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"Is that true?" I asked.
"I can't change them into beasts; I can only change them back again. "
"They're shape-shifters?" Grace asked.
"Of a kind. "
"Maybe you should start at the beginning," I said.
"Maybe I should. " He swept out his hand in a "be my guest" gesture. "Let's take this inside. "
Moments later Grace and I sat in Mal's wagon. His bed was made, probably because he'd spent the majority of the night in mine, then the rest of it doing whatever he'd been doing in the woods with the others.
His clothes spilled out of drawers built beneath his bed. A single table was covered with books and papers; the titles reminded me of the ones I'd found in Grace's attic. A lot on the paranormal - spells, magic, curses.
"What are you?" I asked.
"A. . . Well, there really isn't a word for it in English. I. . . can do things. "
Grace leaned forward. "Magic?"
"Yes. "
"Why?"
"Because I'm Rom. "
"All Gypsies, I mean Rom, can do magic?" I guess that was a stupid question, since we'd just seen half of them change from an animal into a person.
"No. Only the pure. "
My eyes narrowed. Terms like "pure" and "master race" really set my teeth on edge lately.
"Pure in what way?" I asked.
"Pure Rom blood. Not intermingled with the gadje. "
"I'd think that would be pretty hard to do in this day and age. "
"We aren't exactly from this day and age. "
My head was starting to hurt. I rubbed my eyes and let Grace take over.
"You time-traveled?" she asked.
He actually had the guts to laugh. "No. I was born in 1754. "
"Sure you were, pal. "
His eyebrows lifted. "You saw a grizzly become a man, but I couldn't be born two hundred and fifty years ago?"
Grace bit her lip. "Fine. Whatever. Go on. "
"There was a chovhani, a witch, and she - " He glanced at me, frowned, then looked away. "She loved me, but I could not love her back. "
Had that been a hint? Did it matter? Any future I might have dreamed of was lost. He was a magician? A warlock? A sorcerer? I wasn't up on the terminology. Regardless, he was something "other" and his people were shape-shifters. How's that for a good excuse not to commit?
"You pissed off a witch," Grace said. "Nice job. Let me guess, she cursed your ass. "
