That wasn’t completely true. My mom and dads had talked about what they were like when she was pregnant with me. It had been dramatic and scary as hell. The previous council had basically tried lock my mom away until she gave birth so they could steal me as a baby. Apparently, my birth was an unknown variable that they couldn’t allow to walk around in the world on its own. They’d basically given my parents the choice of giving me up or they would kill me.
Obviously, that didn’t set well with my parents and that conflict was basically how my parents ended up heading the new council. However, Tabby didn’t need to know all of that.
“Okay, we’ll move on for now. But knowing more about the birth would help see the overall picture.” Tabby nodded, seeming to talk more to herself than to me.
“I can go ask her?” I braced my hands on the sides of the chair and prepared to stand.
Waving me off, Tabby pointed at something on her notebook. “I have that both your biological parents are human servants. Correct?”
“Yep.”
Tabby paused, tapping her face with her pen, her eyes moving toward the door. “So your dads… which one…?”
“Darren,” I provided for her with a smile, used to having to explain how our whole family lineage worked. “He’s the only human among them besides my mom.”
“And he and your mother are bound to…” She glanced down at her notes. “Antoine?”
I nodded.
If all the questions were going to be like this, then I was in for a long night. Sipping on my water, I wished I’d grabbed something stronger. Like coffee or a shot of adrenaline.
Thirty minutes and twenty million questions later, Tabby finally got to the part that I really cared about. My powers.
“So…” She folded her arms over her lap, staring intently at me. “Show me your powers.”
I sat up straight, fingers curled into the arms of the chair. “Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
The terror of what I’d done to the crows and almost done to Tate made the muscles in my throat close up.
Tabby cocked her head to the side. “I can’t help you if I don’t know what your powers do.”
The thought of using my powers on purpose, even in a secure location, sent a shiver of anxiety through me. What if I can’t make it work? What if I did? What if Tabby ended up under my influence for the rest of her life?
No. I couldn’t do it.
“Jack…” Tabby pushed, the weight of her expectant gaze making the sick feeling worse.
“I don’t know how you can help me with them, anyway,” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. “You don’t even have powers of your own.”
Tabby blinked at me, then sniffed not seeming as offended as I thought she might have been by my words. “Just because I don’t have magic of my own doesn’t mean I can’t help you. I’ve spent years studying other magic. Read thousands of books. I know just about everything to know about all different types of magic.”
She flicked through her notebook, naming off the different types of magic she’d studied. “The creation of the first werewolf. How vampires came to be. Necromancy. Shapeshifting. What I’m trying to say is that I’m the best shot you’ve got.”
My eyes shifted to the side, avoiding her probing gaze.
“Unless… you want to just wait and see? Because we all know how well that works out.”
I knew she was right. I could pretend like my powers didn’t exist until the next time they reared their ugly head and whoknew who would be in the line of fire then? My mom? My dads? One of the guys? Or even an innocent bystander.
“Fine.” I blew out a breath, leaning forward my hands laced between my knees. “I’ll tell you about my powers.”
Chapter thirteen
Tate
IlovedKyrenwithevery part of my being, but if he didn’t stop fighting with Julian, I was going to stake him in the heart and take us both down together.
“I just don’t understand how you think you can just come waltzing back here after blowing her off and think that Jack will take you back with open legs,” Julian seethed, pacing back and forth in front of Kyren and me in his apartment.
