by Rain Oxford
The students were standing around a table, brandishing sharp instruments. “I take it you dealt with the slime monster?”
“Of course,” Mr. Grant said. He was in his early fifties with a medium build, shoulder length, graying black hair, a thick beard and mustache, and deep blue eyes. Instead of a wizard’s robe, he wore a lab coat over his dress shirt and slacks.
It was a tradition with wizards to wear robes in the company of other paranormals. It started as a way to show they weren’t human, like uniforms. Wizards were expected to wear fancy ones on special occasions, but in the schools, it was almost always black wool. I only wore mine during special school events.
“Let me know if you find out who created it.”
Before I could leave, one of the students asked, “Is it true that you were a cop before coming here?”
“No, I wasn’t a cop.”
“My mom said you were,” Helen said, as if I was lying.
“You’re Lauren’s daughter, aren’t you?”
She smiled and nodded proudly, as if her mother was the queen of England.
“Yeah, I figured.” I left without arguing. If Helen was anything like her mother, there was nothing on Earth that could change her mind.
I dropped by Darwin’s class to check that everything was alright. No one answered when I knocked, so I opened the door. Fortunately, the class was as quiet and calm as always…
Two students were standing at their desks, shaking with anger. “It’s a hundred thirteen, you moron!” Autumn shouted.
“It’s a hundred ninety-seven, stupid!” Braiden yelled back
“I showed my work to back it up! You probably used a calculator!”
“I’ve never used a calculator in my life! I’m just smart enough to do it in my head, unlike you!”
“Children, behave,” Darwin said kindly. “You’re both idiots.”
They stopped arguing and checked their answers, redoing the work. After a long moment, Autumn blanched. “It’s a hundred ninety-one.”
Darwin smirked. “It’s a hundred ninety-one.”
She and Braiden sat slowly, as if they had just received word their closest family member died, and they just couldn’t believe it. A few seconds later, Brandon jumped up out of his seat with excitement. “That’s what I got! In your face, bitches!”
“Brandon!” I admonished.
He blushed and sat down. “Sorry, sir.” Then, with a polite tone and regular volume, he repeated, “In your face, bitches.”
“Hey, would you check on Kimba?” Darwin asked me. “He’s not usually absent.”
“He got confronted by a slime monster and had to go back to his room to change.” Half of the students started laughing. “Because he shifted,” I added to quell their childish assumptions.
“I’ll find out who did it, and if they survive detention, I’ll send what’s left of them to you.”
None of the kids were laughing anymore.
I nodded and left. The rest of the day was pretty normal for the school… which wasn’t very normal at all.
* * *
When I returned to my room that night, a stack of messages were on my desk. One was an actual letter from my mother, telling me that she wanted to re-marry Vincent, but she wanted my opinion on it. Since I didn’t know if he was my uncle or my father, it was a little weird, but her happiness was most important to me. Besides, she was already married to him before John interfered. I wanted to kill John so many times over.
I grabbed the message pad and wrote a response.
After that, I found a message from Marcus.
To: Devon Sanders
From: Marcus Nunyabusiness
Date: Monday, November 14
Message: I don’t do messages. Tell him to call me.
I rolled my eyes. My human-born friend had been shot by his father and a member of Stephen’s coven turned him into a vampire to save him. Even as a vampire, he was paranoid. He knew I couldn’t call him because there was no service around the school. However, he wouldn’t have contacted me if it wasn’t important. Important enough that I needed to drive to the nearest town and call him.
Next, I found a message from Drake.
To: Devon Sanders
From: Drake BaDour
Date: Monday, November 14
Message: Mellow was attacked by vampire hunters this morning. He wasn’t hurt because he can stand sunlight. I called Stephen and he said they’ve been attacked daily for two weeks straight. They’ve got wolves on day guard, but it’s not enough. If you can pull yourself away from your cushy babysitting gig, we can use your help out here in the adult world.
I wasn’t a fan of Drake, but I did like his employees, which consisted of vampires and shifters. Although they didn’t get a lot of respect because they worked for a human, they were good people. While the club allowed humans in, it catered to paranormals. I figured Drake’s and Marcus’s problem were related.
Stephen Yocum was the most powerful vampire in North America, and ran a huge coven. Unlike wizards, Stephen used electronics and even had a cell phone. Maseré Mason, Darwin’s father, was the alpha of the strongest wolf shifter pack in North America. These humans were messing with the toughest paranormals in the country.
I didn’t really know who to call about hunters. Between Maseré and Stephen, they were pretty good at protecting their people, but the problem was growing. A small group of humans somehow got inside knowledge on paranormals and were developing weapons against us. Unfortunately, if Maseré or Stephen killed the hunters, there would be backlash. In fact, some of Maseré’s wolves were members of the police force.
Wizards had the best chance of stopping hunters without outing all paranormals, but that came with even more risks. No one needed another witch hunt outbreak. Even though fae could do something, I highly doubted any of them would unless hunters went after them first, and then they would wage war against all humans. Fae were anything but subtle when it came to tribal revenge.
