Unforgettable (OLD COPY DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 34

I stare down at the tea leaves in my cup. Indigo had suggested I get it to help calm my nerves as I resist the urge to curl my lip at the smell wafting off of it.

In all honesty, I hate tea even though I know for witches, it's something that can help with magic.

I take a sip of it even though it's long since grown cold as Indigo watches me expectantly before I take a bite of my buttered croissant to help wash down the bitter flavor. Silverware and glasses clink around us as other people eat and talk in the crowded café. Usually crowds would make me nervous, but being around people right now is keeping my nerves steady.

With people around, I can believe that I'm safe, that I won't be randomly attacked.

"You know, you could have mentioned that you didn't want the tea," Indigo says suddenly.

I glance up at her to see that she's watching me, a grin twitching across her lips.

"I...I didn't want to be rude," I mutter as I offer a half-hearted smile.

"Just give me the tea," she says as she stretches out a hand and makes a beckoning motion.

I oblige and sheepishly pass her the cup as she takes a drink from it. I watch her silently, relieved to just have a moment of peace in the chaos that has reigned for as long as it has.

"Kara?"

"Hmm?" I look up when I realize that I've been blankly staring at a salt shaker on the table.

She's watching me closely, her eyes slightly narrowed as she doesn't seem to miss a single emotion on my face.

"I'm proud of you," she says at last, "and I'm sorry-."

"You've already apologized once, you don't have to keep doing that," I tell her honestly with a wave of my hand.

"I don't think I can apologize enough," she admits, her lips quivering as they draw down into a frown.

She takes a breath and shuts her eyes for a quick moment, like she's gathering her thoughts and I let her before I speak.

"Indi...I accept your apology from earlier, now that you believe me...it's easier to work together on figuring all this out."

She nods and falls silent at this, her eyes taking on a faraway look as I continue to eat my croissant.

"How has college been?" I decide to ask in the silence.

She gives me a bland smile, "It's been good, I've finally been getting to heal people with magic, so that's been pretty neat."

"What all have you gotten to heal?"

"Flesh wounds mainly, some broken bones but that's a bit more difficult, they have to be properly set or the bone ends up warped," she replies easily. "It takes a certain skill, I have to have an idea of the proper energy I should be sensing when I'm aligning the bone before I can start to heal it."

"What happens if the bone is shattered?"

"I'm honestly not sure yet," she grimaces at this and gnaws on the edge of her lip, "I'm sure it deals in energy sensing too before I can start binding it with energy."

"What all do you know about being an Unfamiliar?" I ask suddenly, remembering how May had mentioned the binding of familiars.

"I know how to enchant items so I can carry a familiar's soul in it, I know that we can give familiars to others," she begins to list off casually.

"What about having someone force us to banish our power?"

She falls silent at this, her cheeks paling ever so slightly before she nods, "I know about that too, but it requires a bit of effort."

"How so?"

"Well, the Unfamiliar would probably need to be restrained and have spells cast on them so they are not entirely aware of what's going on, like would you willingly give up your power if someone asked?"

I shake my head at this and she nods.

"So you would probably have to be hallucinating and not set in reality in order to even think about giving up your power," she explains as she takes a sip of her tea, "influencing runes would need to be used and they would have to be fairly powerful to take on an Unfamiliar, along with runes to weaken them overall."

She pauses and sets the cup of tea down as she looks me in the eye.

"Why are you asking about this now?"

"I'm worried, now that I know my power can be taken away...I want to protect it."

"Kara, what I'm trying to get at is this: as long as you're vigilant you should be able to protect yourself, don't trust certain people-."

"I hate that I have to be the one who has to be careful," I murmur and she nods.

"I know...believe me, I know," she reaches out across the table then to squeeze my hand, "but this is the life that Unfamiliars live, our power is something others hunger for, something that they want to steal, it sucks that we have to be careful but it's the only way we can ensure that we'll stay safe until the mindset of the world changes."