Chapter 45 – Creando Stateram (Samson Conrad POV) Pt.3

Dad says that the most observant person in the room is the one that you should always be the most concerned about. I'm not sure I fully agreed with him on that front.

What about the most reckless?

That was when I was ten or eleven. Fast forward to the present and I think I was finally understanding what he intended to teach Silas, Brennan, Talia and I that day.

It was not about the room, but your roll in it.

How did we survive and protect ourselves? By being the most perceptive in the room. By listening and not always being the one with the loudest voice or the most to say.

There was – still is – a lake of hostility between supernatural families in Bend. Things that had happened between the generations before my own.

As Luca, Imogen and I – carrying Fatima – leave the school, as discreetly as possible I can almost feel the happiness and anticipation rolling off of Nick Romas.

I'd bet money that he was chanting, "Finally! Ansel has made a mistake."

It's not that there was bad blood between Dad and Nick, it was more that Nick had always assumed that since grandpa Antone did not have sons, that he could court one of the daughters and the Den would be left to him. That never happened. My mom and her sisters found love instead of just someone that could and would eventually replace their father.

I think even after they had, because Nick and Grandpa Antone's fathers were such great friends that Antone would pass the reigns over to him. However when it came time, dad was given control of the Den, which Nick has fought in his own passive aggressive way.

Nick would use this to make trouble.

I doubt that he was even truly upset that Lydia had died. No, this was just his way of making dad look bad and striking while the iron is hot.

"Use my Audi," my mother says handing the keys to Luca before we exit.

Turning the day over in my head I started questioning everything as I walked out the back of the school with Imogen and Luca. Why would Lydia do – hell what was Lydia even doing? She was chanting but what?

The only person that dipped their toe in magic was grandma Mary. Since when did Lydia practice? Did my father know?

I maneuver Fatima around when we get to the car, leaving her head on my lap, but her body on the backseat.

In the car, though there are only four of us, it feels as though two giant elephants join us.

"Hey... uhm... Samson – Cynthia is full Fae, right?" Imogen asks, turning back to face me. Blinking, my eyes stinging painfully, I nod.

"Do you know what kind?"

I blink, sure there were types of Faes, Were's and Vampires but Cynthia was nothing special. Or I guess that's what she said but she also said that her daughters name was Sophie and that she died.

"No," I shrug. "I – I uhm – Faith told me that Cynthia was back in town," I nod.

"Is she going to be at this meeting your dad is holding?" my eyes narrow as I look at Imogen. What was with all the questions? Especially about that horrible woman of all people!

"Why?" my voice takes in a hardness that shows she's grating on my nerves. "The spell that Lydia was doing," that gets my attention. "I," she glances at Luca.

"The spell she used is ancient," I frown. "How would you know?"

"Is there – do you think that you can maybe take me to her?" Imogen ignores my question. "Why?" Imogen looks down at Fatima, gnawing on her lip. "Oh come on already!" I snap, my emotions on fire now. "Just spit it out! You're acting as though Fatima is someone important to you," the words I want escaping me leaving me with what I piece together now. "I mean what's the deal Imogen," I finish just as Luca signals off the street, pulling to the side of the road.

He too turns to face me. "This goes no further than this car," he warns me. Although I'm not sure what the hell was going on. Lydia was practicing magic; Imogen and Luca were... they were acting suspicious.

I glance at him, but focus on Imogen when I give a sharp nod. "I'd rather tell this to Faith first," she says, "but I will say this and at the meeting you cannot repeat what I'm telling you Samson," she warns me now.

Imogen's eyes narrow as she gazes into mine, intense and waiting. "I won't say anything," I say when frustration settles inside me.

With an encouraging nod from Luca, Imogen exhales shakily. "It's an old psychic Fae spell, but it's normally used for Fae's that need to feed on the life energy of others."

I just blink. What. The. Damn. Hell.

"I know how it sounds, and don't ask me to explain but, that spell, what Lydia was doing, was trying to steal power from Faith," she said stronger now. "All I'm saying is... Faith told me about her – about Cynthia. And I know a bit more about her returning, and how she lied to your family as well," I frown. It's not that Fatima was not allowed to converse with Imogen that made me react that way either.

It's the information Imogen had. Each time I tried to piece together where she was going with this, I wondered how she knew what she was saying. Heck she wasn't even a full Fae.

Did Nick know this? Whatever Imogen was trying to tell me now? Is that why he thought Fatima was dangerous? And then my thoughts went down hill from there. What if Nick called the Elders in an attempt to get rid of Fatima? Show the Den that he would do what dad wouldn't?

As each single word is formed in my mind, I inhale shakily. Faster, each breath comes though it does nothing for me because with in twenty seconds it feels as though my lungs have been cut off.

"Hey – relax," Luca murmurs.

Relax? Tell the man that walked into the classroom as though ready to dig through hot coal to get to Imogen to relax! I shout in my head. Relax. I scoff internally.

"Like I was saying before, they feed on life energy, someone's aura."

I stare blankly at Imogen.

"Cynthia isn't Lydia's biological mother," so...?

Imogen shakes her head at me, "No, she doesn't have to be. As long as you practice you can do a version of siphoning power."

I frown glancing down at Fatima.

"Cynthia hasn't seen Fatima in years, how would-"

Imogen grimaces now, a pitiful look in her eyes, as she looks away from me, then to Fatima's cast. "The minute that Faith hit Cynthia, she knew Faith had power-"

"So you know she has it too?"

Imogen shook her head, "When I touch Faith, I get nothing, I mean I can tell she's Fae but not what she's mixed with. I'm working my theory backwards Samson."

I cock my head to the right, unable to follow.

"Lydia was chanting a spell. The type of spell she was using is one that psychic Fae's would use in Zedwood," I open my mouth to ask how she knows this but close it right back. "Based on what she was saying, she had to specifically know that Faith had power. Lydia isn't a Fae, so how would she know?"

"You think Cynthia sent Lydia to get power from Fatima?"

Imogen nods, "I think when Faith hit Cynthia, that could be when they made contact. I doubt Cynthia feeds when she's around-"

"You think Cynthia is a psychic feeding Fae, that steals life energy?"

Imogen huffs, "Cynthia is with a person that is nearly impossible to kill. Your uncle Danny is a Werejaguar, she could feed on him and he'd never know."

Resting back against the seat I turn her words over in my head. "But what would that have to d with Lydia?"

"Faith is protected, and she has a pure aura. I don't – I asked Faith if she could do anything, and she said she couldn't," I nod.

"Okay but the only way to do what I think she did, is if someone has already put a spell there protecting her. She doesn't scream powerful, but she is," Imogen explains, her voice animated. "She didn't even move her lips or twitch Samson!"

"So someone put a spell to protect Fatima?"

Dmitri? I ask myself but that doesn't make much sense. He hadn't harmed Fatima in a common way, but he did hurt her by leaving her alone all the time. There was nothing that could justify what he did but maybe there was an explanation for that though.

If Fatima were so powerful, why would Cynthia have left her behind? If what Imogen was saying, and Cynthia was a feeding psychic Fae, then why leave Fatima behind?

Did Danny know what type of Fae Cynthia was? Hell did he even know that Lydia was practicing old Fae magic?

"Do you think that you can show us where she is, I won't even need to get close to her to be able to tell?" Imogen asks, pleading with me. Looking down at Fatima, I asked myself one question.

Would knowing what type of Fae Cynthia was help Fatima at all?

.

.

.

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So should Samson let Imogen see Cynthia? Ask his dad for permission?

Also... I'm giving some hints about Imogen here. How does she know about old Fae spells? A parent might have told her... but....