Chapter 2: we're afraid of the deep dark truth

We hadn't told Ian yet.

After my confession to my mother, we had both agreed to keep Jordan Parrish's offer to ourselves for the time being. My mom had whispered that there was no need to upset Ian before we even knew if we were actually moving to Beacon Hills. "I'm going to call him," my mom said after she read the letter. Her hands had been trembling. "There is no way Ian is going to take this well, and if...if Jordan-" she swallowed hard, "if your brother is serious about this, then I need to speak to him myself to see how this is going to work."

"You would come with us, right?" My voice had been small and hoarse, and Promise perked up her ears, hearing my distress.

My mother had linked her hands in front of her, too many emotions to count warring in her eyes. "Indi, I want to. I want to be wherever you two are, always. We've never been away from each other for long, because I know that we're better and stronger together. But I can't..." She cast her eyes to the ground. "Jordan is already offering so much to take care of Ian, to watch out for the both of you. I can't impose and ask to stay in his space. I'm the woman that came between his parents, whether he believes it was intentional or not." I had opened my mouth to retort, but my mother had held up a hand. "You two will be welcome, and you can go to school in Beacon Hills for your senior year, Ian can get the treatment he needs, I can work more hours to try to save up money to follow you there..." Her blue eyes had been so sad. "I would move with you in a heartbeat, darling, if we had the means to. But for right now, it'll just be the two of you. Ian needs this, and he needs you by his side to get through this."

I didn't know I was crying until I felt fat, heavy droplets slide off my chin and onto my hands. "I don't want to leave you here, Mama. You'll be all alone."

My mom had come to me then, wrapping her arms around me tightly. Her warmth kept me level. "Oh, Indi. I'll be fine, my darling girl. Ian needs you, and you need him. This will be a chance for me to save him. And it won't be forever, I can guarantee that. This won't be goodbye."

I had closed my eyes and tried to convince myself that was true.

But something in me always expected the worst. I think it was a coping mechanism, so when terrible things actually happened, I wasn't destroyed. I could piece myself back together and move on.

I was lying on my bed now, staring at the ceiling and trying to strain my ears to hear my mom on the phone with Ian's doctor, but the words were muffled by the thick walls. I rolled over onto my stomach and let out a sigh, my skin itching with a need to tell my brother what was going on. My mom had talked to Jordan already, and the details had been set. He was going to drive to Fresno to pick us up in less than a week, and Ian still didn't know what was happening. Mom kept saying she was going to tell him as soon as the opportunity presented itself, but between her working crazy shifts and speaking to Ian's doctor, she hadn't gotten around to it yet. It was already mid-August, and Beacon Hills High School, according to Google, started on the 21st. That didn't exactly leave plenty of time for Mom to break the news to Ian before Jordan showed up on our doorstep.

I groaned into my bedspread. I still hadn't told Aella or Kai, either, mostly because I knew that they were going to react badly and mention something to my twin before we told him, and then shit would definitely hit the fan. I was tired of hiding things, though. I pulled myself to my feet and took in my room, nostalgia already hitting me hard. There was a canopy covering my bed, a gauzy white thing that I got caught in more often than not, and pushed up against the wall opposite of the bed was my dresser. There were polaroids scattered across the top of its white surface. They covered almost every surface of my room, actually. Pictures were taped to my powder pink walls, hanging off of a clothesline in the far corner by the door, and even a few were pressed to my windows behind my flowing curtains. They told the stories of my life, cataloguing the years in a way that I could never write down.

They would come with me to Beacon Hills, a reminder of my life in Fresno and everything that I was leaving behind. But soon enough, I would have to leave this room and my house, the place that I grown up in. It felt like there was a hole in my chest already. I would start my senior year in a new school, by myself, because Ian was no doubt going to be home-bound.

My cell phone was pressed to my ear before I really knew what I was doing. The line rang and rang, but finally, Aella picked up. Her breathing was ragged. Instantly, I was alarmed. She sounded like she had been crying, and she never cried. Not for anything. "Why didn't you tell me?" she croaked, and an uneasiness settled in my stomach. I peered out my window and watched as the sun started to dip low over the horizon. I had been avoiding her these past few days, too afraid that I was going to say something. "Dammit, Indi, please say something."

"How did you-" I choked, my phone gripped tightly in my sweat-slicked hand.

"Bea knows things. I've told you for years that she has these feelings sometimes, and she's never wrong when she has them." Aella's voice trembled. "She said someone close to me was going to leave. She said things were going to start to change, that the balance we've known is starting to shift." She took another gasping breath. "And you've been acting weird this week, shifty, so I called your mom to ask what was going on. She told me that you and Ian are moving, Indi. She told me that you've known since the movie night we had."

"Yes." The word was hard enough to get out without the accusation in her voice. "That was you on the phone with her just now, then, and not Ian's doctor?"

Aella didn't answer, but her sniffling was a confirmation. "I'm sorry," I said, because it was the only thing I could manage to get out. I was sorry, and everything in me felt ripped out and hollow. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but we haven't even told Ian yet, Aella." I lowered my voice. "There's so much I want to say, to tell you, and you know I hate talking on the phone to try to explain-"

"Then meet me at the park. I'll call Kai, tell him to bring Quinn. And my cousins are coming, Indi. I need them there."

A heartbeat passed, and then another. I took a deep, deep breath. "Okay. I'll meet you there in fifteen. I'm just going to tell Mom and Ian that I'm running out to the store." The lie would no doubt fall heavily off of my tongue, but I wasn't going to stay around long enough for them to question it. "See you in a few."

"Yeah," Aella whispered back. "In a few." The line went dead.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back tears. So much for not telling them until Ian knew. I didn't want everyone to find out like this, but now there was really no other choice. I shoved my feet into a worn pair of clunky black shoes and shuffled toward my closed door. Today had been a day for layers-I was wearing a short gray skirt over a pair of thin maroon tights and a cream-colored, knit quarter-sleeved sweater that hung loosely off of my shoulders. I paused for a moment and sat down in front of my door, kicking off my shoes to put on a maroon, patterned pair of socks over my tights so my shoes wouldn't rub blisters onto my feet. It would be hotter, of course, but I was willing to put up with it.

I clunked out of my room and around the corner, nearly careening into Ian's chest. He scrunched up his nose, amused by my frazzled demeanor. "Damn, in a hurry?"

