Lacey had woken up as a new person. No longer a human, but something even more. A Fae.
She didn't know how to exactly feel about it. No, she did not. What she knew and what she felt were two different things. Something about her body felt different, but she couldn't place her finger on it yet.
And the thought of the fact that she had power, raw magic coursing through her veins spooked her a little, especially when she remembered that her powers could hurt her and the people around her too.
She stood in front of her mirror and sighed. It seemed like her eye colour was permanent. She didn't know why.
She could have sworn she looked as tired as she felt, but reverse was the case, her face was shiny with health and the bags she expected to find underneath her eyes were gone.
Her eyes were a brilliant hue of molten gold that stuck out of her face. It almost looked unnatural.
Lacey didn't like it at all. She preferred her ordinary hazel eyes. She preferred them much more to this.
And her ears, she had only ever seen pointed ears in movies, she knew some people wore them for cosplays but she never imagined she would have them.
Every other thing about her looked normal. Except it wasn't. She had magic. It was unbelievable!
She didn't know her limits or what exactly she could even do but she could remember clearly what she had done to the forest.
And her mother.
And Aidas's windshield
She groaned as Aidas popped into her memory.
After the windshield had exploded, Aidas and Lacey continued home quietly like nothing happened. She didn't say a word to him, not even after he told her goodbye as he dropped her in front of her apartment building with a spare key card to her apartment.
Even the thought of him brought her so much pain. Why could she feel so much pain?
She asked herself as she walked towards her bed and picked up her phone.
She had a shit load of texts and calls.
Mostly from her panicky father and aunt.
She couldn't even imagine what they must have been going through asking themselves where she was.
She had to call them.
Her father answered on the first ring.
"Oh! Lacey! Finally! Your aunt and I have been trying to reach you for days."
Lacey blinked back tears. She was so relieved to hear his voice.
"I'm so sorry Dad. I'm so so sorry."
"We were so worried. I was about to call the police when that friend of yours told me you went on a trip."
"What friend?"
"Oh! That one I met the other day... I can't remember his name...."
"Ugh... The tall handsome fella."
"Oh! Aidas?"
She asked even though she was positive that he was the one. Hunt didn't know her father. She was relieved that Aidas had taken the initiative to call him so he wouldn't panic.
"Yes... that one honey."
"Lacey are you okay? Where did you go?"
She didn't want to tell him.
Should she tell him?
She thought as she started pacing around the room.
She had to, it was the only way she could get it off her mind. Maybe her father would be able to finally talk about her mother.
Because from the little she had gathered while her mother kidnapped her and tried to steal her powers, there was no way in hell they were ever getting along.
"Dad, I met the woman who gave birth to me."
There was a long pause. Lacey could hear her father's heavy breathing, but he didn't say a word.
"Dad?"
She called out softly and her Father cleared his throat.
"I hope you're okay now sweetie?"
He asked and Lacey sighed. He was avoiding the topic.
Like he had done for years, tiptoeing around her mother's subject and covering it up with another topic.
He was never going to talk about it.
At least not until he was ready.
"I'm fine Dad. I'll talk to you later. Say hello to my aunt for me."
She ended the call quickly. Throwing her phone on the bed and storming out of her room.
Well, she was hungry.
Her last proper meal was on the night she was kidnapped. After that she had survived on a few cups of warm water and granola bars.
That was all Azure fed her, not that she could complain giving as she was drugged up half the time she was kidnapped.
Her fridge was almost empty, she only had stale old bread and old cheese but she was lucky enough to find a bag of potato chips.
She would go out for lunch later. It suddenly occurred to her that she might have a lot of free time on her hands. Especially since there was no way in hell she would be able to work for Hunt if she finally managed to confess to him.
He wouldn't trust her anymore and she couldn't even bring herself to tell him more lies.
She wanted to call him. He must have been very worried about her too. And she was still confused about what her mother had said about him.
And how did her mother even know about him?
Azure was the only and most likely person to have told her all she knew about her.
But how did Azure know about her and Hunt.
A knock from her door jolted her out of her thoughts and she rushed towards the door.
Who could it be?
Hunt or Aidas.
She didn't know who she wanted it to be.
But seeing Hunt would make her so much better and seeing Aidas would bring her more hurt even though she badly wanted to see him.
The door swung open and she let out a breath of relief.
It was Hunt.
And she couldn't be any happier that she wanted to see him.
Finally, Hunt was right there with her, in baggy jeans and a sweatshirt. Oh he looked exhausted.
