A/N: Inspired by just about any supernatural sci-fi/fantasy thing I've ever read. In particular, a shout out to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files… 1x2, 3x?, 5x?, 4x? Expect multiple pairings, some het and some not, and also some breakups and…changes.
Warnings: Language, violence, sex, language. Angst. AU. Gore.
A/N #2: Thank you for the reviews! And as a reminder, if you aren't logged in and if you don't accept PMs I can't respond to your reviews. So… just know that I appreciate them!
A/N #3: as of this posting, this fic has 58 reviews, 4500+ hits, is on 40 alert lists and 19 favorites! THANK YOU so much everyone!
A/N #4: A note for those of you who are deeply concerned about the very dead-ahead iceberg. And by iceberg, I mean the 1x2x3 threesome. If you are a die-hard 1x2 fan, I just want to point out that, you know, Duo and Trowa have already had sex in this fic – and they liked it – and if YOU made it this far reading it, YOU liked it too. It doesn't mean that Duo is suddenly going to forgive Trowa – or that a 1x2x3 relationship just magically (forgive the pun) happens, it has to develop. It also doesn't mean that Duo and Heero aren't going to still be mostly invested in each other. If you are a 3x4 fan, listen, Quatre in this fic is straight – so 3x4 is never going to happen. If you are concerned that a threesome is just crazy and not appropriate – again, it's not going to happen after one night of discussion, it's going to develop, and I really think that the groundwork has been there all along – at least, it was my intention for it to be there. For those of you who have a problem with Trowa – I have to apologize, because if you hate Trowa, then I have failed as a writer. I tried to present him as someone that was charming, witty, super hot, confident, and has almost as much emotional baggage as Duo and Heero. If you, the reader, doesn't find him broken yet lovable, then I haven't done my job, and I'm sorry about that.
I just want to finish by saying that I DO care that you care – but you've got to follow me on this. If you've enjoyed the fic so far, you might continue to do so. But I'm not going to change a fundamental plot point when it counts towards so much later on. I appreciate that you care enough to leave a review about it, I really do, but unless the issue is that you think it's out of character for these characters, or unmotivated by the plot, then, you know, it's going to happen.
A/N #5: Yar! Lemon ahead!
Umbra
Chapter Ten
Heero was the first one to break the silence after Duo's declaration.
"Why do you have to have sex with him?"
Duo sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, as far away from Trowa as he could.
"If our bond was complete, we'd be able to share magic pretty easily, but since we isn't – and it won't be – then the other thing is sex. When we're together it unleashes a hell of a lot of magic." Duo frowned as a sudden thought occurred to him. "Before – were you still trying to control your magic and hide it from me?" He looked over at Trowa.
"Yes."
"Fuck." The magic that had been released their first time together had been impressive – but if Trowa had been hiding the full extent of his powers, Duo wondered just how powerful the shape shifter was.
"So you need to have sex to release magic, which would allow him to reconnect to his animal and be able to shift."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"You said something earlier today about your heartbeats being in sync."
Duo nodded. "Yeah – when we have sex, or when I'm torturing him apparently, we share emotions and physical sensations."
"What triggers the release of magic – when you have sex?"
"Orgasm."
"Both of you?"
Duo shrugged. "Not that I have that much evidence to go on, but it seems that when one of us comes, the other gets there too."
"So, as long as one of you comes, the other will too."
"Yeah – wait, earlier, when we woke you, did you get off?" Duo looked back at Trowa.
"No," Trowa growled.
"Why not?"
Trowa sighed. "I was close – but I'm pretty sure that my anger kept me from getting there. That and… I'm guessing you didn't feel anything the past two days that Treize had me tortured, did you?"
Duo shook his head in the negative.
"So I'm thinking it's also a proximity issue – I could feel your pleasure, but it wasn't as intense as our pleasure. But I don't agree with this plan," Trowa added and looked over at Heero.
"What is this plan?" Duo asked. "Something you two have already discussed?"
"No," Heero said. "But it seems logical that only one of you needs to orgasm for this to work, so long as the other is close enough."
Duo smirked. "So he doesn't actually need to be part of this."
"In theory," Trowa argued. "Probably we release magic when we're together because we are together – I doubt it will happen if you're with him and I just happen to be close by."
"Worth a shot though, isn't it?" Duo asked.
Trowa rolled his eyes. "What, exactly, is wrong with us having sex?"
"It would feel too much like me forgiving you – which I haven't and I won't."
