Page 21 of Venice

“Are you looking forward to Barcelona though?” asks Iphi.

“I am. I’ve always wanted to go there, but Venice . . .” She makes the Italian gesture of perfection, kissing the tips of her fingers and flicking her wrist outward.

Iphi giggles following her movement and then stops, eyes on the window, head cocked. “Something’s off.”

I shrink behind the fluttering curtain so they can’t see me. Iphigenia stands and walks over to the window. Pausing, she draws a symbol in the air, and I gasp, falling into the room where I shift and change, growing back to my normal size.

Sophia jumps up, running toward me. “Diva?”

Iphi reaches down and offers me a hand. “Soph, grab a robe.”

She turns and runs out of the room and to return a moment later with a silk bathrobe which she drapes over my naked shoulders.

They lead me carefully to the kitchen table and help me sit. Iphi pours me a cup of coffee and places it in front of me. Her empathetic eyes are kind, as always. She sits across from me and places her elbows on the table, resting her chin atop her hands. “Do you want to tell us what we just witnessed?”

I reach for the mug, my hands shaking, and bring it to my lips. I can’t look either of them in the eye. Sophia sits next to me and rubs my back. “It’s okay, whenever you’re ready.”

I can’t let go of the mug, but I look at each of my friends in turn. “I don’t know what happened. One minute I was asleep with my men and the next I was flying out the window. Have either of you heard of any Signum like this?”

Iphi sits up straight. “There are shifters of course, but what I just saw from you was elemental. The spell I cast is for pixies.”

“Pixies?” I shake my head incredulously, even though I know she’s right. “Why wouldn’t my parents have told me?”

“You’re adopted, right?” Sophia asks softly.

I nod, clenching my jaw. Could it be that my parents don’t know? That must be it, they would never have accepted a Signum as their child, even an adopted one.

“Do you know where they adopted you from?” asks Iphi.

I nod. “Southwest England, Cornwall.”

“Land of the pixies,” says Iphigenia.

“And it took until my early thirties to manifest?” I ask.

“Sure,” says Iphi. “Sophia is around your age, and a witch, but she’s never been taught to use her powers, so she doesn’t.”

“True,” Sophia bites her lip. “My parents wanted me to live a normal life.” She makes air quotes.

“If you’re not trained on how to use your powers, they can lie dormant forever.” Iphi takes a sip of her coffee. “I was lucky in that my mother started teaching me when I was young, but she never taught my sister Sadie, and it was thought for most of her life that Sadie had no power at all.”

“But she did?” I asked.

Iphi nodded. “Oh yes, she’s more powerful than myself or our oldest sister Chrysothemis, just in a different way.”

“How can I learn to control this? What will my parents think? They’re xenophobic, especially toward Signum.”

“They love you.” Iphi grabs the coffee pot and tops off our cups. “They’ll understand.”

“And my men?”

“Oh, that’s why,” Iphi’s eyes widen. “You found your fated mates. And from the little I know about pixies, this has to be what elicited your change.”

My heart plummets in my chest and then soars. “My men were the key to everything.”

“It looks that way.” Iphi absently twirls a golden curl. “And since you’re calling them your men now, I see you’ve fallen in love with all three.”

I nod and bite my lip. “But they’re werewolves.”

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