“Maybe it shouldn’t be a secret!” The world was 180 degrees different from what she’d thought. From what just about everyone thought. Why weren’t they shouting it from the rooftops? Why hadn’t any of them gone onto CNN and just said, Here you go. Magic is real.
His eyes narrowed, and his words came out in a careful, measured tempo. “We’ve existed for thousands of years. Don’t you think someone somewhere has talked?”
Um, yeah. Probably.
His hands lifted off his knees to pull tighter against his torso. Almost like he was forcing himself to keep from reaching out. “Magic doesn’t want to be found.”
She gaped at him. “Come again?”
“It’s a weird mystery of life. Shifter history is filled with people who talked or normals who figured things out. But it ends badly. Witches burned at the stake, magicians convicted of unholy knowledge.”
“Religious fanatics have always existed,” she said. “But we’re in the age of reason now.”
He blew out a slow breath. “Science hasn’t been so good at stopping ISIS or the religious right. They’ve only armed the nutcases with nukes.”
She grimaced. “Okay, so you’ve got me there. But?—”
“It’s not just the fanatics,” he interrupted. “There have been communities where it’s an open secret. Something always goes wrong. Like Atlantis.”
“The island that blew itself up sometime in prehistory?”
“That’s the one. Pompeii and Camelot were others.”
She snorted. “You’re just making this up.”
He sighed. “I wish I were. There are texts.”
“What? Where?”
“Carl has some.” He flashed her a weak smile. “Alphas have searched for this answer. It’s their job to keep the clan safe. Many have revealed themselves.” He growled low, the sound nearly inaudible. “Eventually it goes wrong.”
Was this even possible? It didn’t seem credible, but then again, she would have said were-grizzlies were impossible. “You are not going to claim Black Plague.”
He shook his head. A quick twist before recentering. “Not that one. Earthquakes and a couple floods. Little enclaves of knowledge just disappear. Lost in holy wars or we don’t know why.” His nostrils flared then steadied. She got the feeling that while his normal mind was sitting here talking to her, the bear in him kept alert, watching his environment even when he was sitting safely inside a cabin. “Best we understand, magic is incredibly delicate. When too many people mess in it, things go boom.”
She stared at him. This was all impossible, especially in this day and age. And yet, wasn’t there lots of information on the Internet about magic and the like? Fairies are real! Get your own pixie dust here!
He moved awkwardly in his seat. “After centuries of things going wrong, shifters decided to keep it secret or else.” He leveled her with a steady look. “You should remember that.”
“I’ll remember that if only because I hate it when people think I’m an idiot.”
He gave her a lopsided smile. “There’s that, too.”
She took a deep breath. “So no telling Dad.”
“Not until Carl says okay. Believe me, we’ve discussed it. But?—”
“He’d want to publish it.” There was no doubt in her mind that her father couldn’t keep this to himself. And that left her back where she started: confused and without answers. “But what is this all about?”
Mark shrugged. “We think someone is messing with shifter DNA. Two someones, actually. Mad Einstein as Theo calls him?—”
“Who?”
“Theo is Becca’s adopted son. Kidnapped a few months ago by Mad Einstein so the bastard could do experiments on their shifter DNA.”
She recoiled in horror. Becca’s son went through that? “That’s awful!”
“Yeah.” The sound was more growl of fury than word, and she watched Mark struggle for a moment with his anger. His jaw tightened, his shoulders hunched, and there might have been a thickening of the hair on his forearms. But a moment later, he seemed to get himself under control. “The bastard had a partner, too. Crazy Cat Lady.”
