Chapter - Nine

The day of the Lotus Siblings' arrival came quicker than I could have anticipated. As I waited for them to arrive, I adjusted the hem of my dress, crossed and uncrossed my legs numerous times, and picked at the skin of my cuticles. Felix sat in the armchair to my right, ignoring me and texting fast on his phone. I would have liked to have mine to help pass the time but Felix had it hidden still. I scowled at his bowed head. Calum was prattling on about something to do with faeries being unable to lie, but the sound was simply background noise.

Felix looked up at me and winked. I turned away. I bounced my knee repeatedly to calm my jitters.

‘Stop that,' Felix said.

I complied and he nodded, then turned his attention back to his phone. Calum flicked his eyes between us but said nothing about our unusual behaviour.

Blanche, who was sitting in the corner, straightened her back moments before the doorbell rang. She and Talora left the room, whispering to each other in a tone that made me worry.

When I looked at Calum, he explained, ‘We don't interact much with siblings other than our own. This is a first for most children of death. The Lotus Siblings don't socialise much outside the perimeters of their kind or the council.'

I perched on the edge of my seat as I heard voices approaching the living room. Four Fae followed Blanche and Talora into the room. I gasped and Felix rolled his eyes at me.

The two women and men were bewitching. They were tall and long-limbed with slender faces and pointed ears. Their feet were bare and each wrist was adorned with sparkling jewellery. One of the women had skin the colour of purple berries. She peered down at me from her towering height.

The other woman glided towards me. ‘This is the girl?' she asked. Her voice sounded like wind chimes and she wore a flowing gown of sunset orange that skimmed her tattooed ankles. Her skin was porcelain white and freckles were scattered over her high cheekbones and angular nose. Long silvery-blonde hair fell to her collarbones in slight waves. ‘She certainly appears to be half Fae.'

I sat on the couch, surrounded by the four Fae folk. All of them were mesmerising. Blanche had warned me I'd probably be shocked by their unearthly appearance due to my human upbringing.

‘This is Tabitha,' Talora said to the visitors. ‘She was raised by a human mother, but we and the Crimson Siblings believe her to be a youngblood.'

‘So we heard. Our discussions with the Crimson Siblings have stretched over the last week since she's been here. We are very interested in her Fae heritage.'

The purple-skinned woman approached me. Her hair was pulled back into two buns which were twirled upon her head and decorated with what looked like silver glitter dust. She dominated the room and the walls seemed to follow her body whenever she moved.

‘I am Nerida. This is Zuzanna, Thom and Avery. We are the representatives for all Fae folk, known as the Lotus Siblings. And we are here to deal with this situation.'

‘Despite her human appearance, she has the markings of a faerie,' Zuzanna said. ‘Look at the length of her limbs and angle to her chin.'

‘Too easily seen in humans,' Thom stated. He was the youngest looking of them all. His eyes ran the length of my body. I shivered. ‘We'll have to take samples.'

‘Samples?' I asked him.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. ‘Yes, samples. Strands of hair, a pot of blood, perhaps a tooth.'

I touched my mouth. ‘You can't take my tooth. Or any of my teeth, for that matter.'

Zuzanna shot him a weary look. ‘Thom! We don't take teeth from the living, remember?'

‘What strange markings,' Avery murmured, appearing right in front of me to run a hand over my head without actually touching me. He stroked his beard. ‘Quite a pretty one, though. I do like her. I do!'

Thom glared at him before accepting a biscuit from a pink-cheeked Florence who was serving refreshments. I noticed how his eyes skimmed her legs when she left the room. ‘Tabitha.' He said my name as though he was tasting it. ‘Odd name for a faerie.'

I bit back a remark, but Felix spoke instead. ‘It means gazelle and beauty and grace,' he said loudly. ‘I'd have thought it fitting for your kind.'

‘Protective, aren't we blood-drinker?' Thom murmured back and Felix's glare withered. I would have cowered from one of Felix's looks but Thom merely batted his lashes at him. ‘Save yourself for the full fledglings, yes?'

Nerida tutted. ‘Don't start fights with the hosts, sibling. It does no good for our visit or the image of the council.'

Thom relaxed into a seat, saying nothing more.

Nerida turned to me. ‘Tabitha, can you tell us a little more about the glamour and what you know of it?'

