January 9, 2004
"So this is what a folk arena looks like," said Coralis, standing in front of a downtown building. "Is it like the flyball field, but at ground level?"
Stephanie laughed.
"You've never been to a concert before?"
"It's not like I ever had the time to do anything that normal people do. There have been a few concerts that your brother wanted to take me to, but I always was in the middle of some mess somewhere, so he'd go with Mark instead."
"What about when you were a teenager?" said Stephanie as they got in line. "I know you went to a boarding school, but you didn't stay there for the summer."
"I was either in a group home or staying at Erik's and Henry's house. Victoria wanted to go to one once when we were 12, but I couldn't get permission from the head administrator. If Kief and Barla wouldn't have been in the process of finalizing paperwork to be foster family at the time, I believe Victoria's parents would have tried something."
Stephanie looked at her friend. She forgot for a moment that Coralis didn't have a normal childhood. The hard rock band Moonlight Hammer was in town. Frank was covering the event and had been able to get parterre tickets for Coralis and Stephanie.
"Maybe I'm ignorant on how the system truly is, but international adoptions aren't uncommon. I'd have thought it'd have been something relatively easy for them," said Stephanie, looking around her, "regardless of what I know about them."
"We blame EBEE for it," said Coralis.
"And let me guess. When you were with Erik and Henry, all you did was playing sports, just like Sebastian."
"Exactly that, yes. Speaking of Sebastian," said Coralis as she pulled her ticket out to have it scanned by the security, "I'm not gonna lie, it's weird to hear him being referred to as Sebastian McNally, even if it's just when among humans. It's going to take some time to get used to it."
"Wait when it's your turn in 11 weeks."
Frank was backstage with Liam, his werewolf bodyguard and tech guy. The band members were werewolves, but Frank didn't know. He suspected that some members might not be humans when he saw Liam sniffing the air when entering the backstage room, where they were to meet with the band, but he wasn't sure and couldn't directly ask, in case they were all humans. He trusted that if they were a threat to him, Liam would act on it.
While interviewing Bern, the lead guitarist, he noticed the drummer's eye turning glossy and his face lit up. The drummer jumped on his feet, and Jimmy's eyes, the lead vocal, also became glossy.
"She's here. Blue is here," said Dhowy, the drummer.
"That's what the guard at the gates said, but he couldn't smell anything, it might not be her. I think she lives in London," said Jimmy.
Recognizing the eye's subtle changes, Frank looked at Liam, wondering if the band were werewolves talking about his Blue. Liam was staring at them.
"Nah, I think Blue is here. Think about where we are, of course, he wouldn't smell anything from her," said Dhowy.
Bern's attention went back and forth between Frank, who had paused with his questions, and his bandmates.
"If it's Blue, can they get her backstage?" said Romeo, their keyboard guy.
"I don't know, Khym said she is with a witchy smelling female," said Jimmy.
Frank figured that they were probably talking about his Blue and his sister and that if they were werewolves, they probably weren't Coralis's enemy, but he had to find out if he had to warn her or not.
"Blue, as in Blue Thunder?"
The band members looked at him.
"Depends. Why are you asking?" said Molx, their bassist, smelling the air toward Liam. "If you hang around pack wolves, you probably aren't hunting her."
"I could ask you the same thing. I may or may not know her personally."
The band members looked at each other.
"Let's put it this way. If you do know her and can get her backstage, here, to meet us, you will be our most favourite journalist forever. We have no ill intents against her," said Dhowy.
"If I were to call her, how should I introduce you?" said Frank, remembering her telling him to send foes her way. "How do I know you're not intending to kill her?"
"I like you already. Back in Dallas, she beat my drummer back to a straight-line during a bar fight. We owe her," said Jimmy.
Frank chuckled as he pulled his phone to call her, but got no answer. One of the band security guys had his eyes on her.
"Khym said she's in line for food but is talking to the female with her," said Bern.
Frank tried to call his sister, thinking Coralis probably didn't hear her phone.
"He's now saying that the female with her is digging for something in her purse, for her phone, and is stepping out of the line. Blue is watching her," continued Bern.
"Hey bro, we're here. We're in line to grab pizza. What's up? Everything's fine?" said Stephanie, looking at Coralis.
"Yes. The Moonlight Hammer spotted Blue, said they know her, and they would like you two to meet them backstage. Interested?"
"Frank says the band knows you, asks if we wanna come backstage," said Stephanie to Coralis.
"Know me from where?"
Frank heard her from the background.
"She punched their drummer in a bar fight in Dallas," said Frank to his sister on the other end of the phone line.
"Really??" said Stephanie, and relayed her the information.
"Uh, yeah, I might know who they are. You sure they ain't my enemy?" said Coralis to Stephanie.
"Beloved Goddess, I knew it was her," said Dhowy.
"Khym said that based on her reaction to what the female told her, it's definitively her. He'll take them to us," said Bern while Frank slid his phone back into his pocket.
"So, you do know her, but what's your relation to her? How do you know her?" said Jimmy.
Frank glanced at Liam, who nodded at him.
"I think they're fine. Pack wolves aren't her enemy," said Liam.
"She's my fiancée."
Dhowy got up and went to Frank. He bumped his fist and held his shoulder.
"You're now officially my favourite journalist."
"She's the witch I smelled on you, then," said Bern.
"There was a point in time where Dhowy was hanging around with the wrong crowd. Our alpha nearly kicked him out of the pack. Along with a bunch of rogue wolves, he kept instigating trouble with other packs and almost led us into a war. Found out afterwards that the local rogue wolves were cozying up with witches to summon a demon," said Jimmy a few moments later.
"I remember her having to go to Dallas to investigate reports of wolf conflicts and demon summoning, that was last April I think," said Frank.
"Yes, it was. One night, we were at the bar, and Dhowy was about to leave to meet up with the damn rogues. We tried to convince him to stay with us, to stop hanging out with the rogues, but he wouldn't listen to us. Only the goddess knows what he took, but he was doped out of his mind," said Jimmy.
"They promised me power and notoriety, that I would get all I ever wanted and that it'd be for a greater cause, but I didn't know they wanted to summon a demon," said Dhowy as Coralis and Stephanie walked in.
"That night, Blue showed up at the bar with a wolf and another mage. The wolf with them locked up the bar from within, and I remember hearing that the other mage did something from outside to spell the back entry shut. We found out that night that Dhowy wasn't the only pack member working with rogues and witches. He wanted to leave the bar and was getting agitated. Blue beat him to an inch of his life so he couldn't go anywhere. The three of them quickly uncovered the trouble wolves in the place and when more appeared from the kitchen with witches, she killed them before leaving to the witches' coven," said Jimmy.
"He didn't hang around any more rogue wolves after that night and even stopped sniffing any drugs he could put his paw on," said Romeo.
"Why am I not surprised to hear a bar fight story involving you," said Stephanie.
Frank sat on a stool and watched The Moonlight Hammer band members reunite with Coralis.
"Our journalist friend here claimed you to be his fiancée when we asked what was his relation to you, is that the truth?" said Dhowy.
"Yes," said Coralis, looking at Frank.
"Listen, if it weren't for you, we would have lost Dhowy, and we wouldn't be Moonlight Hammer. We don't do wedding gigs, but we'd be honoured to perform at yours, free of charge, if you want us to," said Jimmy.