"You will eventually," Trowa predicted.
"Of course he will, but it's going to take a while," Heero agreed.
Duo glared at both of them.
"If you two are so buddy buddy all of the sudden, why don't you two fuck?"
Heero looked over Trowa's body, and shrugged one shoulder.
"He's probably too weak for it to work – that woman said his magic was already drained," Heero speculated.
Duo rolled his eyes. He truly appreciated the clinical way that Heero approached life – judging and analyzing things from an objective perspective before reaching a conclusion – but sometimes it was frustrating.
"So back to plan A?"
Heero nodded.
"Great – so…I guess here on the bed?" Duo leaned back so that his weight was supported on his elbows. He smirked at Trowa, now only about a foot away from him. "Think this is close enough?"
Trowa's eyes narrowed dangerously. Duo could feel the other man's anger and frustration as Trowa pushed the emotions towards him through their connection. Duo grinned.
"I'll take that as a yes, then." Duo winked at Heero. "I think you're wearing too much, Heero."
Heero crossed to the bed, pulling off his t-shirt as he did. Duo sat up on his knees and reached for the other man, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck and bringing their mouths together as their bare chests met.
Duo let Heero control the kiss, enjoying the feel of the other man's tongue tangled with his own and the heat of his mouth. Heero's unique, piney scent filled Duo's nostrils and he breathed deeply, enjoying the clean, crisp fragrance. He started to undo Heero's jeans and eased them down his narrow hips.
Heero stepped out of them, still maintaining their kiss, and started to ease Duo back on the bed again. Duo ran his hands down Heero's back, finding that sensitive space just above his hips that had Heero arching into him. Duo nipped at his lower lip, and Heero groaned.
Through their connection, Duo could feel his own arousal start to affect Trowa. The bed shifted, and Duo looked over to see Trowa getting up. He pulled away from Heero's mouth.
"Where are you going?" He demanded.
"I'm not doing this," Trowa said and shook his head. "I'm not your plaything to punish like this."
"So you'd rather die than watch Heero and I together?"
Trowa's face froze. It was clear that he did not want to die, but that he found the current situation to be akin to torture.
"You won't let me die," Trowa pointed out. "If you were going to, you would have already."
"So you're going to wait me out?"
Trowa shrugged. Heero sat back on his heels, still straddling Duo's hips.
"Okay, sure. So, let's spend the next two days with you unable to heal yourself and your magic getting weaker." Duo frowned. "So… that means that you'll be missing from Treize's court for three days, from your pack for five. Now, I don't know your sister very well – and I really want to keep it that way – but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that she's going to panic if you don't show up soon. Martha, being Martha, is probably going to round up whatever shape shifters that will follow her and decide to attack Treize. So, at this point one of two things will happen. Either Martha - and again, I don't know your sister, but I'm sure she'd like to fight for you, so she'll be there too – and the others will face Treize and lose, or Treize will tell them that the last time he saw you was while I beat the living hell out of you with Deathscythe. So, guess what happens then? They come after me. So now we have two more possibilities. They try to kill me and we – because I'm pretty sure Heero would back me up on this – take them out. Or they get lucky and manage to kill us, after we've likely killed both Martha and your sister. So, maybe there would be enough of your pack left that they could heal you… but I'm guessing that Treize would probably exact vengeance for them having presumed to attack him in the first place."
Duo smirked. "So, yeah, if you want to wait me out, go for it."
"So you are just like the rest of them," Trowa sneered. "You really do think we're just animals to control."
"One – I've never pretended to like or trust shape shifters. That does not make me like the rest of the Council. Two, you're the one who fucked this up, not me, so do not get all pissy about the situation. This is how it is."
They glared at each other.
"Duo," Heero spoke up. Duo broke off his staring contest with Trowa and looked up at him. "Let him join us."
Duo stared at him in disbelief. He could feel Trowa's shock at the suggestion.
"Are you serious? You and I finally decide that we're serious and the same day you want to invite another man – a man we both wanted to kill just a few hours ago – into our bed?"
"You want him – don't bother denying it. You've never been involved with a human before, but you wanted to be with him."
"Things have sort of changed. For one, it turns out he's not a human."
Heero shrugged. "He still has the same body – for the most part." Duo winced at that. "Is his personality that different?"
Duo sighed and returned to glaring at Trowa. "No, actually. He's still borderline snarky and he still has that damn smirk."
Said smirk emerged at Duo's words.
"How are you okay with this?" Duo asked, looking back up at Heero.
