Next Generation Dhampirs

A Gift to the World

James turned to look at Declan, leaving one arm around my hip and holding me close to his body. "What happened?"

I looked down at my hands, examining them closely. "Was that me?"

"I think so," Declan said in awe.

"What happened?" James asked more insistently.

"This!" I said, probably sounding annoyed. I put my hands up, palms facing Declan, and pushed a gust of air towards him. This time was stronger than the last, and he stumbled back a few feet.

"How did you do that?" James asked, his voice dripping with worry.

"I have no idea," I answered, my eyes wide with fear.

"Wait," Declan began thoughtfully, "We got spirit user powers because the stakes were charmed with spirit, but they were also charmed with the other four types of magic. What if we got other powers too?"

I stared at him, still wide-eyed, and wondered the same thing. When my shock has passed, I looked over at one of the candles on the table and tried to light it. It took a little effort, but finally, I did it!

"This is amazing," James breathed.

He might have thought it was a good thing, but I was terrified. Queen Lissa wanted us to go into hiding for having spirit powers. What would she do when she found out about this?

The glass of water on the nightstand suddenly began shaking and a cloud of water flew out of it. It hit Declan square in the face, drenching him in water. I giggled a little and he wiped the water from his face.

"That worked," he muttered with resignation.

"Here," I said with a laugh, "Let me try." I made a swiping motion with my hand and focused on picking up all the water. I got it all off the carpet and pushed it back into the cup, but I took the water from his face and clothes and dropped it on him again, unable to stop giggling.

He threw his hands up, then dropped them dramatically to his sides.

"Jess," Declan started, suddenly serious again.

I didn't need to read his thoughts to know what he was going to say. "I know," I muttered, "I agree."

We couldn't tell anyone about this. James, we knew, wouldn't dare, but if anyone else knew, we would be in serious trouble.

"I won't tell anyone," James said absentmindedly, as if we needed reassurance, "But if you guys want someone to help you with fire magic, you can always practice with me."

I nodded, but we were all too shocked to say anything else. The silence was broken a moment later when there was a knock on the door. We all jumped, then heard Dimitri's voice calling.

"Jessica? Are you in there? Are you alright?"

"We need to tell him," I said suddenly.

"What?!" Declan replied, "No way!"

"Dec, he would know what to do!"

"No, Jess."

"Dec, I'm going to tell him. You can let me know when you don't want me to say anything, but I need to tell him."

"Jessica?!" Dimitri called again, banging on the door harder this time.

"Jess don't!" Declan called after me, but I was already at the door.

"Dad!" I said sweetly, pulling the door open, "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you," he said, eyeing me suspiciously, "What took you so long to answer? Were you with James?"