The Unveiling

Chapter Four

I wasn’t the least bit shocked with the banging on my front door. It had to be expected. After Sarah and I apologised and removed ourselves from the kindergarten premises, Sarah had confirmed my fears, that Miss Grace - for that was her name - would ensure that the authorities got involved in this situation. What was worse, she also sat on the council of this basecamp, meaning that she wasn’t exactly someone you wanted to make an enemy out of. And yet here we were. 

I had offered to fix the door - not that I knew how. And in the end, it didn’t actually matter, because in the end she simply said in a cold voice, “get out”. In the few seconds it took me to actually open the door, I wondered if they would kick me out. I supposed that wasn’t an altogether terrible outcome, considering I could then get in touch with Shay.

“Miss Dominae,” a voice called through the door just as I opened it and plastered a smile on my face. 

They looked taken aback by me actually opening the door for them. Had they expected a fight?/ resistance? Dammit, if I had known that was an option I may have actually done it. 

I stepped back and ushered them inside, watching them look oh-so-uncomfortable seated on my couch. 

“Can I get you guys anything to drink?” I asked, “”Tea? Coffee? A soda?” 

Again, I was met with blinking eyes that depicted shock. The first guy recovered quickly, his sandy brown hair, green eyes and large build probably made him a lady killer. 

“Water please,” he spoke quickly, as if I might just rescind my offer. Interesting. 

While I fetched a jug of water from the overlooking kitchen, the two men sat in silence, in a posture that was so straight, it looked uncomfortable. The glasses were neatly placed in front of them, whilst I stood there and asked, “To what do I owe the pleasure of having you two fine gentlemen in my home?” I smiled, oozing charm. 

“Well, um,” the second man - who had a mix of grey and red hair - spoke, “we were alerted of an incident at the kindergarden today.” 

I looked at them, waiting for them to actually say the rest. 

“Not that we’re accusing you ma'am,” he spoke quickly, “just that we need to follow procedure and our Mayor has asked for a meeting with you.” 

The other man drank his water in one quick gulp, placed the glass back on the table and added, “Whilst no one is accusing you of anything Miss Dominae, we need to address what happened today at the Kindergarten because people could easily have been hurt.” 

Well that seemed a bit overdramatic, but I wasn’t exactly in a position to argue. The Mayor requesting me presence didn’t bode well for my stay here, so  I figured I would go and hear what he had to say, and assess my options from there. 

“Sure,” I gave them a tight smile, “when should I meet him?” I asked. 

“The Mayor identifies as a she and her,” the first man said, “And, she is ready for you as we speak.”

I felt my heart rate pick up and urged myself to be calm. I couldn’t afford another electrical surge or whatever it is that I was responsible for. 

Looking down at myself, I realised that I was wearing joggings and a sports bra, no wonder the second guy kept staring at his lap. 

“Do I have time to change?” I asked carefully. I didn’t exactly feel like meeting the Mayor clad in my sports bra, but if I had to I would. 

“Five minutes,” he acknowledged, and the two of them stood up to wait outside. 

I threw on a pair of jeans, a chiffon black blouse with some intricate floral detail on the sleeves and some black pumps. It’s not exactly like my wardrobe boasted an abundance of work attire. 

As I stepped out into the Autumn breeze, the two men escorted me to a black sedan. Some things, it seemed never changed. 

“I’m Brad by the way,” the blonde guy introduced himself, extending his hand. 

“Reya,” I responded, with a tight smile. 

“And this over here is Paul,” he introduced the second guy, who simply nodded his head in greeting. 

A nameless man seemed to be the designated driver. 

“We’re both shifters,” Brad continued, sharing details about themselves in the hopes of winning my confidence. The problem was, I had long since learned that such tactics were meaningless and that if you were lucky you would boast only a handful of people you could rely on, but those people would be everything. As I looked at Brad and Paul, I honestly couldn’t imagine them being part of those people for me. But, I was polite none-the-less, and soon the sedan passed through wider streets with larger houses, until eventually we drove to a section of this suburb that seemed to only host double story houses that harkened back to white picket fences and family barbecues. 

The Sedan, predictably, pulled into one such driveway, and suddenly Brad and Paul were escorting me up some stone steps and through an entryway that could have made it onto the cover of Home and Hearth magazine. 

A butler greeted us, announcing that he was expecting us with a flourish and that Miss Winter was in her study. He looked like a traditional butler in every sense of the word, except for the bright red feather in his cap. 

As we entered her study, it wasn’t the floor to ceiling bookshelves showcasing volumes of books that I noticed first, rather it was the emerald green carpet, which was so soft that it sank a few notches whilst I stood there waiting for her to acknowledge us. I almost felt so bad that I wanted to remove my shoes. Almost, but not quite. 

She stood with her back towards us in a long white spring styled skirt with pastel flowers printed upon the material. 

“Miss Winter,” the butler spoke in just the right tone to be heard, “Miss Dominae is here to see you.” 

