When the Magic Stops

Storms and Speculation

After we finished what was sitting on the counter outside of the coolers for us, I could see more clearly and my headache was a distant memory. Unfortunately, my vision was still swimming in my mind, causing me to become increasingly stressed. With my lack of control of my powers, stress is a bad thing. It causes more uncontrolled outbursts. I was almost back to my room when I lost control and shifted into my wolf form. I groaned internally. It would be at least an hour before I could shift back.

I decided to lie down outside my bedroom door while I waited until I would be able to shift back. Within ten minutes, Imogen came down the hall. As soon as she saw me, she started bitching and complaining about me.

“Oh, my gods. What made you think it was a good idea to wolf out and curl up in the hall? No one wants an animal in the house. You should have just gone outside to play wolf! I will never understand why Daddy is even bothering with you, Catrina. Everything was perfect here until you came along. Why couldn’t you just stay with your witch of a mother so I wouldn’t have to put up with you and your weirdness?” She stormed down the hall, still ranting about how I’m a total pain and she never wanted a sister, especially one like me.

Fun fact about vampires: we can access our elementalist abilities no matter what form we’re in. Because of that, I was able to shut her up by making the floor shift under her feet, sending her sprawling on the floor. I smirked internally, until she got up and ran down the hall, screaming for Dad to do something about me. That’s when my eyes rolled. She’s such a spoiled princess. A while later, Dad and Adrian came up. Dad raised his eyebrows, while Adrian smirked at me.

“Lose control again, kiddo?” He was barely containing his laughter, so I snarled at him. He took a step backwards, hands in the air in surrender. “Easy, killer. I may be older, but you have the stronger wolf form. My wolf is a scrawny little s**t. I’m better with my cat form, and you know it.” I huffed at him and curled up on the floor again. I’ve never shifted into a cat, nor do I want to. With my luck, I’ll probably be a black cat and have everyone but supernaturals, goth kids, or emo kids hate me, not that there’s anything wrong with being a goth or emo. They tend to be pretty cool to hang out with, actually. The supernaturals all think I need to suck it up and accept my powers all the time, though.

“Catrina, you need to calm down. You won’t be able to shift back until you do. I’ll grab you some jeans, a new t-shirt, and your leather, since you can’t open your bedroom door right now.” Adrian is seriously a life saver. When I can shift back to my human form, I won’t have any clothes on: pros and cons of having fur or feathers, I guess. Clothing isn’t needed. I barked at him once so that he knew I heard him. He slipped into my room and came right back out a few minutes later with an outfit for me.

“I have absolutely no fashion sense, according to Imogen, so I hope this’ll work.” We both rolled our eyes; Imogen can take her “fashion sense” and shove it where the sun don’t shine. I’d rather wear torn up jeans and baggy t-shirts than any of the “clothes” she tries to force me into on a near daily basis: skintight tube tops and skirts that wouldn’t even cover my ass. No, thank you.

After I was able to shift back and get dressed, it was almost time to go, so I grabbed my bags and went to the entryway. Fifteen minutes later, when I had everything there and ready to go, Adrian joined me with a packed duffle bag on his shoulder. Another minute or so later, we were informed that one of the coven warriors had just entered the gate and would be pulling up in just a moment. We immediately began picking up all of the coolers and our stuff to take outside to the car. With both me and Adrian working, it was a lot easier to get everything outside in one trip. I groaned out loud when I saw who the driver was. Thank the gods that Adrian was with me, because the driver was Logan, the biggest p*****t of the coven warriors. He’s had it out for me since I was sixteen and told him that if he didn’t quit trying to get in my pants I was going to go directly to my mother and report his inappropriate behavior and get him banished from the coven.

When I saw the smirk on Logan’s face through the car windshield, I was half tempted to cause a hurricane in the car, the only thing stopping me being that only a coven warrior would be able to find the gate to the compound. Because of their position defending the coven, they always know where the entrance is, how it’s guarded, and the ever-changing password to open the gates from the outside. I couldn’t get inside without him, daughter of the high priestess or not.

Adrian and I loaded our things into the trunk quickly, and got into the back seat of the car. Once the car was moving, Logan decided to open his mouth.

“Hey, Catrina. Miss me, sweetheart? You’ve only been gone a few weeks.” Adrian growled at him, but I spoke before he could.

“Logan, if you don’t want to be torn apart by my older brother when we get home, I suggest you focus on driving and quit trying to flirt with your High Priestess’ daughter. Otherwise, I will gladly turn Adrian loose on you when we get there.” Logan shot me a look in the rearview mirror, then went right back to smirking. It was almost like he knew something that I didn’t.

In that moment, I flashed back on my vision. I didn’t see Logan’s body in any of the piles of corpses in that vision, which means that when it takes place, Logan is either on Nancy’s side, or not at the compound. Knowing him, my bet is on him being on Nancy’s side.

Nancy has a child in the coven, a little girl named Maybelle, but refuses to tell anyone who the father is. She hasn’t left the compound since her powers first surfaced, so we know Maybelle’s father is someone that’s been on the compound, we just can’t figure out who since she’s Nancy’s spitting image. Nancy’s also refusing to allow a DNA test on Maybelle. Logan is a known man-w***e in the coven. I wonder if he’s the father. It would be a good reason for him to stand with Nancy if he knew Maybelle to be his, after all.

I decided to open a telepathic link to Adrian to ask him what he thought. Maybe he will be able to help figure it out.

“Adrian, in my vision, I didn’t see Logan’s body. When it happens, either Logan was away from the compound, or he was helping Nancy. She has a daughter on the compound and we don’t know who the father is. Do you think that it could be Logan, and that was why I didn’t see his body in my vision?” Adrian stilled for a few moments, clearly thinking about what I had told him.

“Potentially. When we get there, introduce me to the kid you mentioned. My senses are stronger than yours, so I’ll be able to smell if he’s the father or not. Then if the coven doesn’t believe me, your mom can order a DNA test to prove it. She knows I hate liars and refuse to be one.” I nodded subtly, not wanting Logan to know that I was having a telepathic conversation with Adrian.

“Memorize Logan’s scent to be safe. If he is the father, we need to know. Any real parent would do anything to protect their child, including hiding being the parent. Logan might be positive that he’s Maybelle’s father, but have kept it a secret to keep her safe.”

Adrian smirked.

“Not my first rodeo, sis. I know what I’m doing. I’ve already memorized the driver’s scent. Once I meet the kid, I’ll be able to find the father within the hour.” I nodded, slightly calmer than I had been since I had that vision. Adrian and I kept up a steady mental conversation for the rest of the trip to my coven's compound, and by extension, my mother. Surprisingly, having Adrian talking to me through a mind link kept me from freaking out over my vision, since he kept me from thinking about it for the entire ride home.