Chapter 245

“Even smell?” I nod, “if a smoke detector is broken, you are awake and aware, will you not smell that smoke and act appropriately?” Grant and Julia bob their heads together, “Well,” I had wanted time to work this onto them but since we were discussing it, “by scent you can tell how many people were in the room-” “I did that!” Oakley said brightly, blushing, eyes sparkling, I lift a brow. “Yeah I passed out earlier from…” her voice took on an embarrassed tone, but I smiled encouragingly, “I could tell there were faint smells of other people but yours, Ben, Julia and Ben were strongest.” “See?” I pointed to Oakley by way of explanation for Grant, “When my father was murdered, walking into the house I could tell someone was there, someone that wasn’t supposed to be there. I didn’t learn it all in one day, it took time, it will take time, but while here, we can give Ben and Oakley a fighting chance for when they return. They’ll be able to tell the difference between human scents, and those of other supernatural beings…” “They’ll have to learn to select the people they want around them, because of many reasons. Their relation to me, or what they can do for others.” After that I asked Ben how he was faring now, his eyes back to their normal sky blue, before turning to Marlon to explain the Violins. “Why don’t we all sit?” Julia offered gesturing to the large dining table. Upon sitting Marlon began, “I guess I’ll start with your mother being an Elder, she was just one of fifteen Elders. You need to understand that things have been falling apart for our kind for quite some time now. The job of the Elders was to manage all shifters and keep peace between supernatural creatures, for a while it was working but then in the late 17th century we lost contact with the Elders, but there was an incline in deaths among gifted shifters.” “What are gifted shifters?” Oakley asked. Concentrating, I lifted the candle on the table, maybe four or five inches, Oakley darted her hand out bravely to swipe underneath it, eyes wide, “Oakley!” oh god! Grant scolded her, afraid of her getting hurt. Honestly why couldn’t my mother had met a man like Grant Lawson? He seemed to have all the right reactions to different situations. “That. Is. So. Cool!” she exclaimed, her mind racing, calculations forming. “Well those with the ability to do something extra, the Elders began syphoning their abilities before killing them, making the Elders stronger. Then one day they stopped contacting, connecting with the Goddess, mother and all the others.” “In the early 18th century, three Elders were killed and one of the Elders, Elder Bellamy contacted the Mother, explaining what she knew was going on, asking for help, she didn’t have long because when the other Elders realized what had happened they begun hunting her.” “Your mother… she didn’t want to see more slaughtering and mindless behavior all driven by greed, so she did what she had. The thing about power is that the Elders are naturally drawn too it, as are other supernatural beings, so she had to lay very low, but she also didn’t keep the syphoned energy that she collected after the death of three Elders, Jensen, Roderik and Morgan. She transferred their powers, the substance that the other Elders would want to keep for themselves to three Stradivarius violins, all crafted by Antonio Stradivari, a man from a small shop in Cremona, Italy.” “The three violins are said to be three of the last ten he made in his career, but your mother didn’t keep the violins either. We aren’t sure where she hid them or with whom, but many hunters and other supernatural creatures are aware of those violins and have been searching for them for years.” “If they are so important why did they kill her before she could reply to them?” Ben asked sadly. “I think they shot her more because of what her ability was and not being sure of what she was capable of doing…” “What was she – her ability?” “Your mother was a skin-shifter, she could change her physical exterior,” Marlon said and so many pieces fell into place. The picture of the woman was just another face she had been using. “She was doing so much, Bellamy… she was kind and different. She didn’t want to be like the others so she never consumed their energy. After putting the violins out of the Elders reach, she disappeared. She never shifted because that would give away where she was, whom she was hiding with. If they killed her – they either knew where the violins were or they knew she wouldn’t be able to help them.” I nodded, “We brought the daughter of an Albert here with us… was running with her two children away from her father. I listened to her thoughts and they sounded worse than how Anya – Bellamy was on that recording,” I told the room. “She was on the run from her father?” Marlon asked in disbelief. “Yeah, she was petrified, thought that he sent me for her, she smells like shifter as well. Two children with her, no older than maybe four or five years old.” Marlon and Leland nodded, my hand went under the table to take Gabriel’s’ hands in mind, loving the feeling of comfort he brought me… until I felt eyes on me. Looking in the direction of the man I didn’t know I saw him gazing at me intensely. “What?” I asked coldly not liking the way he was staring. She doesn’t even know, “What don’t I know?!” “Your blood, will be able to disarm the Elders army,” the man said bluntly. The Elders had an army?