I pursed my lips, jitteriness momentarily dispersing when I took in my twin's good-natured smirk. "A bit. I'm heading to the store, need anything?" I tried to keep my voice light as I slipped past him, avoiding his gaze. Ian had always known how to tell when I was lying, though. He caught my wrist as soon as my foot touched the first stair.

"Okay, and...?" The smirk had slipped off his face. Something questioning lurked in his eyes instead.

I met his gaze slowly, exhaling a huge breath. "I'm going to go give Aella some of my cigarettes, okay?" I dropped my voice low to make it sound convincing. "Bea cut her off again and she's going crazy." That, at least, wasn't a lie.

Ian's scruntinized my expression for another half-second and then let me go. "Try not to get her into too much trouble, yeah? You know how Bea is when she's angry."

The very thought sent a shiver up my spine. When she was angry, she became Beatrice Mavers, the High Priestess and leader of the Fresno coven. And that in itself was terrifying enough without the threat of some kind of magic getting involved.

"It's one cigarette. One, not a whole pack, so it should be fine." I continued down the stairs, pushing my bangs out of my face when I reached the front door. Even though Mom was home, I wasn't going to take the car-that would only waste gas money that we didn't have. Besides, the park was within walking distance, and I had been inside all day. I needed to stretch my legs. "I'll see you later!"

The door slammed too hard behind me, and I flinched and immediately dropped the nonchalant facade I had been holding with Ian. My second lie had seemed to work better than the first one, but I could still sense some unease when my brother had looked at me. It took a lot to worry Ian, and if the emotion ever buried itself in his tough skin, it was usually reserved for me or Mom. Normally me, though, since we seemed to run on the same wavelength and I was prone to great bouts of crippling anxiety.

I was good at making people worry.

I pulled my Marlboros from the purse I had slung over my shoulder last second and opened the pack with trembling fingers, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between my teeth. It was as bitter as ever, but the familiarity of the motion eased my nerves. I began to walk, nearly tripping over my shoes at the end of the driveway as I searched for my lighter. There. Cupping a hand around the cigarette and holding back a few curses, it took me three tries to light the thing in the heavy afternoon breeze. As soon as the cigarette lit, I took a drag so deep I started coughing uproariously. A few birds took flight at the sound.

The sidewalk was empty today except for me, though there was plenty of chalk-art on the concrete to keep me company. There was a pink flower under my left shoe, and then a dog with green fur to my right. Or maybe it was a wolf. I smiled slightly at the drawings and then picked up my pace, aware that the others were probably waiting for me. My heart thudded guiltily at the thought.

They were all there by the time I opened the rusty metal gate to Woodridge Park, which was named after some big-shot with a lot of money that was no doubt long dead. The park equipment, like the fence surrounding it, was rusted so badly that I was surprised kids didn't have to go get tetanus shots when they left. There was an old swing set under an oak tree to my left, and then two slides and a merry-go-round right in front of me. Aella was perched in the center of the merry-go-round, biting on her lower lip as she watched me approach. Her eyes were red-rimmed like she had been crying, and her long lashes were still damp with residual tears. In the humidity around us, her ripped black skinny jeans and denim jacket should have looked ridiculous. Instead, her attire seemed morbidly appropriate, like she was wearing it as some type of armor. Deirdre and Ty were sitting on the edge of the merry-go-round close to Aella, their long, dark legs dusted with a fine coat of silt from kicking at the dirt beneath their feet-Deirdre with her shiny heels and Ty with his neon Nikes-and their expressions watchful and wary.

Bea wasn't sitting with them. She was standing by the swings that Kai and Quinn were occupying, talking in a hushed voice to the both of them. When she turned her head to look at me, I froze where I was. There was something like worry creased in her brow, and the sharp lines of her jaw tightened considerably. I wasn't sure what had Bea flustered, but whatever it was, it was something more serious than just Ian and I moving away.

By the look on Kai's face, though, it didn't seem like anything could be more serious than that. Kai always liked to keep a cool look in his blue eyes and an easy, gentle smile on his lips. It was his resting face, the one that got him discovered as a model in the first place. Ian often fondly said that it was Kai's sunshine expression. That face was nowhere to be seen now. Kai's lips were pursed and his crystalline blue eyes were squinted against the harsh, fading sunlight and the reality of what was happening. He looked destroyed. High color was in both his and his sister's pale cheeks, but Quinn seemed more composed. Her heavy-lidded blue eyes were darker than her brother's, and the sadness in them matched Kai's pain, although her facial expression could not.

I took the cigarette out of my mouth and grimaced at the scene in front of me. "Aella told all of you, then?" I sighed, my voice echoing harshly in the silence.

"She did. And I'm glad, too. You might not have told us until you were already gone." Kai's words threw me off balance, and I blanched. The accusation there was palpable. And to be real, he was just in making it. His fingers tightened visibly around the chain of the swing he was sitting on.

I had been hiding this from them, from all of them. Putting it off and using the excuse that they would run and tell Ian without my consent if I told. Which maybe could happen but...it wasn't likely. The truth was that I was afraid of their reactions, afraid of the pain and hurt that I was seeing now. The conflict made my heart rate spike, and all the words that I had planned on saying upon my arrival fled my mind.

"I'm sorry," I instead croaked, because it was just as genuine and desperate as when I said it on the phone to Aella. "I was afraid of what would happen if Ian didn't know first. He-" I swallowed, tangling the fingers of my free hand in the fabric of my skirt. My heart was beating so loudly that I could hear it in my ears. "He leads. He always has. And he makes things better when I don't know how to. Just this once..." I closed my eyes for a second. "Just for once I wanted to do something for him, you know? I wanted to take up Jordan's offer and help Ian like he always helps me."

My bottom lip was trembling. I felt like an idiot, standing there on the verge of tears. But under everyone's gaze, I was helpless. I couldn't explain myself like I needed to.

Quinn was the first to speak. "Okay, but who is Jordan?"

I let out a long, relieved sigh. Quinn was quick to get to the point, always. Aella, Kai, and Bea were the only ones in this small group that knew that I had an older half-brother somewhere in the world. The others had simply been told that my brother and I had a dead-beat father who abandoned us (wish was true), and that was that. Parental problems were respected and rarely mentioned, and so for years, Ian and I had avoided explaining our situation to Quinn, Deirdre, or Ty. There would be no more avoiding it, though. "Have you ever heard of Cameron Parrish?" I asked softly, coming to sit cross-legged in front of the merry-go-round. Ty and Quinn both nodded, but Deirdre simply frowned and shook her head. I put out my cigarette and took a deep breath.

