Nova had never gotten a hangover before, but as she woke up, she was sure it couldn't be worse than what she was currently experiencing. Her head was pounding and she groaned as she tried to sit up.

"Don't," Cadmus' voice warned softly. "Try opening your eyes first, acclimate to the world of the living slowly."

The world of the living

"Holy shit," Nova's snapped open as she shot up in bed so quickly that the entire world shifted on its axis. She trembled slightly, but Cadmus was there in an instant, supporting her with hands on her shoulders and back.

He was frowning, but his eyes were unmistakeable fond as he moved his hand to comb through her hair. "You scared the hell out of me yesterday, you know."

Nova swallowed, feeling the beginnings of bile working up her throat. "I died," she whispered.

"Yep."

"I got shoved off a roof."

"Uh-huh."

"I was dead."

"We established that."

Nova's eyes narrowed as she looked at her cousin. "And you aren't even freaked out a little by this?"

Cadmus shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. Mom and I spent hours last night trying to figure out how this was possible. She would totally be here, but she has to meet with a friend to make sure that you're going to be safe now that you manifested. We thought the most dangerous possibility was that you'd turn out like me, and when I said I was hoping it wasn't the case, I didn't mean I wanted this for you. But of course Uncle Ben had to make some questionable life decisions."

"What the hell does this have to do with my dad?" Nova demanded, making her cousin drop his head into his hands.

"When he said he was going to keep you in the dark about it, I didn't think he seriously meant that he meant completely." Raising his eyes to her own, Cadmus sighed. "At least we have a decent groundwork now, considering recent events."

Recent events... like Nova dying and coming back to life.

"First, need to know I won't lie to you, even about the scary parts, okay? I will tell you the absolute truth no matter what. Second, you have to promise you won't freak out or tell anyone about this," Cadmus looked more serious than he ever had, so Nova bit down on her response about how she really wasn't eager to shout to the world she was either crazy or some sort of freak, nodding instead. Nodding back at her, Cadmus smiled weakly and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, Nova had to bite down on a scream at the sight of the transformation from warm brown eyes to bright orange slitted ones, like a lizard's.

"How...?" she couldn't find the words, her fingers reaching out cautiously to run over bumps that had formed around his eyes.

Cadmus blinked with a shy grin, amazing her when she saw that they were back to normal once he opened them, no bumps left on his skin. "You didn't freak out like Mom did, at least. To be fair, when I was born she was looking at a small infant covered in scales. To put it in the simplest terms possible, I'm a dragon."

Nova blinked. "A dragon," she replied slowly, waiting for the punchline that never came. It was totally nuts, but... what else was she supposed to believe, with that little show? "How?"

Her cousin looked a little surprised, but also relieved. "Mom's a siren, but she suppressed her voice before I was even born. She hasn't sung in over twenty years. Grandma was a siren too, which is what we thought you would manifest as when we found out about your music... but as I said, Uncle Ben."

Nova blinked, trying to wrap her head around that, but deciding to move on. "Once again, what about my dad."

Cadmus winced a little, shaking his head. "He was a hellhound, so it was already dangerous for him to have kids, you know? And then he met your mom."

"My mom," Nova echoed, wondering what the hell a hellhound was.

"Yeah," Cadmus confirmed, looking totally nonplussed by the conversation, as though they were talking about a lacrosse game. "She was a banshee. Two harbringers of death having a kid... it wasn't a great idea."

"Thanks."

Swatting lightly at her, Cadmus sighed. "Don't interrupt! I didn't mean it like that! It's just it was dangerous to have a kid. When I first met you, you were so small, almost sickly looking. Everyone seemed to think it was because of your mom, but death hangs around you like a shroud, Nova. Have you ever wondered why?"

"Because both of my parents are dead?"

