Arwen narrowed her eyes at me. “Definitely not.”
The discord between Corrine and Kiev was a long-running joke on our island, even though Corrine had forgiven Kiev like two decades ago for his past… mostly. Anyway, Arwen and Brock were a good match for each other, being full witch and half warlock. I didn’t see why either of her parents would object.
Brock hadn’t possessed the powers of a full warlock from birth, but he had worked hard under his mother’s tutelage and he could pretty much pull off any spell from what I knew. He used to get himself in trouble when he was a kid, messing around with spells and potions—hence the faint scar beneath his cheek where he had once tried hovering knives. He was lucky to have lived to tell the tale, first from the knives, and then the chastisement his parents had given him. I doubted he’d played with knives again after that.
I averted my eyes to Grace and Heath. If they ever got together, I couldn’t help but feel that they would make another perfect couple. Heath was half-dragon, and although he could not shift into a beastly form—unlike some of the other half-human, half-dragon kids who’d been born in The Shade—he was able to breathe fire, even as a humanoid. Just not in as much intensity as a dragon could. Grace, on the other hand, was half fae, and she could manipulate natural elements, fire especially. I could not wait to see them work together as a team.
When Brock returned, he leaned over to Arwen again, this time taking the liberty of kissing her full on the mouth.
Grace and I rolled our eyes.
“You two should just get a room already,” Heath muttered, biting into his apple.
Arwen and Brock ignored the three of us and continued to make out as if nobody else was present.
Grace—her cheeks still rather rosy—cleared her throat. She was clearly about to change the subject when Ben’s voice came booming through the chamber.
“Attention, please,” Ben said, moving inside. “We have details. I’m not sure how many of you remember reports of that missing cargo ship off the coast of Canada? Well, it’s been located and that’s where we’re headed; the assumption is that supernaturals hijacked it.”
“But we have no idea what kind of supernaturals?” Eli spoke up from his seat next to Shayla.
Ben shook his head, addressing Eli even as his eyes fell on his daughter, Grace. “Be prepared for anything.”
Ben
It was a bizarre feeling to be looking at my daughter, Grace, sitting in this submarine. Already sixteen years old. How the time had flown. I still remembered the day she was born like it was yesterday. What a miracle she had been to us as she emerged into the world for the first time, hardly even crying. River and I had both shed tears. It’d been a long, hard struggle for both of us, and on many a day we’d believed that we would never have a child of our own.
We had first tried to conceive while River was still a half-blood, thinking that just maybe, since she was still half human, it would work. But it didn’t. I also considered the possibility that there could be a problem with me. Could fae even have children? I didn’t know. None of the other fae who were on the island—Lucas, Kailyn, Marcilla, Chantel or Nolan—had begotten children while in their fae bodies, so I was left in the dark. River had suggested that we continue to look for a cure for her, since it was most likely her womb that was the problem.
And so had begun a journey that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. We’d tried the same cure that worked on full vampires—a dose of immune blood followed by exposure to sunlight in the Pit. At least the risk of death was less for her, since half-bloods could tolerate sunlight much better, and I was able to sit with her. We sat there for the usual time it took vampires to be cured, and hours more. But by the end of the day, she still hadn’t changed.
Eventually, with the help of the witches and jinn, we’d realized that the trick was to stay there longer still. So we gave her a more intensive course. We arrived at the Pit early in the morning before the sun rose, in order to catch the first rays upon her skin, and then stayed the rest of the day right up until dusk. We returned to our home and slept for a few hours, and then returned again at the break of dawn. We did this for three days in a row, and finally it happened. She turned back into a full human.
I’d never forget the joy of that moment. We were like bunnies for a while, and shortly after, our daughter was conceived. We called her Grace because that was exactly what she was to us. Half fae, half human, although she couldn’t thin herself or fly like I could, she possessed the power to manipulate elements—fire especially.
As I gazed at my daughter now, all grown up, I felt quite overwhelmed by emotions. This was the first true transition into adulthood—joining the League, and embarking on her first mission.
Leaning down, I kissed her forehead.
“You okay?” I asked her.
Her turquoise eyes met mine. “Yep,” she replied, a little too quickly.
Drawing two earpieces from my jacket pocket, I positioned one around Grace’s right ear while putting the other on mine. It was our method of communication while on the cargo ship, which our sonar had already detected by now. I estimated we’d be ready to board within twenty minutes. “Only a few of us will climb aboard first,” I said, now addressing the group of new recruits. “But you will be included; as part of your induction it’s important to go through all stages of a mission. You will each accompany your parents. They’ll equip you with your own earpieces. I suggest you go to them now.”