And then I told them everything. I explained who I was, who my father was and what this all meant, and then I went on to tell Aella, Bea, and Kai what they didn't already know-the reason we were leaving Fresno for Beacon Hills. The letter Jordan had sent me was in my purse, and as the confusion on everyone's faces lessened, I figured that I would have to sacrifice my pride and privacy and pass the letter around so the group's distrust could melt away completely.

"So your brother is gonna set you up real nice and take care of Ian?" Ty finally asked after everyone had seen the letter. His voice was quiet like always, soothing even in the worst sorts of situations. Deirdre liked to tease him when he was younger and say it was his psychiatrist voice, but then Ty decided he actually did want to be a psychiatrist after he graduated, so the joke lost its heat. I listened carefully to the tone of Ty's voice, but there was no contempt or disbelief there. He just seemed genuinely interested to know if Jordan was the real deal.

"He said he's going to, and I believe him." It was true. I had never met Jordan, but he had already shown more decency to Ian and I than our father ever had, so I would trust him until he gave me a reason not to.

Aella stood up, her jelly sandals squishing on the rusty surface of the merry-go-round. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, and there was a hard expression on her face. "I understand why you're leaving. I do. But I-"Aella dropped her hands to her side, and her icy expression fell away in an instant. Her hazel eyes were open, full of pain. "I don't want you to go. Or I want to go with you. I just don't want us to be apart." Aella's voice cracked, and she wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand, trying not to burst into tears.

Kai hesitantly walked toward us, his lashes wet and his brow furrowed. His hair looked white in the afternoon sunlight, bleached even further by the dimming rays of light shining on the back of his head. He offrered Aella his hand, and she took it gratefully and hopped off the merry-go-round, nearly kneeing her cousins in the face in process. Ty and Deirdre scooted over, looking as miserable as I felt. Aella fell into Kai's chest and stayed there, letting him hold her. He whispered something into her hair and then grabbed my wrist, tugging me to them. All three of us held each other for a long moment, sniffling. I didn't want to leave them. They were my best friends, and they were Ian's best friends too. He had Kai had been dating for years, perfectly happy, and then something like this came along and crashed into us.

"Listen," Kai finally said, breath tickling my ear. "Listen, I know this is awful. This is awful and I hate it so much-" His voice caught. "But if you two stay here, Ian is...he won't make it. He won't, Indi, and you know that, so that's why you're going. I get it. I'd rather have Ian away from me and alive and getting better than...than staying here and watching him wither away." Kai pulled back so he could look both Aella and I in the eye. "It'll be better like this, okay. It will be. And it's not forever." Kai seemed like he was trying to convince himself. "Right?"

"Right." My hands were wrapped in the fabric of his thin shirt, and Aella rested her head on my shoulder, taking another deep, shuddering breath. Kai pressed his lips to our foreheads and closed his eyes for a moment before he released us, taking a step back. When he opened his eyes again, they were locked on Quinn. She was watching us from the rust-stained swing set, a tremulous look on her face. Bea placed her hand on Quinn's shoulder and leaned in to whisper something under her breath, and Quinn nodded, eyes never leaving Aella, Kai, and I. We had grown up together, all of us, and Bea knew each of us as well as she knew her own two younger siblings.

"We're going to Skype every day," Aella said suddenly, trying to rub off her running makeup. "Like, every day. No skipping out, okay? I want to hear every detail of this shitty, tiny little town, alright? Spare nothing. Goddess, I wonder if they have a school where the whole county goes there because it's so small." Aella frowned. "Damn, now I'm jealous. Less people equals less drama."

I gave her a watery smile and then laughed. "I'll just have to see, huh? But no, I've been doing some research-the school is called Beacon Hills High School, and no, the whole of Beacon county doesn't go there." I pushed her shoulder playfully. "And of course we'll Skype. Like I'll be able to survive otherwise..."

We all spent the next few minutes just talking amongst ourselves, but then Deirdre looked down at her phone and pursed her lips. "Great," she muttered, annoyance scraped thick over the word. "Well, Tamika didn't show up for her shift again, so looks like I'm headed back to the salon until someone else can come in. Bea?"

"We all drove here together," Aella told me apologetically. She had to go. I bumped my shoulder against hers and gave her a tiny smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow, though. We're still grabbing ice cream, right?"

Aella's smile was relieved and radiant. "Yeah. Yeah, definitely."

Ty patted my shoulder as he passed by me, which was odd because he never was one for comforting gestures, but nice. Deirdre gave me a quick kiss on the cheek as she walked by, her phone already pressed to her ear. I smiled and listened to her complain to her manager as she clomped away. The gesture warmed my heart because it was reserved for family alone-not even Deirdre's boyfriends got her feather-light kisses on the cheek. It was a symbol of lasting solidarity, familiarity, and the deepest trust she could express. Ian even let Deirdre kiss his cheek on occasion, much to his own chagrin, because he knew what it meant to Deirdre.

Aella wiggled her fingers in front of my face and trailed after her cousin, shoulders back and her head held high. The affect was a lost because of her jelly shoes, but I still appreciated the effort, biting my lip to hold back my laughter. I scooped up my cigarette butt from where in lay on merry-go-round and shoved it into my back pocket, freezing only when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand on end. I thought everyone had left-Kai and Quinn had wandered over to Kai's Prius, waving dejectedly before climbing in, and the Mavers had already piled into Bea's car. Except for the car's owner, it seemed.

Bea watched me with a scrutinizing look. Her tawny skin was illuminated warmly in the last few glimmering rays of sunlight, turning to molten gold. She folded her arms over her red silk blouse, continuing to stare like she was trying to place something. "I knew this was going to happen," she finally sighed, and it seemed to release a weight from her chest. Her obsidian eyes never left mine.

I shuddered. Her words were so sure. "You-you saw this?"

It never had been a secret that Bea saw things. Sometimes she claimed that she saw glimpses of the future, actual scenes that came to her in her dreams. Sometimes she just got inklings. I had always considered her psychic visions to be a factor of her insightfulness, a way for her subconscious to make sense of what might happen in situations of conflict. It had always seemed too far-fetched to me. Wiccan rituals made sense, and I was familiar with them after all these years. It was simply apart of another religion. But visions of the future? That was just too much for me to grasp.

