Hocus Pocus

*Hezzlie*

“What do you want?”
Dean stands near the table where my cold breakfast sits beneath the cloche untouched. My stomach rumbles, daring me to eat it anyway. I probably will–after I figure out what he is doing here.
“How are you?” he asks, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans.
I stare at him for a moment and then ask, “Why? I suppose you heard me last night, too?” I dart to the table, not wanting to look at him and unwilling to wait any longer to eat.
“Uhm, yeah.” His response is awkward, but I can’t blame him. The whole situation is awkward. “That’s why I came. To check on you.”
I pull the lid off my food and am relieved to see that the platter is full of pastries. So it doesn’t matter that they’ve been sitting here for so long while I was in the shower. I pick up a chocolate croissant and yank a chunk off, shoving it in my mouth and chewing before I finally say, “I’m fine.” My aching pussy says otherwise as I move to try and get comfortable in the chair. Damn, did that man give it to me.
I’m not complaining, though.
Dean pulls out the chair next to me and sits without being invited, but I don’t mind. I slide the platter toward him, and he chooses a croissant as well. “Good. I was afraid maybe you were… hurt.”
I scoff and take another bite of my breakfast. “I’m fine.” I sound like a broken record–whatever that is.
“Yeah, but… you know he’s still planning to send you away, right?” he asks after he swallows.
“I know.” My eyes flicker to the castle in the distance. I wish I was already there. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” he argues. “I understand that he wants his sister back. Hell, we all do, but we also don’t want to see you leave.”
With that, I can’t help but look at him. He’s been fairly kind to me since I’ve been here, which I appreciate. He’s had his moments, but every relationship has peaks and valleys. Still, he didn’t have to be nice to me at all. He’s Rowan’s best friend, and he’s definitely not nice to me.
I take a deep breath and set my croissant on a plate, dusting off my hands. I’m not done eating, but I need to give him my attention for a few moments. “I want to go,” I tell him. “Even though I have no idea what it will be like when I get there, I think it’ll be better than being here.”
He stares at me for a few moments and then slowly nods. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
I shrug. “It’s true. A few of you are nice to me, and I appreciate that, but I don’t like being locked in my room, and Rowan has been an asshole from day one.”
Mentioning him has my head swiveling to the bed for reasons I wish I could hide. Dean is eating and doesn’t seem to notice my distraction. I notice the bed has been made and have to assume someone came in and changed the sheets for me while I was in the shower. The smell of Rowan–of what we did last night–isn’t as strong now, so I’m thankful for it.
I return my attention to Dean as he finishes his pastry. “Listen, Hez, no one here really wants you to go.”
Again, I can’t help the guttural laugh that ejects itself from my throat.
“I’m serious,” he continues. “We don’t. Not even Rowan. But he’s been dedicated to doing everything he can to get his sister back for years. When he heard that there was a chance Solomon had an illegitimate daughter, he started searching for you. There are more kids out there with wolf shifter blood than you might think, and some of them have dreams like yours leading up to their eighteenth birthday, even if they can’t shift. We’ve been on a few wild goose chases until we found you.”
I have to take that in for a moment because that means there are other people out there like me who think they are going crazy when they’re really just not human.
Though, sometimes I’m not sure which is worse.
“I am glad to have met you,” I tell him. “I’m happy to have met Wilma, Natalie, and Dr. Bolton as well. The party the staff threw me was lovely. I’m also glad to finally know who my father is. But other than that, there’s been nothing for me here.” Flashes of what happened with Rowan last night come to mind. I’ll always remember that because I lost my virginity to him, but I’m not glad about the circumstances. And I can honestly say I wish I’d never met him.
“You’ve also had an opportunity to find out who you really are,” he reminds me.
“That’s true.” I can’t deny that it’s given me a bit of peace to know that my dreams were valid. I still don’t believe, most of the time, that there’s a wolf living inside of me. But then she speaks up, and I can’t deny that either.
He clears his throat, an indication that he either has something important or uncomfortable to say. Maybe both. “Have you noticed… anything else since your birthday?”
I stare at him, dumbly, for a moment before asking, “Like what?” If he’s going to talk about my sex drive, well, he can get out. I never would’ve pegged Dean for the kind of guy to hit on me like this. After all, if he wanted to fuck me, he could’ve come in last night. I would’ve fucked anyone at that moment.
“Like… I don’t know. Tingly fingers. Items moving when you’re thinking about them. Uhm… flickering flames. Blue lights?”
My expression doesn’t change. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
He shifts in his chair, clears his throat again, folds his hands, and then looks me in the eyes. “Anything, I don’t know… magical?”
“Magical?” I repeat. “You mean other than having my body contort, growing a full body’s worth of fur, and turning into a wolf?”
His smile turns slightly sheepish. “Yeah. Anything else?”
“No,” I answer quickly. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” He’s obviously trying to walk the question back. “Just curious.”
“Bullshit, Dean.” I call him out on it. “What are you talking about?”
He lets out a deep breath. “It’s just… I’ve been doing some research on your family, your mother’s side, and there’s a possibility that some people in your family might have some… magical qualities.”
“Magical qualities? Are you saying there are other nonhuman creatures in this world I don’t know about yet? Like what? Vampires? Ghosts? Frankensteins?”
“Okay, well first of all, Frankenstein was the doctor, not the monster,” he begins, and I almost laugh. As if that’s the most relevant part of my question to clarify. “I’ve never seen a vampire or a ghost, and I don’t know any mad scientists who build monsters, but I do know that there are some other magical creatures in this world, and I think you might be related to some of them.”
“And that would make me what?” I fold my arms and lean back in my chair. “Half-wolf shifter, half…?”
When he answers, I almost fall out of my chair. “Half… witch.”