Regardless of the fact that whatever they had could be romantic or not, when he opened his arms she didn't hesitate to go into them.
His embrace was warm, and his big, strong arms seemed very protective when wrapped around her frail body. The world around her melted away as she squeezed him back, not wanting the moment to end.
"I thought I lost you..."
He murmured and Lacey shook her head.
"No, you didn't."
"I'm so sorry I couldn't come to get you. If I knew where you were.... I would have moved the heavens and earth just to get to you."
Lacey blushed as she rubbed his back lovingly.
"The important thing is that I'm here now. Nothing else matters."
Hunt nodded in approval.
"Yes, nothing else but me and you."
They broke away slowly to stare at each other's face.
Both of them giddy with excitement and happiness.
Lacey noticed he had a beard already.
Almost as if he had forgotten to shave for a long time.
She touched his chin lightly.
"You haven't shaved..."
Hunt shrugged as he held Lacey's hand, he still couldn't believe she was standing in front of him.
"Well... I don't care much about that to be honest."
"Your eyes..."
He trailed off as he noticed her pointed ears.
Lacey got shy and tried to cover them with her hands but he slowly pulled her hands down.
"Don't hide them. You're beautiful..."
He whispered and she smiled. Slowly she let her hands fall to her sides.
She had a lot of explaining to do.
She took a deep breath.
"Well... There's something I have to tell you..."
"Oh don't bother. I know everything."
"You know?"
She repeated and Hunt nodded.
Know what? Know who?
She asked herself as she turned back to him and pulled him to the couch with her.
"Let me get this straight... What exactly do you know?"
"Everything..."
"Lacey."
He added as an afterthought and Lacey's eyes bulged. He knew her real name!
"Although, calling you Lacey would take some getting used to."
Lacey covered her mouth.
"How did you know that?"
She asked after a while and Hunt started to explain everything that had happened while she was away. From how he met Aidas looking for her to what he told him and the things they did to try and find her.
"Woah.... So you're a Supernatural too?"
She asked and he nodded.
"I'm a Lycan..."
Lacey looked confused so he decided to explain to her what he meant.
"We're the first ever human wolves. Think of us as a stronger and better version of werewolves. The first version."
What her mother said... About Hunt, she was right. Lacey has assumed her mother was talking nonsense when she mentioned something that meant Hunt was a supernatural.
But she was right.
"I hope you're not too bothered about that..."
Hunt said nervously and Lacey laughed.
"Oh! No! no! How could I?"
"I mean... Look at me. I'm not exactly human again."
She said as she pointed to her face.
"How does it feel? To be supernatural?"
She didn't really know.
"Uhm... Well... I can't really say. Can we talk about something else?"
She asked and he nodded as she shifted closer to her.
"I'm so sorry. About spying on you and all. I didn't know what I was doing, I was just trying to make enough money to pay for my Dad's surgery."
"And trust me I really loved working at Crete. I understand what I've done might have broken the trust you have for me but I was going to tell you about it when you came back from your trip."
Hunt shook his head. He didn't blame her, no. He didn't blame her at all. Aidas Vladimir was a skilled manipulator and as smart as Candy was, she could not unravel his deception.
He had deceived her into working for him, using her to try and get closer to him.
"Oh! I would never blame you Candy. Sorry... Lacey... That's gonna take a while to get used to."
Lacey chuckled.
"Don't worry. Just relax. I don't mind any of them"
Hunt nodded.
He held her hands and kicked them with his.
"Trust me, there's nothing you'll ever do that'll make me mad at you. I know it was that bastard Aidas that pushed you to it."
"He can be so manipulative sometimes...."
Hunt sighed as he shook his head.
Lacey leaned closer.
Aidas had never told her what went wrong between the two of them, it was a topic he avoided like the plague.
But, maybe Hunt would be able to.
"What happened between the two of you? You seem to really hate each other."
Hunt scoffed.
"Oh you have no idea."
"It's a feud that has been going on for quite a while..."
"Will you tell me what happened?"
She asked softly as she laid her hands on his shoulder.
At first, Hunt seemed hesitant, but he relaxed.
"Aidas thinks I murdered his brother."
Lacey's eyes widened.
There was a short pause before she gathered herself.
"Why?"
Hunt shrugged.
"Because I told him I did. And he's hated me for it ever since."
"But you didn't do it right?"
Lacey asked and he nodded slowly as he ran his hands over his blond hair.
He looked frustrated.
"Of course not. Aidas and I were best friends then. Why would I ever kill his brother?"
Best friends??!!!!