Bea never let her gaze waver. "I saw this. Not precisely this, of course, but I knew that something would happen soon to take you and your brother away from us." Bea stepped forward suddenly and wrapped her fingers loosely around my wrist. "Ian won't handle this well, Indi, and repercussions of his reaction will follow you to Beacon Hills. That town..."

"You've been there?" I asked in surprise, cocking my head to the side.

Bea's smile was bitter. "I know it." Which was just as vague as I expected. Bea didn't give me time to ask anything else. "Things are going to change, Indi, and you will be left there to pick up the pieces. I'm not telling you this to scare you," she continued, and my stomach plummeted. "I care about you and your brother. I want you to understand that things are not always what they seem."

Bea let go of my wrist and patted my cheek. I couldn't find words. "Stay safe, Indi. Please." And then she was striding toward the Volvo, looking as regal as ever in her black heels, pencil skirt, and silk blouse. Bea's attire was always as put together as her words, but her warning to me a moment before hadn't been put-together. It had been serious, for sure, but fear had tinged every word that had left her mouth.

My mind was whirring as I stood there, staring at the mulch under my clunky shoes. The heat was making my tights stick to me with sweat, and each minute I stared at the ground only increased my discomfort. Bea's warning echoed in my ears on a loop, making my throat tighten in a familiar and dreaded sort of way. I took a deep breath and made myself take a step forward, and then another, until I was walking home on wobbly legs.

I needed another cigarette.

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Home wasn't quiet like I expected it to be. In fact, the moment I stepped into the house, I was greeted by a very anxious Promise, her tail tucked between her legs and her head ducked, and yelling from upstairs. Which was odd in itself, because my mother rarely ever got upset enough to yell, and while Ian got upset enough to yell almost constantly, he never yelled at Mom.

The dread I had felt at the playground was back with a vengeance now, coiling in my stomach and making me feel nauseous. I kicked off my shoes hurridly and took the stairs two at a time after I gave Promise a few comforting strokes. I was aware that I probably reeked of smoke, which I knew Mom hated, but at the moment, I didn't really care. I just wanted everyone to quit yelling.

Ian's door was standing wide open, and he and my mother were standing face to face in the center of the room, both looking furious and hurt. Their expressions were almost identical. "You could have told me!" Ian was seething, and it was then that I knew for sure that Mom had gone against her better judgment and told him the truth. "Jesus, am I the only one that didn't know about this life-changing decision? Did you think that maybe I would want to have some say in moving away from the place where I grew up and all the people that I love?" Ian was trembling, hands clenched tightly into fists. His freckled face was almost as red as his hair.

Even though Ian had several inches on her, my mother didn't flinch. She knew my brother would never get violent with her, but the hard set of her jaw told me she wasn't fond of Ian's tone. They were both hurting so much, and I couldn't do anything about it. "You know I want what's best for you," Mom replied hoarsely, fingers laced together in front of her. "I want you to live with Jordan so you can get better. It's not forever, Ian. It really isn't."

"You make it sound so easy," he scoffed, his voice bitter. "We'll know no one, not even this guy who claims to be our brother. We'll be in a new place starting our senior year of high school and we'll have to be there without you! How is that fair?"

My mom took a step back, her bottom lip trembling. "God, it isn't! It's not fair at all, Ian, none of it! Don't you think that if I could-I would keep you here with me? But this isn't about what I want, or what we all want-it's about what you need." Mom swiped away a stray tear. A couple strands of her hair had come loose from the low ponytail that was tied at the nape of her neck with a rubber band. She brushed them aside just as hastily as her tears. "There is nothing on this Earth that is worse than watching you suffer and hurt and be sick, and knowing that there is absolutely nothing I can do to make it better." Mom squeezed her eyes shut. "I need to do this for you, baby," she choked, biting her lower lip. "Or I will never be able to forgive myself."

My body was pressed rigidly against the doorframe, and as I took in Ian's room-all the pictures scattered around so similiar to my own, the messy bed and ragged futon in the far corner, the rock band posters on the walls and the tangled mass of video game cords hooked to his battered T.V.-I began to understand that we would be leaving all of this behind in a week's time. We had grown up in this house, learned here and loved here, and soon it would be only occupied by our mother. Soon it wouldn't be ours. The thought knived through me, and Ian seemed to feel it, too.

There was a desperate, broken look in his eyes when he finally looked in my direction, as if he was pleading for me to try to change Mom's mind. But Mom's mind was already made up, and mine was, too. I wasn't going to be selfish and stay here so I could have my senior year with Aella, so I could graduate alongside her and my other friends and pretend like my brother wasn't slowly wasting away. If Ian didn't get help soon, he would die. I would sacrifice anything to keep that from happening. Even the life I had here, the only one I had ever known.

I shook my head to let Ian know that I wasn't going to budge on this. I may have been timid during most confrontations with people I wasn't close to, but I had to be rock-hard when I told my brother 'no'. His face twisted, crumpled from destroyed to angry again in an instant. And then he was shoving past me, his too-bony shoulder digging into mine as he went. There was the thudding sound of him taking the steps a couple at a time, and then the sound of the back door slamming. Mom made her way over to Ian's bed and sat down, her head in her hands, but I couldn't comfort her right now. I needed to follow my brother. He had no regard for himself when he got this emotional-he would hurt himself by accident if he wasn't careful. And knowing Ian, 'careful' wasn't even close to what he had in mind.

I was down the stairs and out the back door like a shot, my long legs pumping as I followed Ian's retreating form into the treeline. I found him wheezing against an oak tree, grasping its trunk with both of his arms to hold himself upright. His shoulders were trembling and his knees were going weak. He sagged, letting the tree hold the majority of his weight as he stood there, helpless. His forehead was pressed against the bark, but his muscles tensed when he heard me approach. He hadn't been expecting me to follow him. "Leave me alone." The words were sharp as a razor's edge, bitten off in between labored breaths.