Cadmus looked ready to strangle her. "No, because you're a supernatural creature that is closely associated with death. Your entire family tree, both of your parent's sides of the family, are death creatures. A dragon is a creature renowned for murder and knowing when people are going to die or are in death's path—don't even ask why that's a thing, I don't have an answer. Sirens bring people to their deaths. Hellhounds are drawn to dead bodies and deal with them. Banshees literally predict death, Nova. It was inevitable that you would have a connection to death... we just didn't realize what connection that would be."

"What am I?" Nova asked, staring at Cadmus as he looked a little uncomfortable. "You said that you wouldn't tell me anything but the truth, even if it was scary. What am I, Cadmus?"

"A phoenix," he said eventually, pulling at his hair. "Judging by the fact that you died, screamed like a freaking bird as you literally came back to life in a fiery inferno, and the fact that you look more alive than you have in years... you're a phoenix. I can't tell you more than that, as much as I want to. As far as Mom and I can tell, there's no actual records of a phoenix ever existing before this. They've been heavily theorized on, and researched in the supernatural community... but if there ever was a phoenix to exist, they've gone to great lengths to make sure no one ever found out. Up until now, phoenixes were assumed to be one of the only true mythical creatures."

Nova was surprised that she wasn't as panicked as she thought was appropriate for this amount of terrifying information. Then again, she had literally died the previous night... so this was nothing.

"You're going to have a lot of explaining to do," she said quickly to her cousin, who nodded eagerly.

"Anything you want," he promised. "But not right now. We have to go to school, and deal with the wolves."

"Wolves?"

"Werewolves," he explained. "Scott recognized me when I came to get you last night, we need to catch up with them before he does something stupid."

That's right, Nova remembered. Scott had come after them the night before and tried to reason with the monster who had them.

Them. Liam.

"What about Liam?" Nova asked, reaching forward to grasp Cadmus' hand. "Is he okay?"

Her cousin's face contorted into a mild grimace. "That's the thing, Nova... Scott's an alpha, and he bit Liam as you fell. Liam slipped trying to grab you, and he would have fallen if Scott hadn't... but it'll either kill him—"

"Or it will turn him," Nova realized. "Right? He'll become a werewolf, like all of those old stories."

Cadmus sent her an appraising glance. "I thought you'd be taking this worse," he admitted.

Nova grinned weakly. "I literally died last night, Cadmus... this is possibly the only thing that makes sense. Now, get out of my room... I need to get dressed." Another thought occured to her as she looked down at the oversized shirt she was wearing. "This is not what I was wearing last night."

Cadmus' ears went pink. "Yeah, turns out that while you don't quite burn to ashes, your clothes do... you just kinda burst into flames and then absorb them, totally healed—"

"But naked," she supplied, making her cousin nod.

"If it makes you feel better, I covered you with a blanket before I carried you to the car... not sure that Scott didn't get an eyeful though."

Groaning, Nova dropped her head into her palms. "Great, I'm never going to be able to look him in the eyes again."

Cadmus nudged her as he stood from her bed, and Nova didn't need to look up to know he had a shit eating grin on his face. "It kinda sucks that you aren't going to be given much of a choice, huh?"

Walking into school was possibly the most nerve-racking thing she ever did, and it wasn't even her first day anymore. No, instead she was a recently ressurected teenager waiting for someone to turn a corner and yell that she was supposed to be dead.

To his credit, Cadmus never strayed from her side, sauntering down the halls like he owned the place. Nova wasn't sure how such a major nerd could have such a huge superiority complex, but he managed it. Whenever she even felt another surge of doubt risk hitting her, he had a calming hand on her elbow to gently propel her forward.

Until he grabbed her to stop her.

Nova almost stumbled, but caught herself with relative ease, frowning at her cousin as she followed his gaze. She felt her mouth dry up as she realized that they were staring at Scott and Stiles, who had cornered Liam despite him looking exceedingly uncomfortable. She wanted to run to him, physically shield him from the fear the older two boys provoked, but Cadmus shook his head.

"Just listen for now, okay?"

