Psychic

IX

"What? Are you telling me Scarface might be my dad? You know, the guy who's been basically trying to find me so he can make sure I don't reach sixteen so I don't complete some prophecy spoken through the ramblings of a madwoman?"

"Liv-"

"The guy who most definitely might be trying to kill me because I just might destroy this stupid community that I just now learned even existed? He'd kill someone who might be his daughter just so he can protect his leadership? I mean, who is that self-centered?"

"Liv!" he yelled, stopping my rampage if questions.

"What?"

He took a breath and looked me in the eyes. "Liv, it could just be a coincidence. I mean, what are the chances?"

I lifted my eyebrows and starred him down. "Have you ever read a book? Or seen a movie? Whenever there is situation like this, people always turn out to be related." I lifted up my fingers and started to count off references, "Star Wars, Harry Potter, the Lunar Chronicles, Lion King-"

"Okay, okay. I get it." Magnus jumps in, stopping my list. "But this isn't some story, this is real life. And, in real life, things like this are normally just that, coincidences."

I nodded, but mostly for his benefit. If I was his daughter, it would make a ton of sense. Why else would he start searching harder for the next psychic instead of his own daughter, unless they were the same person?

But if I was his daughter, why would he still be after me? Wasn't family supposed to mean something?

I mentally shook those thoughts out of my head. As of now, Magnus still had a lot of explaining to do about everything.

"Okay, besides that whole issue, you still have some explaining to do." I said. "So, if you are . . . a Warlock, doesn't that mean that there are, like, a lot more of you out there? Do you guys go to a special school like in Harry Potter or something?"

He laughed. "No, not really. My family is a long line of successful Warlocks, names you wouldn't know, but who quite possibly changed the course of mundane history. Ever since I got my amulet, I was treated differently. My parents expected me to be even more perfect than my brother, who was the top student in our training school. I got out early due to the fact that my 'talents' would help the better good of Aria. My brother and I got assigned as soon as we were done with training, except his was more of a permanent station to guard Hawthorne while mine was to be shipped off to wherever the next tip came from and confirm whether or not the psychic was there. At the time I thought I was just hunting some random fugitive.

"A couple times I refused. And a couple times . . . well, let's just say that I ran into some trouble. It's why Hawthorne put me on probation. I can only be a full member of the Court once I complete my task, taking you in."

Magnus didn't seem happy talking about his family or his days in training. But that did get me curious. I remembered Hawthorne's words during one of my dreams. You don't want to be outdone by your brother again, do you? It was obvious that his brother must've been a prominent member of their 'society', something Magnus obviously wanted.

"But why do you want to be one of them so bad?" I questioned.

He sighed, "It's complicated."

I turned so my body was fully facing him, so he had no choice but to look at me. "What's so great about being one of them? They only want you to find me. After that, they probably won't care about you. Besides, you haven't even tried to turn me in. That must mean that there is a part of you that knows what they want is wrong, am I right?"