Chapter Sixteen #6
“I…” He started, voice deep as he stared at the floor. “I am…no longer that so it doesn’t matter.”
“How did it happen?”
“Same as I said before…A woman my father was dealing with cursed me into this…”
“So you’re not even a nymph…not even partial?”
“I turned into the very last thing I attacked and killed…It’s…his body that’s now mine. The cat body is merely for her enjoyment since she was a witch I guess…”
“She must have been very powerful,” I said with a proud smile, liking this woman already. “What did you do to deserve this type of karmic spell?”
Quan didn’t say anything at first. Just closed his eyes with a hard sigh.
“I used to kill, slain, drain, and drink from sirens and nymphs all the time. It was the only blood I ever desired…” I could see a hint of his former self appear as a small devious smile crossed his lips, but they didn’t reach or match the sadness in his eyes.
“That was so long ago…I don’t even associate with being a vampire anymore…
I don’t think about blood and the thought of it makes me sick… ”
“Yet here you are…you don’t age nor grow.”
“Nope,” he muttered. “I am stuck like this for eternity, and I’ve made peace with it some years, other years I have not.
My father was…worse…The witch had a daughter that he killed, and she vowed…
however long it would take, she would have her revenge.
My brother died. My father eventually died and I…
came close to killing her but was eventually...
He had a pet cat before he died, and I suspect that is the cat she used to turn me into as a fucking joke.
The spell locked my fate in two times over so if I did attempt to shift, the only thing I could ever shift into is the last mythic I killed. ”
I stopped brushing my hair long ago as I stared at Quan, waiting for him to say it. Waiting for him to say what I already knew was about to come next, and why he had such a hatred for Isis. It was all beginning to make sense.
“You...shifted for the first time in a while when you slept with Isis,” I said. “The witch put a love spell on you…”
“I shifted when she mentioned a love spell of her own,” he let out with his head sinking lower. Oh this woman was absolutely brilliant; I wondered if she was a part of the Southern Five with that type of power and magic?
“That can only be broken when you fall in love with…a nymph…but it can never happen because of what you actually are…”
“Do you want a fucking cookie for figuring out the obvious, detective?” He snapped angrily.
“You’re in love with Isis but won’t let yourself be in love with her because of what you truly are…ohhhh she’s good. That woman is really good…”
He turned to glare at me while I fell back into the sheets in a fit of giggles and laughs.
“Quan Mittens!” I cooed before leaning in close. “So are you in love with Isis?”
“No!” He declared. “She’s a bird and can’t keep her legs closed.”
“No of course not…That would mean you telling her you’ve been attacking and killing her kind for centuries, however old you are anyway…and once you admit it, the spell would be lifted, and she would see who you really are, and you would therefore lose her. Ahhh…it’s absolutely perfect…”
Quan only glared at me again as I laid back on the bed, infatuated by it all like a lovesick maniac.
“I haven’t been First Family in a long time and the idea of killing doesn’t sit right with me. I’ve settled with the idea of being what I am as you see me today.”
“So all of this acting like you’re a real nymph and a real man…”
“I am a nymph and a real man. I refuse to acknowledge that I am a cat,” he stated with a defiant tone.
“All of that stay away from the professor nonsense was just you talking…”
He didn’t say anything. I believed Quan when he said he no longer acknowledges the First Family side of him.
I just couldn’t imagine. You don’t age; you don’t die.
You are just existing in this world as you are and it’s not even your body, but I guess if you’ve been in it this long, it’s all you know now.
This type of karmic living could only happen if you’ve done some of the most unspeakable things in the past.
“So that’s why you’re not able to leave the grounds…”
“I left to go to Wetlands,” he argued.
“Because Isis was there…She’s your tether…
You’ve bonded with her when you slept with her however many times because…
I know you’re not going to tell me you all haven’t slept together this year…
which is why you’re upset about Solomon closing in on her because you know there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Does Solomon have an idea?”
Quan didn’t say anything at first.
“I think he knows I’m not like the rest and just hasn’t said anything…I’ve been around these Grounds a long time and known about him since he was born…the dumb ass…Can’t stand any of em.”
“Oh Quan,” I sighed with a soft teasing smile.
“You’ve only just become that more interesting.
Your soft spot for Maggie, and the bullying of Asha…
your anger towards Isis all because you’re actually in love with her but you can’t love her.
She can never know your true identity because then she may hate you but it's the only way to get back to your true self… Brilliant. Chef’s kiss to the witch who put that on you. ”
I couldn’t wait to tell Jean. He’s always going on and asking about the bitchy black cat hanging around us.