Seeing Dayshia approaching and how she was watching Nate with a shocked expression, he remembered she saw through mors. It was toote to warn him. He had no idea what Nate’s natural state looked like, but it waspletely drawing her attention.
“This is Dayshia, very good friend of Sandy and her co-worker as well,” Henry said. “Nathan Walker. My new friend.”
“Enchanté,” Nate said with a cheeky smile as he raised her hand to his lips. Dayshia squeaked a little.
Henry leaned in closer to Nate’s ear. “Dayshia’s eyes see through mors.”
“OH!” Nate eximed in surprise. He wasn’t sure how to behave, and his flustered expression seemed to set Dayshia’s mind at ease. She smiled timidly at him. Kesini took Dayshia’s hand and gently guided her by Nate.
Tish was next, and Nate’s face opened up in a smile. “I’ve seen ssic paintings of Fauns, but I never thought I would meet one in real life,” he said in delight.
Tish smiled at him and nced to Henry. “I think I like the name Faun better than Satyr. It’s softer and feels feminine.”
“It suits you,” Henry said with a nod then realized that sounded a little flirty. Her smile and the twinkle in her eyes told him she thought so too. She ran her fingertips across his chest as she walked by.
Mary wasst. “This is Mary Carsten. Mary, this is Nathan Walker.” They shook hands and said their hellos. Henry saw the food was ready and people were taking seats, so he gestured for them to sit at the enormous table.
Cam, Marisa, and Meixiu joined them, and he saw Nate perk up when Marisa sat across from him.
Henry looked down the table and smiled to himself. His friends. He knew he owed them so much and he was going to make things right for them. Tonight, he was going to try to put that out of his mind and just enjoy-
His cell began to ring, so he pulled it from his pocket to frown at it. He moved to the next room to answer. “Yes?”
“Mr. Gable. This is Ikehorn.”
Henry’s frown deepened. “Yes?”
“Queen Mab has indicated you should arrive noter than 10 PM on Friday evening. The mages will be prepared for your friends at that time.”
Henry felt a little relief, but his dread picked up. “What- what does she want in return?”
There was a moment of hesitation then Ikehorn responded. “I don’t know. That, you will need to negotiate with Queen Mab.”
“Right.”
“Expect ate evening as there will be a party following the mage’s work which will conclude sometime after midnight,” Ikehorn exined.
“I doubt anyone is going to feel like partying.”
“That… is non-negotiable,” Ikehorn said reluctantly.
“Oh… fine. See you then.” Henry hung up. Shit. He took some deep breaths to calm his nerves.
“Is everything ok, Henry?”
He looked to see Cam in the doorway, a look of concern in her eyes.
He put a brave smile on for her. “Sure. I was just making arrangements for the mors. Apparently, there’s a party afterward.”
Cam’s expression didn’t lighten. If anything, she seemed more unsettled. “The Queen is throwing a party?”
He nodded as his smile slipped away.
She moved forward and it was her turn to show a brave face. She gathered him into her arms and hugged him. “We’ll all be there for you.”
He sighed in relief. “Thanks, Cam.”
They walked back to the dining room and took seats. The choices were Thai, Chinese, Burgers, Pizza, and sds. He grabbed a couple of slices of pizza and settled back. Everyone but Mary chose something to eat and began. Mary stuck to bottled water.
As they ate, Sigrid began a process to bring the group together. She started by introducing herself and gave a little blurb about what she did. Cam spoke next, and the pattern was set. Once it went around the table, Sigrid began talking about what it meant to be one of the Hidden Races. What new and unique responsibilities the ‘newbies’ would now be facing.
Cam picked up the conversation to give them an overview of some of the different races they may meet but stressed that, except to Dayshia’s eyes, they would appear as humans as they wore mors, magic disguises the Fae produced for the Hidden Races that cannot provide their own.
“I still don’t exactly understand what a mor is,” Mary stated.
Sigrid nodded. “Sandy, Dayshia, and Tish were changed and require spells to make them appear Human so they can live amongst the Human poption. Your change didn’t alter your appearance, so you don’t need one. Races like Satyrs or Fauns, Subi, Incubi, Lycanthrope, Fae, Arachnids, and others, all need to put on a Human disguise. It’s a magic spell, a construct made of magic energy itself, which is bound to you and alters your appearance, so people and cameras see the disguise and not the real you. It can be turned on and off.
Mary looked to Roy. “That night in the alley. Therge wolf monster. That was you?”
He nodded. “But we’re not monsters. That’s a term left to those with malicious intent and evil tendencies.”
Mary thought about that and nodded to herself. Then she looked to Henry. “You’re wearing a mor?”
He nodded.
“What are you?”
He nced at Roy then back to Mary. “One of the first things I learned when I discovered I wasn’t human was, you don’t ask questions like that. Assume everyone is human and behave like they, and you,arehuman. This protects everyone but especially yourself.” Seeing Mary’s frown, he went on. “Now, we’re in a controlled environment, so it’s safe to drop my mor here.
