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It’s later that night when I’m feeding Nessa that Diarmuid and Morrigan come through the front door wearing grim expressions. They went out to examine the dead body. “What did you find?” I ask quietly.
“Nessa’s father, he was dead when we arrived. A little further away I found her mother. I think they were trying to leave her somewhere safe, but got ambushed before they could,” Morrigan says solemnly.
“We found a note and a teddy bear on the mother’s person. Explaining that they loved her dearly and they needed someone to take her in. They didn’t mention what they were running from, but the magic residue we found wasn’t from a monster, it was from some other powerful supernaturals. It was too old to figure out what type specifically with nothing to compare it to.”
My brows furrow and I scan Nessa’s adorable sleeping face. “We’ll keep her safe,” I grunt. The others both nod in full agreement as a sense of determined peace settles over us. I cuddle her closer before relaxing back in the chair, Morrigan and Diarmuid spreading out around the room.
Chapter One — Nessa
PresentDay…
I blow a long strand of black hair out of my face in an exasperated fashion. Goddess, I hate packing. You know what, actually, I don’t hate packing, but I do hate leaving my room which doubles as my book haven. An entire wall is dedicated to books, all artfully arranged in floor to ceiling black bookshelves.Bookshelves I will have to abandon in forty-eight hours.Nope, I can’t do it. Maybe I can con the academy into letting me do the last two years online as well? I mean, I got straight A’s for the first two years doing it that way. So, it’s not like I’m going to fail.
With a world weary sigh I flop back onto my queen bed, another thing that I’ll miss. My eyes snag on the sheet covered board shoved off to the side of the room and my lips pinch, nerves swirling in my stomach, but alongside that is determination. I know what I’ll find if I remove the sheet, but I just don’t have it in me today to pour over it and agonise over the could-have-beens. The vivid pictures pinned to it are already burned into my mind as it is. Memories threaten to rise up, but I shove them away.Okay, pity party time is over. Lexi will be here soon.
I quickly finish packing a backpack’s worth of clothes and two suitcases. Then, using a basic storage spell—with great difficulty—I shrink the covered cork board and place it into my suitcase gently. I let out a satisfied breath as I glance over my packed suitcases. One is waterproof and filled with strategically arranged books and consequently heavy as fuck. The other has all my school textbooks and human technology, and isn’t much lighter than my book one.
Lexi and I are sort of nerds. Well, I am, she’s an extrovert that happens to love hacking, while I prefer to hide in my room with my nose buried in a book. I opted to complete my first two years of the academy online. Yeah, I’m sure you can see the differences. Lexi portals home from the academy every weekend to see her family, so we haven’t grown apart since she left, but she is ecstatic that I have to do my last couple of years at the actual school with her.
I work on brushing out my waist-length hair as I contemplate what this year is going to be like. Awkward, probably. I chose to do online schooling when my magic still hadn’t come in by my twentieth birthday. A familiar frustration curls in my chest at the thought of my magic. I know it’s there, and have since my eighteenth birthday, but it’s an internal battle to try and use it for even the most basic spells. It’s as though my magic is locked and I have no clue how to unlock it.
So instead, I took only the academic and theory side of all my classes, which means I’ve actually completed all of that up until graduation. All I need to focus on for the next two years is the physical side. Which, frankly, is going to be really embarrassing because my magic still hasn’t come in properly.
My fathers are monsters. No, not bad people like the word automatically brings to mind, but literal monsters. It’s the umbrella category that their supernatural species fall under—well,ourspecies fall under. Two of my fathers are A-class, which means they have multiple powers but only one that’s strong, which is their primary one. Diarmuid’s primary power is my favourite out of all my fathers, he can influence the weather. As a girl who grew up loving storms, I was constantly begging him to call on them for me. Azure has the ability to trick someone into thinking they’re feeling debilitating pain with just a thought, which is considered strong for an A-class monster.
Though they are powerful, they’ve got nothing on O-class monsters. They’re extremely rare and when discovered, coveted for their powers. Unlike other classes they have multiple powers that are all at the same strength level, which as a baseline, match that of an A-classes primary one. There aren’t any around here, due to their rarity they’re seen as gods in the realm and are almost always in upper class positions. Not walking among people below them, like us normal supes.
I snort. I’d hate that and would be quite happy as a mediocre B-class. My eyes catch on my black claws and I grunt. B-class are considered the most common and most have a jumble of weak to medium level powers with possibly a few physical tells that point to them beingother.And lastly, G-class, who barely register as supernatural and a lot of the time never realise they’re anything more than human. People with light psychic powers often fall into this class in the human realm, and quite often end up working in a field where they can utilise it.
