The Children of Tain, Briquen City of the Mist book #1

Prom, a Night to Remember - Part 5

Five

Prom, a Night to Remember

     It was about 7:35 p.m. Mom had left the dojo with Mya, and dad and I took Mom's car, the Nissan. We didn't really feel like eating, so we just went to an ice cream shop downtown and got a couple of milkshakes.

     Dad got his traditional extra-large coconut flavored milkshake; he sometimes complained it did not quite taste as good as the ones from Briquen. "Back home, they use real coconuts," he would point out.

     I got my usual chocolate milkshake. We then walked on the River Walk and through this outdoor theater called La Vallita. It was the weekend, so the River Walk was crowded with tourists. We walked out onto East Nueva Street all the way to Hemisfair Park while we talked.

     "Angel, I need you to understand that your brother, John, was never a secret. It just never came up."

     "Never came up!" I repeated. "You and mom had a kid before me, and it never came up?"

     I honestly wasn't shocked. I was surprised, but not shocked. I mean, if my mom and dad could keep a secret for fifteen years about hunting werewolves and us being members of a race of empowered beings that lived for centuries, then this really didn't shock me, although it came close.

     "Angel, John is my son, not your mother's. He is your half brother. I had John before I met your mother."

     I was wrong. Until that point, I really thought nothing my father said could shock me. But there it was. I was officially shocked! It was so hard for me to imagine. My dad had been married to my mom for thirty-seven years now, and that was not even including the time they spent being boyfriend and girlfriend. So it was odd to think of my dad having another family, another life.

     "Dad, did John grow up in Briquen?"

     "No, he did not. John is a mixed-blood, so he grew up with his mother in Pennsylvania."

     "Mixed-blood," I repeated, never hearing the term before. "What does that mean?"

     "Well, Angel, it means nothing really. Just that one of his parents is human. But you shouldn't think any less of him. We are all human after all. Besides, the Tain gene seems to be a dominant one. So technically, your brother is Tain, just like you and me."

     "Okay," I said while collecting my thoughts. "So what can he do? How old is he? Where is he now?"

     My dad smiled as he seemed to go deep in thought. He had a proud look on his face when he said, "John is like your mother and Mya. He didn't inherit any extra abilities. But don't let that fool you. He can hold his own against anyone."

     "Mya is considered to be one of the best in her field as a hunter and she doesn't have any extra abilities. She is well respected among her peers. You should feel honored that she personally trained you this past year. Your brother, John, had to earn that right, as did I. And he ended up being one of her best students. John is one of the few people I know who can actually take Mya on in her own element."

     "As for John's age . . . he will be . . . fifty-seven this September."

     "Fifty-seven!" I thought to myself. "He is old!" Then again, my dad is eighty-two years old and barely looks to be in his twenties.

     "But, Dad, where is he now? Why haven't I met him?" As I asked that, I looked at my dad and saw a sad expression on his face as he said,