‘Nearly nothing,' I answered. ‘The Crimson Siblings were the people who told me about it. I didn't even know I was glamoured.'

‘Cursed,' Thom said, sipping tea. ‘Probably for your own good, I imagine.'

Nerida whisked a hand towards him and his mouth closed. Apart from a groan, he remained silent as he put his teacup on the table beside him and folded his arms, creasing his brow in annoyance.

‘As I was saying,' Nerida continued. ‘The glamour. Can you feel it?'

I gestured to my chest. ‘I can, just here, but only sometimes. It flared up around the Crimson Siblings and that's the first time I ever felt it.'

‘What does it feel like?' asked Zuzanna.

‘At first the siblings said it would feel like a coat, but it feels more like another layer of skin. It shifts around me and in between me, in parts of my body I can't touch. I don't really know how to explain it, but it's just there.' Right on time, my skin wiggled around me, tightening in haste. ‘There, it just did it again. Like it knows you're here and needs to shield me from you.'

Zuzanna seemed curious. ‘It is most interesting. I've never heard of such a complex glamour being used on a youngblood to make them appear mortal. Especially one unheard of in any council records. Someone must have used a Rogue warlock for the spell.'

‘It could be the only real explanation,' Nerida said. ‘We checked with all our usual warlock associates and none of them reported any such glamour back.'

‘How can you be sure they didn't lie?' asked Felix. His eyes met mine from across the room.

‘Because we have trackers on their magic – part of council protocol, agreed to by the warlocks in exchange for wealth, accommodation and expenses paid. Each spell they cast is recorded, put into a log and diarised. No such glamour has been cast by anyone working for the council. Therefore, it must be a Rogue.'

Felix nodded at Nerida's response.

‘It couldn't be someone who doesn't work for the council, but is not a rogue?' Calum asked, piping up for the first time since their arrival. His eyes were round and his hands toyed with the hem of his shirt. ‘As in, someone who refused to work for you?'

Avery cried out, ‘What a point! We hadn't thought of such a prospect. Gold star for you, blood-drinker.'

Calum wasn't sure whether to frown or smile at this remark so he did a strange mix of both. ‘What if we looked for the warlock?' he asked. ‘Maybe we could find him or her.'

Nerida shrugged. ‘If you would like. The council will work on it too, but we will search for Rogues as well. The likelihood of a warlock outside of the council practising magic, but not dark magic, is unlikely, but could happen.'

Across the room, Thom's mouth burst open and he gasped, before heaving in a heavy breath. ‘Finally!' he snapped. ‘By universe, that was infuriating.' His dark eyes scanned the room. ‘Although I disagree with allowing the children of death to hunt for warlocks, I supposed nobody here will listen to my reasons why. Just be careful,' he told Calum. ‘Warlocks are not the friendliest folk. They possess demonic energies in their very souls.'

Fear made my stomach clench and the glamour gurgled in my lower back, pressing down hard enough to wind me. I let out a gasp and suddenly Felix was there, holding my arm as I doubled over in pain. Nerida dropped in front of me. She pulled my head up to look into my eyes. Her face was blurry through my unshed tears. After a few moments, the glamour released the pressure and I drew in large gulps of air.

‘What was that?' I asked, choking out the words. ‘The glamour tried to smother me.'

‘A danger nearby, maybe?' Zuzanna said. ‘Perhaps you are not alone, after all.' Her eyes were eagle-like as she scanned the area outside the windows.

Felix huffed and took my hand, his tongue peeking from between his teeth. He settled our linked hands in his lap. I frowned and tried to pull my hand away but he held on tight.

‘What are you doing?' I whispered.

‘Your heart is erratic. I'm trying to calm you down.'

‘Well, it's not helping.'

He cocked a brow. ‘Me holding your hand makes you more nervous?'

My cheeks grew warm. ‘No.'

His mouth twitched. ‘Just relax. None of them are going to hurt you. Nobody would dare. And anybody watching you wouldn't try to harm you, not around us.' His eyes flickered over the room before he bent to my ear and whispered, ‘I wouldn't let it come to that.'

‘Picturesque,' someone commented.

I looked away from Felix to find Thom looking on with mild interest. My hand itched to pull away but Felix's fierce grip kept it locked in place. He glared back at the faerie.

‘Have a little too much fun this week, blood sucker?' Thom said.