"Ian, I was going to tell you." That seemed like it needed to be said. I took a step forward, my hand reaching out to touch him. I stopped about an inch away from his arm. "I just needed time to figure out how. I didn't want it to be this awful. I was just trying to help you, because you're always helping me and I can never do anything for you." I swallowed hard. "I understand that you're angry. I get it. But this will give you a chance to live. The others, they seemed to agree-"

Ian whirled around, and all weakness was replaced by a new fury. "That is where you were? Telling the others about this before you told me?" I became acutely aware of just how much taller my twin was than me in that moment, and aware of the rage burning in his green eyes. I could have sworn that he hated me, just then. I had never seen him so angry before, and it knocked something loose in me. I was afraid. I took a step back as Ian narrowed his eyes and swung out his arm in a wide arc, gesturing to me. "Did you ever think that maybe I'd rather die here, happy, than go somewhere unfamiliar and be fucking miserable on chemo and treatments?"

I flinched like he had struck me and felt my lower lip tremble. "I don't want you to die." The words were a broken whisper.

Ian shook his head furiously, pain still dancing in his eyes. He didn't want to die either. But he was afraid. Afraid to move and afraid of the treatments and afraid of himself. And his fear manifested itself as this burning anger, this hurt. "It's not your choice!" Ian finally exploded, throwing his arms up into the air. "For once, would someone let me fucking choose what I want!"

I don't remember where the fire started. It might have climbed out of the palms of his hands, or curled toward his fingertips from his biceps. I don't remember, honestly, because the shock of seeing my brother's arms engulfed in bright orange flames had been too much for me. I stumbled back, my mouth falling open in a silent scream. My heart was thudding in my chest like a drum, blood pounding in my ears. Ian, though flames were licking their way down his hands, didn't seem to be in pain. He seemed just as shocked as I was, if not more. He was trembling when he brought his hands down and stared at them. The flames were licking over every inch of his skin, but the pale expanse of it was seemingly unharmed.

My brain was trying to the best of its ability to explain what was happening. There had to be a reason for this, a logical reason. Because people didn't just spontaneously catch fire. Ian's terror was slowly turning into horror the longer he stared down at his burning hands. I took a step back, and then another, because this wasn't normal, this couldn't be happening. I blinked hard, my back pressed against the rough bark of the tree behind me, and tried not to scream. Instead, I crossed myself twice, trying to hold myself together as I mumbled prayers to the Holy Mother under my breath. This had to be a dream. Some twisted, terrible nightmare.

"Indi?" Ian's voice cracked. He reached for me, the fire still curling around his hands. All the anger had drained away, replaced by a fear I had never known. The world around me was swaying. A dream, I told myself, trying to slow my breathing. This was a dream. The fire slowly calmed itself as Ian stepped nearer, and I was frozen in that spot against the tree, trying to make sense of what was happening. "What's happening to me?"

"This isn't real," I blurted, shaking my head vigorously back and forth. A few moments before, I had been arguing with my twin about moving away. Now I was trying my hardest not to hyperventilate because he had just caught fire. "This can't be real." I lifted up my hand almost subconsciously to match the way Ian was reaching for me. Because no matter how scared I was, it didn't change the fact that he was reaching out for help. Whatever was happening, we would figure it out together. I tried to smooth out my breathing, but my nerves were jangling together and my legs had gone weak.

The thing that really did me in, though, was the light that came spilling out of my left palm as I brought my hand closer to my brother's smoldering one. The light was white and blinding, seeming to collect in my veins and then move along to the center of my hand. Ian's face was illuminated starkly by it, and his terror was a mirror of my own.

I couldn't help it. I took one look at Ian's still faintly burning palm and my own glowing one and then promptly passed out, my knees finally buckling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I woke up cradled in my brother's arms, his green eyes fearful as he stared down at me. My mind felt fuzzy. I tried to grasp why I was lying on the ground, the grass cushioning my body and Ian cushioning my head. For a moment, it seemed like I was waking from a dream. And then reality crashed into me like a freight train.

I scrambled up into sitting position so quickly that spots danced in front of my eyes. My heart was pounding in my ears, and I swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in my throat. Ian and I simply stared at each other for a moment, our lips parted in an attempt to voice the questions we weren't sure we wanted answers to. Ian's arms were covered in gray soot, except his hands, which were completely black. I looked down at my own hands, but they were fine. There was no sign of the mysterious white light that had pooled out of my palms a few minutes before. I sucked in a deep breath and rubbed the heels of my hands over my eyes, trying desperately to think of something to say.

It hadn't been a dream. Ian had gotten upset, and then fire had climbed up his arms. Fire that was his own, made from his own intense emotions. And light had come from me, warm and bright enough to match his fire. There was no logical way to explain this to myself. I had always been a practical person, but there was no way to apply practicality to this. In fact, I couldn't apply much more than fear to this. "How did we...?" I finally choked, still staring down at my hands.

"It's not possible. How in the fuck..." Ian looked down at his soot-covered hands out of the corner of his eye, like he was afraid they would ignite again. Which, at this point, seemed like a reasonable concern.

I wanted to laugh. Laugh at the impossibility and ridiculousness of it all. I had heard of twin telepathy before, but this was on a whole different level.

Ian rubbed his hands on the ground, blinking rapidly when he realized there was no burns or any sign of damage to his skin. It was still milky pale and unscathed. He should have suffered third degree burns. "Fuck," Ian breathed, squeezing his eyes shut as though he could make it all disappear. "What...are we?"

My hands were trembling. Some small part of me was still trying to rationalize this, and another part was adamantly trying to deny what had happened. Aella believed in magic and the Goddess and the Horned God. She believed in the power of the elements and the moon cycles and the supernatural. I had never allowed myself to look past what was right in front of me, because I had always assumed that the basic things were all there was. I could never suspend my disbelief. But now...there was more to the story. Ian and I were more.

I pulled myself to my feet and offered a hand to my brother. A few minutes ago, we had been fighting about leaving home. But now there were more serious matters at hand. Ian took my hand and pulled himself up, holding on for a second longer than necessary. There was an apology in his eyes that didn't even need to be spoken. Ian hated yelling at me or getting angry with me in general. "We're going to figure this out," I told him, giving his hand a firm squeeze. "Just...try not to think about it right now."

Ian bit his lower lip and looked down at his hands. "That's gonna be kind of hard, Indi, considering the fact that I was on fire and I literally felt none of it." His voice shook.

"We're going to Bea and Aella," I responded, turning to walk back to the house. Inside, everything in me was still screaming. I was afraid of Ian, I was afraid of myself, but more than that, I was afraid of what would happen to us if someone else figured out what we could do. "They'll know what to do." My words were light. Ian simply raised an eyebrow and allowed himself to be marched back to the house. My hands were still shaking, so I knew I wasn't really fooling my brother. Maybe I was just trying to fool myself.