He shrugged and looked over at Trowa, a cold and calculating look in his eyes. "I'm not threatened by him. Whatever magical bond the two of you have isn't something that I'm part of, but I know you, and I'm not going anywhere. If we heal him now then this thing is done. As I said before, I think he could be a valuable ally – there's no point in wasting that. And… I understand why he did what he did."
"Oh really?" Duo felt his anger start to return. He could not believe that Heero was now on Trowa's side. It reminded him of when he had first freed Heero after killing Gavi. "You know, I'm actually not surprised at all. This is classic – "
"Duo, he is not like Gavi."
"Who is Gavi?" Trowa asked, interrupting Duo and Heero's glaring match.
Duo sighed and tried to move out from under Heero, but the other man put more of his weight onto Duo's legs, holding him in place.
"Gavi was an Ephemeral who made me," Heero explained.
"Made you?" Trowa echoed. He approached the bed and sat down on the edge, giving Duo a profile view of his ruined back.
"I was a soldier in the U.S. Army when World War II broke out. I'm half Japanese, and there was a lot of…resentment towards me after Pearl Harbor, so I volunteered for a special unit. A group of scientists were trying to create a stronger soldier who could heal faster than normal and also take more damage. The lead scientist on the project was Gavi Weissman, a German Jewish Ephemeral." Heero looked up at Duo to see if he felt like continuing the story. Duo sighed.
"We were involved for about a year and then one night he ambushed me, injected silver into my veins, took my blood, and left me to die."
Trowa's eyes widened and then narrowed.
"I'm assuming this story involves you killing him."
Duo smirked. "You're damn right it does. It took me a while to force the silver into a lump that I could rip out of my arm," he unconsciously rubbed at the spot on his right forearm, "and then a few days to track him down. They used my blood to create some kind of new blood plasma that they transfused into Heero. So he's got my ability to heal quickly and suffer a lot of damage, but they also figured out how to make him invulnerable to magic. He was just the first of many – Gavi had plans to make an entire ARMY of soldiers like Heero. So yeah, I killed him and the two other Ephemeral scientists working with him."
Trowa was quiet for a moment.
"I'm not like him," he finally said. "Yes, I started a relationship with you because it would be advantageous to me, but…as much as I might not have liked you before I met you, it was never my intention to harm you." Trowa smirked slightly. "Even after you whined about having to go hiking."
"I did not whine," Duo grumbled, which only made Trowa smirk more. Duo looked up at Heero. "I still don't trust him."
"I'll still help you bury his body whenever you want to kill him," Heero promised. He leaned down and kissed Duo again, teasing Duo's mouth open for a deep kiss. "Now, can we move on to plan B?"
"How is this going to work?" Duo asked. He massaged Heero's penis through the thin cotton of his boxers, feeling it grow large again in his hand. "I was really looking forward to having you inside of me."
Heero smirked. "That's still part of plan B," he assured him. He eased away from Duo's hand and knelt above Duo so that he could undo Duo's jeans. Duo scooted up on the bed and pulled both his jeans and his boxers off. Heero also took the opportunity to pull off his boxers before crawling back to Duo.
Duo sat up and started to reach for Heero's body when he felt the bed shift as Trowa moved to join them. Duo's shoulders tensed as he anticipated Trowa's touch, but when the other man skimmed his fingers down Duo's spine that same frisson of golden energy passed between them and he leaned into the touch.
He reached for Heero's erection even as he leaned towards Trowa and kissed him, and he reveled in the taste of cinnamon and the flood of desire he and Trowa shared. Duo felt both men run their hands over his body, and the sensation was intensely arousing. Duo tried to lean into both of them while still kissing Trowa.
Heero moved closer and started to kiss his way down Duo's torso, skirting around Trowa's hands as he neared Duo's straining erection.
When Heero's mouth closed over him Duo groaned into Trowa's mouth and arched his hips up. Heero used his hands to position Duo so that he was leaning back against Trowa's chest, the other man's erection firm against his lower back. The angle made kissing Trowa awkward, but the shape shifter started to lick and nip his way down Duo's neck and shoulder.
Duo shivered at the dual sensations. Years ago, when he had still worked for the Old Council he had taken part in threesomes and orgies – the Old Council had had several members who enjoyed sex magic, and Council meetings usually concluded with a virtual feast of debauchery. Duo had participated, but he had never had a lover he cared for as much as Heero, or even a partner he physically connected to as well as Trowa. Having both men lavish attention on his body was unique, and it was a struggle to remain angry with Trowa as his pleasure and arousal grew.
