Chapter 23

October 10, 2000

It was a Tuesday night. Coralis was sitting at the foot of her bed, in her UK flat, listening to her voicemails. She had just gotten back from an EBEE combat training session and had a flyball game the next day in Germany. Her roommates were home, playing card games in the living room. She was so absorbed by Frank's messages, that she didn't realize that her roommates had stopped chatting and were also listening to them.

"Sis, dear beloved sis, when are you going to introduce us to this sweet-sounding male?" said Henry, standing against her door.

"No idea, guess it depends on how long it'll last between us. I like him, but I can hardly be there."

"Dude is inviting you to his family. Clearly, he isn't planning on dumping you anytime soon. He's human, right?" said Erik from the kitchen.

"Yeah he is human, but I don't care about that," she said. She got up, walked to the living room, grabbed a whiskey bottle from their liquor cabinet, poured herself a drink and chugged it. "I honestly don't know if I should go or not. I won't have a flyball game that night, so technically I could go. He likes me now, but he doesn't know anything about who I truly am. If things get serious between us, then I'll have to reveal myself, and I'm definitely not ready for that. If I go to his family… well, then it means things between us are already more serious than I'm willing to admit."

"You know you're really not the only elemental out there dating humans. Works out most of the time," said Gus.

"Most elementals don't have as many deadly enemies as I do. What if my enemies get to him, and use him as leverage against me?"

"Then we will help you get him out of their claws. You know you aren't alone, sis. We'll help you keep him safe. I don't care if your mate is human, so long as he treats you right," said Henry.

"I think you should go. If you don't, you know you'll regret it," said Erik.

Coralis poured herself another drink.

"Guess I'm gonna call him back to tell him I'll be there, provided the EBEE isn't sending me somewhere at the last minute."

"You didn't answer my question, sis. When are we going to meet him?" said Henry.

"He's a student, and he doesn't have a passport, so I won't be taking him to London anytime soon. We'll be playing each other in February, in Montreal. If we're still together at that point, guess you'll get to meet him then."

Eleven days later, she was in her bedroom in her Montreal apartment, getting ready to go to Frank's family party at his uncle's.

"I'm still not 100% sure that it is a good idea for me to go there. I like him, but you know it's a matter of time before things go south and we split up. We both know he hates me working all the time and not being available as often as he would like."

"If you don't go, things will go south. Frank likes you, very much so. He struggles with your lack of availability, but if you cancel on him, then he'll think you don't actually want him or aren't serious about him."

"And that's why I'll go. The twins convinced me to go. I told him I would go… so I will go. I know he likes me, but he doesn't know what I am. What if he can't handle the fact that his girlfriend isn't human? Or what if something happens to him just because of me? You've been nearly kidnapped because of me, so you know very well that it could happen if we get too close and people find out."

"I am still alive, aren't I? Every single time something happened to me, you saved me."

"Until I won't. What if something happens to you, to him or to anyone close to me, and I can't be there soon enough to save you all and counter-attack?"

"You're overthinking it. You're not one people want to mess with, people fear you, so I don't think they'll dare touch him. Being human might be to his advantage on that. Frank is a dork. I'm sure he won't mind you not being human, but the longer you wait, the more likely he'll be mad at you for not telling him."

"I hope you're right about that. I know I'll have to reveal myself to him before we get too attached to each other, so he can decide for himself whether he can handle what I am and what he'd be getting himself into. Although, considering I'm about to go meet this family, it might be too late already for that. Honestly, on that, him being human might actually play against him, with the movements against humans getting stronger."

"If my mom had done it with my dad, to reveal herself, so can you. My dad said that he didn't care about that, but was happy to discover that side of her, to be able to know all there is to know about her. He trusted her enough to know that she wouldn't use her magic against him."

"Your mom didn't have a phone book full of enemies wanting her down."

"True, but point is still the same. Frank only wants to know all about you and I think he'd be up for the ride. I do agree that it might be too soon, but I hope that your enemies won't get to him before you get to reveal yourself. I know you, I have no doubt that you'd be able to keep him safe."

"Step one, if I want to keep him, is to make it to his family party, so that's what I'll do. I'm about to dive into a human pool, you know I'll be entirely out of my element, no pun intended."