm smile.
"Hello, Mave," he said as he walked over to extend a hand to me. "I'm Ian. I hope you're hungry for lunch?"
"I am, definitely," I replied, shaking his hand. "It smells amazing in here."
"I was grilling some steaks and a salad," he said, leading Blake and me over to the dining table. "I hope that's okay? I figured we'd make some red meat since we were having a wolf over for lunch."
"Sounds delicious. I can't wait."
Blake sat next to me with two cups of coffee, sliding one in my direction.
"You're a king, baby," I said, grinning and grabbing it with both hands while Ian brought a tray of steaks and a big bowl of salad to the table.
We dug in and enjoyed some light chitchat about school, jobs, Ian’s condo building, and the revitalization of downtown. As we were finishing up, Ian decided it was time to get serious.
"So, Mave," he began, looking thoughtful. "Blake told me all about your challenge last night on Pack land, and the fact that he was there sort of lets the cat out of the bag about our knowledge of your kind."
Blake squeezed my knee under the table. "It was a fucking sight to see, that's for sure," he said.
"Right," I replied. "I get the sense that Blake has known for awhile now that I'm a wolf.
I also might've seen him just casually conjuring a ball of fire to use as a flashlight in the library a few nights ago.
So I guess I'm just here to figure out, uh…
what exactly is going on? I know it's not just that you guys had some wolf relative a few generations back. "
"You would be correct," Ian said. "No wolves in the family, but we do have an inherent ability to... let's say read power or magic in another person. Blake and I can pick out a wolf shifter just like you can, but just not from scent."
"Come on, man," Blake said, seeming eager. "I know this is against protocol, but I think Mave and I need to have a hundred percent honesty between us, not only because we're together, but because we need to work together with both of our powers to find a solution to her fated mate bond problem."
"Oh, cool, you know about that, too," I said with a resigned sigh. "I had a feeling you did. How?"
"Well," Blake said. "Full disclosure that I not only knew you were a wolf the first time I met you at the bar, but since I'm able to sense and read power, I can tell when a wolf has a particularly high amount of what you guys call Alpha power.
I clocked you immediately as particularly powerful, so I was pretty genuinely confused when I kept hearing people call you an omega wolf. "
I smirked. "To be honest, I'm glad we finally put that to bed last night."
"In spectacular fashion, if Blake's retelling is to be believed," Ian chimed in.
"Dude, it was incredible," Blake gushed, looking at me with pride. I actually fucking blushed.
Blake continued. "But to answer your question, those comments at lunch on the first day of school caught my attention and confused me, and then I overheard Harriet yelling about ‘the greatest gift the moon can bestow on a shifter’ or whatever, and the fact that ‘he said no.’ I had enough working knowledge of wolves and mates to put two and two together, especially after observing Monroe and you for a few days. "
"Ah," I said. I could not believe he’d known from pretty much day one. "And yet you didn’t run for the hills."
"I did not, although I understood why you were trying to keep me at a distance there for awhile. I couldn’t exactly tell you that you didn’t need to worry about magical disasters scaring me off, or whether Monroe might hurt me." He gave me a serious look. "He can try, but I will fuck him up."
"I’m gathering that," I replied. "But I’m still confused as to what exactly you are?"
Ian took over. "What Blake is getting around to saying, I'm sure, is that we are actually members of a long-believed-to-be extinct race of supernatural magic users. Most would just call us mages."
I gaped at them both. "You're mages? Like Gandalf, Dumbledore… Merlin?"
Blake laughed. "I guess so, sure, but I'm way better looking than any of those dudes."
"And you jest, but Merlin was real. One of the few mages that made his way into human history," Ian commented like the medieval scholar he was.
"So that's how you conjure fireballs and glow and stuff?" I asked Blake.
"Yeah, so if you're talking about the library, I was definitely being lazy and just popped a little fire into existence for light. Fire is one of my best elements, and earth is the other. You probably also saw me use my air element to try to sweep away my prints and scent from the shifter librarian’s office.
Then the glowing thing was something Ian just taught me how to do with a complex spell—I guess it's sort of like sucking your power back inside of yourself?
I was trying to erase all traces of my presence there. "
"And how’d you mask your scent from us last night? Ben said he couldn’t smell you at all until he was basically in your face."
"Ah, yeah that’s a pretty simple manipulation of my air element. I just kind of create a shield around my body made of air and my scent can’t escape."
I just stared at him for a few seconds. Holy shit. This was a lot to take in. We'd been told as long as I could remember that shifters were the only magic users left in the world. And here I was, sitting in front of not one but two actual mages.
"So," I started. "I take it this is a big deal that you're telling me all of this. Since mages are supposed to be extinct?"
"Indeed," Ian replied, looking serious. "Mage power is obviously different and a bit more diverse than the power wielded by shifter supernaturals.
In ancient times, there were wars between the races, mostly because mage power was rare and coveted.
Mages were either captured and enslaved, or they were killed off, mostly by shifter councils.
They didn't want that much power out in the world—the type of power that's hard to counter even with shifter abilities.
Then, maybe a thousand years ago or so, the few remaining families, or what we call ‘covens’ of mages, went underground, letting the shifter populations believe they'd finally killed them all, but small groups have survived until today. We find it easier to just let everyone believe mages died out many years ago, otherwise some of the more power hungry or narrow-minded shifter councils or overzealous supernatural hunters might start hunting us again. Not that we can’t defend ourselves, but that sort of warfare could risk exposing us all to humans. "
"So you guys are part of a larger family or coven?" I asked, not really wanting to dig further into the fact that our kinds are maybe mortal enemies.
"Our extended family has a coven based in New Orleans. I'm here because I took my teaching job at Centenary, but I drive down to New Orleans a few times a year to meet with the coven. Blake grew up outside of the family in DC."
"Yeah, so I kind of slacked off on the whole mage training thing," Blake chimed in.
He'd reclined in his chair and was sipping the dregs of his coffee.
He looked hot and tousled in his black sweatpants and a tight white T-shirt that did little to hide his sexy ink.
"My parents have been lobbyists for environmental groups since I was a little kid.
We have some people in government trying to save the planet since it is the source of all of our magic.
Plenty of shifters in government are doing the same. "
"Wow," I said, still trying to comprehend it all. "I mean, no wonder you aren’t scared of Knox or the others and their threats. You're just as powerful as we are, just in a different way."
Blake shrugged. "Something like that."
"What Blake's attempt at modesty is preventing him from saying," Ian chimed in, "is that it turns out Blake is one of the most powerful mages our family has seen in a century.
He controls all four elements, though he still needs a lot of work on his water element.
Most mages are proficient in two elements at the most. He was shipped here by his parents to learn how to control himself under my esteemed tutelage because he had a few slip ups last year. "
"Come on, man," Blake whined. "She does not need to know about that."
"Nope, too late now," I grinned at Ian. "What'd he do? Turn a mean girl into a pig?"