Brynn's POV
My anxiety was about to hit a fever pitch. Strangely though, one touch from Arlen was all it took to ground me again. I stared at this woman that just showed up here in Arlen's office magically and couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"What do you know about my parents?" I asked her softly.

"Aine, if Brynn was supernatural I would have sensed it!" Arlen argued with her.
"Biologically Brynn is human. But both of her parents had inherited gifts, Arlen. I am certain you did not know your grandparents, did you Brynn?" Aine asked me.
"No. It was just the three of us. The Three Musketeers." I whispered, our beloved family nickname off my tongue before I could catch it.
"It was better that way, Brynn. You have a complex family tree and I will do my very best to explain it. Your paternal grandmother, Sheri Hunter, sees the future. Very few humans have this gift and most of them hide it, only using it for good reasons. Sheri has used her gift for personal gain and it has turned her into a monster. Your father Jordan was not her only child. Did he tell you that you have an aunt? Her name is Stefanie." Aine asked me. I shook my head, grabbing Arlen's hands so tight I'm surprised I haven't left marks.
Just how much did my parents hide from me!?


"Jordan's childhood was not a good one. His father stayed gone, more than likely to get away from Sheri's control and need for constant validation. Sheri would team up with Stefanie and together they made Jordan's life absolutely miserable. He knew nothing but angst and ugliness from them. He left when he was legally able to and never went back home. A year later, he met your mother Beth and they fell in love instantly. They eloped three months later." Aine smiled at me.
"Your mother Beth had wonderful parents but like you, she was orphaned young. She went to live with a friend's family at age 16 to graduate high school. Brynn I know this is going to be out of left field, but your mother had a very unique ability to freeze time, a gift she sadly never had a chance to develop further."
"WHAT?!" I gaped at Aine. Even with Arlen holding my hands my head was about to explode.
"She passed her gift on to you Brynn. And how I know this is that I saw you accidentally use your gift the night Patrick Jenkins almost killed you. In your desperation to stay alive, you were somehow able to freeze time right after your neighbor got there and called the ambulance. I bet in those few minutes waiting on the ambulance, you heard absolutely nothing, right? It was completely silent?"