"The Mavers are Wiccans, Indi. What makes you think they'll know how to handle this?"

I let go of his wrist when we stopped outside the back door. The sun was almost completely down over the horizon now, casting Ian's face into shadow. "When I was at the park a little bit ago...Bea said some things. She said that she knew we were going to be leaving Fresno, even before anyone told her. And then she waited back after everyone else went to the cars and told me that things were going to change. She said that things aren't always what they seem."

Ian had a stubborn look on his face "That's typical Bea-talk for you. Cryptic and ominous. That doesn't mean she was expecting this to happen." I opened the back door and ignored him, slipping back into the cool house. Ian was afraid of how the Mavers would react. I understood his worry, but they were the only ones who could tell us what was happening, if anyone could. They were the only ones who wouldn't send us to a mental institution. I shivered at the memory of a very specific institution and shut the thought down quickly before I could upset myself.

Mom was waiting for us in the living room, leaning against the couch with her eyes closed and one hand over her mouth. She was trying to swallow back tears, and the sight made my stomach churn sickeningly. We couldn't tell her what had just happened. She wouldn't believe us, first of all. Unless...I paused, and Ian rammed into my back, cursing at my sudden halt. Unless, of course, my mom already knew about this.

I shook my head, immediately dismissing the thought. There was no way she knew about our-condition. She would have said something. Wouldn't she?

Ian stepped around the side of the couch tentatively. All of his anger had dissolved, making his shoulders curl inward and his eyes lower to stare at his bare, muddy feet. I glanced down at my own feet briefly, noticing that they, too, were filthy. Mud had seeped through my tights and was squishing around against my toes. But tracking mud into the house was the least of our problems at the moment.

Ian placed a hand on my mom's shoulder and then lowered his head to hers until their foreheads were knocking. She wiped some of her running mascara from her cheeks and gave him a watery smile, blue eyes magnificently bright because of her tears. "I'm sorry," Ian said mournfully, and I knew that he was. He hated how easily he got wound up. Hated it. Just like I hated being put in uncomfortable social situations. His emotions just got the best of him sometimes. When he was was excited, he was ecstatic. When he was angry, he was furious. And when he was trying to be sly, he was as charming as they came. Ian gave his all or he gave nothing, and now, he looked destroyed instead of just upset. "I'm sorry, Mama. I-" He licked his lips and took a deep breath, pulling back so he could look her properly in the eyes. "I wasn't trying to upset you. Indi talked to me, and I understand why you want us to go."

"I want you to be okay. Both of you," she grimaced, rubbing her eyes. "There's just no easy way for that to happen."

"We need to go to Aella's," I blurted out. Both Mom and Ian gave me incredulous looks. Our mother looked more confused than anything else, and Ian seemed bothered by my lack of tact. Truth be told, I didn't possess much of it. When something was bothering me, you could tell. I was fidgety and easily worried, and the event that had just happened outside had shaken me to my core. I curled my hands into fists, afraid that the white light that had come pouring from them before would appear again. I still felt light-headed and my stomach was roiling sickeningly. "She called me," I said quickly, trying to hide the shaking of my voice. "She told me that she knew we were leaving, and she was really upset, Mom. Really upset. I-I don't want to leave things on bad terms before we leave, you know? We want to go talk to her."

Ian's incredulity slipped off his face and was easily replaced by an placid look. I envied his ability to pretend. He might have let his emotions get the best of him sometimes, but Ian was the master of letting people only see what he wanted them to see. If anger wasn't apart of the equation, of course. "Please let us go, Mama," Ian said again, softly. He let go of her and took a step back to stand beside me. She stared at both of us for a moment, her eyes distraught. I wondered who she saw when she looked at us.

"You can go." There was something like defeat in her voice. "But be back before eleven, okay?" she added. "You know how much I hate you driving in the pitch black."

Ian offered Mom his most winsome smile and kissed her cheek, ducking around me so he could go find his shoes. I kissed her on the opposite cheek and turned to go, but she grabbed my wrist and held on tightly. I looked over my shoulder in surprise. I wondered if she could feel my pulse going wild. It felt like it was beating in my throat. "Thank you for bringing him back inside, Indi," my mother said, pitching her voice low so Ian couldn't hear her. "I'm glad you're going to be going with him-he needs you." She let go of my wrist and pressed the car keys into my hand, a faint smile on her lips. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak again. How was I supposed to answer her? Ian didn't need me, not really. He had always been so good at taking care of himself. I was the one who had fainted outside. I was the one that needed him.

I slipped into the hallway and watched as Ian pulled on a pair of ratty old boots without socks on. I wrinkled my nose and said nothing, opting for a sad looking pair of sandals that were resting by the door. There was no way I was going to stick my muddy feet into my nice shoes. I passed the keys to Ian without a word. He knew I hated driving after dark almost as much as Mom hated us being out after dark. We didn't say a word until we were both in the car. Ian was clutching the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles bloodless. His eyes were distant, and the calm expression that he had been wearing inside was gone. I wanted to hug him, but something kept me from moving. Wariness, maybe? He had been on fire not too long ago, and I wasn't completely sure if his fire would burn me or not. I wasn't really sure of anything at the moment, actually.

"Are you going to call Aella?"

I blinked, aware that I had been staring. "No. I-there is no way I can explain why we need to talk to Bea in person and not over the phone." I let my fingers curl around the fabric of my skirt, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. "Just drive, Ian. We'll explain when we get there."

Ian mumbled something under his breath that I didn't quite catch, but I didn't think it was very complimentary so I didn't bother to ask him to repeat himself. The drive to the Mavers house was uncomfortable. There were unspoken fears weighing in air around us, pushing on my chest and making it hard for me to breathe. The familiar scent of Mom's car was the only thing stopping me from having an attack. It reminded me of easier times-of being young and falling asleep in the backseat beside Ian, the lull of the engine making my eyelids leaden.

When we pulled up to Aella's house, there was one sole light on downstairs. My heart was thrumming in my ears loudly as Ian shut off the car and looked over at me. His green eyes were bright, illuminated by the streetlights outside. He threw open his door without amble and climbed out, and I followed behind him, like always. I felt sick to my core. What if Bea didn't know what to tell us? What if she deemed us insane and talked to our mother so we could be committed?

