The First Fae Mate

Forty | Gift

The rest of the morning went quickly.

Visena and Gideon showered, changed and ate to their heart's content. By the time two o'clock rolled around, Visena was ecstatic to see her family. However, she was vaguely surprised to see that Calypso was the first to arrive.

"Don't look so surprised. I'll be gone before anyone else arrives. I sent them the long way."

Gideon shook his head with a smile. "Tell me why I agreed to keep you as Pack Witch?"

"Because without me, your Pack would be shit?"

Visena nearly spat out an apple she had been eating. "And I thought I was brutally honest."

Calypso smirked at them. "Well, are you going to invite me in?"

Visena brewed them all some tea that she found in the cupboards while her guests made themselves comfortable around the oak dining table. Before she had even served Calypso a cup, the Witch started asking questions.

"What happened with the Witch Council?"

"Um, they brought me into their room and told me about a prophecy and basically that they wouldn't help me. Sybil and Ambrose seemed like they wanted to help, but I guess their hands were tied." Visena noticed with interest while serving the Chai that Calypso winced when she spoke the Council Witches' names.

"They were odd- I mean, they had really gross dead flesh issues...Hands... Missing eyeballs..." 

Halfway through a long sip, Gideon pulled the teacup from his mouth, the fine china clattering painfully against the table. His scrunched nose and downturned mouth were adorable as he pushed the Chai away, simultaneously distracting the Fae as she shared the Witches' afflictions. Air rushed from her nose in a clipped laugh when his lips parted and mouthed an almost silent, disgusted, 'What?'

"Does every Witch end up like that?" Visena finished, giving her mate a tightlipped smile and shrug. 

Calypso chewed the inside of her cheek and hissed through her teeth, drawing back their attention.  

Visena sat down with a cup clasped in cold hands and decided to probe. "What's wrong?"

At first, it looked like the Witch wouldn't respond, and the Fae poised to fill the long silence when she heard shuffling shoes against the floorboards and sharp nails tapping against resin sealed oak. Then, finally, Calypso started with a sigh. "No, not everyone receives Nex markings." She sighed again. "I trained with them after I left your mother. They went down a dark path and were punished for it. I left them when it happened, and I don't think they ever forgave me."

"Ambrose didn't seem bothered when I mentioned you."

"What did you say to them?" Calypso's eyes hardened.

"I just asked if you were the one they had spoken to about me... the others got defensive, though."

"They have always been cowards."

Visena nodded, looking at Gideon. His lips turned up in a small smile when he caught her staring. She flushed and dragged her eyes away. "Um, actually, the Vampire council were the most helpful. They said they knew you as well...." 

The bloom that suddenly appeared on Calypso's cheeks delighted Visena endlessly.

"Thana and Mihnea. Do the names ring any bells?"

Gideon looked between the women with a raised brow while Calypso cleared her throat. "I knew them a long time ago."

"Yeah," Visena said with a grin. "A long time ago."