Chapter 13
drecken
. . .
I sat at the Supernatural Council’s meeting table once again, staring at the holographic projection of the Human Council flickering above the polished surface. This was becoming routine in the worst possible way.
To maintain the peace treaty, we met every half-decade. After this madness, I’d had enough of the Human Council for the next century.
Rowan exhaled a slow plume of smoke, fingers laced together as he leaned forward, fiery eyes locked on Evelyn Smith. His posture alone said he’d run out of patience three meetings ago, and I agreed with him.
“We agree to provide our agents and resources to help with your war against the Human Resistance Network,” Rowan gritted out, flames spreading over his arms. “We intend to dismantle them. They are the ones responsible for the supernatural kidnappings. Our people are being taken rapidly. We won’t sit idly by while you try to figure out their location to do something. ”
Relief rippled across Evelyn’s exhausted features. “Thank you. Truly. We didn’t know if—”
“We’re not doing this for your benefit,” I snapped, my magic spiraling in ribbons of color around me. “We’re doing it because our people are disappearing.”
Her mouth shut instantly.
Fiona Carmichael, their liaison, cleared her throat. “We understand, and we’re prepared to offer full cooperation. We will send over our files, internal reports, recent surveillance, and everything we have after this meeting.”
“That hasssn’t been much ssso far,” Sabine muttered.
“We’re doing our best,” Evelyn defended herself weakly. “The Human Resistance Network is using military-level cloaking. They’ve infiltrated multiple government sectors—”
“And you’re just now telling us?” Dante hissed.
Evelyn winced. “We don’t want war.”
“Then ssstop hiding information,” Sabine replied. “Your people are not the only onesss dying.”
Clara Blackwood jumped in, clearly desperate to smooth the tension. “We propose shared intelligence streams. Your analysts, our analysts, and joint task forces. We want to find them as badly as you do.”
Rowan nodded slowly. “We accept.”
And just like that, the first true supernatural-human cooperation effort since the original peace treaty was sealed.
The holographic projection flickered out, leaving silence in its wake.
As the room cleared of everyone else, Ted Wraithmore pulled me aside.
“Drecken,” he said quietly. “I’d like to speak with you about my granddaughter.”
I perked up. “Your hybrid granddaughter? The one you mentioned before?”
He nodded. “She’s here. And she’s…struggling.”
A thrill shot down my spine of academic fascination. Hybrids were such a fascinating possibility. To truly see one? I never thought it would’ve been possible.
“A phantom-banshee hybrid,” I mused. “The fates truly are playing dice these days. May I meet her?”
Ted motioned toward the hall. “Come in.”
On cue, a girl slipped into the room almost as if she wasn’t walking…more like drifting. It was not something phantoms nor banshees did.
I tilted my head and examined her. Ted told me she was eighteen, and she had wavy, medium-length jet-black hair that ombred into a brilliant blue that flickered transparent every few seconds at the ends.
Her opal eyes had no pupils and glowed faintly until her entire form flickered and went semi-transparent, like Ted’s often did.
“Opal,” Ted introduced gently, “this is Drecken. He’s the Council’s warlock representative and magical researcher.”
She gave me a tired smile. “Hi. Sorry if I fade. It happens when I’m low on magical energy.”
“When you are low?” I tilted my head further. “Phantoms fill their reserves by spending time in their phantom state, so it makes sense that your body is forcing you to fill your reserves…”
“It’s only filling my reserves halfway,” she murmured. “I also have to fill my reserves—”
“The same way a banshee does, right?” I cut her off with my guess.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Banshees fill their reserves by astral projecting, correct?” I clarified.
It always amused me that banshees and phantoms used parts of their powers to fill their reserves.
How convenient it was!
“Yes,” she confirmed.
Her aura was incredible. There were two distinct magical essences woven together, but never fully merging, that were closest to her physical form, below where her emotional aura was. She was a banshee, but she was also a phantom. The two magical essences pushed and pulled on each other.
“I am utterly fascinated,” I admitted, stepping closer. “I’ve never come across anything like this in all my studies. How long have you been like this?”
“Always,” she said with a shrug. “My parents homeschooled me, and they’ve tried to keep me stable. But using either side of my power drains the other. I either lose my physical form or I pass out and astral project when that happens.”
Ted exhaled. “We had to hide her. We weren’t sure how other supernaturals would react.”
Opal flickered again, her phantom state taking over.
I couldn’t hide my scientific curiosity even if I tried. “This shouldn’t be possible. The genetic incompatibility alone—”
“Drecken,” Ted warned me lightly.
“May I draw a vial of your blood?” I asked her. “I’d like to study the magical energy split more thoroughly. With your permission, of course.”
