The Gambler

Divine intervention

I watched Malcolm walk back and forth, waving his hands as he explained the history of witches to me.

"So Delilah is the first recorded witch. It's said that the Gods decided that vampires and werewolves needed someone to govern them in a sense, someone with the ability to stop the wars. They selected numerous amounts of unborn children to have the abilities. It started the first witch coven. Delilah was at the lead."
He pulled an extremely old looking book off the shelf, running his finger across the dusty spine.

"Vampires and werewolves started using witches. We were faster, stronger. They had the magic, but we could overpower and threaten and blackmail them into doing our bidding." He sighed, he seemed ashamed of his ancestors.

"Delilah fought back, she wanted witches to be free. All this give and no take caused a hatred to brew, the witches rebelled. The witches in the beginning were like you. Able to do whatever they pleased with the element they mastered, they didn't need spells or talismans. They didn't need help from any outside sources. The gods decided they were becoming too powerful. They didn't like that all of their creations were fighting. So do you know what they did?" He looked at me expectedly and I stammered.

"They um..made mates?" I whispered, feeling stupid. He nodded, snapping his finger.

"Yes! Thus began the mating between witches and other supernatural beings. They thought this would force everyone to get along." He laughed now, shaking his head.

"Did it work? It did. For a little while. The witches were still too strong. Too in touch with the spirit world. Marcellus, the Roman god of war stepped in. He stripped the witches of their power. He made vampires have a mortality flaw. They could finally be killed. He tried balancing things out, to actually stop the fighting. So now you've got a bunch of resentful witches stuck together with vampires and werewolves. The sun goddess steps in, Yvette." -my eyes widen at this. The one I saw in my dream..-

"So she makes vampires vulnerable to the sun. It sets us on fire in the beginning, and the werewolves are vulnerable to the moon, it controls their shifting. Obviously, we have since evolved from this. Thanks to the witches." He smirks at me as I look at him in confusion.

"The witches helped?.." I trailed off and he nodded.

"Some time has passed, each side dealing with great loss. Losses of their mates, burning alive, their mates turning and killing them thanks to the moon. So a deal is made. Marcellus strips the witches of their unlimited power. Diana steps in now..the goddess of nature. She allows the witches to pull from the power of nature to fuel their magic. Here comes spells and talismans, herbs and things of that sort." I watch him pace, staring in awe.

"These 3 gods come together and settle on an agreement. Every so often they will gift a fetus with dormant magic that must be awakened by transitioning to either werewolf or vampire. Said mate will have a chemical in their blood that fuels the witches natural abilities, and they are also the calming effect. Give and take. This keeps a balance. It keeps us reliant on each other." He shuts the book and hands it to me, I run my hand over the cover.

"Amazing" I whisper and he nods.

"You're simply a freak of nature, basically." He laughs and I glare, flipping the book open.

"So there are other witches then? That just have lesser power?" I looked up at him and he nodded.

"Yes. But there's kinda a divide with you and them. They're jealous, I think. But they respect you. That's why Grayson and Xavier didn't try to find a regular old plain Jane witch to help with this. One of your kind was required." He taps his chin thoughtfully, looking at my stomach.

"There is no record of this"-he gestures towards my stomach-" situation though. Your dad was a werewolf, right?" He tilts his head at me and I nod.

"I wonder.." he trails off and shakes his head, sitting on one of the library chairs.

"What made you study this?" I questioned, leaning back in my chair.

"It's so interesting. Easily one of the most enjoyable topics, I think. I've studied a lot over my lifetime. Grayson picked this up too, but he didn't stay in it. If only he knew his destiny" He laughs to himself.

"How long have you known Grayson?"- I was curious for this answer.-" we've never really spoken about exactly how old he is.." I trailed off wearily, I knew some vampires didn't like disclosing an age.

Malcolm laughed suddenly.

"I'll tell you up front Grayson is 139 years old. He was born in 1880." I blinked slowly at his response.

"We're the same age. I've known Him since... we were 12." I gasped now. That was a very long friendship.

"In his house there were pictures of a baby that looked like him, dated in 1980." I tilted my head and Malcolm nodded slowly.

"His brother." He muttered quietly and my eyes widened.

"His brother!?" I whispered and he nodded again.

"Ever wonder how his dad left years ago, yet Hannah is still young? Graysons parents weren't mates. They got together on accident. Boom, there's Grayson. His dad finds his real mate, and leaves his mom. His mom hasn't gone looking for her mate. She was always focused on being a mom. His dad agrees to give her another child out of guilt. Boom, there is Jack 100 years later. He stills leaves again, his mom asks..boom, there's Hannah." I stared at him in shock.

"Wow" I muttered, suddenly feeling like I've invaded Graysons privacy. He never spoke about why his family was the way it was.
I never asked, either.

"So where is his brother?" I spoke nervously for some reason and Malcolm frowned.

"He died. He was in the same business Grayson was in. He was younger." He spoke quietly, he seemed to sound remorseful.

"I never met him, but I remember his death destroying Grayson. He felt like he was the reason he got into that business in the first place." He sighed and I frowned.

We were interrupted by a maid stepping into the room politely, she bowed her head sincerely.

"My apologies, Grayson asked me to let you know he is leaving for the town with prince Xavier for short business." I smiled at her and nodded, feeling a little anxious.

"They must be going to take care of that rogue problem. And those idiots didn't think to invite me." He grumbled, testing his head on his fist.

"It's fine, somebody has to look over you and your precious cargo!" He smiles widely now and I giggle, getting up.

"The precious cargo is hungry" I sigh and he stands with me, holding his arm out to me.

"Onward then! So is it blood? Human food?" He whispers excitedly and I take his arm, shrugging.

"It varies honestly. Some days I crave regular food like crazy, other days it's blood." I rub my stomach with my free hand.

"Interesting indeed." Malcolm muttered to himself and I thought back to his comment about my dad being a werewolf...