“Are you going to kill me?” I asked him point-blank.
Rather than pacing as he normally did, the cat lay down and tucked his front paws under himself.“No, Tawny, I’m not going to kill you. But others will likely try if they ever find out what you are. We can’t let them. Do you understand?”
I thought back to my final confrontation with Vanessa.“They already know,” I said with a quiver in my voice. “The head vampire told me. Said I don’t even know what I am. That others would come.”
Fluffikins moaned long and loud.“Then it’s exactly as I feared.”
“I don’t understand. I didn’t even know magic existed until a little over a week ago. Why is everyone so concerned about me now?”
“You’re not a normie,” the cat said, staring at me with large, unblinking eyes.
“Yeah, I’ve kind of gathered that I’m a magick by now.” I let out a chuckle to ease the tension in the room. My attempt at levity, however, only increased the cat’s anxiety.
He licked his paw several times—a nervous tic—before speaking again. “No, Tawny. You aren’t a magick, either. You’re something else altogether.”
22
“Enough with the big, sweeping statements. Just tell me what I am and why it seems to matter so much,” I demanded, growing tired of the cat’s circumlocution.
“You’re a Terran,” he answered in an eerie monotone.
“A Terran?” I let out a dry laugh and slapped the table. “Isn’t that what humans are called in science fiction novels? Please just be honest with me. I’ve waited long enough to—”
“I am being honest with you!” he bit out. “Terrans are extinct, or at least everyone thought they were, until…” He raised his chin and widened his eyes.
I lifted a hand to my chest.“Until me?”
“Yes. They were spoken of often in old stories. When they went extinct centuries ago, normies no longer had any frame of reference to understand the Terran kind. They saw their frequent mentions in connection to the world and assumed they couldn’t find any Terrans, because all on Earth were of this species. But they got it wrong.”
“What am I?” I asked hardly above a whisper.
“You are a class to your own. As you continue to interact with the magical world, your powers will only grow.”
“But in Caraway Island, I was able to rescue you and Melony because I was a normie. No magick could break through the barriers, but I could,” I reminded him, thinking back to that strange adventure. How in the end, I’d been the only one capable of mounting the rescue.
“You’re not a magick, and you’re not a normie. Since Terrans were thought to be extinct, they didn’t account for them when erecting their defenses.”
“So I’m magic, but not magick?” I asked. Wow, I really was Schrodinger’s something.
He nodded and licked his paw again.“Think of it this way. Most magic users channel their powers through their hearts. That’s why vampires can only be killed by destroying the source of their magic—the heart.”
“You gave me the chest piece to cover my heart and block my witch magic,” I realized, understanding his ruse better and better as more was revealed.
The cat nodded again.“I had my suspicions about what you were, but I also knew you were too unpracticed to have full command of your abilities. When you wouldn’t stay away, I thought I might instead keep you hidden in plain sight. Tawny, a Terran doesn’t just store magic in her heart. Your entire body is a vessel. You can hold so much power inside you. Hundreds of times what most magicks can. But your real strength is in the ability to wield the world magic.”
My eyes snapped to the glowing pink ball coiled beside us.
“Yes,” the cat said with reverence. “When the last known Terran died, we erected regional boards to oversee the world magic. We figured that in the absence of its true keeper, the world magic would best be served by a board of supernaturals from multiple classes. Together, we hoped we could approximate the abilities of a single Terran. But it’s been an imperfect solution, and both normies and magicks fight more than they were ever meant to. The world isn’t balanced, but maybe it can be again, now that we’ve found you.” He paused to let the weight of his words sink in.
Not only was I magical. I was the most powerful being to live for centuries. Being just a little bit special I could handle, but being so above and beyond everyone else? It terrified me.
“Not everyone wants peace,” I muttered, thinking of the mainstream politicians and fringe terrorist factions who both pushed war, violence, and discontent with seemingly every breath.
“Not those who seek power, no.” Fluffikins’s tail now beat against the table as if keeping time. As hard as this conversation was on me, I could tell it hit him just as deeply. He knew much better than me what my existence and discovery could mean for the world at large.
“Does that mean they’ll try to kill me?” I squeaked.
The cat nodded glumly.“Yes, or capture you for use as a weapon.”
No, I refused to be changed, to be turned into something I was never meant to become.“What can I do to stop either of those things from happening?”
“I do not know. We are in uncharted territory here. No one thought it was possible, but if you’re here, then there could be others, too.”
“Does that mean we need to go find them? Bring them to our side?” Surely, we had to do something. But what? If Fluffikins didn’t have the answer, there was almost no chance I’d be able to find it myself.
The cat sucked in a deep breath before continuing.“I intend to train you in each branch of magic and hope you’ll have a way of finding other Terrans, yes. But it won’t be easy. We got lucky in finding you before anyone with ill intentions could. It’s truly a one in one trillion coincidence, unless there are others out there, just waiting to be discovered.”
“I want to help find them,” I said with a jolt of enthusiasm. It was too much pressure, being the only one of my kind, especially since the way Mr. Fluffikins explained it, the Terrans wielded a great deal of power and influence. I’d only ever really been responsible for myself. I’d never even had a pet for goodness’ sake.
Fluffikins seemed to sense the fear that lay beneath my determination.“The board and I will teach you everything we know, but your training will be imperfect. We can only teach what we know, which is so little compared to what you will need to learn.”
A part of me wished I could go back, could choose a town other than Beech Grove. But if the world needed a hero, I guess I’d have to do.
23
“This is a lot to take in,” I said when it seemed Mr. Fluffikins had run out of warnings to give.
He stood and stretched.“I know. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Because of what you are, every single choice you make could change the entire course of history.”
“You’re not making it any easier on me,” I told him with a tired smile. He hadn’t been keeping the secret to irritate me. He really had hoped to protect me. Now that I understood, I felt grateful for his efforts.
“I had hoped you would fail and be forced to remain a vampire,” he admitted now.
“I will remain a vampire. Well, at least in part,” I said thoughtfully. I still didn’t know how this all worked, but I was beginning to see patterns emerge. “The witch magic you gave me hasn’t left. The vampire magic won’t, either. I absorb it all and keep it inside.”
The black cat chuffed.“Like a sponge.”
I nodded.“Yeah, and I have no idea how to get rid of it.”
“I think I might,” Fluffikins revealed, slowly rising to his feet. “The vampire curse was my last-ditch attempt to save you from what you are. I didn’t know if it would work, if the curse could erase your Terran heritage, but I had to try.”