Chapter 51

February 17, 2002 – 16:00 (London time)

"Lucas' vampires were spotted roaming the forest in suburban Chicago, and a few attacks were reported. During the week, a few humans were found drained of blood by local pixies. Last night, Lucas' vampires, along with goblins, attacked King Matthew's warriors patrolling the forest and I've been notified to get there as soon as possible. You instructed me to intervene if tensions between King Matthew's family and Lucas' clan escalated into a war, and that's exactly what I've done."

"We were told that when the tensions were over, Prince Charlie has been the victim of a personal attack. You interfered. Why?" said Elder Alfredino.

"Sirs, my apprentice has done exactly what she was expected to do. If Prince Charlie had been attacked, we can reasonably conclude that tensions weren't over after all. Her actions were justified. Anything else?" said Andrew.

"That will be all," said Elder Rolland.

"This is getting stranger and stranger. I was supposed to be the only EBEE representative there. Elders said they were monitoring the situation, and I remember someone yelling after me when I stepped in to defend Prince Charlie. I think they had a mole in Chicago that night, and it wasn't just about monitoring," said Coralis once they were out of the EBEE Headquarters."

"I think at least one of the elders in London is working both sides, but I need to prove it. Lalima is close to the Spanish elders, I'll try to have a meeting with them."

"When I started working for the EBEE, I remember meeting with five elders… where are the other two? I haven't met with them in quite a long time."

"I met with them a few times when you worked cases with the CMMA over the past few months. I'll let you know if I can find out anything from the Spanish elders."

Coralis took off and headed to her Montreal apartment. All she could think about was the shower awaiting her and finally being able to change clothes. She was relieved that Frank wanted to talk to her again but swore to herself not to show up again at his dorm when covered in blood. He would have to meet her at her place if he wanted to see her right after she was done with an EBEE mission.

Victoria was home when she arrived.

"Here you are, finally. I want to know everything. How did it go last night? And I'm not talking about the EBEE hellshit. You're alive, that's all I need to know about it."

Coralis walked to the liquor cabinet to pour herself a drink and brought the glass with her to her bedroom to grab a change of clothes.

"Better than expected, all things considered. I had to leave for Chicago right after mentioning that I was a mage. Sebastian dropped his sister off at his dorm on his way to Chicago, and Frank asked her about you and Sebastian."

"We anticipated that he would ask about me, but if it went better than expected, despite leaving right after ripping off the bandage, I am assuming there is more to it?"

"Stephanie somehow convinced him to come to a flyball game, and he insisted I come back to his place when I was done in Chicago. Holy gods from above, I had vampire and goblin blood all over me, and you know there is no way I'd use the dorm' showers. I washed up by his sink while we talked, but it doesn't replace a shower," said Coralis as she entered the bathroom.

"That's great news. He'll come around. I told you, if my dad accepted my mom, so can Frank."

Coralis walked out of the bathroom 30 minutes later.

"Frank called while you were in the shower. I think it was the first time I ever had an awkward conversation on the phone with him, if you can call that a conversation, I am guessing that he is mad a me. We didn't talk much, but he's on his way here."

"He mentioned being upset with you when we spoke last night, but he also said that he wanted to call you to see if you'd take him to the flyball field on Thursday."

"I don't have plans for Thursday, I'll gladly take him to the game if he wants me there. Do I need to hide our paraphernalia or do you think he'll be okay if he sees some lying around?"

"Hard to say. He saw me shifting back from Cheetah because I used his window when I came back from Chicago, and I left the same way, but I think I'll keep my elemental stuff hidden for now, until I know for sure he's cool with what we are."

Victoria started laughing.

"I remember very well the day he and Mark met with Cheetah when I wasn't home. He even picked you up, thinking I had gotten a cat."

"Holy gods from above, I remember that. Thankfully, they mistook my hologram vibrating for a purr."

The bell rang, and Victoria let Frank in.

"Hey," said Frank, glancing briefly at her before turning his attention to Coralis. "I can't stay here long. I have an early class tomorrow and still have to finish my damn essay, but I wanted to pass by."

"Something to drink?" said Coralis.

"Sure, got coffee?"

"I'll start a pot," said Victoria, turning around to head to the kitchen.

"To be honest," said Frank, taking off his jacket before sitting on the couch, "I didn't know what to expect coming here... if your apartment would look different now that uh, now that I know what you are, the both of you. I see it's no different than it always was."

Coralis sat on a chair across from him.

"We don't typically keep our paraphernalia out in the open. I mean, sometimes we do when we're just the two of us, but when living surrounded by humans, we have to blend in. Even if you come here unannounced, you wouldn't walk into a haunted house. We aren't witches."

"I realize that there is so much that I don't know, and you'll need to explain to me the difference between a witch and a mage. Movies tend to portray witches as evil, but little is said about mages. I think that a lot of people, including me, thought they were synonyms."

"I hate witches!" yelled Victoria from the kitchen. "They are evils!"

"Most of there are, indeed," said Coralis, laughing.

"I also want to know. The night Mark and I saw you on the bus with Eva, and you both had spiderwebs in your hair, was it related to the grave desecration case we read on the news? Were you indeed meeting up with ghouls?"

"I don't know what was said in the human press, but it probably was. Graves had been raided by ghouls, yes. When you saw us on the bus, we had just walked out of an abandoned warehouse we'd been searching, and we were on our way back to the cemetery. The ghouls had somewhat been summoned by witches."

"Didn't you run into them again a few months ago at the Healing Moon?" said Victoria, leaning against the kitchen doorway.

"Yes and no. It was a similar type of summoning spell, but witches weren't involved in the Healing Moon case."

Victoria returned to the living room carrying a pot of coffee and three mugs.

"Now I see what you meant when you told me she would answer about whether it was related to what we saw on the news, but wouldn't have elaborated," said Frank, looking at Victoria while she handed him his cup of coffee.

"I heard that you want to come to watch a flyball game live at our home field?" said Victoria, sitting down on a chair beside Coralis.

"Yes. My sister explained the sport to me in quite a lot of detail, saying that I must come to a game. I'm still mad at you, but I don't want to talk about it right now. Coralis said that, uh, you could escort me inside the stadium?" said Frank, looking at Victoria.

"I surely can."

"That makes me think," said Coralis, chuckling, "Sebastian got revealed the same way to you both, did Stephanie tell you that?"

"No, she said she met him at a shifter bar and always knew what he was."

"Oh, she did meet him at a shifter bar, yes. We went there for drinks after a game, and Stephanie was there with coworkers. She came to us, and the first thing she asked my teammates, was if they were like me," said Coralis, and Victoria laughed. "The revelation in a handshake."

"Ooh, I'm going to tease her with that. She told me that when you saved our mom against four guys, she thought you were a werewolf. Did she also ask you that same way? If you were like her coworkers?"

"No, would have been funny, though. We went for lunch together the day she saw me at Healing Moon for the first time. When we sat at our table, she straight asked me what I was."

Coralis heard her hologram vibrating from the side table drawer. She cursed.

"Work?" said Frank.

"Probably," said Coralis, opening the drawer to retrieve it. "This is a hologram. I suppose it's okay now if you see what it does."

She pressed to answer it.

"High Fay Ellya," said Coralis when her holographic image came out of the hologram. "How are you?"

"We've seen better days. I've gotten word that someone working for EBEE Elder Alfredino fled the scene last night. Can you come now to my house?"