Syndrian grabbed my hand and introduced me. “Lord and Lady Oderisi, this is Palmeria Lombard. Pali, Neo and Brex are two of my most trusted friends. You know Odile, and the butler, the angel of the household, is Antonia.”
Antonia tucked her long white hair behind an ear and gave me a quiet smile. Then she excused herself. “The children,” she explained. “They are desperate for any sort of excitement.”
Once Antonia left, I rubbed my face and stared at the floor. I was in a strange, small sitting room with strangers who, in a matter of hours, felt like family. I suspected each one of them would play a critical role in my life—the life I was now about to make for myself.
I looked to Syndrian for guidance. “Odile lives here with Neo and Brex?”
He nodded. “As does her sister, who is married to Neo’s brother, but I suspect they’re—”
“They’re working,” Brex said with a sly smile.
“And the children?” I asked.
“Former foundlings,” Brex said proudly. “Orphans I lived with until the foundling home burned down and I married this one.” She jerked a thumb at Neo, a sparkly gold-and-red ring on her hand catching the firelight.
“That means you’re up to date,” Neo said, putting an arm around his wife. “Except for one thing.”
“I can think of far more than just one thing,” I said, shaking my head. My mind was spinning with questions. “You, Neo, are a…”
He nodded, his handsome face looking unusually pale. “It can be very dangerous to help someone after a vengersax attack,” he explained. “The venom released from my bite has healing properties, but I consume some of the bird’s toxin when I feed. Thankfully, you got him here quickly, and Biko is…exceptionally strong.”
“He wasn’t human when he was bit.” I said the words not caring who knew or what secrets I was revealing. Lives were at risk now, real lives. Neo had endangered himself for Biko. We’d all been put at risk watching a vampire drink blood. And since my mother had cast me out and released the crofter from his duty… I dropped my face in my hands. We were all very much connected.
Idony stroked Biko’s hair away from his face. He smiled weakly. “I’m all right, Mum.” He nodded at me. “Pali, Pali, my sweet sister-gal-y.” He rolled his healing hand, inspecting the bandages. “I never expected you to find out this way. I never expected you to find out at all.”
“Find out what?” I asked. “That you have some sort of gift too? With the parents we have…” I clenched my hands into fists, trying to understand. “What more don’t I know? Didn’t you consider I had gifts too? That I had secrets or powers? That all these years, instead of hiding them, being terrified for my life, I could have used someone I loved and trusted who understood what this was like?”
“With your parents,” Idony said, “nothing is ever as simple as it should be.”
I was near tears when Brex took Neo’s hand.
“We should give you some time to talk,” she said, tugging her husband toward the door.
“We have no place to go back to,” I blurted. “My mother dismissed Biko and Idony. Cast them from the crofter’s cottage. She said I was not to return home if I left with Biko, and clearly…”
Brex and Neo traded looks, but Odile was the one who spoke up. “You can all stay here. You should, in fact, spend the night. Until we can sort things out in the morning.” She squeezed Biko’s shoulder. “I’ll come back with bedding and fresh water. We’ll leave you to sort things out. Flynn, come help me.”
After Lord and Lady Oderisi and Odile left us alone, the room fell silent. Biko’s breathing was clear and deep, and Idony quietly wrung her hands. “Is it true, son? Have we been cast out by the Lombards?”
Biko nodded. “When I didn’t find you at home and all our money was gone…”
“You noticed?” Idony’s cheeks flushed, and she looked ashamed.
“Of course I noticed, Mum. I was worried sick and confronted Lady Lombard.” Biko’s shoulders sagged. “And I did not treat her with the respect she demanded. She let me go. I suppose she’ll allow us to return home for our things, but…I don’t know.”
“The Lombards won’t deny you what’s yours.” Syndrian strode to his friend and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “They won’t want the kind of trouble we can bring upon them. You’ll get your things back. I’ll see to it personally.”
“Can we please talk for a minute about what happened?” Now that the fear for Biko had passed, I was exhausted. I was truly beginning to realize the consequences of the night’s events. My mother had done something so reckless, so dangerous, Biko could have been killed. I could have been killed… And yet, in her fury, she cast Biko from his role. Told me never to return home to my family. Could she have meant it? What I really needed to know more than anything, though, was whether my father and Biko shared the same power. Since my mother and I both had the ability to manipulate fire, what secrets did my father’s body hold? And what about Idony?
Biko nodded. “I’m sorry you had to see that, sis.” He roughly rubbed his face and chuckled. “I’ve only just discovered I could do that. Still getting control of it.”
“You mean change into a bear,” I prodded. The sitting room was chilly, and I shivered, wrapping my hands tighter around myself. Syndrian brought me a woolen blanket and draped it over my shoulders. “Can you do that too?” I asked Idony.
She shook her head. “I’ve never been able to manipulate my own body,” she said. “I know very little about our unusual gifts. When your father and I connected, I thought the only thing we shared was bone-melting passion.”
“Ugh, Mother.” Biko grimaced and smacked his mouth like he’d tasted something sour. “Really not the time.”
I grinned despite my confusion and shivered under the blanket. “So you, my father, my mother, me, and Biko—we all have some type of forbidden magic?”