𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 || 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫

Chapter 41 ~ Old Familiar

The place he brought me to ended up being a club. But it was not your everyday run-of-the-mill club. No, these people weren't even human. Some were vampires, some witches. There were even demons here. I fingered the stake I'd put back in my coat, eyeing the occupants closely.

As we walked, I could hear the blood pumping in the veins of the people surrounding me. I swallowed, feeling the fangs in my mouth growing. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself. No. Not here. I had to find out first what he wanted, what he knew about my mother. The man wove his way in between tables until he reached two red couches to the back.

Gingerly, I sat down on one of them. He sat across from me, propping his feet up on the table. Those blue eyes of his bored into me, making me squirm uncomfortably to which he chuckled.

"So what about my mother?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

He arched an eyebrow, smirking.

"Is that any way to treat someone who can help you?" he shot back and I scoffed.

"Yeah, right. I don't need anyone's help. I just took on that vampire by myself," I said snarkily and he smiled.

"With fighting, no. But you may need my help in other ways,"

"And what 'other ways' might that be?"

Blue eyes locked on mine and he was silent a moment before signalling to the waiter to bring us drinks. When the waiter set the glasses down on the table for us, the man took one before sipping on it. I drank a bit of my own before turning my attention back to him.

"So?" I repeated and he laughed, a deep sound that filled the small space in this alcove of the room, "What's your name anyway? You know mine but I don't know yours,"

He nodded before putting his cup down.

"My name is Philippe. Philippe LeChat, if you must know. And I knew your mother, Parker. She was a good friend, good mentor," he told me solemnly.

I felt the air leave my lungs. Well, this was interesting.

"Have I surprised you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"It's just..." I trailed off, thinking back to my childhood, "I never knew my mom. She died when I was just three. I was raised by my great-aunt,"

He nodded in understanding, pain flashing in his eyes a second, "I remember when she died. It was a sad day. Made even sadder still when I was kicked out of the house by your aunt,"

I looked at him, startled, "What?"

The ghost of a smile appeared on Philippe's face as he uncrossed his legs, placing his elbows on his knees as he leaned in towards me slightly.

"I told you. Your mother was my mentor. And I lived with her for a time,"

My throat felt dry and I let out a deep breath.

"What do you mean...'lived' with her? You-you stayed with-" I started to ask him.

"Yes, Parker. I lived with you and your mother for a long time. In fact, I lived with her before you were even born," he cut me off, explaining everything.

I gripped the knees of my jeans roughly, digging my fingers into the rough material.

"How old are you even?" I asked him warily, arching an eyebrow.

Philippe grinned, "Much older than I look, believe me,"

With unsteady hands, I took another sip of my drink before replacing it on the table.

"So you knew me as a child? How is that even possible? Why did you live with us? Why did my mom even let you?" I asked, question after question firing off my tongue.

He bit his lip, clasping and unclasping his hands absentmindedly as he rolled his blue eyes at me.

He glanced up at the ceiling briefly as he counted off the answers to my questions, "Yes, I'm not human, because I wanted to, and she loved me,"

My eyebrows shot to my hairline at the last remark but I asked the most important one first.

"You're not human?" I ventured and he smiled at me.

His normally-blue orbs flashed to yellow-and-black slits briefly before returning to their original state and I gasped. But before I could even ask the question, he answered it.

"I'm a familiar," he explained.

"A...familiar? What is that?"

Philippe sighed, shaking his head, "You really don't know your lore, do you, Little Dracula? What did your aunt even teach you?"

I scowled over at him, my eyes darkening.

"Don't call me that. Just answer the question," I bit out harshly.

"A familiar is a half-human half-animal companion. And I was your mother's," he shrugged, downing some of the drink from his glass.

"Why were you her...companion?" I asked, part of me scared to know the answer and the other part dying to know.

Those blue eyes met mine and a somber expression replaced his smiling one, confusion evident in his eyes.

"You don't know?" he asked, leaning in closer to me.

I could see ever fleck of blue now, we were so close as he answered the question. And with those four words, I felt my whole world spin out of control.

"Parker, your mother was a witch."