Opal nodded. “If it helps you figure out how I can manage this better? Go for it.”
I summoned a needle and a vial from my lab. “Arm?”
Opal looked at her grandfather.
Ted gave me one more pointed look before nodding at Opal.
She offered me her arm, and I stuck the needle in her vein. Her arm flickered, and I moved the needle before she became solid again. That happened three more times before I finally got enough blood to fill the vial.
“Thank you.” I held the blood up and swirled it. Even though it was the same shade of red, there was a clear distinction down the middle, separating the blood. “Truly fascinating!”
“Grandpa Ted, I’m not feeling so good,” Opal yawned, flickering into her phantom form and not solidifying again. “Can we go home?”
“Of course,” he whispered, his gaze meeting mine. “Please help us figure this out. Some days, she’s stuck in phantom form, while others she’s foretelling the death of a stranger and passing out before astral projecting and wandering around Kalista.”
“I’ll figure out how to stabilize it,” I promised them before I fell back into a portal and materialized into my estate, vial in hand.
Rune was standing in my kitchen, barefoot, pretty green hair up, swaying in a cream-beige robe, and eating leftovers Jesper had made us the night before.
She glanced up. “Hey, spell daddy. I figured you’d be buried in meetings till midnight.”
“I was,” I said, teleporting the vial into my lab and wrapping my arms around her. I inhaled her midnight orchid scent. “However, now I’m buried in something much more interesting.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Oh Fates, what now?”
“Hybrids.”
“Oh?” She blinked. “I’ve always heard there was no such thing.”
“There is now,” I grinned as my magic popped around us. “I just met one. Ted’s granddaughter, believe it or not. Half phantom, half banshee. Fascinating magical split of an improbable genetic interaction. Completely breaks the known theory. I’m vibrating with curiosity, in truth.”
Rune snorted. “You’re vibrating because you love exploring new ideas.”
“Magically scientific idea,” I corrected.
Her lips curved into a smile, but there was a clear pain in her gaze that I felt in the bond.
“Honestly, I need a distraction. Everyone’s tense and working overtime with the kidnappings and the humans, and Allison keeps sending me provoking messages about all of you.
It’s getting under my skin. Jesper made me take the night off to stay with you while the squad works on another kidnapping. He somehow made Jarvins allow it.”
My magic crackled, reacting instantly, white-hot and furious at the thought of that human messing with her. “Viperling…” I moved closer, cupping her jaw gently. “Ignore her. She’s a weak human playing with powers she doesn’t understand.”
Rune exhaled a shaky breath. “I know, but it’s still unnerving.”
“Let’s distract you, then. Come to my lab with me,” I held her tighter. “Let me show you something groundbreaking.”
I teleported us into my lab beneath my estate. I summoned the vial of Opal’s blood and placed it into a levitation rune upon one of my workbenches while Rune perched on a nearby counter, swinging her legs and watching curiously.
I muttered a spell, letting the magical essence visibly flare within the blood.
The magic inside the vial glowed two distinct colors: silver-blue wisps for the banshee magical energy, and white trails for phantom energy.
They separated and curled back together before they repelled again.
“Holy shit,” Rune gasped as she watched the magical energy within the blood. “It’s like they’re fighting and hugging at the same time.”
“Exactly!” I spun toward her. “These two magical essences shouldn’t mix at all. But they are. Just enough for her to exist, but not enough for her to stabilize her powers.”
The magical essence in her blood split and flickered like two heartbeats pulsing out of sync.
Rune leaned closer, her breath catching. “Drecken…this is actually kind of beautiful.”
I stared at her instead of the blood and magic.
“Not more than you,” I murmured.
Her cheeks flushed. “You’re cheesy.”
“Perhaps love makes one cheesy,” I mused.
“Perhaps.” Rune nudged my shoulder. “So, what does this mean? That hybrids can exist?”
“It means that the Fates are not as rigid as we always believed,” I replied, glancing back at the blood for a moment before turning back to her. “And that means that the world is changing faster than any of us can explain.”
She smiled at me, but I felt her exhaustion through the bond. “Thanks. I needed this tonight.”
“One way to forget a mess of problems is to find another to distract yourself with,” I told her, making her giggle and lean into me.
“Oh, what a healthy way to cope,” she teased.
My magic bloomed around us as I teleported us to my bed with her wrapped in my arms. “I may not know a healthy way to cope, but I know you need rest, viperling.”
“I love you, Drecken,” she mumbled before sleep took her a moment later.
“I love you, Rune.”
The news of hybrids being possible shattered many foundations of magic and science alike. While I planned to explore this fully, right now, my fated mate needed me more.