Magic in the Blood
Aria's POV
The old wooden table split down the middle with a loud crack, sending our breakfast dishes crashing to the floor. I jumped backward, my heart hammering as pieces of broken pottery scattered across the abandoned mining office where we'd spent the night.
"Sorry!" I said quickly, looking at the mess I'd made. "I just leaned on it and it broke!"
Luna raised an eyebrow. "That table survived fifty years of mountain weather. It doesn't just break from someone leaning on it."
"Maybe it was already damaged," I muttered, kneeling down to pick up the broken pieces of a blue coffee mug.
The moment my fingers touched the largest piece, something impossible happened. The ceramic grew warm under my touch, and hairline cracks began sealing themselves like invisible zippers pulling closed. Within seconds, the mug was whole again, sitting perfectly in my palm like it had never been broken at all.
I dropped it in shock. The mug hit the floor and shattered into even more pieces than before.
"What just happened?" I whispered, staring at my hands like they belonged to someone else.
Kael appeared in the doorway, drawn by the noise. His golden eyes immediately found the broken pottery, then moved to my face. "Aria? Are you alright?"
"The mug," I said shakily. "It fixed itself when I touched it. The cracks just... disappeared."
"That's impossible," Marcus said from behind Kael. "Things don't just heal themselves."
"Unless you're dealing with magic," Luna said thoughtfully. She picked up one of the smaller ceramic pieces and held it out to me. "Try it again."
"I don't want to try it again," I said, backing away. "I don't understand what's happening to me."
"Neither do we," Luna replied. "Which is why we need to figure it out."
Reluctantly, I took the pottery shard. The same warm tingling sensation spread through my fingers, and I watched in amazement as the broken edges smoothed out and the piece became whole again.
"Incredible," Kael breathed. "How are you doing that?"
"I don't know!" The fear in my voice was real. "I'm not trying to do anything. It just happens when I touch broken things."
Over the next hour, Luna and the other shifters brought me different damaged objects to test my strange new ability. A clock with a cracked face. A torn piece of cloth. A picture frame with a broken corner. Every single item repaired itself the moment I held it.
"It's definitely magic," Luna concluded after watching me fix a shattered window pane. "But I've never seen anything like it before."
"Maybe it's a shifter ability," suggested Marcus, though he sounded doubtful.
"Shifters can't heal objects," Luna said firmly. "We can heal ourselves and other living things, but not inanimate materials."
"Then what am I?" I asked, the question I'd been afraid to voice finally tumbling out.
Before anyone could answer, a small red squirrel scampered into the room through a hole in the wall. Instead of running away when it saw us, it walked straight over to me and climbed up onto my shoulder like we were old friends.
"That's strange," Kael said, frowning. "Wild animals usually avoid humans, especially in groups."
As if to prove his point, three more squirrels appeared, followed by a curious raccoon and a pair of rabbits. They all gathered around me without showing any fear, some even rubbing against my legs like house cats.
"They can sense something," Luna said, watching the animals with interest. "Something different about you."
I gently petted the squirrel on my shoulder, and it made a happy chattering sound. "They don't seem afraid. They seem... comfortable."
"Animals are sensitive to magic," Marcus said grudgingly. "If you're casting some kind of spell—"
"I'm not casting anything!" I protested. "I don't even know how magic works!"
That's when I felt it. A wave of emotion that wasn't my own crashed over me like a cold ocean wave. Worry. Fear. Protectiveness. And underneath it all, something warmer that made my cheeks flush.
I turned to look at Kael, and his golden eyes widened in surprise.
"You felt that," he said. It wasn't a question.
"Felt what?" Luna asked sharply.
"His emotions," I whispered, staring at Kael in amazement. "I can feel what he's feeling. You're worried about me. And scared of what's happening. But also..." I trailed off, too embarrassed to say the rest.
"Also what?" Kael asked softly.
"Also something else. Something warm and protective and..." I shook my head, not sure how to put it into words.
"That's impossible," Marcus said flatly. "Humans can't sense shifter emotions."
"I'm beginning to think Aria isn't entirely human," Luna said quietly.
The words hit me like a punch to the stomach. "What do you mean?"
"The healing ability. The connection to animals. The emotional link with Kael. These aren't normal human traits."
"But I'm not a shifter either," I said desperately. "I can't change shape or anything like that."
"No, but there are other kinds of magic in the world. Older kinds. Rarer kinds."
Before Luna could explain further, Kael suddenly tensed up beside me. His nostrils flared and his eyes began to glow that familiar golden color.
"Someone's coming," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "Someone who smells like old books and herbs."
"A witch," Luna breathed, her face going pale.
"A what?" I asked, but my question was answered when a figure stepped through the doorway.
She was an elderly woman with wild gray hair and clothes that looked like they'd been sewn from autumn leaves and shadows. Her eyes were an impossible shade of violet, and they seemed to see right through to my soul.
"Hello, child," she said to me, her voice carrying a slight accent I couldn't place. "My name is Grandmother Willow. I've been looking for you for a very long time."
The shifters immediately moved into defensive positions, but the old woman ignored them completely. Her violet eyes stayed fixed on me.
"You're the one Vincent Santoro fears most," she continued calmly. "The one he tried so hard to control and ultimately decided to destroy."
"I don't understand," I said, though something deep in my chest was beginning to recognize her voice.
"Of course you don't, dear one. The memory spell I cast was very thorough. But magic like yours can't be suppressed forever." She smiled sadly. "The
spell is breaking, little star. Soon you'll remember everything - including why you had to forget."