As much as us supes wanted to say we were superior, we, in fact, needed humans.
Vampires for their blood, the fae for their life force, werewolves to bolster their ranks, and demons for their souls. Mages were just humans with the ability to tap into earth's natural power, using the elements and runes to make their bodies stronger, making them contenders against the other supes.
We needed humans alive and thriving. Needed our cities functioning and successful. Our food sources plentiful. That was why the Syndicate was made in the first place.
Five of the strongest supes of each species, my grandfathers, had realized that wiping out humanity would only starve us eventually if we fought and won against the humans during the Awakening.
Now I was one of those responsible for keeping that balance intact.No pressure.
I slowly leaned back, eyes narrowing on the blade again.
Destroying it clearly wasn’t the answer, so maybe I was thinking about it all wrong. If the magic adapted to attacks,maybe it could be redirected instead. Maybe I could distract it. Manipulate it into thinking the opposite was happening.
Light taps from my fingers against the desk were the only sound as I kept thinking.
It fed off magic, right? What if I built something it wanted more than a living target? Something overloaded with magical output. A decoy. A magical magnet that would pull its attention.
My tablet snapped into my hand, and I started sketching out ideas and writing down formulas. Thoughts moved faster than my fingers as possibilities unfolded, one after another.
Amplification arrays options. Rune loop spells. Trying to figure out the best way to amplify a small amount of magic source into a large enough source that the fae magic would naturally gravitate toward it.
The lab door whooshed open behind me.
“We’re here!”
Every muscle in my body locked. That voice.Oh no. My eyes slid shut, my hand pausing over my table.Please let that not be who I think it is.
“Boy!” Tata Ternin barked. “Are you deaf? What's wrong with you? Think you're too big in your britches to turn around and hug your tata, huh?!”
“Tern,” Papu Syris whispered as if he were on stage, letting the audience in on a secret, “kids don’t saybritchesanymore.”
“He still understands what I mean, doesn’t he?” Ternin shot back immediately.
“That’s not the point, Ternin,” a cold, calculating voice called out, and I knew it was Easton. His tone spoke volumes of his exhaustion, like a man who’d spent centuries dealing with idiots. “You’re dating yourself and making the rest of us look bad by association.”
“We’re old! Who cares?” Pop-pop Manic boomed with a laugh. “Embrace it!”
My shoulders sagged so hard I nearly slid out of my chair, but I knew I had to face the music or else they would just get… worse.
Slowly turning around, I came face to face with all four of my grandfathers standing in my lab like some ancient council of chaos.
Ternin already had his hands on his hips, eyeing me up and down. Manic looked one sentence away from starting a bar fight for fun. Easton appeared elegantly unimpressed by existence itself, rolling his eyes at the rest of them. Syris gasped dramatically the second our eyes met, running up to me like a long-lost member of the family even though I saw him a month ago.
“Calix!”
He barreled toward me with open arms before I could dodge, crushing me into a hug that smelled like expensive cologne and the airy scent most fairies had.
“There’s my boy!”
He squeezed me once more before shoving me backward to arm’s length, both hands gripping my shoulders while he inspected me like I was livestock at auction.
Then his eyes narrowed dangerously before a wide grin spread. That was never a good sign.
“Now tell me,” he said, his voice dripping with delight, “who is that gorgeous little red rose upstairs?” Before the answer even formed in my brain, he followed with, “And when exactly are you getting her pregnant?”
I closed my eyes immediately. One long inhale. One slow exhale. I loved this man. All four of them practically raised me while my parents were doing their boss duties.
While everyone in the family would understand why I murdered him, it would be frowned upon. Probably upset my mom more than anything. Her and Syris always liked to rag on anyone that was around.
