15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I pulled back to myself in time to see Ben's eyes snap open, lit with a golden light. Shift! I bellowed at Roan.

He did not rail at me for my actions, though I could feel his resignation. I can't, he said mournfully. I'm sorry, alpha. He is too injured.

‘The potion!' Pollyanna cried.

‘Potion?' I heard my mum mumble. ‘The world has gone mad.' Dad still said nothing.

Of course! Ben had magic now, so the final defence potion would work. My hands fumbled as I pulled at the small cork in the neck of the bottle and relief filled me as it came away. I tipped the contents into Ben's mouth. Swallow! I ordered.

Ben had checked out, but obligingly, Roan consumed the potion. I studied Ben's broken body, desperate hope pooling in my stomach. ‘Come on, Ben,' I pleaded aloud. ‘ Come on!' I stared at his limbs, waiting for some sign that the potion was doing its thing.

‘He's healing!' Pollyanna said suddenly. She pointed to a cut on Ben's arm that was slowly shrinking.

‘Oh my God,' Mum whispered. ‘He is healing. Dennis! Look! Oh my God! Look at it. His skin is healing!'

Shift! I ordered Roan again.

In a moment, he agreed, his tone lifting. He needs to heal a little more first or he won't survive the first shift. Patience, my Queen. I know what I am doing.

I held my tongue, trying to ignore the vicious itching that was now riding my body. I had no time to get to a portal, and by its almost painful level I could tell that I had only a few minutes left both in the Other realm and of being conscious. The Other realm was none too gentle when it kicked you back into the Common realm.

I looked at my parents. ‘He's going to be okay,' I promised.

‘A werewolf?' Mum said slowly. ‘A wolf attacked Ben, but when he was shot … he turned into a man. A werewolf?' she asked again. ‘Werewolves are real?' A small triangle appeared on her forehead as she was shoved forcefully into the Other realm. She had accepted that magic existed and the veil had been lifted from her eyes. Sh e looked up at me then something caught her eye: Pollyanna.

‘Pollyanna!' she said, her voice rising. ‘Her skin is purple. What the fuck is going on?' She'd seen too much now. Uh-oh. This was all kinds of rules broken.

I knew that I should call it into the Connection and get a subterfuge wizard to clear Mum's mind of the memory of magic. She was human and she shouldn't be in the Other realm, but just the thought of doing that made my stomach roil. Now Mum knew that magic was real, I could actually talk to her about my real life. The temptation to leave her seeing was incredibly hard to resist.

‘What are you talking about?' Dad frowned. There was no triangle on his forehead. ‘It was a dog that attacked Ben – a Pit bull. This man must be his owner. Pollyanna's skin is normal. All the stress, Sandy…' He trailed off.

‘Dennis, how can you not see?' Mum asked a shade hysterically.

And that was when Jacob and Tristan arrived. Greg was talking quietly to the brethren guards, but when Jacob strolled in my dad's jaw dropped. He stared stupidly at Jacob. ‘He has wings,' he said dumbly. ‘Black wings.' A small triangle appeared on his brow and he visibly started as he saw Pollyanna's purple skin. ‘What on earth?' he whispered. He looked wildly around the room .

Tristan moved closer to Pollyanna and touched her arm lightly, murmuring something that I couldn't hear. My eyes were drawn back to Ben as he jerked sharply on the floor. Even though he was still unconscious, Ben gave a low moan – then he shifted into a large wolf.

Mum and Dad huddled together, staring in shock at their now lupine son. Even my mum, who was implacably calm at all times, looked shocked as she stared at him, wide-eyed. Guilt surged through me. I was putting them through hell – they were being forced into the magical realm because of me and my enemies. My poor family – I was a curse upon them. Would they reject me now they knew the truth of what I was? Even so, I couldn't hide from it. They deserved the truth, and they deserved it from my lips before I got kicked into the Common realm they'd just left.

‘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.