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‘He’s going to be okay,’ I repeated slowly, ‘because he’s been made into a werewolf. Like me.’
My parents stared at me, mouths open. ‘Lucy?’ Mum said in disbelief.
‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry to have brought this to your door. More sorry than I can ever say.’
‘Not knowingly,’ Mum said firmly. ‘You would never endanger us deliberately.’ Some certainty was returning to her tone and her gaze.
‘Never,’ I agreed.
The itching was agonising. ‘Greg,’ I said urgently. ‘I’m going to be booted out. Find out who this man is,’ I pointed to the dead body, ‘and what pack he belongs to.’
‘Yes, alpha,’ he responded. Then he stepped closer just as the itch reached fever pitch. I only had seconds left. ‘I’ve got you now, Lucy, and them too.’ He nodded to my parents. ‘They’re all safe. It’s okay to let go.’
They better be okay, Esme snarled to Red. Keep them that way.
Yes, Red promised.
And then something hit us and consciousness slid away.
My head was pounding and I was alone – truly alone. Esme was gone. I could still feel the smallest tinge of my piping magic in my gut, but it was the barest whisper instead of its usual roar. The strongest magic users had some magic in the Common realm too, but I suspected that right now I didn’t have enough magic to pipe a flea.
I sat up. I was in my parents’ bed, still dressed in the clothes I’d thrown on in the dark of the night. I checked the clock next to me: 1pm. I’d slept the morning away.
I used the bathroom and hustled downstairs. Mum was sitting next to Roan, stroking his fur soothingly even though he was solidly asleep. He was still healing.
The dead body had been removed from the room and the carpet cleaned, though despite someone’s best efforts a stain still remained. Mrs Dawes would have been able to get it out, I thought inanely, then grimaced at the thought of her. Somehow I still missed her – not the real her but the person I’d thought she’d been.
Greg looked up as I hovered by the doorway. ‘Hey,’ he said softly. ‘You okay?’ He came over and gathered me into his arms.
I sank into him, suddenly tearful as everything hit me. My brother had nearly died and it was my fault. The call had come at 5am: when I hadn’t put out the fucking rose the Domini had struck, lashing out at me exactly where it would hurt the most. Thank goodness Greg had had the wherewithal to post guards on my family because it had never occurred to me that they might be attacked or become embroiled in my mess. They were Common.
‘You put brethren guards on my parents’ house?’ I asked.
‘DEFCON 1,’ he responded softly. ‘I’ve had a four-man team on rotation since Frost threatened us.’
‘Thank you.’ I choked up. ‘If they hadn’t been there…’ Mum and Dad would both be wolfish or dead. I’d only had one final-defence potion to use; if they’d been attacked by the werewolf but no wolf had come for them, they would have died like Ben almost had. I could have lost my whole family. I’d already lost one set of parents; the thought of losing the other set almost paralysed me.
I clung to Greg, and wished Esme was there with all of my might. I needed her confidence to steady me.
‘Lucy?’ Mum called. I froze in Greg’s arms and braced myself for the recriminations that must surely follow for keeping a magical realm hidden from your parents.
‘Yes?’
She left Ben’s side and made her way to me. ‘You’ve been through so much, darling,’ she murmured, holding out her arms to me. ‘I’m sorry we couldn’t be there for you through it all.’
Her simple, unquestioning love slayed me and, just like that, the tears started.
Chapter 16
Greg had explained to my parents about the existence of the Other realm whilst I was unconscious so they’d had a few hours to get their heads around it. Mum especially seemed eerily calm about the whole thing. ‘How are you okay with this?’ I asked her.
‘When you love someone,’ she started slowly, ‘you love all the parts of them. All their flaws and their foibles, as well as their virtues and strengths. I was scared when I first adopted you that my love for you might be less than my love for Ben because he is my son by blood. But it wasn’t, Lucy, not once. So why should it start now?’
She took a deep breath. ‘Don’t get me wrong, it’ll take me a while to get my head around the fact that magic is real and my children are werewolves, but… I’ve seen a lot of things in my time as a nurse,’ she admitted. ‘People with inexplicable injuries, people who lived who really should have died.’
She licked her lips as her frown deepened. ‘And once, when I was a little girl, I was convinced I saw a unicorn but my dad told me it was just my wild imagination.’ She shook her head. ‘Maybe it was. I don’t know.’
‘Did it have red eyes and clawed feet?’ I asked. Her jaw dropped. ‘Yup, you saw a real unicorn,’ I confirmed.