Then there is me, I know I’m not a G-class because of my claws and the small amount of magic I can access, but I don’t exactly qualify as a B-class either. If there were something in between the two, that’s where I would be. N-class, for Nessa, a class all of my own.
My Dads don’t believe that for one moment, though they haven’t told me their theories of what I could be, they do believe it will be revealed in time and the best way for that to work is to attend school.
Still trying to wrangle my hair I let out a sigh of frustration. Meeting the golden eyes of my reflection, I cock my head to the side. I think I’m finally going to cut my hair. Tossing my head back and forth a little I decide on a bob. My sharp features stare back at me from the mirror as I try to imagine myself with my hairstyle of choice. Yep, it’s gonna make me look totally badass. I snort at myself.Yeah… that’s a big no, ten-four rubber ducky.
Giving up, I toss the hair brush onto my vanity and go downstairs. My feet thud on each step, announcing my presence. I’m fairly tall for a supernatural woman at 6 foot 1, and I blame that for my lack of stealth. Lexi’s going to be a hairdresser when she graduates and is taking human classes alongside her supernatural ones, so hopefully she’ll do my hair for me. I know the field I want to work in, but I don’t know which specific section will suit my goals.Working for the supernatural FBI or SFBI, is my current goal. But to get there, I have to work my way up the ranks first through the Supe police force and then—hopefully—onto an SFBI team that shares similar values as me. But that could just be a pipe dream of mine. Either way, I’ve done the theory classes I need and passed with flying colours, and now I have the next two years to prove my worth in my physical classes so when I graduate, I can already be ahead in my goal.
The kitchen smells amazing, Morrigan must be cooking. My stomach rumbles, and I wave good morning when I find my three dads already seated around the dining room table. They each give me a chorus of distracted greetings while I begin piling up my plate before digging in. Goddess, this is amazing. As I shovel in mouthfuls of food, the droning background noises from our TV draws my attention.
“...The number of supernaturals going missing throughout the Supernatural Realm has risen dramatically over the last seven days. The Drákon group is said to be behind these attacks, but the supernatural police and FBI are hesitant to confirm anything. If anyone has any information please ring the tipline…”
I zone the rest of the newswomen's spiel out when I’m sure there is nothing new being mentioned and stare at my plate as guilt clenches my chest. The Drákon group have been terrorising the supernatural realm for the last few years and are steadily getting more brash in their attacks and the supes they’re kidnapping. High ranking officials and powerful well-knowns being part of the list of who have been taken, means no one is safe. The group works under a mated pair of supernaturals whose identities are well guarded with the goal to return the realm to being under one rule. Or so the rumours say, anyways. My fingers curl into fists at just the thought of them and I suck in a breath to steady my emotions.The Drákon group are just a part of the reason I want to work with the SFBI, the injustice of it all is insane and I want it to change.
I’m distracted from my heavy thoughts when Lexi comes flying in. She’s a bundle of energy and happiness. Her mood is contagious and a small smile graces my lips as she delivers hugs and hello’s to all of my dads before coming over to strangle—I mean, hug me. Thankfully she keeps it mostly around my shoulders, I’d probably burst if she squeezed my stomach. My nose crinkles. Eww, that was an image I definitely didn’t need after eating. I wash up my plate, then we head upstairs together.
Lexi flops down onto my bed with a huff, thumbing through a new novel I’m currently reading while I run through the mental checklist I have for what I’ll need packed. The quiet between us is comfortable and after I’ve rechecked everything my focus shifts to her.
“So, how are you doing?” I ask softly.
A broad grin stretches her lips. “Great, Layla and Dan are so excited to meet you in person. Are you nervous?”
My lips twitch at her enthusiasm. Layla and Dan are her partners, they’re engaged to be bonded officially at the end of the school semester in a few months time. My amazing bestie put her foot down and said that they had to hold off on bonding for at least a semester so I can quote, ‘get the proper roommate, university experience with my bestie’. The last of my sour mood dissipates and I grin at Lex. “I can’t wait to meet them too. And, yeah, a little.” I shrug. I’ll deal with it. I watch her peek in my suitcase for a minute before I ask hesitantly, “I was thinking of cutting my hair, would you like to do—” I’m cut off when she flies at me with a shriek.
“Yes! What were you thinking? A trim, shoulder length, bangs?” she prattles excitedly.She runs her fingers through my thick hair, cupping it and twisting it in different ways with an intense look of concentration on her face, as though she’s visualising me with different hairstyles.
“A bob. What type do you think would suit me best?” I’m not surprised when her mouth falls open. It’s been years since I’ve properly cut my hair and never that short before, but I feel like it’s time for a new start. Lexi’s face falls into her professional mask as she examines my face with a clinical eye before she shuffles my hair around again, holding it so it's sitting at different shorter lengths.