Heero dragged his teeth over Duo's erection and he cried out at the intense sensation at the same time that Trowa groaned and thrust towards him from behind.
"Fuck, Heero," Duo panted.
The human looked up at him and smirked. He released Duo and crawled to the edge of the bed to grab the lube from the nightstand. In his absence Trowa started to stroke Duo's erection, his grip firm and his pace just steady enough to make Duo wish for more.
Heero rejoined them and Duo shifted away from Trowa, instantly regretting the feel of the other man's warm, hard body behind his own. He kissed Heero, and the lingering taste of Trowa mixed with Heero's own distinct taste and it literally tasted like heaven to Duo. His own pleasure was mirrored by Trowa's, and he was overwhelmed by the magnified sensations.
"I need you in me now," he growled to Heero. Duo didn't think he would last through anymore foreplay – everything was simply too intense.
"Turn around," Heero instructed, his voice a harsh whisper against Duo's ear. He shivered but complied.
Heero pushed him towards Trowa, so that Duo was practically straddling the other man's lap, and their erections brushed together. They both groaned at the touch, and then Trowa smirked in pleasure before leaning down and kissing Duo again.
With Heero preparing him and Trowa kissing him, Duo felt sandwiched in pleasure, and he finally allowed himself to just let go of his anger and enjoy it. When Heero finally thrust into him, the force of it carried Duo forward completely into Trowa's lap, and the friction of their erections brushing together was amazingly stimulating.
Heero's hands were gripping his hips tightly, with Trowa's overlapping them as both men tried to pull Duo closer. He could feel his climax building, could feel Trowa reaching that same precipice, and then suddenly he was there, coming with a hoarse shout of pleasure that he both heard and felt echoed by Trowa, and Heero followed them.
Duo's prediction that the magic released by them this time would be stronger was proven correct – he was blinded by the intensity of the warm, golden flood that washed over them. His body, still aching from the previous night, instantly felt renewed and sated. That same euphoric feeling from before returned, and it suddenly felt as if the world was a bright place of possibilities.
Heero pulled out of him, and Duo flopped down bonelessly onto his back. He felt amazingly empty and content. He looked at Heero, and while it was clear that the man wasn't experiencing the magical aftereffects of their sex, he had clearly enjoyed himself. He was wearing the same smug half-smirk he always wore after particularly good sex.
Duo rolled over to look at Trowa. The other man was still sitting back on his heels, and he had a half-dazed look on his face. Duo grinned at the look.
"Feel better?"
Trowa looked at him.
"Better? I feel like I just saw the sun for the first time."
Duo chuckled and stretched, luxuriating in feeling his muscles strain.
"Can you feel your animal?" Heero asked.
Trowa closed his eyes and then smiled.
"Yes. It's like whatever wall was separating me from it is gone."
Duo nodded. "Good. Mission accomplished. Time for bed."
Trowa's face lost its smile and his eyes took on that same empty look of his lion.
"What?" Duo asked.
"What happens now?"
Duo frowned. He hadn't really considered that – then again, he hadn't really planned on any of this happening. It might have been easy enough to forget his anger with Trowa while they were in the middle of having amazing sex, but now that the moment had passed and the golden glow of magic was fading, the fact remained that Duo did not trust him and that he really didn't know how he felt about him anymore.
"He should shift," Heero said. He moved so that he was laying down beside Duo on his side.
"Not in my bed," Duo muttered. He had seen shifters change into their animal forms before, and it was never a sight he enjoyed. That, and he did not want to be that close to Trowa in lion form.
"If you'll let me borrow some clothes I can leave," Trowa said, his voice tense.
Duo groaned. "No, no. I'm not going to kick you out in the middle of the night. Just – go to the living room."
"And after that?"
"How long will you need to be in that form?"
Trowa shrugged one shoulder.
"Not long. Maybe an hour?"
"Most shape shifters need a full day."
"I'm not most shape shifters," Trowa pointed out with a smug grin.
"Right. I – Trowa, things are not okay between us. Sure, we just had amazing sex – and it should help you heal, so that's good. But – we are not going back to the way things were between us two days ago."
"I have to protect my pack, and I have to fight for my freedom. That puts me in direct opposition to what you believe in."
"Yeah, it does," Duo agreed. He shook his head. "Just – go shift and heal yourself. We'll talk about this tomorrow."
