Page 34 of No One’s Daughter

“The property is spelled,” Davien said flatly, as though plucking the thought straight from my head. “Supernatural creatures are hidden from the eyes of humans within five hundred metres of this property. For protection. To them it looks like an ordinary boring house. Like the rest.”

Of course it did.

“Reassuring,” I muttered.

He didn’t respond.

We quickly made our way to the front door and Davien pushed the unlocked door open, without so much as a knock. He pulled me along hesitantly as we entered the narrow hallway.

The air smelt overwhelmingly floral, and I glanced up instinctively and realised why. The ceiling was lined with bundles of dried flowers and herbs. It was… a nice surprise. For a fleeting moment, my guard slipped. There was something about the place that felt inviting. It was as though the house tried to enchant me and I didn’t trust that.

We moved through the house, the space opening slightly into a kitchen at the back that was worn, but lived-in. My eyes lifted to the ceiling as I took in the cloudy sky through the skylight at the centre of the room.

“Make yourself at home why don’t you?” A female voice, light and warm drifted in through the open back door.

Davien let out a quiet chuckle. “Don’t pretend you didn’t know we were coming.”

There was movement beyond the doorway, then she appeared. “Alright, darling?” She said to me, as though we’d been casually introduced rather than… whatever this was.

Before I could respond, she stepped forward and wrapped Davien in a familiar embrace.

I stilled.

They were friends.

Great.

There went any lingering idea that I might have had about finding help here.

I forced a small nod in her direction as my attention flickered briefly back to him, a bit taken aback at his change in demeanour. He was so friendly. Suddenly laid back.

It was… jarring. And, for reasons I didn’t care to examine too closely, deeply unsettling.

The two of them exchanged a few quiet words before their attention shifted back to me.

“Well then,” she said, eyes narrowing just a fraction as she took me in properly, curiosity threading through her voice. “What have we got here?”

“We’re hoping you can help us with that, Eve,” Davien replied. “She’s… a friend. We think she’s a true born, but aside from that we really don’t know anything.”

Friend, I couldn’t help the snort that escaped me at his use of the word. We definitely weren’t friends. Couldn’t be further from it. I didn’t even know him before yesterday and he sure as shit didn’t know me.

Were we friends? No, of course we weren't. I supposed perhaps he simply used the word friend to keep her name a secret. He did say they had to be careful. Ugh, I was overthinking again. I tried to calm my mind so I focused on the view beyond the kitchen window.

A truly beautiful garden, full of colourful shapes, of flowers that had lingered into the late autumn, stubbornly holding onto that last bit of summer. Even in the dark of night, I could tell it was her pride and joy and I imagined the smell of it, trailing my hands though the different textures of the foliage until Eve’s touch suddenly whipped me back to the conversation at hand.

“Well that is interesting, let’s see….” She turned to me, gently lifting my hand, turning my wrist upward, as if inspecting me. Carefully.

“I’ll have to take some blood. I can try a blood marker spell. That should tell us what lineage she comes from.”

“Sounds good, but only take what you need,” Davien answered for me.

“That ok?” Eve asked me directly, ignoring Davien. She definitely wasn’t scared of him. They must have known each other well.

“Yes,” I responded softly. There was no point protesting. As much as the thought of needles repelled me, I didn’t have much of a choice. I needed to know who I was. What I was. Eve took three vials of blood while the two of them carried on their casual conversation, and I was once again enthralled by the garden beyond the backdoor. Anything to distract myself from what was happening was a welcome reprieve.

Then the two of them froze.

Their heads tilted upward in unison, toward the ceiling.