Page 108 of Alpha Power

"Now, we wait for Thaddeus," Darius said, picking up a forkful of pasta.

How the hell was this dudestillhungry? He had been eating nonstop since she sat down.

Void leaned back and balanced effortlessly on the back legs of his chair. "And then?" He asked, casually.

"Then well... then I dunno," Darius shrugged. "Have to wait and see what he finds during the autopsy."

"Autopsy? You guys are doing an autopsy?" Zamorra licked frosting off her fingers and licked her lips.

"A magical autopsy," Darius clarified and she frowned. She'd never heard of a 'magical autopsy' before.

Three loud bangs echoed throughout the room, like someone was hitting the house itself, making the place shake like a level five earthquake was ripping through Brisbane.

Void lowered the front legs of his chair back to the ground and looked around in confusion. "Okay, either I've finally cracked it, or someone is quite literally knocking on your house."

Luther exhaled a sigh of annoyance just as a thrum of dark magic tainted the air. A tingle ran down Zamorra's spine at the familiar sensation and she rolled her neck.

Thaddeus plopped down into the empty seat at the other end of the table, red lightning crackling around his body like wildfire. For the first time since she'd met him, he was wearing actual clothes. A dark, turtleneck sweater with an even darker classic trench coat and tight-fitting black pants.

He kicked his feet up onto the table, crossing them at the ankles and leaned back casually, hands clasped behind his head. "Greetings, myamicis," he smirked, a sparkle in his hazel eyes. "Did you miss me?"

Luther glared and that smirk vanished from Thaddeus' face. "What?" he frowned. "I knocked."

Zamorra snickered. To be honest she was kind of glad to see the mage. Majority of the crap that came out of his mouth made her laugh and right now she felt like a laugh.

Thaddeus smiled. "Mia signora, glad to see you're feeling better." A spark of magic ignited as he clicked his fingers, and the fork of pasta Darius was about to shovel into his mouth appeared in his hand. He gave a satisfactory smile and popped it into his mouth.

"Hey!" Darius barked. "That was mine."

Thaddeus looked at the fork with furrowed brows and shrugged. He clicked his fingers again and the fork reappeared in Darius' hand. "Never met someone possessive of a fork before but whatever, each to their own."

"It wasn't the fork, it was the food you stupid mage!"

Thaddeus gasped. "That wasn't very nice. I thought we were besties."

"Thaddeus Dagostino Rixton! You better not have your feet up on my table!" Margaret yelled from the other room and the mage instantly straightened, lowering his legs to the ground faster than she'd ever seen him move.

"Of course they're not,zia," he yelled back, pulling at the collar of his sweater in discomfort. "Any-hoodles, I come bearing news." He pulled a plate of mac ‘n cheese to his side and picked up a fork, jabbing into the food. "I did some digging. Turns out the mage you're looking for has been one busy little bee. His signature is all over some extremely, highly volatile spells that have been popping up all around the city." He popped the food into his mouth and moaned, closing his eyes in delight. "Mmm, nothing beats Margaret's cooking." He pointed the fork at Luther. "You should know all about this guy. According to daddy dearest, he's been on the Council's hit list for months."

Luther frowned. "Mage X? His identity is still a mystery to us. Are you sure the signature matches?"

"100%," Thaddeus nodded. "The magic never lies." And then he frowned. "Well, it technically can but it can't lie to me." He winked.

Zamorra tried to follow along with the conversation, but she found it hard when she didn't understand what the hell they were talking about. "What's a signature?" She asked, darting her eyes around the table.

Ophelia scoffed loudly and muttered something under breath that sounded suspiciously like 'stupid shifter', earning a glare from Luther.

Thaddeus stopped mid-chew and raised his brows in surprise. He swallowed quickly and cleared his throat. "Alright, now I'mreallycurious where Luthy found you. How do you not know the basics of mage nature? Your parents did a pisspoor job of educating you on other supernatural’s."

"Thaddeus!" Luther barked.

At the mention of her parents Zamorra flinched, like she had been struck hard across the face.

The room faded away, all the chatter happening around her dwindled into nothing as an image of her parents materialised right before her eyes. Her mother's kind eyes and beautiful smile. Her father's terrifying glare and hard, stoic expression.

That was how she remembered them. Her mother was always the sweet and kind one whereas her father was the total opposite. A little rough around the edges, tough and extremely short tempered. Just as quickly as the image appeared, it vanished and she snapped back to reality.

"Zo." Her uncle looked at her with worried eyes, placing a hand over hers.

---