Trowa held his gaze for a moment and then looked past him to Heero.
"I'm not going to kill you in the middle of the night," Heero said after a brief staring contest.
The barest smile curved Trowa's lips before he rose from the bed and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Duo rolled over and looked up at Heero.
"Seriously. Less than twenty four hours as a couple and already – "
"Duo, just go to sleep." Heero kissed him when he started to protest, and Duo allowed him to.
Eventually they pulled back the rather messy comforter and crawled under the sheets. They lay in their usual positions, back to back, and Duo was amused by the fact that even when they slept, they were trying to watch out for each other.
Duo was tired of waking up to the ring of cell phones. Especially when he was so well insulated, trapped between Heero and Trowa on the bed and baking in the heat of Trowa's body.
"Not my phone," Duo grumbled when he was lucid enough to recognize the ringtone. He was amused that, even though they were sleeping front to front, Trowa had still found a way to wrap himself around Duo in the night, insinuating one of his legs between Duo's and one arm slung low over his hips.
Trowa's green eyes blinked open, and he looked just as cranky as Duo felt.
"Not mine – it's in my car. In the desert."
Heero rolled away from Duo's back, which Trowa seemed to take as an invitation to pull Duo closer. Duo thought about fighting against it, but Trowa simply closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Duo listened as Heero answered the phone, but then the assassin went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Duo sighed and pulled away from Trowa enough so that he could roll over. He really didn't like sleeping with his back exposed, and if Trowa was there he might as well be useful.
The shape shifter momentarily protested, but when Duo settled his back against his front Trowa threw one leg over his and pulled him close.
"Thank you," Trowa murmured against his ear.
Duo didn't have a response to that that wasn't snarky, so he remained silent. After a few minutes he drifted back to sleep, lulled by the steady drum of Trowa's heartbeat against his back and the warmth of his body.
"We have a problem."
He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but Heero had pulled on his clothes from yesterday and was lacing up his boots.
"What now?" Duo groaned.
"The contract on you was cancelled."
"Yeah, I can see how that's problematic."
"Someone's taken out one on Quatre Winner instead."
Duo could feel Trowa tense up behind him.
"Details?" Duo asked.
"Same amount – five million – but there's a deadline. They want him dead before sunset on Monday."
"The Old Council Emissary is supposed to arrive on Monday," Trowa said.
"Who was on the phone?"
"My agent."
"You have an agent?" Duo had never been present when Heero was offered a job, only when Heero asked him to assist, and he had never given much thought to how a job was set up.
"Yes. Who also found us a house. We move in Wednesday."
"I didn't realize we were looking to move so soon."
"There's no point in staying at this location. It's in your name, and even though the contract on you has been cancelled, everyone knows where you live now. It's an unnecessary risk."
Duo sighed.
"So what's the plan?"
"You and I are going to find Quatre Winner and I'm going to protect him."
"Really?"
Heero nodded. "I have the feeling that this is the same person who put out the contract on you – so it's important that Winner stays alive."
"Okay. Fair enough." Duo pulled away from Trowa's embrace and got out of the bed. "I need a shower, though."
"Be quick."
Duo looked over at Trowa, still on the bed.
"How is your back?"
In answer, Trowa rose and turned around, giving them a full view of the damage. The skin around the violet scars was bright and pink. The scars themselves were still ragged, and Duo knew it would be weeks before they were completely closed and Trowa could move with ease. But he could feel how much better Trowa felt, and knew that he had healed much of the damage by shifting into his lion.
"Good. You'll live." Duo frowned. "You should probably let your pack know you're still alive."
Trowa's gaze was searching, but Duo wasn't ready to fix things between them yet. He turned on his heel and closed the bathroom door, shutting out both Trowa and Heero.
When he came back into the bedroom half an hour later, the room was empty. He tried to reach out and feel Trowa, but he was gone from the condo.
Duo dressed quickly and then found Heero in the living room with an arsenal of weapons spread out on the coffee table in front of him.
Duo whistled and reached for a particularly wicked looking knife.
"Beautiful," he said, and hummed in satisfaction at the way the hilt felt in his palm.
"Guns are better," Heero muttered and selected several. He handed one to Duo. With a sigh, Duo accepted it and tucked it into the back of his jeans. He pulled his t-shirt over it, and then tucked the knife into his right boot.
"Call Winner," Heero instructed.
"Yes boss," Duo muttered.
