Sam leaned back in her chair, knife spinning lazily between her fingers. “If Barnaby’s in, then I might as well be too.”
Nick raised a hand, grinning. “Same here. No point in pretending otherwise, we’re all going in.”
Byron smirked, the expression carrying just a touch of exasperation. “So much for keeping it small.”
Lucy exhaled slowly, her nerves rattling even as she tried to steady herself. “Fine. But we stay calm. We let them speak. No one pushes them too hard.”
“Agreed,” Corey said, though his voice still carried a note of conflict.
They all moved into the warm hush of the dining room together, Lucy entered slowly, and the moment Mandy saw her she rose so quickly she almost knocked her chair back. The woman bowed, not in ceremony but in a raw, humbled reverence that made the room inhale as one.
“Please, don’t,” Lucy said gently, putting both palms up in a small, easy motion that reached past the bow and softened the air. “It’s okay.”
Mandy straightened and smiled with a relief so big it looked like it could crack her face into pieces of joy. “Tell us about yourself,” Lucy invited, seating herself close enough that Erin could reach out and touch her sleeve.
Mandy’s voice was threaded with weariness and an odd kind of pride. “I had a guardian once,” she began. “Those who survivedhad someone. Mine was a woman in the woods, she taught me to listen to the trees and feel the earth's natural energy. For years I thought she was just a lover of the wild, until I learned she was Fae.” Lucy stopped her “what's Fae?” “They are fairies. She was a light one, which is means they are meant to be good and well let's just say they are not all good” she took a sip of water before continuing. “She shaped me, taught me to hide and to heal the natural way. Life was great until I fell in love with a Fae man, Erin came shortly afterwards, life was truly amazing. Unfortunately, not everything was as good as it seemed, and he was not the man I thought he was, so I took our child and ran.”
She lifted her chin “We have been running near two years. When I felt your energy, when I felt you, I knew this is where I had to come. I knew we would be safe.”
Lucy reached across and lightly touched Erin’s hair; the little girl flinched then relaxed, the contact gentle enough to say without words that this was a place where hands were kind. Lucy watched Erin with an almost scientific curiosity, an eye violet as dusk and the other green as new leaves, before she ducked back behind her mother’s chair.
Mandy stood up and stepped forward, closing the small space between her and Lucy. “You can complete your task now,” she said.
Lucy blinked. “Wait, you know?”
Mandy nodded, “In our world, the elders would connect to their king and queen it was a rite of passage, it amplifies our powers and adds to our protectors. It made our protectors stronger. The difference with them, was that they were always considerate, never to disrupt the peace or hurt another living thing. If you aregoing to protect us, you will need a mean streak, Lucy. Humans and the others are not all kind.”
Lucy felt something rise in her, “I promise,” she whispered.
Then it began, softer this time but relentless:Connect.It moved through her like a tide, and Lucy could feel the white energy flow up the wire of her ribs, a current so cool it steadied her.
Her eyes brightened until the whites were rimmed with violet light, and the dining room seemed briefly to go out of focus at the edges. White energy pooled around her like moonlight gathered in a bowl. When it moved, it did so like wind over water, it was gentle and pure.
Mandy’s left eye flashed in response, as if a lantern had been struck. She staggered back a half-step, more from recognition than shock, and then steadied herself, pushing her hands forward without hesitation. The air bent, a shimmering membrane rolled outward from her palms and cloaked her as if she’d been wrapped in silken glass. Until it was over, “I feel different, but I don't know what it is exactly” Lucy said whilst giving herself a once over.
Barnaby could not keep still. And he couldn't wait for Lucy to figure it out. He leaned forward and asked outright. “Mandy, what is your power?”
Mandy’s voice was soft, “I make safe places,” she said plainly. “I create invisible bubbles of protection or wards that trip and set off spiritual alarm bells in my head. I can anchor it to a person or a place. I feel hostility like a bruise, and I form the shield around where that bruise wants to land. It should be enough to stop ablade, block a scream, dampen an effect meant to reach a small child.”
She demonstrated without fanfare. Barnaby, ever practical, asked for proof, and Mandy obliged. “The only way I can show you is to try and protect you” She turned and looked around the room “Can someone please attack, Brandon please?” Corey jumped to attention, “First of all, it’s Barnaby and second, my pleasure” he said gathering speed to give Barnaby the walloping that Corey felt he deserved. When he threw his fist and was about to land his punch, it stopped dead before he touched his skin. “Wow, it's like I'm hitting a wall but it's not hard at all, amazing, what's the reach like? How much area can you cover?”, She responded, “I'm not too sure, I have only ever had to cloak or shield the two of us” Barnaby, quick to ask another question, “what does cloak mean?” Mandy responded with a “well, like this” and with that they both disappeared, well not entirely if you looked close enough you could still see them, and they would have to remain incredibly still to not get seen. Nick came forward “it's exactly like the suit I was creating, but yours is... You” she removed the glamour and smiled.
Lucy tried to echo what she had felt. She extended her awareness, pushed the white current toward Erin as Mandy had done; she envisioned a soft, protective ripple like a bird folding its wings. The shimmer she formed was a pale faint halo rather than a dome. It trembled on the edge of visibility and then thinned, dispersing into the room like the ghost of an echo. Lucy felt the disappointment like a physical ache: the thought had been whole in her mind, but her hands could not yet make it firm.
“I can see why,” Mandy said gently, watching more than speaking. “Your current is pure and bright, Lucy. It reachesfarther than mine, but it lacks the knot that makes a ward hold. You’re a forge of things that should be but shaping them into shelter takes a different muscle.”
Lucy looked up, the determination settling in. She met Mandy’s eyes, “Will you train with me?” she asked, Mandy smiled. “I would love nothing more than to train, with you, I too need to sharpen up; I’ve spent years just focusing on hiding. there's so much more too it.
And Erin, she will come into her Nephilim gifts soon enough but as she is part Fae, even though I'm yet to see if she's light or dark, she definitely gives dark vibes” Mandy giggled and rubbed Erins hair. “She has a wonderful gift already. “Do you want to show Lucy what you can do?” Mandy asked softly.
Erin nodded, small and serious, her little hand reaching into the pocket of her dress. She pulled out a single seed, no larger than a freckle against her pale palm. Her face scrunched into a concentrated pout, lips pressed tight, and her tiny brow furrowed as though she were holding her breath.
Then, as if responding to her heartbeat, the seed trembled. A thin vine uncurled from its shell, impossibly fast, green and alive in a way that defied nature’s usual patience. It stretched forward, reaching for Lucy, curious like a child itself. When it touched her fingers, it wrapped around them playfully, twining itself in a delicate spiral.
Lucy laughed as the vine brush against her skin. But then something unexpected happened. The moment the vine met her touch, a shimmer passed through her, like a ripple of light beneath her skin, and suddenly buds burst open at her fingertips.
Flowers, bright impossible flowers, unfurled in rapid bloom. Petals of crimson and violet, gold and white, spilled outward with reckless joy. Within seconds, the table and the floor around them were dappled with colour. The air grew thick with a sweet fragrance, spring crashing into the room as though summoned from another world.
Barnaby was scribbling furiously in his notebook. “Is this your power, Erin?”
