Ticklish pleasures

Chapter 20

"So. Just to be sure I've got this straight..." I pause mid-bite of my food and look up at Sienna, raising an eyebrow. "You're essentially a gods-given miracle baby with witch powers. Your parents were killed by a vampire, but you don't know who she was. You were taken in by hunters and essentially abused because you, as a child, didn't do anything to save them, and then ran away from said hunters and ended up with your aunt, which led to Anjennica, which led to us. Right?"

"Yeah, that's basically it. I'm sorry I lied to you about my powers, but people don't generally believe me when I tell them the truth." I sigh softly and shake my head, then return to eating.

"I mean, in general, it's a pretty crazy story. But we don't have any reason not to believe you." she leans forward and rests her chin in her hands as she watches me eat, but I keep my eyes fixed to my plate. I feel a hand on the back of my neck and flinch, but a thumb rubbing circles into the base of it makes me relax.

"That's really not a concern anymore. Now that we know everything, it would be best to start looking into it as soon as possible." Cynthia tilts my head back and presses a kiss to my forehead, then moves to sit down beside me. "I'm not quite sure where to start, though..."

"Dmmpht wrmy abou ih." I swallow another mouthful of food and sit back in my chair, taking a sip of my water and turning to face Cynthia. "Don't worry about it right now, Mistress. They spent a long time trying to hunt her down, but unfortunately, she's supposedly pretty powerful, even by vampire standards, so getting an opportunity to get at her was impossible."

"So they know who it was and didn't tell you?" Karin furrows her eyebrows, leaning back in her own chair and crossing her arms. "That's stupid."

"It really wasn't. I asked them several times when I got older. I didn't care about the repercussions. The more control I got over my power, the more overconfident I got.  They were smart enough to know not to tell me. I probably would have gone after her myself."

"You're not that stupid."

"When I first met you, I thought I could take on the three of you with a pencil. You reeeally think that I wouldn't try to take her on by myself with magic?"

Cynthia's mouth opens and closes repeatedly as she tries to think of a response, but she lets out a defeated sigh and shakes her head. "For now, until we figure out what to do, you need to continue your training with Serenity. I want us to be as prepared as possible."

"Yes, Mistress." I sigh softly, leaning back in my chair and stretching my arms over my head. "I don't really know how I feel right now, honestly. I'm stuck somewhere between furious and annoyed."

"Why?" Cynthia furrows her eyebrows and sits down beside me, reaching her hand out to take mine into it. I give her a soft squeeze, but I don't look at her.

"I'm angry that I don't know anything. I want it to be over with. I've wasted so much time, I got too comfortable with my life before I was brought to you guys. I let it all go, and then Anjennica brought me here." I feel a flush of fury through my body and I sit up and turn to look at them. "I told her all of this, you know. She knew everything about me before she brought me to you. She knows my story, yet she brought me to you guys anyway. I just... I don't understand it."

Karin steps forward and kneels on the other side of me, taking my other hand in hers. "I mean, look at what we're doing right now, Jen. We're working on your issue, one step at a time. We're going to help you find the person responsible and bring them to justice. Maybe... Maybe she brought you to us because she knew we could help you. Because she knew we would help you."

"We could always call and ask. I'm sure Master Ramos won't mind a minor interruption."

I blink a little bit at Cynthia and stare at her, the memory hitting me. "I completely forgot she left, honestly. I mean, you guys have been keeping me so busy, I forgot that even happened. That's been what? Three months ago?"