She spun around, her skirts flaring slightly and clasped her hands in delight. A tight fitted white jersey was paired with her skirt, her blonde-grey hair was perfectly styled and curled so that it sat just above her shoulders, and her makeup didn’t take away from the fine lines that adorned her face, showing her age in the most graceful of ways. 

She looked like Martha Stewart. 

Honestly, if I didn’t know she was the Mayor, I would be expecting her to bake apple pie, or host a dinner party. 

“Not what you were expecting eh?” She asked with a subtle smile upon her face. 

I laughed, “Well, when someone says I have to meet the Mayor and they’re dressed in suits, it’s only natural to assume that the Mayor herself would be in suit.” 

She laughed in response. 

“Come in and sit,” she motioned us into a sitting area that was akin to a french parlour within her study. 

As I sank into an uncomfortable wing-back chair I watched her pour tea from a delicate china pot into golden teacups that seemed to shimmer with hues of blue and purple under the light. 

“Now,” she spoke as if she were about to share a juicy piece of gossip with you. Her voice itself drew you in, making you want to know more. “As I understand it, you are having difficulties controlling your powers, is that right?” 

“Um…” I began. 

“Do you even know what your powers are my dear?” she cut in. 

I stared at her dumbfounded. 

“Well, your look just says it all doesn’t it,” she sighed. 

After taking a delicate sip of her tea she continued, "We simply can't have power surges and dented doorways everytime you're having an emotional flux, although the dented door is presumably from your shifter blood." 

I listened intently to her solution, because after meeting her I had no doubt she would present something. 

"I only hope that Miss Grace didn't scare that poor owl too badly," she added. 

"The owl?" I asked. We had just gone from talking about my powers and emotional surges to talking about an owl? 

"Yes dear, Sarah." 

My confusion must have shown on my face because she spoke in exasperation, "Sarah is an owl shifter." 

"Oh," was all I thought to say. 

"Do try and keep up dear." 

All the shifters I had known were coyotes and wolves and even a fox. I had never met a shifter that was from avian descent, in fact I didn't even know that they existed. 

"Now," she spoke once more, drawing my attention in, " what you need is a trainer." 

“A trainer?” I asked, trying to make sense of what she was saying. 

“Yes, someone to help you with your gifts.” She crossed her legs, and continued, “of course an Angel trainer is impossible to come by, they have almost no interaction with us,” narrowing her eyes at me, she added, “although perhaps you will change that.” 

And before I could even formulate a response he seemed to step into the room, right onto the plush emerald green carpet straight from the shadows. 

His short midnight hair glistened purple occasionally, and his arms had intricate, circular designs in tattoo form that seemed to swirl and fade in and out, depending on what angle you looked at them. He seemed to be dressed in a black leather fighting kit of some sort, with a gold crest emblazoned upon his right upper chest. His eyes zeroed in on me, and the first thing I thought was that they were an unusual colour. They seemed to be a silver-grey colour, that spoke of coldness and darkness and rage. 

I felt my core tighten as my fight-or-flight mode kicked in. He was a predator, of that I was sure. Only, my body wasn’t urging me to run. If anything it was begging his beast to come out and play, because as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was a predator too. 

I heard Paul swear next to me, with Brad following closely with a concise, “Holy shit.” 

There wasn’t a sliver of doubt in me as to what I was looking at. A full blooded Fae male captivated us all. Even Miss Winters had lost her manners momentarily. She recovered quickly, stepping forward to greet him. 

“Welcome, we are so glad and honoured that you could come, and help us with Reya’s little problem,” she gushed. He didn’t even look at her, he didn’t even acknowledge what she was saying. In fact, his eyes remained locked on mine. 

Ever the gracious host with an abundance of manners, she addressed me, “You see Reya, Chase here has agreed to come across the veil and help you train.” 

Chase finally turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow in response. 

“You know, I never can get the terminology correct - is it across the veil? Through the veil? What do you prefer?” 

From this angle, I realised that he was far bigger in build than I initially thought. 

“It makes no difference to me,” he spoke in boredom, his eyes darting back towards mine. 

“You’re Reya?” he growled towards me. 

I simply nodded my head, scared of how my voice would come out should I reply. Was I scared? Worried? Excited? 

I didn’t know, and that was a damn problem. 

“I’ll meet you at dawn, wear something suitable for training,” he sneered at my attire, and just as quickly as he seemed to have stepped out the shadows, he glinted out with the dust particles visible in a stream of light shining in. 

“Well, he seems just delightful,” and this time, when Miss Winters spoke, I detected a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 

“Miss Winters,” I began, “not to sound ungrateful or anything, but he’s Fae.” 

“Yes, and your point being?” She snapped. 

“I don’t have any form of Fae in me,” I replied almost sheepishly. 

“We don’t look a gift horse in the mouth dear, and honestly he’s the best option you have, because the way I see it, there isn’t an abundance of Angels making themselves known to simply train you.” 

Without any further discussion, she picked herself up and moved towards her desk, only to begin shuffling papers around. 

“Oh, and Reya?” she added, the document in her hand not quite holding her full attention yet. 

“Yes?” 

“Don’t be late for him.” 

And with that, we were duly dismissed.