“A cuppa would be great,” Jono said.
“Coffee.” Patrick drew in a breath, trying to steady his nerves, and managed a quick flash of a strained smile. “Please.”
“I’ll help,” a slender young woman said, getting to her feet. She appeared to be a couple of years younger than Patrick, most likely a cousin, and shared a resemblance with Madelyn that spoke of being a daughter.
“Thank you, Brittany.”
“So.” Grant stared at Patrick, taking him in before glancing over at Jono. “You’re a federal agent and a god pack alpha?”
“Grant,” Eloise admonished.
“It’s a fair question, Mother.”
“Yes, I’m an SOA federal agent,” Patrick said, causing Grant to snap his mouth shut. “And yes, I’m also an alpha of the New York City god pack through Jono. I was with the Mage Corps for almost ten years before joining the SOA. Pretty sure all of that is public record at this point.”
“So you really are a mage,” one of the redheaded cousins asked, leaning forward excitedly in his seat. He looked more like Finley’s son than Grant’s, despite the hair, and seemed to be the youngest person there. “You’re the only one in our generation who got that rank.”
He gestured between himself and the other cousins. Patrick couldn’t parse the other man’s tone and simply stared at him long enough to make him uncomfortable. The young man coughed and looked away, flushing a little.
“Don’t mind Easton,” a young woman with strawberry blonde hair said with a quick, nervous smile. “He’s studying genetics at Harvard and will talk your ear off about the relations between magic and science if you let him.”
Patrick tried not to twitch. “Sounds interesting?”
Maybe if he was drunk. Really drunk.
“The table needs setting,” Madelyn called out pointedly.
It seemed to be the siren call for everyone around Patrick’s age, because the five twentysomethings all got up and headed for the kitchen to help Madelyn and Brittany sort out the meal. The pretense of privacy didn’t really undo the knot of anxiety that had settled in his stomach. He wasn’t sure he could choke down the food, but he’d try.
“You’re all witches and warlocks in the Salem Coven?” Patrick asked, grasping for something to get everyone else to talk so he wouldn’t have to.
“We have members of the Salem Coven who are mundane. We don’t discriminate within our coven. Within our family, yes, everyone has magic. As to who are the strongest? Brittany is a sorceress,” Eloise said, sounding proud and fond. “Grant is a mage.”
“Weather,” Grant said with a grunt.
Only in the younger generation, not the older, was what Easton had said. The distinction was noticeable now. Patrick nodded. “That’s nice.”
Nice, but a little strange that every single member of his mother’s family was a magic user. Only a quarter of the world’s population was capable of manipulating their soul’s energy into magic. Sometimes families had a handful of members over the course of generations with magic, but it was rare for everyone within a family line to have magic.
“She’ll follow in her mother’s footsteps as high priestess of the Salem Coven when she’s older.” Eloise offered up a brittle smile. “Clara was supposed to take over my role as the oldest, and Hannah after her. But, well.”
Her voice trailed off, and Patrick was grateful she didn’t try to explain the obvious.
“Why didn’t you ever try to get in contact with us?” Grant asked bluntly.
He didn’t sound accusatory, only curious. The question still put Patrick on the defensive.
“I was warned not to for safety reasons,” Patrick said.
“Yes, and I know you say you don’t remember us as a family, but weren’t you curious?”
“Ethan wanted me dead. He still wants me dead. Setsuna told me when I became her ward that I’d be putting all of you at risk if you knew I was still alive.”
Eloise’s lips pressed into a thin white line. “That woman. She as surely stole you from us as much as Ethan did.”
“She was under orders because of the threat Ethan and the Dominion Sect represented.”
As much as his relationship with Setsuna was strained these days, he could understand, in hindsight at least, why she’d done what she had all those years ago. Even if the gods hadn’t dragged him to her, Patrick thought she probably would’ve made the same choice to hide his identity.