I was a hands-on person with cases. Wizards usually developed a wide range of magic. Since I focused on learning the magic I needed for my job and mostly relied on my visions, mind control, and intuition, I wasn’t a very versatile wizard. I used to be known for my discretion, but that wasn’t so in the paranormal world.
Nevertheless, my psychic magic gave me a unique advantage. I needed to find out what Marcus wanted before making the trip, however. I checked Remington’s room, but she wasn’t there, so I went to her office. Not surprisingly, she was asleep over a pile of paperwork.
I gently prodded her awake and she groaned.
“You need to sleep in your bed or you’re going to get back pain.”
She stretched. “I already have back pain.”
“Well, I hope I’m not about to add to it. I need to head out to the nearby town and then probably Stephen’s coven.”
She made a face. “I need you here for the next few days. I have to go see my father. I can appoint someone else in your place, but you’re not an easy man to replace.”
“I should hope not. I guess that’s fine. The coven will just have to wait. I’ll drive over to the next town, call Marcus, and be back in a few hours, definitely before morning.”
She stood and kissed me. “Okay. Drive safe.”
“I thought I’d drive like April.”
“I’ll kill you if you do something that stupid.”
I laughed and left, promising to drop by her room when I returned.
* * *
The drive was long and tedious. The winding, narrow, backwoods roads with only the moonlight and my headlights lighting the way reminded me of the night that I dove headfirst into the paranormal world. I hadn’t known at the time that it was in my blood and I couldn’t escape it. It felt like decades ago when it was only a few short years that I first set eyes on the university. I thought I was human, that my childhood best-friend killed my father, and that magic could only be used for harm.
My views were so black-and-
white back then. Paranormals were bad and humans were good. However, some of the best people I knew were paranormals and some of the worst were humans. Case in point: vampires never went human-hunting, yet it seemed like Stephen couldn’t catch a break from vampire hunters. My heart was cursed by a human who hated magic and paranormals, yet was married to a demon… who later helped me stop a worse demon.
By the time I made it to the small town, I missed the school. Sure, I enjoyed solving cases, but I never felt needed as much as I did at the school. All those kids were there because they didn’t fit in at human schools. I hadn’t fit in, either. My life would have been so different had I grown up in the paranormal world. I wouldn’t have thought I was a freak.
But I wouldn’t have saved Marcus, become a private investigator, or met Astrid. Instead, I probably would have become John’s pawn. I was a protective person, which wasn’t always a good thing. I protected Regina’s feelings and defended her even against myself. I used to take on cases I shouldn’t have because a woman or child seemed helpless. I was even protective of Remington (who could easily kick my ass) Henry (who could outrun and eat me) and Darwin (whose IQ was easily twice mine). Hell, I was protective of Astrid (a vampire) and Heather (a demon). It wasn’t healthy.
The kids at the school, however, needed me. Not all of them, but enough that I felt responsible for keeping them safe. The paranormal world was my world. I wouldn’t let anyone tear it apart.
I turned on my cell phone. Fortunately, the town had reception, so I called Marcus. Since it was night, I wasn’t worried about waking him up. He’d always been a night owl anyway.
“Hey, man,” he said. We used to have an elaborate phone ritual to protect him from his father, but since Sinclair was imprisoned by Maseré’s pack and Marcus got fangs, he relaxed a bit.
“I got your message. You know I had to drive ten hours through three blizzards, two tornadoes, and a hurricane to get to a town to call you, right?”
He scoffed. “You’d do it for me, brother.”
I groaned. “Yeah, but I’d make you pay for it. What do you want?”
“A Big Mac, a large fry, and a chocolate shake.”
“Don’t make me send Darwin.”
He sighed. “Something weird is going on here.”
“You mean the hunters?”
“Only if one of them is a wizard. I’m getting a lot of magical interference with my tech, and I think someone is doing it on purpose. I’ve lost a lot of data, primarily on vampire records and security clearances.”
That got my attention for two reasons. “You keep vampire records?”
“Yeah. Not like the council tried to, of course. I recorded boundary lines and set up an online registry so that vampires can ask permission from other covens to enter their territory before traveling. It’s made a huge improvement in coven relations in America and Canada. If I had to go to Vancouver, I’d need to pass through three covens. Now I can register where I’m going, when, and what my route is. The vamps on the way automatically get a request for my safe passage. If they deny me, the program will reroute me until I can make it. I’ve gotten every vampire coven in the U.S. and Canada to agree and enter the registry.”
“That sounds great, but I’m not sure what the problem is.”
“To prove our identity, we all have numerical identity codes. Well, that’s all on my servers to prevent tampering…”
“But they’ve been tampered with?” I asked.
“Not tampered with so much as corrupted. Whoever is doing it has magic and knows how to damage electronics, but not how to hack my system. Whoever it is, they’re in the mansion.”
“A wizard is hiding out in a mansion full of vampires who can smell lies?”
“Yes. Now you see why I’m bothered?”