"I was so disoriented from the beating I really don't remember." I told her.
"You had, if memory serves me right, a collapsed right lung, a skull fracture, and multiple broken bones from the beating?" I nodded, sickened by just how close to death I was that night.
"By rights Brynn, you should have died. You didn't because of your gift." Aine told me.
"Goddess Aine? Are you telling me Brynn has the gifts of future prediction AND time travel!?" Arlen was beside himself.
"I can tell you now I don't have the power of premonition! If I did my parents would still be alive!" I said in despair.
"Not time travel Arlen. Time freezing. There is a big difference, and never forget that. The gift of premonition is known to skip a generation with humans. I'm sure it's why Jordan kept his family hidden from his mother." Aine clarified to him.
"Well, there is only one way to find out. Brynn, think fast!" George hurled something at me and when I ducked, I noticed a ball of fire right above me in a still motion!!
"Arlen!!" I grabbed his face and he was motionless. Everyone was still but me!!
"How do I fix this!?" I panicked as everyone was as still as statues. But the more I began to calm down as I racked my brain to unfreeze time, the fireball disappeared and everyone else moved again.
"Her power seems best in times of great stress." George twirled his long gray beard absentmindedly. Everyone looked at me in awe and wonder, most of all Arlen.
"Brynn, what exactly did you discover after your parents passed away?" Aine asked me.
"That my father's family wanted nothing to do with me. The estate lawyer found nothing about my mother's family at all, but I see why given they passed when she was still legally a minor." Aine and Arlen looked at each other.
"Your father's family never tried to contact you after the accident?" Aine clarified.
"I'll never forget what the attorney said to me. He found my grandfather and told him his son and daughter in law were dead and I was orphaned. My grandfather only said that he wasn't interested in getting to know me. The son of a b***h didn't even have the decency to come to my father's funeral." I muttered bitterly. The pain at the rejection of my father's family was still raw. Even though I shouldn't, I somewhat blame them for Patrick in the first place. Arlen put his arm around me for comfort.
"Brynn, it was your grandfather the lawyer contacted? You are absolutely certain?" I nodded as a tear trailed down my face.
"Sweet girl, your grandfather was protecting you." Aine told me assuredly. And then suddenly, I got it.
"From my grandmother and aunt." I whispered in understanding.
"Exactly. Think of these special gifts you have. A gift of premonition that just needs to be nurtured, and the gift we just saw now. Can you imagine what your aunt and grandmother would do if they found out you have these gifts, Brynn?" George asked me.
"They would exploit her." I had almost forgotten the Starr brothers were still in the room.
"Does Brynn's aunt Stefanie have a special power?" Arlen inquired.
Aine looked at all of us, uncertainty in her eyes. "Her powers are not inherited. But she does dabble in the dark arts and considers herself a witch."
"Which Desdemona will gladly accept her and make her a real one. Strength in numbers." Anthony told us.
"And with Sheri's gift, that is not a good combination at all." George said.
"But you think my aunt and grandmother don't even know I exist, right?" I asked Aine.
"It's best we keep it that way." Aine assured me.
This was all too confusing and painful. I understood my father's actions yet am also a little angry at him for not telling me the truth about his family. I was of an age then to understand. Maybe if he had, I could have tapped into my gifts more.
"So what are things Brynn can do to try and realize her gifts?" Arlen asked Aine and George.
"I have a wizard friend who can help us. I'll warn you now, he is unconventional. His training is grueling and he has a mouth on him that will drive you want to slap his teeth out. He has nothing but contempt for anything and anyone but wizards. But there is no one else I'd trust for this task, even my dearly departed friend Roman." Suddenly George began moving his hands and chanted in another language. This lasted about two minutes until...
"Rafael! Long time no see!" Rafael looked nothing like a wizard. He was middle aged with salt and pepper hair and dark, intense brown eyes. He was dressed in a bright yellow robe and stared at all of us in shock.
"Why did you summon me here George?" Rafael looked at all of us until he rested his eyes on me. He stared at me for a minute.
"Well, I see why now. Hi darling, I am Rafael." He smiled and took my hand and kissed it briefly. Arlen looked like he was about to bite a nail in half.
"You will address her as Queen and me as King!!" Arlen told him through gritted teeth.
"So a human time freezer is the Fairy Queen?? Oh!!! Wait until the others hear about this!" Rafael started to double over hysterically until Arlen used his magic and pushed him against the wall.
"Your friend is wearing out his welcome fast, George!!" Arlen shouted at him. Suddenly, Arlen was thrown mid-air and hurled to a seating position right in his office chair!!
"ENOUGH!!" Goddess Aine had an aura of light about her that blinded both George and Rafael. Everyone stepped back and looked at her.
"This is not a p*****g contest!! Rafael, you WILL feel my wrath like none other if you mutter what you just learned to ANY OTHER SOUL! IS THAT CLEAR!" Aine waved her hand and threw Rafael like he was a bag of feathers where he landed right on Arlen's lap.
"Well now big boy, I usually prefer dinner first. How's about a kiss?" Rafael puckered his lips at Arlen, making a couple of us snort. Even me.
"GET THE F**K OFF ME!" Arlen shoved Rafael off him.
"This is not a joking matter! There is already a situation that I have to send the Starrs to deal with regarding my Queen, and now I find out she has not one but two gifts AND a grandmother and aunt who may try to find her to use those gifts! Now can you help her or not!!!" Arlen shouted at Rafael.
"Oh I can help your sweet young lady. The question is, what's in it for me?" Rafael narrowed his eyes at us.
"Name your price." Arlen told him boldly.
"Two hundred and fifty two thousand dollars." Rafael told him with confidence.
"That's a very odd amount." Anthony eyed him carefully.
"Just kidding! I just wanted to see what you would say to that." Rafael laughed.
Great. I have a jokester who is going to train me to use gifts I didn't even know I have.
"All jokes aside, I will help this young lady. But I want something in return. A guarantee of safety for me and my friends. There are so very few of us left now and Roman was second only to George in his wizard power. Whoever ended him has us all terrified for our lives." Rafael told Arlen.
"That would be Luca Lombardo, a wolf/witch hybrid. He has his sights set on me and two wolf packs for a war." Arlen told him. Rafael suddenly stared at him in terror.
"Did you say...a wolf/witch hybrid?" Rafael whispered. "Oh my stars. MY STARS! GEORGE!! THE VISION FROM THE SEER!!!" George came over to Rafael's side and looked deep in his eyes.
"Heavens be thanked. She's the one, isn't she?" George and Rafael looked at me.
"I'm the one what!!!" I shouted, feeling the anxiety begin to boil over.
"This was foretold to our kind by a Seer over five hundred years ago. In the vision, a hybrid will come and cause havoc among the supernatural world. The vision showed all supernaturals in battle against each other as the hybrid sat back and laughed at all the mayhem he caused. In the Seer's vision, this assailant was definitely half wolf but the Seer could not see what his other half was. Anyway, the Seer then saw that the only person who could end this hybrid was a young lady with the gift of stopping time just long enough to kill him."
For about thirty seconds I didn't breathe. Then I hit the floor in hysterics.
"I'm no match for someone like that!! I'm just some human with weird quirks!" I shrieked at everyone.
Rafael and George came over to me and took my hand. "You are no match now. But stick with us kid, and you will be!"