A shiver ran down my spine. I could still feel his teeth grazing my throat.
My aunt took my hand and walked me over to make introductions, pulling me from my memories. "Lizzy, I'd like you to meet Alex, Alice, Talin, and it appears you've already met Angel?"
"I did," I said. To Talin I joked, "Looks like you and I are the odd balls out."
She frowned, her eerie green eyes flickering between me and my aunt.
I pointed back and forth between us. "Lizzy. Talin. The only ones without an 'A' name..." When she just looked at me I gave up and turned to Angel.
"You met up with Mike the other night, right?"
She gave my aunt a sideways look before giving me a simple, "Mmm-hmm."
"Mike?" Aunt Judy asked. "Your assistant?"
"That would be him." There was a lot of subterfuge going on here I didn't really understand. My aunt didn't look happy about Angel's new friend. "He's a great guy," I told her, feeling the need to defend him, even though I didn't know why. But what I was really wondering was who these people were to her and why she would even care. "So, what's going on? Why the super-secret meeting?" I meant it as a joke, but no one even cracked a smile.
"I'm kind of wondering that myself," Alex told her. His voice was deep, and just raspy enough to sound more "sex" and less "I drink too much and scream at strangers in the street".
Aunt Judy came to stand beside me. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my brother's daughter, my niece, Lizzy...Smith."
I noticed the slight pause with the last name I'd chosen for myself in my attempts to separate myself from my past as much as possible, but didn't have time to wonder about it as all eyes were suddenly on me. I read varying levels of emotions in those looks, from pleasantly surprised by sweet-looking Alice to downright hostile from Angel.
"And, so...what? She's your niece so you expect us to just bring her into the fold?" Angel asked her.
"She has as much right to be here as any of you," my aunt told her.
"I agree," Alice said. "I felt it as soon as she walked in. Alex?"
His eyes were thoughtful as they assessed me. "Yeah, I felt it."
"Talin?"
She'd been quiet up until now, and when she finally spoke, I could hear just the slightest bit of distrust in her voice. "Yes, it's there."
The tension in the room had just shot up a crazy amount, and I tried to bring it down to a suitable level. "Does this mean I get to be in the knitting club, or...?"
Angel gave me a look of disgust. "She doesn't even take this seriously. How do you expect us to accept her?"
"She's family," my aunt told her. "That why we're all here."
"Why are you just bringing her around now?" Talin asked.
"Because she didn't know about our history until just the other night at dinner. You all are probably too young to remember, but her mother took her away when she was twelve. She never told Lizzy about any of you. The only reason I was allowed to see her was because I promised I wouldn't talk about it.” She rubbed my back in what was meant to be a comforting gesture but just made me feel like a child again. "She didn't know she comes from a magical family, or that she herself has any abilities."
"Maybe we should keep it that way," Alex said. "It could be too dangerous to bring her in now." He turned his attention to me. "You're like, what? Forty?"
"I'm thirty-eight," I informed him. He looked around the same age as me, so I couldn't imagine why I was being discriminated against. I've lived with whatever was inside of me as long as he's lived with whatever was inside of him.
"She's too old," he said. "How will she ever learn to control it?" He glanced around at the others, who seemed to be in agreement for the most part.
"That's exactly why she needs us. What will happen if she doesn't?" my aunt asked them all. "We're lucky she hasn't accidentally turned someone into a toad in the middle of Manhattan." There was laughter in her tone at the thought, but I could see she was also perfectly serious.
Everyone started talking. At my aunt. At each other. Anywhere but at me.
I listened for a full minute before I'd had enough. Setting my coffee on the counter, I threw both hands in the air, palms out, effectively getting everyone's attention. "I would really appreciate it if you all would stop talking about me like I wasn't here. I'm a grown woman, not a child."
They all turned to me like they just remembered I was there.
