Chapter 39: *CHAPTER 39*

"That's not possible," Malcolm said, but his voice was unsure as he rifled through the stack of papers in front of us, eyes skimming over the report. I stared with unseeing eyes at the papers as he studied them. I finally gave up on trying to make sense of the blurring hazy words to look up to where Richard was watching on with concern. Beside him, Caleb's eyes had widened into twin mirrors of shock.

Something in the very center of my chest panged, blood feeling cold in my veins, "Blood Magic? But isn't that the kind of Magic that was done to us? The Magic that needs...blood or body parts or something to use?"

Richard said, "Naturally occurring Blood Magic abilities are something I've only read about happening when reading through Coven census records from over a century ago. Vampires and creatues like them are some of the few recorded lines that carry naturally occurring Blood Magic in their systems. It's something that they're born with."

I remembered the conversation we'd had at my house about how the Magic in a vampire's body converts a person's blood into the Magic that keeps them alive for centuries.

"So am I like a vampire then?" I asked, chewing on my bottom lip as I glanced anxiously between the three faces surrounding me at the table.

"No, definitely not like a vampire," Richard hurried to clarify, "You're most definitely a Magi. A vampire uses other's blood to produce Magic, but according to your MME, the Magic in your system uses your own blood to produce Magical currents."

"The visions?" Malcolm asked.

Richard nodded, "From my limited knowledge of Blood Magic, it would seem like Elemental Magic is divided into categories—fire, water, earth, and air— Blood Magic is likewise split into different categories. From the MME, it looks like your brand of Magic is known as something called Harbinger Magic."

My eyes drifted over to Caleb for clarification, but he looked just as confused as I felt. "And what," I asked slowly, "does Harbinger Magic entail?" I was still exhausted still from the 'incident' in the desert and it was taking everything in me just to keep up.

As if sensing the mounting tension rising in me, Richard's voice gentled, "Unfortunately I don't know as much about Harbinger Magic as I would like to. From what I was able to look up between getting your results and now, it would seem that your own Magic and not the Bond is what's responsible for the visions you've been experiencing Kassie."

I'd been banking on the slim hope that when we got the Curse tying Malcolm and me together that the "visions" would go along with them. But now...I guess the visions were staying? Fabulous.

"From the MME, and from your own experiences you've told me about, it would seem that your Magic absorbs your own blood and turns it into Magical energy—your visions."

If it was burning through my own blood, that would explain why I felt so woozy afterward. Blood loss. I grimaced at the prospect.

"And from the texts I was looking into," Richard continued, "it would also seem that Harbingers in the past were largely known for their sensitivity to Magic. They could sense different types of Magic that had been used in an area. They could even sense the type of Magic people had affinities with without needing to ask or test them."

I blinked slowly, processing all of that. Beside me Malcolm made a low sound in his throat, impressed though, I couldn't feel what he was feeling through the Bond.

"How?" I asked.

"I believe that it's different for every person."

Caleb leaned forward onto the table too, interest lighting his eyes, "So Kassie is like a human Placement Test?"

"Quite amazing, isn't it?" Richard shared his son's enthusiasm, "I imagine it's through Harbingers like Kassie that the ancient Magi community was able to test Magical affinities at the time. It makes me wonder what other types of Blood Magic affinities are out in the world that were assumed to be extinct but are now making a return."

I swallowed, shifting the uncomfortably on the bench seat, “So, the visions I had of George and of that girl, those were real?” I hadn't been having some mental break? I wasn't sure if that made me feel better or worse.

Richard nodded, "Very real. It's quite amazing actually. This is the first experience meeting a Magi who is able to harness Magic this way."

“Though,” Malcolm said, leaning away from the papers in front of him, “Magic abilities are genetic. So it stands to reason that one of your parents would have also had some sort of Magic if you do. Neither of them ever mentioned Magic abilities or visions to you before today?”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, eyeing the normal people in the tables around us, feeling an odd pang in my chest. I didn’t like talking about my past to people, I wasn’t ashamed of it or anything, but it just made me, I don’t know, uncomfortable to be open with people about something that was so personal to me.

I took a deep breath, “My mom died in a car accident when I was seven, and I never knew who my dad was. If either of them had Magic I wouldn’t know. My mom never said anything to me if she did. Neither has David.”

“David is your—“ He paused waiting for me to fill in the gap.

“He’s my uncle. My mom’s brother. He’s been my legal guardian since my mom died.”

“Ah.”

“But honestly, even if David did know something about it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept it to himself.” I wasn’t sure why I was admitting this —especially to Malcolm of all people—but it was true. And he’d probably heard me thinking about it in some form or other, so I pushed on, “He’s always been a very private person. And…he doesn’t come around much anymore.”

I could sense a slight curiosity and something else I couldn’t quite place through the bond, feel his eyes boring into the side of my head, but he didn’t ask any more questions as we were interrupted then by the return of our waitress. She set plates of food down in front of each of us. Surprisingly I hadn't lost my appetite with the conversation—the newfound knowledge that I did indeed have Magic. The knowledge that I had Magic---not just any type of Magic either, but Blood Magic had my insides knotted up.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, my thoughts racing until I was shocked out of my spiraling worries by the weight of Malcolm's hand resting on my leg beneath the table. I darted a glance his way, but he wasn't looking at me, focused on the plates being pushed around the table. The heat of his hand resting lightly on my skin was enough to steady my thoughts and push away any panic. Then, just as quickly as it had been placed there, his hand was was gone, but the message behind the brief action remained. Whether I liked it or not, I wasn't alone in this.