Felix wasn't fazed. ‘Keeping a youngblood hostage has its perks.'

Avery grinned. ‘When's the wedding? Am I invited?'

I felt my whole face go red with embarrassment and again tried to pull my hand from Felix's. He held on tighter but I noticed he didn't squeeze hard enough for it to hurt. He knew to be careful.

Nerida stood up to her full height once more. ‘There may be someone looking for you. Though the glamour protects you from yourself in a mortal world, it does not aid in hiding you in ours. We might have to spell the house for safety.'

‘I can still leave though, right?' I said. ‘You'll let me come back to see the council with you?' My voice was pleading.

‘Oh, but you seem to like it here with your dead friends,' Thom teased.

Felix's neck flushed red and my cheeks turned rosy. Avery laughed at our obvious discomfort.

Nerida continued, ‘We can take you to the institute, but not for a few days more. Our samples must be tested.' She leant forward, pulling an eyelash from my cheek and placed it in a test tube shaped bottle. Then, she plucked some stray hairs from my head which she placed in a second bottle. ‘With these, we can hopefully find out a little more about you and your birth parents.'

‘Do you have any leads?'

She shook her head. ‘Nothing. But something may turn up soon. We have people looking into births close to your own.'

‘I'll spell the house,' Zuzanna announced.

‘Spell?' I questioned.

Her version of a smile made me sink down into the cushions. ‘It is Fae magic. I am going to cast a spell that wards off negative or dangerous energies.' With a nod, she floated out the door, her hands conjuring up a flurry of symbols in the air.

Questions bubbled inside me as we watched her leave. ‘What happens while I wait for you to come back?' I asked Nerida.

Her smile was thin. ‘You just wait in the safety of this home. Please don't leave unless you must, and only in the company of your children of death companions. They can protect you if any dangers arise. I am sorry we can do no more than spell your house. But that glamour is telling us someone is looking for you.'

‘Why would someone want me?' I whined.

‘The blood of a youngblood has properties in it that poachers want,' Thom said scornfully. ‘Did the Crimson Siblings tell you nothing?'

A shudder of terror ran down my back.

Felix gripped my hand even tighter. ‘They wouldn't dare break in to steal her, not in this house,' he said. ‘Don't scare her.'

Thom shrugged. ‘I'm merely warning her. She needs to know.' His eyes blazed. ‘Poachers are any of the beings in our world who kidnap youngbloods for their blood and rare features, to sell and trade. Some keep youngbloods alive to produce more blood, but they are recklessly handled, and most die in captivity. That's why they're rare, or why most are in hiding. If a poacher got you, you'd be worth one pretty penny. They'd remove that glamour with dark magic and cut out whatever they thought could earn them money. A glamour coat hides the sought-after features from mortal view. I've heard of youngblood canines having healing properties for lycanthrope venom. We hunt the poachers down of course, but they're hard to catch.'

Nerida swiped the back of his head in anger. ‘Stop filling her poor head with stories. Poachers are just a legend. I swear to you Tabitha, no harm will come with our spells protecting your house. They won't be able to see the house once Zuzanna is finished coating it in our magic.'

As if on cue, Zuzanna reappeared and said, ‘It is done. Even I can't see much of the house from outside, even though I cast the spell.'

‘Nice work!' Avery said.

Zuzanna rolled her eyes at him. ‘Shall we depart?'

‘Yes.' Nerida looked at Blanche and Talora who had remained quiet this whole time. ‘Thank you for our hospitality; we have enjoyed the visit.' To Felix and Calum she said, ‘Please keep Tabitha inside the house. She'll probably fall asleep from the glamour when we leave. It has been on high alert due to another presence, as well as ours. The spells cast upon the foundations of the building will keep her hidden from wandering eyes.'

‘We promise,' Felix agreed.

I nodded, feeling drowsy.

‘No harm can be done within these walls,' Zuzanna said.

‘We will leave it there,' Nerida addressed the room. ‘We shall see you in a few days.'

I slouched in the seat cushions as they departed, Avery merrily bringing up the rear. Blanche and Talora accompanied them, making all kinds of promises.

My glamour flickered and weaved around my body, coiling around my hips with nervous energy radiating off it. Felix kept my hand in his as I stared out of the living room windows and wondered what would become of me.