Page 30 of Rise of the Melody
Her face fell and she tucked hair behind her ear. “No. I can feel magic but I don’t have any. The Hellenistic magic from our dad’s side faded over the generations from non-use. And only stupid Chrys inherited our mom’s shifting.”
“I’m the cool one.” Chrys grinned sideways—ugh, he really was good looking—and Shani threw a wadded napkin that he batted easily away.
Nora patted Shani’s arm consolingly.
A bustling sound came from behind us, and the redheaded cashier plopped into Shani’s lap, lifting her legs onto Nora’s lap. They didn’t seem to mind at all. “What did I miss?”
“We’re still doing introductions,” Nora told her.
“Ah! I’m Clare Murray. Born in County Cork Ireland. Banshee who has never screamed or heard the scream. And the only one at this table who’s set foot on the Irish portal lands. It’s guarded by the Leprechaun clan. Did you know that?”
My mouth popped open and my whole brain fell out. I must’ve looked like a spectacle because the entire table laughed. “You’re messing with me.”
“No, I swear!” She was beaming and she spoke so fast. “The Chaun are a tough group. Little People who can kick ass. They still cobble the shoes for the high fae and everything! Their prince, or whatever they call him, was recently married. But he’s not little, he’s tall. I know, it’s confusing. They don’t wear the buckles or anything. Like you don’t wear a witch hat and I don’t wear a flowing white nightgown. Except on Halloween. It’s funny, right? Oh, how was your chai? And thanks for doing the competition yesterday. I got a little freaked out and the IBS kicked in?—”
“TMI,” Chrystamos muttered.
Clare shrugged. “I told Teague I didn’t want that attention, but he made me.”
“Because you did great in the practices!” Teague told her.
“Because we were in your yard with nobody watching!” She peered at me expectantly, but I wasn’t sure which part to respond to.
I settled on, “Yeah, no problem.” More laughter from the others. The door chimed as it opened, and Clare jumped up to get back to work. She gave me a strangling hug, which took me by surprise.
“Let’s be best friends!” she exclaimed as she darted away.
“Wow.” I sipped my tea and smiled.
“Clare has a little anxiety and ADHD, if you didn’t notice,” Shani said fondly.
“Got it,” I answered. “She seems sweet.”
“When she’s not talking about her stomach issues.” Chrys made a face.
“Girls poop too,” Shani teased him. “Get over it.”
His nose scrunched. “They do not. Only you. And you don’t count.”
Now it was my turn to join their laughter.
A comfortable lull passed.
“So,” I asked. “What should I know about, like, magical people?” I felt so dumb. Was that the right description for us? They all grinned at each other.
“Well,” said Shani. “Everyone in the mystic community is nosy. And the older generation can be kind of elitist toward humans.”
Nora nodded at that. “And distrustful. Even of our own kind.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because…power.” This was from Chrystamos, who I swore was going to fall backward at any second.
The mention of power and distrust sent my mind spinning back to the guy outside of the club. I almost opened my mouth to tell them about him, but it suddenly felt kind of personal and too random.
Teague tapped his strong fingers on the table. “I think it used to be worse when there were more of us. More vying for power. Especially in the older families with purer bloodlines.”
“Like yours,” Nora said behind a cough. We all waited for Teague to grin and shrug before we laughed nervously.