I shuddered and pulled out my pack of cigarettes, my hand shaking as I tried, futilely, to light one. Ian finally saw my struggle and took the lighter out of my hand as gently as he could and cupped his hand around the flame so the wind wouldn't extinguish it. Greatful, I gave him a weak smile and leaned forward, letting the tip of the cigarette start to glow before I pulled away. "Just give me a second before we go inside," I murmured, raking my hands through my hair. Ian leaned up against the car and glanced over at the Mavers house. It was as compact on the outside as it was on the inside, painted a bright yellow that would have been obnoxious on any other house but seemed to fit this one. I took another drag and let it settle in my lungs before exhaling and dropping my cigarette to the ground to crush it under my dirty sandal. That would have to be good enough. Time was ticking and Mom was waiting at home, no doubt fretting over us.

Ian pushed off the car, his hands tucked deep into the pockets of jeans as he slouched ahead of me, his head and shoulders ducked. I followed him, trying to match his stride up the driveway. His legs were longer, but not by much, so it wasn't that hard to catch up. "Think she'll have an answer?" I asked. There was so much else I wanted to ask but that would have to be enough. Ian shrugged, but the movement was so stiff that I could tell he was just as afraid as I was. I could always read him, just like he could always read me.

I knocked on the door, my shoulder pressed tightly against Ian's own arm. He was all edges now, brittle bones and easily bruised skin, but I tried to ignore that fact as I saw the porch light flicker on and then heard scuffling as someone worked the locks on the door. Aella opened the door a second later, her eyes wary and dark. The porch light made her cheekbones look severe. Her eyes widened in surprise as soon as she took in Ian and I standing on her doorstep. "Indi? What are you guys-?"

"We need to talk to Bea." Ian's voice was rough. Aella squinted up at him in confusion and then looked back at me. I wondered if I reeked like cigarette smoke and the mud I had run through. I wondered if I looked as haggard as I felt. Aella opened the door wide. She was only wearing an oversized gray sweatshirt, fuzzy blue socks, and a pair of boxers. Her hair was French braided out of her face, and pulled back like it was, I could see her dark roots starting to meld with the teal of her hair. She wasn't wearing makeup either, and I could see almost every freckle across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. She looked ready for bed.

"Okay...? Do I even want to know what this is about?" Aella questioned, stepping back to make room for us to come in. The tone of her voice suggested that she wanted to know exactly what this was about. "I don't think Bea is asleep yet, but Deirdre and Ty are out, so she'll probably be going to bed soon. Hey, you know you guys could have called me! So I could have at least put on pants." Aella led us down the hallway and into the kitchen, looking like she really didn't care either way if she was wearing pants. Which was probably true. Aella had always been incredibly comfortable in her skin.

Bea was sitting at the kitchen table, wearing the same outfit that she had on in park earlier in the evening. There was a mug in her hands, and she had a crossword puzzle spread out in front of her. She didn't seem as surprised as I expected her to be when Ian and I stepped into the kitchen behind Aella. She placed her mug and the pen she had been using on the table and gave us a long look, which only made me more nervous. Bea's dark eyes were piercing as ever. "I guess you told him, then," she said pleasantly, and dread clawed its way up my throat. I was hoping she would somehow be able to tell what had happened when I chased after Ian so I wouldn't have to say it aloud. So I could keep some of my sanity.

I swallowed hard and shook my head. "No. I mean, yes, Mom told him, but that's not why we're here." I looked over at Ian, and he nodded for me to continue. "It's something...something much different, actually. Something we thought only you might understand." My throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

Ian could tell I was struggling. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest and gave a biting laugh. "We don't know if anyone is going to believe us, but we figured that if anyone would, it would be you."

Aella was starting to look more and more confused. She glanced over at Bea and then back at us, her eyebrows pulled low over her eyes. "Um, guys, what exactly are you trying to get at?"

Ian stepped forward, lips parting. He held out his hand, palm up, and closed his eyes tightly, his brow furrowing in complete concentration. "Maybe I can just show you..." There was a beat of silence as Aella gawked at Ian and Bea cocked her head to the side, watching him intently. Nothing was happening. Embarrassed, I stepped forward and placed my hand in the crook of my brother's arm. His eyes opened at the same time a very small flame burst to life in the center of his palm. Ian blinked and looked down at his hand, swallowing hard, and I nearly jerked away in surprise. Aella took a step back, her eyes widening in shock. Bea pushed herself to her feet, and for a minute, I thought that she intended to throw us out of her house or take Aella and run. But she merely stepped forward, her dark eyes reflecting the flame Ian held in his hand.

Aella wasn't staring at Ian anymore, though. She was looking directly at me. She didn't look afraid-not really, just bewildered. Maybe that was a good sign. I looked down to see what she was staring at. My hand, the one that wasn't resting on Ian's arm, was glowing with the light that had been pouring out of it before. I gritted my teeth and fought back the panic, trying to the best of my ability to remain calm. This was so far out of my league. That's why we're here, I reminded myself. Because Bea can help us, or maybe at least tell us what the hell is going on.

"You're afraid," Bea observed, and I felt like laughing. Or maybe crying.

"And you're not?" Ian retorted, but there was no heat in his words. He was too busy trying to make sure the tiny flame on his hand remained there.

Bea shook her head slowly. Aella opened her mouth, paused, and then finally spluttered: "We always knew-I mean, we always knew you two were different. Bea told me that when we first became friends, Indi. But...she never said what exactly you could do." The light in my hand was incredibly warm, pulsing gently against my skin like it was waiting to be released. Aella didn't flinch away from us. "You know that I-I don't care, okay? I mean, we practice magic, guys. I've seen things that you wouldn't even..." Bea cast Aella a warning look and she trailed off sheepishly. "Anyway, this doesn't change things."

"Are you kidding?" I spluttered. I was shaking. "This-we don't even know what this is! We don't even know what we are anymore."

"But you knew all along?" Ian demanded, his eyes locked on Bea.

Bea pursed her lips. "I knew from the very beginning that the two of you were very special, but it was unclear to me how." Bea gestured to the chairs around the table. "You may want to sit down for this, honestly. You're not looking too well, Indi." I wondered if my face was ashen. I let go of Ian's arm and slipped into a chair, the muscles in my stomach tightening considerably. The light from my hand faded as soon as I stepped away from my brother. Ian took a seat next to me, seeming just as uncomfortable as I was. He wasn't used to the feeling, I realized. He wasn't used to not knowing how to respond, of being unsure. In any other situation, that might have been refreshing. But not now.

