*CHAPTER 64*

*CHAPTER 64*
The sight of Malcolm sprawled out on the Pembroke's steps was a bit of a surprise. He hadn't been around the house much the last week, finishing up work on the case. He'd been leaving early in the morning to go into the office building the Oculus kept, and not getting back until late at night if at all. According to Caleb, he'd spent a few nights at his apartment which was closer to the city.

He was leaned back casually, legs sprawled out down the stairs. He had dark circles under his eyes, a few of his hairs out of place—an anomaly for him. Compared to his usual coiffed and artfully ruffled appearance, tonight he looked positively haggard.

As I rounded the walkway, I noticed he was reading something on his phone. After reading the note from my uncle four or five times, I felt a bit like a mess. I'd cried a little bit, and even after giving myself time to calm down before driving back, I could feel that my eyes were still a bit puffy.

"Hey." I said to Malcolm as I stepped up the porch steps,"What are you doing out here?"

He glanced up at me a moment, before looking back to his phone.

'If I spend any more time stuck indoors this week, I'm going to snap.'

I snorted at his unknowing mental commentary and he shoved the wall back up through the Bond. He had been working a lot. And Malcolm and I had anything in common it was that we weren't the type to just sit around.

He shrugged, "Just getting some air. Richard's making his special 'meatloaf'. I'm not going in there until I have to."

I shuddered. Richard may be good at a lot of things, but his turkey sausage meatloaf was not one of them.

"Have you found out anything new?" The last I'd heard, they were still searching for he vampire who had gone running off into the night. It was like he'd just vanished into thin air. According to Caleb, that was fairly common for vampires though. It's how they managed to stay alive and hidden so long.

"Still no sign of the vampire," He admitted, setting his phone down on the stone step beside him. He tugged a hand through his messy hair. Sighing he said, "Though there is something you should probably see."

I took the last step up onto the porch, setting the large cardboard box down dropped down on the porch step with him.

He picked back up his phone, flicking his finger across his phone's screen a few times, before handing it to me, "They found this Curse Mark on the Eye's inner arm."

I stared down at the phone, tilting my head to get a better angle. The sight of the black swirling tattoo on his arm sent a wave of shock flitting through me, "It looks like ours."

He nodded, "There's only a few lines that don't match the one we have."

"What does that mean?" I asked, "He was Cursed with the same thing we have?"

"It looks similar anyway. Like maybe he had a similar Mental bond with someone else. I still don't know what it means—or even what our Mark really means. I've been doing research into it all week when a get a free moment, but haven't come across anything yet. No one else in the Oculus knows what the Mark means either."

He eyed the box I'd set on the porch beside us for a moment before turning his eyes out at the neighborhood street. "Everything go okay with the lawyer?"

I shifted uncomfortably for a moment looking out at the glowing hazy street. The sun was beginning its decent, leaving the world in shades of orange. Neighbors were walking their dogs. Everyone out there, living their normal lives. It was comforting to see that there was still a bit of normalcy out there.

He'd probably see what I'd read in my mind later, so there was really no point in trying to keep it from him. And honestly I was tired of carrying everything on my own. Besides that, I really didn't want to anymore.

I took a deep breath, bracing myself, "My Uncle left me a letter. The lawyer gave it to me," Pushing aside the sharp feeling in my throat, the heat pounding behind my eyes. I reached into the cardboard box and pulled out the letter, holding it out to him to take.

He stared at me for a long moment—looking for something. I'm not sure what he saw in my face, but he eventually took it, his eyes skimming over the page.

I tried to steady my breathing, staring out at the street as he read the words I'd been going over and over in my head the past hour. as his eyes flickered over the words, tried to put what I'd read into perspective, and by the time Malcolm handed the letter back to me, I'd managed to scrap together a semblance of calm.

"It explains why my mom never told me about Magic growing up," my voice calmer than I felt, "why she put the block on my powers. She was probably worried about the connection I had to my father." I shrugged.

"It does."

"I'm not sure what to think about all this." I admitted, my heart thudding unsteadily. My palms were sweaty in the thick afternoon air, and I clenched my fingers around the paper to keep my hands from shaking.

Malcolm's pose on the front steps managed to stay casual, his legs stretched out in front of him, but the lines around his eyes and the stiff set of his shoulders betrayed the fact that he was anything but calm, "What do you want to do about this?" I could feel his eyes on me, but I wasn't feeling brave enough to face him, not brave enough to show him what I was sure was written all over my face.

"I don't know," I swallowed hard, looking into the fading orange light in the distance.

"Regardless of whether you decide you want to look into who he is, we'll want to keep this information from getting out. If your father is as dangerous as your uncle seemed to think, we'll want to be careful."

"What would you do? If you were me?"

He blinked over at me, shock flickering across his face before he tucked it away behind a thoughtful expression, and I had to admit that even I was shocked with myself that I was asking his opinion on anything, let alone advice into my personal life.

He pursed his lips, looking off into the distance past the small craigy mountain range in the distance, "I'd want to know. If nothing else, for knowledge into my own abilities. It will also be helpful in keeping safe—if your father is as dangerous as the letter claims. Even if I'd never taken that information to get to know him, I'd want to know."

"I wouldn't even know where to start. The only thing I know about him that he has blood magic like me. I don't even know his name."

"The magic community is small and spread out, but we share information readily...it might take a little research and reaching out between the covens, but...we could find him. Someone would very likely have a record of him somewhere. Blood magicians are few and far between. When...or if you're ready, I can look into it for you. But that's your choice. No one's going to push you to do that."

My head bobbed, my throat feeling tight again, I tried to push back those feelings. I wasn't sure how I'd feel after sharing this with someone, especially Malcolm, the bane of my existence. If I would regret sharing it later while I was laying in my bed thinking about this conversation later tonight.

All I knew was that right now, in this moment, it felt...nice. Something warmed in the center of my chest. None of it felt so heavy having someone to share the load with. Having someone carry it with me instead of trying to lift it on my own like I normally did. Having someone else care about my problems.

Malcolm hesitated for a moment, before he reached out and placed a heavy hand around my back and on my shoulder, squeezing gently. The warmth drifted through the thin fabric of my t-shirt warming the skin beneath. We didn't say anything after that. Sat quietly next to each other. Each of us lost in our own thoughts. The wall between our minds a heavy palpable thing.

"Does... this mean we're friends now?" I joked to break the tension.

"No," Malcolm choked on the word, his face twisting in horror, "Hell no."

I couldn't keep the grin from stretching across my face, "Good."

Still, he didn't move his heavy arm from where it rested across my shoulders. And though things had changed so much the past few weeks. Life was crazy and messy and messed up. And I was more confused than ever, and I had no idea what to do. I didn't feel scared anymore. And I didn't feel quite so alone.