“I do. I’ll be there as soon as possible, but it’s going to be a few days. Remington needs me to watch the school while she’s visiting her father.”
“What should I do in the meantime?”
“Build the same system for pack shifters.”
He scoffed. “No way. Darwin can do his own work. The little pup thinks he’s so smart, but my computer skills are so far---”
“Skip,” I interrupted. I could sense him roll his eyes over the phone.
“Fine.” He and Darwin were extremely competitive, but I was pretty sure they were instant best friends. Marcus was brilliant in technology the way Darwin was brilliant in general. If they ever truly joined forces, the rest of the world didn’t stand a chance.
Chapter 2
I was in a room just like my last vision, with no furniture or way out. The difference was that the room was on fire. Flames arose from ominous sigils glowing red on the floor, but there was no smoke or heat. For a few minutes, I searched for a way out, or anything that could help me figure out why I was there. I called out, but either no one heard me or no one could answer.
And suddenly, I wasn’t alone. A boy was there. He couldn’t have been older than seven. He was slender with messy, short black hair and honey-brown eyes. He wore race car pajamas with green and blue paint on his pant legs. What was concerning, however, was that he held his head as if in pain. I stepped closer to him, only to be intercepted by flames as another sigil appeared. I tried to go around it, but even more surrounded him. The boy didn’t seem to notice them.
“Can you hear me?” I asked, as gentle as I could considering the extreme circumstances. He didn’t react, so I repeated myself loudly, with no better results. Why are we both here if I can’t talk to him or help him? I focused my magic on extinguishing the flames, but nothing happened. I tried to read the child’s mind, but it was like I didn’t have that magic anymore. I couldn’t feel it.
* * *
Tuesday, November 15
I was torn from my sleep by a twenty-pound cat pouncing on my chest. I shoved Vincent’s familiar off me and groaned. “Damn you, Ghost!”
He hissed in response. I sat up and motioned towards the lamp, focusing my magic on heat and light automatically. The lamp lit without any problem. I had my magic back.
“What do you want?” I asked.
The cat vanished, leaving behind a letter from my uncle. I picked it up with dread, still bothered by my dream.
Devon,
I had a vision that something will go terribly wrong at the children’s school. I suggest you take precaution. If you can convince Remington to go to Quintessence, that would be beneficial. Rocky will be invaluable, so keep her close. I will let you know if I find out anything else.
Best wishes,
Your Uncle
I dressed and went down to breakfast, not sure what to tell everyone. I would tell Darwin, Henry, and Remington everything, of course, but the rest of the teachers and staff was a trickier matter. Since many of them could block their minds, I couldn’t completely trust them. I could break their mental blocks easily, but not without their awareness, and until I had evidence of malicious intent, I didn’t want to do that to any of my coworkers. We needed to stand together against whatever was coming, not throw suspicion around.
Darwin, Amelia, Henry, and Addison were already seated in the dining room, so I joined them after getting my breakfast. Darwin was telling Addison and Henry about one of the paranormal scandals he uncovered in Egypt when he was a kid.
Henry’s girlfriend, Addison, was a cute woman in her late-twenties with wavy, golden blond hair, big, bright blue eyes, and a round face. She was high-maintenance, but she was also an ocelot shifter, so I figured it was to be expected. Although she and Henry had been together since Henry’s first semester of Quintessence, I didn’t see them moving forward in their relationship.
Darwin’s fiancée was very different from Darwin, despite being fae. Amelia was a gorgeous Scottish and Irish woman. She was five-five, petite, with curly ginger hair and clover-green eyes. She could control a person’s emotions, which Darwin believed somehow made her the only one on Earth who could touch him. I had my own theory.
I tuned him out a bit until I heard, “Oh, Amy, Mum said the cabin is ready.”
Amelia smiled. “That’s something to look forward to.”
“What cabin?” I asked.
“You didn’t think I was going to move my fiancée into my bedroom, did you?”
“I didn’t think you were at that stage of your relationship.” They still had their own bedrooms at the school, although I couldn’t recall Amelia ever using hers.
“We originally decided to marry because we were friends, we fit well together, and it would get our parents off our backs. What can I say, though? We fell in love. It might be because she’s willing to let me---”
“Darwin, he doesn’t need to know that!” Amelia interrupted, blushing furiously. When he dropped it, she continued. “Darwin is too high-ranking in the pack to move off his land, and we can’t live in the den together because his wolf would become too possessive of me with others around. So we had a cabin constructed for us to our specifications.”
“It’s wicked,” Darwin said. “Even Marcus is jealous of my setup.”
“His mother requested to clean it for us every week,” Amy said.
“Amy refused. She said that was her job now. She even wants to be the one to remind me to eat.”
“You poor woman,” Henry said. “You just asked to take on a full-time job.”
“What about your father?” I asked Amy. “I thought he would keep you close.”
“Of course; we’re fae. He’s moving into another cabin on the property.”
“I got a letter from Vincent,” I said. They fell silent, waiting for the bad news. “He says something is going to happen here.”