He dialed Quatre's number and waited for him to answer. He watched in amusement as Heero selected a few more weapons before then packing away the rest. Duo had no idea where Heero was going to put all of the guns he had set out, but he was very curious to find out.
"Good morning," Quatre answered after several rings.
"Hey, Quatre, listen, we have a situation on our hands."
"What did you do?"
"Okay, I resent the implication that this is somehow my fault. It's more like, what did you do. My friend that I told you about –"
"The assassin?"
"Yeah. Well, he just got offered a new job. Someone's taken out a contract on your life and they want you dead by sunset on Monday."
Quatre was silent.
"Quatre?"
"Why Monday?"
"We have a theory. The Old Council is sending an Emissary to visit Treize, and the Emissary arrives on Monday. We're guessing that whoever wants you dead wants you out of the picture before then because they view you as a problem."
"Obviously," Quatre agreed, his voice tense.
"So my friend –"
"Does he have a name?"
"Heero."
"He's an assassin named Heero?"
Duo smirked. "I know, ironic. Except, in this case, a little less ironic. He's just promoted himself to act as your personal bodyguard. So he's going to be keeping you alive for the next two days."
"I don't –"
"Not negotiable," Duo interrupted him. "We're coming to your apartment now."
"Duo –"
"Quatre, if you die then all of the progress you've managed to make goes away. Treize will use it as an excuse to promote his own Arbiter, who will just be his pawn, and NO one will thrive under his rule."
Duo frowned and looked at Heero.
"Are you sure it's not Treize?" He asked the assassin.
"Positive."
"But he has the most to gain from us being dead," Duo mused. He shook himself and spoke into the phone again. "We'll see you in ten minutes."
He hung up the phone to more of Quatre's protests
"Something is going on that I don't know about," Duo said. "Two nights ago Treize warned me to keep Quatre under control so that the Emissary wouldn't have him killed. But now someone wants him dead before the Emissary gets here."
"Who would have the most to gain from his death?"
"Aside from Treize?" Duo shrugged. "Maybe another faction on the Council? Or, if what Treize says is true, the Old Council might have just decided to off him before they even get to town – maybe they want to take the chance to set up a clean slate."
"Who is the Emissary?" Heero asked.
"No idea."
Heero nodded and stood.
"We need to figure that out, but first we need to go get your Ephemeral."
"He isn't mine," Duo muttered.
They started to walk out of the apartment when Duo's cell phone rang again. He answered it, expecting it to be Quatre trying to argue his way out of protection.
"Quatre –"
"Duo, it's Hilde."
"Hey – oh, shit. I'm so sorry about last night." He hadn't even thought to protect her from their magical surge.
"This isn't about that. There was another circle last night."
"Was the victim an Ephemeral?"
"Yes – but she's still alive."
"WHAT?"
"Yes. We have her here at the station now. I need you down here to help us question her."
"Yeah, I'll be there in twenty minutes - I need to run by Quatre's apartment first."
"Okay, but please hurry. She keeps saying that her master will send someone for her and that we can't hold her against her will."
"Did she say who her master is?"
"Zechs."
Duo swore.
"Okay, if he shows up before I get there try to stall – I'm on my way."
He hung up the phone.
"Would it be impossible for me to have one day where I only have one problem to deal with?" He muttered to Heero.
"Apparently."
"Alright, smart ass, let's go."
Up next: we learn more about our serial killer and Catharine has some words with Duo.
Also: My husband and I are moving to a house this weekend (because we're materialistic grown- ups who are sell outs and don't want to live in an apartment anymore), so it's going to be the middle of next week before I update again. Probably. I might get crazy and try to write on my lunch breaks at work next week too. We shall see.
Definitions:
Council: the body that presides over magical creatures and users in the US. The Old Council refers to the European Council.
Dryad: A nature spirit, like a Sprite. Another Old One. Usually associated with a tree, and different 'families' of Dryads are associated with different trees.
Ephemeral: a human who can use magic. Used interchangeably with witch.
Jinn: alternately Djinn or Genie. They are spirits, supposedly created by God (if you're Muslim), and can be good or bad.
Old Ones: the powerful magical races. Vampires, Shape shifters, Faeries, and a few more to be named later!
Old Ways: reference to the way that the European Council ran things or the way things were before magic was legal. Sally Po refers to the old ways – a reference to the practices of Native American Shamans, and NOT the Council.
Null: a human without magical ability.
Shaman: A Native American mystic or holy person. Used in this context to mean an Ephemeral.