Chapter 34 #2
“You’re about as charming as a cabbage.”
I whip my head back to Amari to find her holding her hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh. The door slams open and shut behind us, and a tall, muscular man slumps down into the chair opposite, running his hands through his short, white hair.
“Her majesty has kicked me out of my own kitchen,” he grumbles, winking at me.
“Maybe if you stopped flirting with her constantly then she’d tolerate your presence, Osiris,” Amari scolds him, still trying to hide her smile.
He looks at her indignantly. “I can’t help it if she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!” He turns to me. “I even gifted her the most beautiful mushroom, it was gold all over, it was glorious. And she acted like I’d given her a dumb acorn!”
I bite my lip, trying not to laugh. I decide not to tell him that I’m pretty sure the mushroom in question is currently in pride of place in her shrine back in our apartment.
I’ve always wondered where it came from.
Given that she decided to bring it with her when she left Lunoreth, it must mean a great deal to her, which makes her annoyance with him more than a little confusing.
“Maybe you should try a different tactic?” I suggest with a laugh.
“Ah, she’ll succumb to my charm one day, you’ll see.”
“I’d rather succumb to a slow, painful death!” Stryx shouts from the kitchen.
“Stop bickering, the pair of you,” Amari cuts in, rolling her eyes again. “Osiris, why don’t you introduce yourself to Octavia?”
He laughs. “Why? I know it’s been twenty years, but surely she remembers me?”
I shake my head, my smile dropping. “I’m sorry. I recognise you a little, but not enough.”
“Huh. Interesting,” he muses, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees. “So, you don’t remember anything at all? What about Lunoreth?”
I shake my head again and he glances at Amari with raised eyebrows. “You really weren’t kidding.”
“She will remember with time,” Amari says gently. “Octavia, this is my son, Osiris. He’s one of our best healers.”
I have a cousin?
“You’re a healer?” I ask with intrigue.
“Yes, he’s even managed to bring someone back from the brink of death before,” Amari says proudly. “Such a gift is rare among our people.”
My eyes widen as I take him in, his eyes—green like mine—his short, messy white hair and smug smile.
There’s something different about him, though, about them both.
They have an elegant sort of grace about them that I most certainly lack.
I turn back to Amari and look her up and down too, taking in her striking features, so similar to mine, when a thought occurs.
“What race of Echofae are you?” I blurt it out before I can finish the thought, my cheeks reddening when I realise it’s probably a rude question to ask, but I need to know. Luckily she doesn’t seem annoyed by my probing, a genuine smile spreading across her face.
“I’ll show you.”
She stands and backs away off the porch, gesturing for me to stay seated.
I watch her in rapid anticipation, my heart stuttering wildly.
I can’t believe I didn’t consider this before—could it be possible that I have an alternate form, hiding beneath my skin?
For the first time since we arrived here, I feel myself buzzing with excitement.
She inhales deeply then shifts with remarkable speed.
Her body lengthens, growing to an enormous size as dazzling white fur replaces her skin, marked with thousands of tiny dark blue rings, like the biggest snow leopard I’ve ever seen.
Huge feathered wings spring from her back, and long, twisted black horns protrude from her head behind her pointed ears.
She settles into her true form, and I stare at her wide-eyed.
“You’re an Auralis,” I breathe, my awe impossible to hide.
She nods her giant cat-like head as she pads back towards me, the decking of the porch creaking dangerously under her weight.
She sits in front of me and I slowly stretch out a shaking hand, brushing my fingers against her fur.
She purrs at the contact, a deep vibration rolling through her chest that calms me instantly.
“Can you speak to me in my mind like Stryx does?” I ask, continuing to thread my fingers through her silky fur.
“Yes, my sweet. All Echofae can in their true forms.”
“Can—do you think I…” I stumble on the words, trying not to cling to the small hope that’s starting to burn through me.
She hangs her head slightly, then turns back into her humanoid form, the shift so sudden I almost fall off my chair.
She observes me with a sad smile as she returns to sit next to me, and my hope snuffs out like a flame in the wind.
She lays a hand on my leg and squeezes. I assume the gesture was meant to reassure me, but it does the opposite.
“No, I don’t think you can,” she says sadly. “You have Echofae magic in your veins, of that I’m certain, but I’m not sure a half mortal would be able to shift into another form.”
“How can you be sure?” I ask, trying and failing to hide my disappointment.
“Has Stryx not told you?” Osiris says with a frown. “Echofae need to shift regularly. If we stay in our humanoid forms for too long, we go mad. Since you’ve been alive for so long without shifting, and you still have your mind, one must assume that it is not something you inherited.”
I sigh dejectedly. It would’ve definitely softened the blow of learning my parentage if it turned out I could shift too, not to mention the relief I would’ve had for my aching joints if I could just fly everywhere instead of walk.
“Riven has pointed ears, but I have mortal ears,” I say, my mind flying through everything I’ve learned. “I’m guessing there’s no telling what traits a half mortal would be born with.”
“Oo, who’s Riven?” Osiris asks with a coy smile, pumping his eyebrows at me.
“Ignore him,” Amari sighs. “Riven—he’s the other like you?
The one mentioned in the prophecy?” I nod and she continues.
“To my knowledge, you two are the only half Echofae, half mortal babies to have ever been born. So yes, your guess is as good as mine. We will have to work together to figure out what lies beneath your skin. You could stay here with us, you know? We could help you make sense of it all?” she offers, her eyes betraying her desperate hope.
I smile at the kind offer, but it falls quickly and I avoid her gaze, instead choosing to look out over the lake again as I consider her words. As tempting as it is, I know I can’t stay. Prophecy or not, I can’t hide out here away from my problems.
Though the thought is tempting.
“You have to go back, don’t you?” she smiles sadly, her grip on my leg tightening slightly.
“Back in the mortal territory, I’m a detective. Well, I was. I’m not really sure what I am now,” I tell her. “Seers have been murdered, and the case has led me towards this cult.”
“The Children Of The Briar?”
My gaze snaps back to hers. “You know of it too?”
Maybe she could be the one to give me more answers.
She nods. “Your father was part of the secret society, though he was no secret keeper, that’s for sure.
He was careless about the words he let slip past his lips; he often bragged to your mother about his high position within it.
She wasn’t the only one listening, though.
” She gives me a pointed look and I nod in understanding.
“How does the Briar connect to the murders?”
I sigh heavily. “Honestly, I’m still not certain. The pieces are slowly coming together, but at the moment, all of it is conjecture. I have no physical evidence.”
She considers that for a moment. “Why don’t you search the victim’s memories?”
I shake my head. “Their memories were siphoned, there’s nothing left.”
Osiris frowns. “Surely that’s impossible, there’s always something to recover?”
Considering Echofae magic is very different from mortal magic, I can’t imagine things like this would be familiar to them, especially since the Echofae have allegedly been locked away from us for a hundred years.
Though, given that Stryx snuck out and subsequently got me in, and of course the fact that my mother met my mortal father, I’m starting to reconsider that.
Could all these Echofae have been quietly entering the mortal quarters without detection all this time?
I study him, partly in curiosity, but mostly out of unease. “How would you know that?”
“We know many things, Octavia. We Echofae are not as reclusive as you think,” Amari answers for him, confirming my suspicions. “There’s magic that could help you. Echofae magic. We are all connected, and our magic can latch onto that connection. It may allow you to see deeper than a mortal could.”
My hope builds back up a little, my pulse quickening. “Can you teach me?”
She smiles widely at me. “It would be my pleasure.”