Page 28 of Ivory's Familiars

“You can trust us,” Seth prompted, when the silence stretched out.

Ivory drew in a deep breath and nodded her head, “My cat seems to think I can. And I … I think so too. So, okay then. No, I’m not hiding from witch hunters. Mum cautioned me about them but I’ve never seen a single one. I used the glamour so nobody would know I was a witch. I’m hiding from the conclave.”

Vaughn was shocked, “You’re hiding from the conclave? What the hell for?”

The conclave was what they called their witching governing body. It was made up of one member from each of the twelve ruling covens – well eleven covens now because the Panthera Coven was believed to be extinct at the worst, and lost at the best. The conclave made laws, kept the peace, settled disputes, anything a normal government would do. They were sometimes annoying and Vaughn didn’t always agree with every decision they made, but that was politicians for you.

“Because of what I am … half familiar,” Ivory let her bombshell fall into the stunned silence of the room.

“Half familiar?” Seth asked.

“Half fucking familiar?” Vaughn asked.

“You’re half familiar. Of course you are. That explains a lot,” was Ronan’s mild response. Vaughn could have punched him. He was always so cool – outwardly anyway.

“Well, technically I’m a quarter familiar. My father was human. My mother was a witch and her father was a witch, but her mother was a familiar. Mum could shift too and at first she wasn’t sure I would be able to because of my human blood. But the ability to shapeshift doesn’t seem to be diluted through the generations. My panther is strong,” Ivory explained in a bit of a rush. It was as if once she started sharing she wanted to get it all out at once.

“Okay. This explains why you have a panther but not why you’re hiding,” Vaughn pointed out. It was extremely rare for a witch and a familiar to have children. It was quite common for them to be lovers but a witch tended to marry and have children with other witches. Although he had heard of cases of mixed breed children, he had never met any.

Ivory looked at him as if it was obvious, “Because I’m not a pureblood. When my grandfather found out his familiar was pregnant with his child, he was threatened by the conclave. They were going to force him to get rid of the baby – they weren’t going to suffer a half breed in the coven’s bloodline. He refused, running away and hiding with my grandmother. She died when my mother was very young, as did my grandfather. But they both instilled the importance of staying hidden from the conclave. They said she would be killed if they found her. She told me the same. We spent our whole lives trying to stay hidden. And then when she died and I ventured out on my own, I knew I needed something more permanent to conceal me. That’s when I used the powerful glamour spell.”

Vaughn looked at Ronan and then Seth. Seth merely shrugged, not having had much to do with the conclave given he had been born into a generation with a missing bloodline. Ronan, on the other hand, looked just as confused as he was if his frown was anything to go by.

“Ivory,” Ronan began, slowly, “that doesn’t sound … accurate.”

Ivory sat up straight, “I assure you it is. Do you really think my grandfather would have taken my grandmother and hidden in the damn wilderness if they weren’t in danger? Or maybe you just think my mother lied to me all my life?” Ivory was getting testy again.

Ronan held up his hands, “I’m not saying that. I just think there may have been some kind of misunderstanding.”

“Say, Ivory. What was your grandfather’s name?” Seth hurriedly jumped in, clearly seeing the displeasure on Ivory’s new flawless face.

She pursed her lips, but answered; “Dale Anthera”

Vaughn jolted hard, jumping up, “That’s not possible! Dale was killed in an accident with the only female familiar in our coven more than …” He trailed off, realisation striking him like a lightning bolt, “He faked his own death?”

Ivory was already nodding, “He didn’t have a choice. He loved her and the baby. He wasn’t going to allow them to be hurt.”

Vaughn paced across the room. He and Ronan had been familiars to Dale, along with Maree. With only the three of them left and Dale the only remaining witch in the Panthera coven, they had shared the duties. He had known the two were lovers but had vastly underestimated their relationship it would seem. He had harboured heavy feelings of guilt for countless years over the death of his charge, had spiralled into a depressed, semi-alcoholic arsehole for almost an entire lifetime and had been pretty much a dick in the one and half lifetimes since. All because he had believed in his own futility; it was useless to be a familiar if you had no witch. But there had been one, Dale … then another, Ivory’s mother … and now Ivory.

Sensing his turmoil, Ivory stood and walked over to him, placing a gentle hand on his tense arm, “You knew him.”

He gritted his teeth, afraid to speak in case he was rude again – it wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t even been born yet. But shooting the messenger was always an easy thing to do. Luckily, Ronan spoke up;

“Yes. We knew him. He was our witch, along with Maree. He died under our watch – at least, we thought he did. We believed he was the last surviving witch in the Panthera bloodline. When he was killed, times were …difficult,” he murmured the understatement of the century.

“I’m sorry,” Ivory continued to stroke Vaughn’s arm and he grabbed her hand, grateful for the comfort and the contact. She continued; “He truly believed there was no other choice, he was in fear for his child’s life.”

“I believe thatyoubelieve that. But I still don’t think it’s right. The conclave doesn’t go around killing babies,” he couldn’t fathom why Dale would even think such a thing.

Ivory frowned and removed her hand. His panther snarled in his mind, wanting her touch back;“I can’t tell you anything else. As I said, he was dead before I was even born. I’m just repeating what my mother told me.”

“We’ll go to the conclave – get this all sorted out,” Ronan’s voice was low and probably supposed to be soothing.

“What? No!” Ivory shouted, “Have you not been listening? I’m part familiar, part witch. They’ll kill me!”

Seth was up and wrapping strong arms around her now. She allowed it but remained stiff, “We would never let them hurt you. Besides, I think Ronan and Vaughn are right. Something doesn’t add up. Maybe there was some kind of miscommunication or something.”

She snorted, “Pretty fucking big miscommunication.”

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