He pushed back from the table and brought his napkin with him. He unfolded the cloth and held it before his groin. He gave the table an embarrassed smile. “I forgot to wear my kilt under my mor.” He turned his eyes to Mary and dropped the disguise.
She lurched to her feet in surprise. “You’re a- you’re a…” she gasped as she stared at him wide-eyed.
“A Satyr. Only one of my kind untilst night when Tish became… a Faun,” he exined. Mary moved up to stand before him.
“You changed her as you changed me? How?” she asked.
“When I was very young, I was linked to a different realm of magic than the rest of the Hidden Races. Their magic has no effect on humans, but the new magic is powerful, chaotic, anddoesaffect humans. My body is saturated with it. My… semen is charged with it as is my blood. If ingested, it can cause dramatic and random changes in humans. With sufficient quantity, it links the person to the same realm of magic as me, so their abilities be powered by the stronger magic.
“You knew this when we had sex?!?” Mary barked.
“That’s why I insisted on the condom!” he returned.
She blinked at him as her recollection wasn’t entirely sharp for that night. “If you had a condom on then how?
“You removed it for me. There was a lot still on me so…” he leaned in to whisper. “… you used your mouth to clean me off.”
She red at him. “And you didn’t stop me?”
He blinked in surprise. “You caught me by surprise, so I didn’t have time to stop you. You had my wrists cuffed behind my back, under me!” he argued.
Nate snorted, and Sandy couldn’t stop her blurt of surprised giggles. Tish had a big grin on her face as well.
Henry’s face was burning as he looked back at the table to see the smiles there. He looked back to Mary who was struggling to deal with her mixed up emotions. His heart hurt to see that. “I’m sorry. I tried to prevent it but I failed, and that’s on me. I will do whatever I can to make it up to you. You won’t need a mor- uh…” he had a sudden thought, so he turned to face Marisa. “Is Mary linked to the new realm? Is her changeplete?”
Marisa stood and walked around the table as Mary watched her nervously. “It’s ok, I just need to take your scent,” Marisa said to ease the woman’s concerns. She leaned in to put her face next to Mary’s and inhaled deeply.
“I take it you’re not human either,” Mary said quietly.
Marisa leaned back and smiled. “No, I’m a Subus.” She dropped her mor. Mary gasped at the intense beauty of the alien looking woman standing next to her. “Mary’s definitely linked to the new realm. The link is strong so her change should beplete,” Marisa said confidently.
Nate, sitting next to Mary, gasped as well and stood to drop his mor as he stepped closer to face Marisa. The pearly white of her skin sharply contrasted with the darkest ck of his. He reached out to take her hand.
Marisa’s sight red again as she felt an undeniable pull towards the handsome Incubus. Images shed through her mind,yers uponyers of intensely personal possibilities… the potentials were overwhelming. She closed her eyes and pushed with all her might to stop the onught and gradually her mind calmed as her ability slipped into its paused state once more.
Strong arms were around her, and that felt warm and safe and natural. Her eyes opened, and she saw Henry watching her from a few steps away. She couldn’t read his expression as it seemed to be rapidly changing. He threw his mor on as he looked away and excused himself, walking from the room. She heard the back door open and close.
She gently pushed back from Nate, and he looked at her in concern.
“Are you ok? You were trembling, and you began to copse,” he asked quietly.
“Yes, I’m better. Thank you.” She nced into his eyes and felt that tugging again, so she quickly nced away. Her eyesnded on her mother’s all too knowing gaze.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.
Sigrid was getting to her feet to go after Henry, but Cam reached out to catch her hand. “Please. Let me.” She stood and left the room. She’d wanted to speak to him since she arrived. It was about time she did.
-=-
Mary looked at Roy who was finishing up his dinner and gestured for him to join her. He wiped his mouth and stood to follow her to the side of the dining room.
She looked up at him. “I need to know. How was VRL involved in what happened to Detective Harmon?” she asked quietly.
Roy nodded and sighed. “Not all Human minds cope with the sights you’ve seen tonight. Good on you for dealing with the changes so well.” When she just held his gaze with an expectant expression, Roy continued.
“Some months back Henry was kidnapped by some Fae. The kidnapping was caught on amateur video, and it went viral. Detective Harmon and Detective Morris investigated. Henry managed to get free, but when they met him at his condo, he couldn’t tell them the truth, of course. He’s terrible at lying, but the case reached a dead end as the loose ends had been tidied up by the Fae. Detective Harmon continued to investigate though Morris wanted nothing to do with it. Harmon followed Henry and got tangled in the middle of a power struggle between two powerful witches, both of whom were using Henry for their selfish purposes. Harmon arrived with the stronger of the two witches, and he must have seen her do something truly terrifying as he was almost catatonic with fear. Truthfully, she scares the piss out of me just to be in the same room with her, so I suppose Harmon didn’t stand a chance. Cam can heal minds if the trauma doesn’t go too deep. She tried to help Harmon and went on somedateswith him afterward, trying to fix the damage, but she could tell he was slipping away. He finally didn’t show for a date, and that was that.”