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“I do, and we’ll work on it after dinner. For now, I should tell you that I’ve scanned the minds of the huàsheng and discovered much I wasn’t aware of. It isn’t likely you’ll have the kinds of control issues a shapeshifter has. While there will be a learning curve and we’ll have to be careful for a while, you’ll stay yourself; you won’t shapeshift. You aren’t two-natured in the way of the shifters, and in fact, once you have several tattoos, you’ll be even more yourself than you are now with one tattoo.”
“I think I need some explanation on that one,” Lauren’s mom said.
“Right now, she’s trying to understand her hawk, and trying to merge the hawk’s abilities into her own senses. Once she’s dealing with the abilities of other animals, so she has a better sense of smell, better hearing, and whatever else she gains, she’ll integrate them in such a way that she’ll know who she is and who her riders are.”
“Riders?” Lauren asked.
“In Mandarin, it’s zhànshì wén qí, so rider seems the best translation.”
Lauren had him trace the characters onto the table with his finger, and she nodded. In Mandarin, it gave the impression of warrior rider, rather than just a rider, which fit.
“Okay, so having multiple riders will help me integrate them into my senses, is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes, and from what I gather, the sooner you add the next, the better.”
“A bear will give me a good sense of smell as well as hearing, and can protect me when I’m in danger.”
“And you’ve always had an affinity for bears,” her mom said.
Lauren nodded, because her mother was absolutely right. “I need to make sure a vampire who can control bears won’t be able to control me if I have a bear rider.”
“He won’t,” said Mordecai. “Though it’s possible he might be able to affect the bear when it’s not riding you. It’s also possible he might be able to make the bear not be able to give you the information you’re used to getting, depending on the strength of your shields, the bear’s shields, and the vampire.”
“I’ve figured out that my hawk is going to need his own shields. He’s wide open right now.”
“He’ll have to learn them.”
“So I have to figure out how to teach him?”
“Yes.”
“If you’ve been through the mind of the huàsheng, there’s no reason for me to have to get one of them to teach me, right?”
Mordecai looked at her mom, who told her, “That isn’t on the table for tonight’s discussion.”
“No, it isn’t on the table until I’m ready to talk about it, and I asked the question, which means I’m talking about it.”
Mordecai sighed. “There’s no record of you. I went into the mind of the person who keeps their records, and I’ve viewed the master family tree she keeps. Nowhere is it listed a female child was abandoned. Three male children and seven female children who did not appear to have the gift of the bloodline were sent to live at a monastery. All come home for holidays and are loved and cared for as family. No child with the gift has ever been sent away. The children in the monastery move back home once they’re old enough to keep the secret if they do not thrive in the monastery. The rest come home when they graduate. Those with intelligence are sent to establishments that will make the most of their minds, others are sent to martial arts institutions.”
“And those with the gift?”
“Are trained in-house, to prepare for when their gift kicks in. All learn martial arts and something akin to ethics and rhetoric, with the rest of their education and training dependent upon their personality and the best job for them in the various family businesses.”
“So why was I abandoned?”
Mordecai shook his head. “You look a great deal like the matriarch did when she was your age, so I do believe this is your family. I do not know why they didn’t know of you, because that is the only solution to the question.”
This was a family that takes care of their own, but they’d abandoned Lauren. She felt cold all the way through.
“I’m the luckiest mom on the planet,” her mother said, “because I got to take you home with me. You’re wanted and loved and adored. I will support whatever decision you make in regards to them. The more people who love you, the better. You willalwayshave me. No matter what.”
Lauren took a breath and then a drink of cool water, rather than another sip of wine. She swallowed and looked around. This was home.Herhome.
“Thanks, mom. I love you too.” She looked around again. “I love all of you.”
“I considered you one of my kits long before your mother and I became an item,” Nathan told her. “And I couldn’t be more proud of the young lady you’ve grown into. Most people your age, I’d have concerns about you gaining this kind of power, and what you might do with it, but I have no such concerns with you. My goal is to help you figure out how to make the most of it.”
“Agreed,” said Cora. “With a new wolf, a third to a half of my talks with them involve ethics and rules, and how we must take care of humans and be careful of them. With you, I just want to help you grow even stronger.”