She wasn't sure what good eavesdropping would do, but Cadmus was the one with supernatural experience under his belt, so she was willing to follow his lead on this one.

Scott was holding up a pleading hand as he looked at the younger boy. "Can you just listen for one second? Please?" Liam didn't look impressed, but made a face that indicated that Scott had his attention. Taking a deep breath, Scott continued speaking. "Liam... we're brothers now."

Nova's eyebrows scrunched up, and Cadmus snickered lowly from beside her. "That's awkward," he murmured.

Liam seemed to think it was downright outrageous. "What are you talking about? We just met, and you bit me."

Scott didn't look nearly as confident as he had a moment ago. "The Bite..." he trailed off and cleared his throat. "The Bite is a gift."

Nova winced this time, actually cringing from the awkwardness, and was thankful when Stiles interjected, coming to stand at his best friend's side. "Scott, stop! Please, stop." Looking at Liam, he pointed a finger at him. "You! You, we're trying to help you, you little runt!"

Liam full on scowled at that point. "By kidnapping me? By leaving Nova..." his voice cracked to the point where it hurt her to listen to. "All alone, there?"

Stiles winced. "Just to clarify, Scott kidnapped you, okay? I aided and abetted."

Scott looked apologetic. "Like I told you, Liam, I'm not sure what happened to Nova. But I've gone through this before. Something's happening to you—something big."

Liam almost snarled at him as he ripped off a bandage aroun his forearm Nova hadn't noticed before. "Nothing's happening to me," he informed them, earning matching horrified glances from the two. "Nothing."

He walked into the crowd of teenagers after that, leaving Scott and Stiles alone... until Cadmus approached them and leaned against the wall a foot or so behind them. "You really aren't good at this, you know that?"

Scott and Stiles both whirled around to face him with mixed emotions. Scott looked panicked and confused, whereas Stiles looked borderline hostile.

"You!" The not-werewolf declared, earning a small grin from Cadmus as he straightened from the wall.

"Me," he confirmed with a nod. "In the flesh and everything, and I must say... I've heard a lot of cringy crap over the years, but that takes the cake, Scott."

Scott blushed a little, but didn't seem eager to get public speaking tips. "You were at the hospital last night," he said calmly, earning a nod.

"Yeah, I had to bring Nova home," Cadmus glanced over his shoulder to her, beckoning her forward with his chin. "And would you look at that, I did."

Nova walked up to them almost shyly, despite the fact that she'd spoken to Scott easily the night before. "Hi," she tried to wave, but probably just looked awkward.

Scott looked both relieved and scared shitless. "You're alive," he breathed.

"Shocker, huh?" Nova mumbled, tightening her grip on her violin case. "Cadmus explained everything to me, just so you know. I personally wouldn't have tagged you as an alpha, but you do have some serious golden retriever energy going on."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. "So, you were dead."

"Yup," she and Cadmus chorused, earning a glare from the human that shouldn't have amused her as much as it did.

"So, you're alive now. That's cool. The only question is, what are you, and how do you—" he whirled on Cadmus— "know so much about Scott?"

Cadmus shrugged. "She can tell you what she is if she's comfortable with it, but me? I've been well aware of all the goings on since Scott was bit by Peter last year." The two boys both looked shocked, and he rolled his eyes. "Please, as though you could have dealt with Jackson on your own without someone tiring him out all the time while he was all scaly."

"You're saying you've been... following us?" Scott asked, making Cadmus shake his head.

"More like ensuring you didn't get all of us caught," he corrected. "Keeping you alive was just a bonus."

That seemed like bullshit to Nova, but Scott and Stiles didn't know Cadmus had a crush on Scott, so it must have been believable enough to them.

"Us," Stiles seemed to grab that point like a lifeline, his eyes narrowing as he spoke. "Derek said there weren't any other werewolves around here."

