“Well, of course she did,” his grandmother said, smiling at Stephanie. “I can already see that she’s a strong, independent woman; you’ve chosen well, Cooper.”
A blush spread across Stephanie’s cheeks. “We’re not…that is… we can’t…” she stammered, then fell silent.
“Grandma, behave yourself,” he admonished, but there was amusement in his voice. “We work together, at least for right now, and that’s all there is to it, just like I told you before.”
“Whatever you say,” his grandmother said, then turned and started down the hallway. “Are you coming or are you going stand there dripping in my entryway all night?”
***Stephanie***
After hanging up their coats and taking off their boots, Cooper led Stephanie down the hallway to a charming room with a huge fireplace at one end. There was a couch and a couple of overstuffed chairs gathered around it, and his grandmother was waiting for them in one of them, a tea set on the low table in front of her. Gilda got to her feet and fussed with the fire while she and Cooper got settled on the couch, then sat back down, looking over at them, a big smile on her face.
“This was such a pleasant surprise, I’m almost ready to forgive you for not calling me for so long,” Gilda said, reaching for the pot and pouring the dark creamy cocoa into the three mugs on the tray. “But you said that you needed my help. Let’s get right to it so I’ll stop worrying.”
Cooper looked over at Stephanie, then back at his grandmother, “I’ll let Stephanie explain,” he said. “She’s the expert when it comes to stuff like this. I’m just an intern.”
He could see his grandmother instantly relax. “Is this about that internship you’ve been doing?” she asked. “I don’t know how much help I’ll be. I don’t know anything about architecture or building stadiums.”
“Oh, Grandma, I completely forgot to tell you that fell through,” he said, then sighed. “I guess I haven’t been in touch enough lately.”
He quickly explained about the discovery of the ruins, the loss of his internship, Stephanie’s generous offer, and all the work they’d done so far. “Here’s the thing, yesterday, completely by accident, we found a crypt,” he said. “There are bodies inside and a beautiful mural that seems to tell a story we can’t quite figure out, and that’s where you come in.”
Gilda looked surprised for a second, and when Cooper didn’t say more, Stephanie took a deep breath and explained to the older woman what she thought the mural was trying to say. “I know it sounds crazy, but I just don’t know what else to think,” she said, shaking her head. “Cooper seems to think the tribes have always known that shifters were real, that the cave was a place where they could be safe, but over time it was forgotten.”
She expected Gilda to tell her that Cooper was wrong; she expected her to think the idea was ridiculous. But instead, she exchanged a quick glance with her grandson before settling a little deeper in her chair. For a few minutes the only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire, and Stephanie wasn’t sure if the older woman was going to say anything at all.
After glancing over at Cooper again and getting a slight nod of his head to her inquiring glance, Gilda set her cup down on the table next to her, then turned to face Stephanie. “Some knowledge is never lost, it is given to a few special people who will see that it’s never completely forgotten,” she finally said. “The existence of that cave and what it contains haven’t been lost to time; they are still a part of our history, but one that is carefully guarded, and I think you can see why.”
It took her a second to understand what Gilda was trying to tell her. “Are you telling me that shifters are real?” she asked, but didn’t wait for an answer before she started shaking her head, not ready to believe what the older woman was saying. “The pictures are just mythology; they’re not depicting real life, it’s just not possible.”
“Why not?” Gilda asked, her voice gentle. “Is it really that hard to believe that magic exists?”
She looked over at the older woman, hoping that she was joking, but her face was completely serious. “Just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there. We can’t see the air we breathe but without it, we couldn’t survive,” she said. “Some people, very special people, have abilities the rest of us don’t. You can’t tell that they’re different when you look at them, but deep inside, they carry the magic that gives them those special gifts.”
Stephanie could only stare at the woman for several long seconds, her brain rejecting the very idea instantly, but as the silence stretched between them, she forced herself to look past the disbelief. The vivid pictures of the mural popped into her head: the dramatic depiction of the change the shifters experienced; the fear and adoration of the humans gathered around them. To her surprise, she found that the idea wasn’t as far-fetched as she’d first thought.
Wondering what Cooper was thinking, she looked over at him, expecting to see the same disbelief she was feeling, but instead, he was watching her carefully. “Cooper, did you know about this?” she asked. “Did you know that shifters used to be real?”
“Not used to be,” Gilda said, shaking her head. “They still are.”
That left her speechless for a second. “Wait, are you saying…no, you can’t be…” she finally stammered. “This is all mythology…not reality.”
“There are shifters born in every generation in my tribe,” Gilda said, her voice still gentle. “It’s the same all over the world. We just keep the truth about them well hidden.”
“Do you know someone who’s a shifter?” she asked, both thrilled and frightened by the prospect. “I mean, this isn’t just talk, right?”
“It’s not just talk, and yes, I do know someone who has the ability,” Gilda said. “But it’s time for dinner, and I think you’ve had enough for right now. I don’t want to overwhelm you.”
Food was the last thing she was thinking about right then, but she was too polite to say so and watched as Gilda got up from the chair, collected the tray, and then left the room. When it was just she and Cooper sitting by the fire, she turned to him, a thousand questions in her brain, but he put a finger over her lips and stopped her.
“Grandma is right, you need to take a break,” he said, then pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go take a walk, there’s someone I want to introduce you to.”
“Cooper, it’s still snowing out there,” she said, shivering. “We’ll get all soaked again.”
“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” he asked. “It’s not that bad out there. Look, it’s barely snowing now.”
CHAPTER 14
***COOPER***
