With my eyes focused on the ground and my mind distracted, I didn’t notice the person in front of me until I’d already collided with him. The fall was awkward - I landed on my butt, while the man, who had his back to me and was carrying something in his arms, tried not to fall on top of me. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. The man tumbled back with an embarrassed cry, holding whatever he was holding tight to his chest.
I grunted from the pressure as he fell on top of me. I was mildly annoyed that he didn’t drop whatever he was holding and break his own fall.
“Oh my gods, I am so sorry!” the man cried. I realized now from his scent he was an omega. I supposed that meant the other, taller man running towards us now was his alpha mate.
“Gabriel, are you okay?” he asked, pulling his mate to his feet.
“Yeah, fine, but this poor man…”
I realized now as the alpha helped the omega up that he was carrying two young children in his arms, which is why he couldn’t break his fall, and then I felt guilty for even thinking it.
But as something shimmered in the air, I realized with a start that the older child - the boy - had a loose translucent bubble around himself. He smiled at me through the barrier.
The barrier - just like the one Halo made.
I withheld my gasp.
That little boy knows magic.
The omega, Gabriel, handed off his kids to the alpha and then turned to me with an outstretched hand and an embarrassed smile.
“I am so,sosorry about that,” Gabriel said. “Totally my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“He tends to do that a lot.”
“Shut up, Dante.”
I took Gabriel’s hand, feeling a brief flash of old, society-induced shame that I was letting an omega help me stand up. I quickly squashed that feeling. Obviously, since the alpha - Dante - didn’t look shocked or horrified, I assumed it was a normal interaction in this day and age.
I suppose that’s a good thing, even if I find it weird,I thought.Then again, I only find it weird because things were just… different in my time.
“Thank you,” I said to Gabriel, bowing my head. “And it’s my fault as well, I should have paid more attention to where I was going.”
“It’s okay, totally not your fault, I’m super clumsy,” Gabriel said with a laugh.
“Cwumsy daddy,” the young boy said, pointing at Gabriel.
“That’s right, Noah. Daddy would trip standing up, wouldn’t he?” Dante encouraged.
Both the kids giggled. I noticed the boy’s magic barrier fading, since he was no longer in danger of falling.
Do children use magic automatically when they’re in danger? Like an instinct?
My mind immediately went to Angel. Halo said she was safe, and I mostly trusted him - but at the same time, I wanted to have her right in front of me, where I could see and know she was truly safe. But if she was a mage, and a powerful one just like Halo, would she use magic to protect herself, just like this little boy?
I must have been staring at Noah, because Dante shifted his kids in his arms and scowled slightly at me. “Problem?”
My brows shot up and I help up my palms. “Oh, no, I’m so sorry. I was just thinking about my own child.”
They both relaxed.
Great, now they probably think I’m some kind of freak because I can’t get my thoughts together…
“Her omega father is a mage, so she has magic as well,” I said. Thankfully, the explanation seemed to calm them down.
“That’s cool,” Gabriel said with a smile. His tone was completely conversational, like nothing was out of the ordinary. “I actually didn’t know I could do magic until I arrived here in Cinderhollow. But my mate, Dante, has been doing it all his life.”
Dante nodded. “Dragons, right?” He shrugged. “It runs in our veins, I think, more than any other shifter.”
