“Be gone, brat,” Talia snapped, shooing the child away. “You never know if she’s reciting a warning or if the little monster wants you looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. She takes great joy in scaring the shit out of people.”
I shook off the kid’s words and sat in the chair in which they beckoned me. Once I was settled, tea started hissing in the kettle beside me. I peered down, watching it lift by magic and pour into a floating cup before three sugar cubes were dropped in and a spoon began stirring.
“Something else is on your mind. Best be out with it,” Talia stated, her sharp gaze studying me.
“Do you recall when I was little, and my father first brought me here?” At her nod, I frowned, peering around the yard.
“The night terrors, or the time you projected for days, and Xavier couldn’t get you to return to your thin, frail body, Xariana? I remember both times, and how panicked he was at the thought that he would lose you forever. There is nothing your father wouldn’t do to keep you from harm, even when it was from yourself, which he worried most about.”
“That’s just it, Talia. He can’t protect me from what I am. Nobody can, and while he tried, it hurt to be cut off from that part of myself. My guild still doesn’t know the extent of what I am, nor does anyone else. Do you? He killed everyone that knew my secret to keep me safe from them. What if I was what our attackers came to retrieve, but they took him because I was hidden? I think your magic worked, and those that attacked didn’t know who I was. My guess is this; I am marked because I am Xavier’s daughter. I’m the only thing that could be used to get to him. I was mixed in with the guild, concealed, along with several other children. It’s known that I am his daughter, but I believe they think I was switched with another, and that his actual child is hidden within the hunter guild.”
Talia nodded, pushing her firetruck-red hair off of her shoulders. “It is possible, but why not take you when they abducted him? From what I understand, they only kidnapped your dad.”
“It isn’t known, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone else—” I paused as she pushed her fingers against her lips for silence. Her hands touched, and she created a circle around us, ensuring my words wouldn’t leave the barrier. “Good?” I asked, watching her nod softly before she flicked her finger, and the teacup floated to me. “When the guild was attacked, I thought he was the only one taken. Upon reviewing the video footage, we noticed that several girls my age, and one mouthy little asshole hunter, had also gone missing. The first explosion was used as a distraction to take the girls. The second blast went off, and my father vanished with a male with silver hair and amber eyes. The women they took had similar coloring to what they assumed I would have had from birth if it were not for the subtle changes I inherited from my grandmother regarding my hair color. My eyes are an anomaly.”
“Yeah, and you cover them up with cosmetics, forcing people to wonder what is real and what is fake,” Morgana teased, smiling tightly at me. “I know they’re green, and that when you’re mad, they turn a startling lime color. Remember, inside the Forest of Truth, nothing is hidden. Your truth was revealed, and it was terrifying and exhilarating simultaneously.” She looked over her shoulder and sighed. “Your hunters are growing weary of the time, and yet you’ve just arrived.”
“There’s a lot happening,” I admitted. “What can you tell me about Kieran Knight?”
“The Keeper of the Shadows? That you should stay far away from him,” Talia hissed, like his name was a curse.
“I think I may have projected into his house.” I sheepishly sipped the tea as she spat hers out at my admission. “It was totally a sex dream, and the hex bags weren’t working. They were punctured and emptied inside my room before my arrival. Anyway,” I waved her horrified expression away with a hand. “So, the dream felt real, and I was into it, big time—. Don’t look at me all judgy, Morgana. I was here when you took on three imps and both gargoyles, and I even held your beer while you banged the pricks.” I muttered, looking pointedly at her. “Back to the story. I woke up to Micah on top of me.” Both women peered toward the hunters, glaring at the male in question. “I’m not sure what’s real and what isn’t. I don’t know if I was with Kieran or if I had conjured him into my thoughts as Micah tried to do things to me. Apparently, I begged Kieran to have sex with me, and Micah thought I was begging him to fuck me.”
“That’s quite the predicament. Did you weaken after you woke?” Talia inquired, noticing the way I frowned. “You were under a compulsion to sleep. Weren’t you? Those fucking demon twins and their powers muck everything up.”
“Yeah, so, I’m not certain,” I admitted, shrugging.
“You could confront Kieran and see how he responds to you being in his face,” Morgana offered. “Finding out the woman of your dreams is real is never an easy thing to ignore.”
I nodded, but Talia sputtered. “Absolutely not! Kieran is a monster. In fact, he is the boogeyman of our circle. He lives in the shadows, and you never even see him coming until he pulls you into them. By then, you’re dead, and it’s too late to save yourself. So you stay far away from that creature, Xariana Sunny Anderson. You hear me? Heed my warning because no one here can prevent him from getting to you if you step into his world. Take your pills and replace the hex bags.” A bag dropped into my lap, and then my chair lifted and tilted, and I slid off. “You are a smart girl. Listen to the ones telling you to avoid him. I know I’m not the first, and I won’t be the last. If you’re curious about him, it ends here. Only death comes to those who cross that man.”
“Do you have a girl here named Raven?” I asked, changing the subject. Both witches closed off their expressions, causing me to groan. “Look, I don’t care if she is here or if she’s hunting. My only issue is that she needs to register. It’s only a name on a slip of paper that makes her legally allowed to be here. That’s it,” I fumed, pissed that they’d shut me down like everyone else. Who the hell was this prick?
“Raven is a good girl,” Talia snorted. “Raven is like you. That one is my blood, and the blood of my blood is immune to your laws.”
“No, they’re not,” I stated firmly, knowing I was flirting with certain pain. “Your sister tied men up with their entrails because they asked her to dance. She cursed half of the town, forcing them to masturbate because she couldn’t find a shlong large enough to scratch her itch. Your mother blew the forest up, and it took a lot of magic to get that crap fixed before the humans woke up in the morning to find it missing. Your family, and I say this with the utmost respect, is fucking insane, and when they show it, the entire town becomes a shit show that is one clown away from becoming a circus. Tell Raven to register, because you realize I will catch her outside these gates. I always do, Talia.”
“I’ll suggest it,” she sniffed indignantly, which meant she wasn’t getting involved.
“You know I hate chasing, right?” Her chin jutted up into the air, indicating this visit had reached its limits of hospitality. “I love you both, even if you are assholes that make me hunt.” I frowned, turning on my heel as they chuckled behind me.