Chapter 23

October 10, 2000

Coralis sat at the foot of her bed, listening to her voicemails. In London for the week, she had just made it home from an EBEE combat training session and had a flyball game the next day in Germany. Her flatmates were home, playing card games in the living room. She was so absorbed by Frank's messages, that she didn't realize 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, leaning against her doorway.

"No idea, it depends on how long it'll last between us. I like him, but I can hardly be there. He's human, so he doesn't know about what we are."

"The guy is inviting you to his family. Clearly, he isn't planning on dumping you anytime soon. So what if he's human?" said Erik from the kitchen.

"We heard a lot of his messages when he called and you weren't here. I nearly picked up a few times, but you see, we think he's a decent man for you, so we didn't want to give him the wrong idea if another male picked up the phone," said Henry.

"I don't care that he's human, but I fear he'll run the day he finds out about what I am, and that something would happen to him just because of his connection to me," said Coralis.

She went to the living room, grabbed a whiskey bottle from their liquor cabinet, poured herself a drink and chugged it.

"Do you want to go?" said Erik, returning to the living room with a beer in his hand.

 "I honestly don't know if I should go or not. I won't have a flyball game that night, so I could go. I know he likes me, despite my lack of time for him, but that'll probably change when he finds out I'm not human. If things get serious between us, then I'll have to reveal myself, and I'm 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 not the only elemental out there dating humans. It works out most of the time," said Gus.

"Most elementals don't have as many deadly enemies as I do. What if my foes 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. With what we do for a living, you know it's hard to find a partner who doesn't want us just because we're famous, so you should keep him," said Erik.

"If you don't, you don't want to know what we will tell him next time he calls," said Henry, grinning.

Coralis poured herself another drink.

"I suppose I should call him back to tell him I'll be there, provided the EBEE isn't sending me somewhere that night."

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

"Frank is a student and 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, you'll meet him then."

October 21, 2000 – 17:00

"I'm still not 100% sure that it is a good idea for me to go there," said Coralis, getting ready to meet Frank at his Uncle's house. "I like him, but I think 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. I haven't seen him for the past 2 weeks, and he isn't happy about that."

"If you don't go, things will go south. Frank likes you, a lot. He struggles with your lack of availability, yes, but if you cancel on him tonight, then he'll think that you don't care about him."

"You're right. Erik and Henry convinced me to go, and 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 because of who he is to me? You've been nearly kidnapped because of me, so you know more than anyone that being close to me put him in danger."

"I am still alive and willingly sharing a living space with you, aren't I? We were 12, you're a lot stronger than you were then."

"What if something happens to you, to him or 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 someone to mess with and your enemies fear you, so I don't think anyone will dare touch him. Frank is a geek, 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 keeping that truth from him."

"I hope you're right about that."

"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, and was happy to discover that side of her, to get to know all there was 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 dead."

"True, but the point is still the same. Frank wants to know more about you and I think he'd be up for the ride. Sure, it might be too soon, but I hope that your enemies won't get to him before you reveal yourself. I know you, I don't doubt that you'd be able to keep him safe."

"I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I'm about to dive into a human pool, and you know I'll be entirely out of my element, no pun intended."