Cadmus moved his hand in a so-so motion. "That's a lie, just so you know, but I'm not a werewolf. Neither of us are, to be honest. Good guess though."

"Then what are you?" Scott asked, looking almost stern as he looked at them both. "I saw your eyes, Cadmus... and what happened to Nova. I just want to make sure we can trust you."

Feeling a little insulted, Nova set her jaw. "You realize he literally just admitted to protecting you for over a year because of how clearly incompetent you were with your life?" she asked, stepping forward to poke Scott's unfairly hard chest. "You have no right to accuse him of being anything but trustworthy after that. Besides, you're the one who let me get thrown off a roof, so you're not the one who should have the trust issues here. You're lucky I'm a phoenix, apparently, or you'd be in a far worse predicament today than you are."

"A phoenix?" Stiles asked, not as stunned into silence as Scott appeared to be. "The whole rise from the ashes bird? Who can't die?"

"We don't know that for sure, actually," Cadmus corrected. "In theory, she should come back to life all the time, but there's a chance that someone out there has figured out how to stop her from doing just that."

Nova frowned at that information, which she really didn't need to hear at that moment.

"Right," Stiles rubbed the bridge of his nose as the bell rang. "Of course, how couldn't I know that?"

Nova glanced at Cadmus as her cousin met Scott's inquisitive glance with a challenging look in his eyes. To her abject horror, Cadmus' tongue snuck out of his mouth, forked and all. Stiles practically jumped a foot in the air, grabbing onto Scott... who honestly didn't look any better. Cadmus' expression remained amused, however, as he retracted the muscle. "You ever heard of dragons, Scott?"

Scott didn't get the chance to form an answer because Cadmus was already coaxing Nova into the throng of students, urging her to head to her first class of the day.

Nova was reluctant, to say the least, to seperate from Cadmus, but he just gently reminded her that she needed to be as natural as possible. That meant going to class like she would have done any other day, so she robotically entered her history classroom with the intention of sitting in the back like she had done the night before, her eyes carefully glued to the ground.

The sound of something hitting the floor made her look up quickly to see Liam staring at her with wide eyes as he mouthed her name in awe. There was a boy sitting beside him who looked quite concerned until he realized that Liam was just looking at a girl. Liam set his jaw as he saw her move to sit at the seat she'd chosen for herself, standing quickly and walking over to her.

Nova almost winced as he stopped in front of her, his hands clenching and unclenching as he kept looking at her with an awestruck expression. "You fell," he said quietly, a little frightened sounding. "How are you...?"

Nova chose the safe route, telling a little white lie. "I'm just as confused as you are," her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke. "I woke up this morning, hoped it was all just a nightmare."

She felt terrible with just those few words, but it wasn't a total lie, not really. She was still confused about this entire supernatural business, and a part of her had been hoping she would wake up and learn that it was all a weird nightmare ever since she woke up this morning.

Liam seemed to buy it though, grabbing her books from her desk as more kids started filing into the classroom. Nova touched his arm in confusion, making him look at her with a determined expression on his face. "If you think I'm letting you out of my sight for longer than absolutely necessary today, you're wrong. Come on, you can sit with Mason and I. He thinks I should make new friends anyway."

Nova apparently wasn't allowed to have a say in this, because Liam was already walking away with her stuff. It left her with few options but to grab her backpack and follow him, ignoring all the curious glances she was recieving from her classmates as Liam dumped her stuff at one of the desks in the pod of four desks he and Mason had been previously occupying.

"This is Nova," he said by way of introduction. "She's new here too, and she's going to eat lunch with us."

"I am?" Nova asked, making Mason laugh loudly and nod to her.

"Nice to meet you, Nova. Looks like you're stuck with us."

The thought made her feel oddly warm and fuzzy inside as she ducked her head to hide her blush as the teacher started talking. Stuck with them... it was a nice thought, as though she'd made her first friends in her new school.

A/N

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I love the end and Nova bantering with Cadmus, so at least I delivered that!!