Bea steepled her fingers and leaned forward. "When I see people...when I get snippets of the future, they're related to very specific kinds of people. From the moment I met the two of you, I could see tiny pieces of who you would become. And I was surprised, to say the least. Before, only people who were apart of my coven or other covens had a place in my visions. Because we delve into magic and have it reside in us-we're much more than simply human." Aella nodded in agreement, knawing at a loose piece of skin on her lower lip. "You, much like us, are more than human."

My breath caught in my throat. "We're witches?"

Bea shook her head immediately. "No, not witches. Your auras are different than our own, but you are apart of the supernatural world. More than human, and seperate."

"Then what in the hell are we?" Ian said, his voice hoarse. Despair clung to him. He wanted answers, and he wanted them badly. I felt the same ache in my chest. It was unbelieveable that Bea and Aella, and maybe the whole coven, knew that we were and we weren't even aware. We were in the dark.

Bea sighed. "I'm not qualified to answer that, honestly. I haven't been trained to be able to identify supernatural creatures based on specifics. That's what emissaries are for. All of my life, I've been surrounded by witches, and interactions with other supernatural beings has been few and far in between. But..." She met Ian's eyes, and then my own. "If I had to guess, I would say that you two have fae blood."

"First off, what the hell is an emissary?" Ian questioned, tufts of his hair in his fists. "And secondly-are you saying that we're fucking faeries? Because that isn't funny at all."

Aella raised her eyebrows. "Apart of the fae, Ian. Technically faeries, asshole, but not faeries like you're thinking. Unless you remember the Tooth Fairy being able to catch fire."

Ian glared at Aella pointedly and then looked at Bea, waiting for an answer. I couldn't speak. There was no way that could be true. Bea nodded slowly. "Aella is right. Your idea of faeries is skewed. The fae are a large group, full of many different creatures. Like 'shifters' is used as an umbrella term for werewolves, wendigos, and the like." Bea rubbed her temple. "And an emissary is a person, normally human, that studies supernatural creatures, the laws of the supernatural world, and protects supernatural beings in their general vicinity. More than likely, they'll be assigned a family to guide and protect." Bea's dark eyes never once left us, and her voice didn't waver. She wanted to make sure that we understood and that we believed her. "Back on the subject of the two of you. Fae is simply an umbrella term, much like 'shifter' is. There are banshees and sluaghs, and many other types of fae that I can't even begin list. The problem is that I don't have extensive knowledge on the subject, not that I don't want to help you." Bea's voice was very soft.

"Why didn't someone say something sooner?" I finally asked. I wondered if Aella could hear the hurt in my voice. She had been upset that I hadn't told her that we were leaving, but she had been hiding this for years.

"We were protecting you," Bea replied, not even hesitating. "There was no sure way to convince you that we weren't lying, especially if your powers didn't make themselves physically evident. And who was to say that if we told you sooner, you wouldn't tell your mother? She would have forbidden you from interacting with us if we suggested that you were anything other than human."

Other than human. It still didn't seem real. It just sounded wrong. But Bea was right-I wouldn't have believed what she had to say without proof. I scarcely believed it now, and I had seen it with my own two eyes.

Aella put the end of the braid in between her lips. "We just took precautions, Indi. We had to. We love you both, you know, and we didn't want to lose you."

Ian's cheeks turned red at her words, and he ducked his head to look down at his hands. There was no sign of the fire that had been there before. "How-how could Mom not know about this?" My brother asked suddenly, his eyes going back to Bea.

"Well, that's easy. She doesn't know what you two are because the fae blood is not from her side of the family." Aella dropped her braid and stared over at Bea, bewildered. This was news to her, too. "Fae blood doesn't necessarily guarantee that you'll have abilities. Sometimes the power that runs through a bloodline lies dormant for a few generations, and because of this, it's not uncommon that the parents of fae children will possess nothing but human qualities." Bea drew a circle around the rim of her tea mug thoughtfully. "However, I've never had any visions about your mother, which leads me to believe that your fae blood comes from your father's side of the family."

That didn't sit well with Ian. He jumped to his feet, anger in his eyes. The kitchen chair scraped the floor loudly, making me wince. "Fucking fantastic," he seethed. "The only thing the asshole ever gave us, and it makes us monsters."

I felt like I had been nailed in the gut. Ian's eyes were full of unshed, angry tears. Cameron Parrish had failed us in all ways possible...But another Parrish had offered us sanctuary. "If Ian and I are...fae," I began, choking on the word, "then any of our siblings should be the same, right?"

Bea stopped tracing a ring around her mug and looked up at the ceiling, her expression contemplative. "There is a good chance that your half-brother may possess the same abilities that you both do," she agreed. "But because he has a different mother, there's also a possibility that he's essentially human."

Ian was still standing, his lips pursed into a thin, unhappy line. He looked miserable. I was mostly still in shock. This was so much to take in at once. I nibbled on my nails in contemplation, trying to keep my breathing even. Aella was watching me carefully, as though she was expecting me to not be able to handle what had just been discussed. Honestly, I was surprised at myself for handling this as well as I was. Bea leaned over and patted my arm gently, her expression fond. "I'm sorry we didn't say anything sooner, Indi, but hopefully you understand the danger we could have put you in by doing so. There are people out there that will..." She shuddered and pulled her hand away, eyes glazing. "Well, there are people out there who aren't good. Better to be safe than sorry, honestly." She nodded to herself. "Beacon Hills..." she muttered, and I raised a questioning eyebrow.

"What about it?" Aella asked, leaning forward on her elbows. She batted her teal braid over her shoulder. Her curiosity was almost palpable. Ian didn't move from the spot where he was rooted, uncomfortably standing, but his eyes did flicker between Bea, Aella, and I.

Bea waved her hand dismissively. "It's just...very odd. The place has always been a beacon for supernatural creatures. I just find it unlikely for your brother to be there if his fae traits haven't manifested. Indi, Ian...you will find that places built on ley lines attract all sorts of things." Bea and Aella both looked grave. "What I said earlier still stands-not everything will be as it seems. So be very careful."

My brother and I exchanged a long look, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing: What are we getting ourselves into?

Hi, everyone! Thank you to those that have reviewed, and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry for the delay in updates, but I had terrible writer's block for quite a while. This story should be updated more regularly now, though, so you can look forward to seeing more of Ian and Indi soon!