I gently tip his chin toward me. “Do you mind if I put you in clean clothes and clean your face and hair with my magic?”
“Only you.”
I nod. “Only me. Thay won’t use his magic on you. No one else will come near you. And you’ll always be clothed.” I’m not sure what this child has been through, but I imagine it was horrible. With a quick swirl of my magic, I replace his tattered and dirty clothes with a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. His once smudged cheeks are now clean. With the grime gone from his hair, it’s even redder in the light of the room. “There.” I smile. He returns it hesitantly. “What’s your name?”
“Brycen.”
“Hi, Brycen. My name is Whitlock, but you can call me Whit. Can you tell me where your parents are?” I’m not sure where he was taken from. There are probably parents out there who are worried sick about him.
His lip trembles again. “They’re dead. Realdo killed them when he took me.” Big, fat tears start to roll down the boy’s cheeks. I want to hold him; however, I have to make sure there’s no one else out there looking for him first.
“Do you have any other family? Aunts? Uncles? Brothers or sisters?”
He shakes his head. “It was the three of us. My dad was a human and my mom was fae.” I take a moment to dive into his mind. I don’t like doing it, but I have to be sure.
Memories pass by as I sift through what’s there. He had a human dad, like he said, who fell for a fae female who was timid yet kind. She was killed first as his dad tried to shield Brycen. He was no match for the paranormals who attacked them the moment they got home from a carnival. Nothing I see indicates other family in their lives. Nothing of the fae realm. But then I find something. A conversation Brycen eavesdropped on. His mom saying how she was with someone before Brycen’s father. Someone evil who killed her family before she could kill him. Then she fled to the mortal realm where she met his dad, never to trust anyone outside of him. She didn’t want the humans to know about their fae son. She begged her husband to trust her and never show their son to his family. The husband agreed, revealing his own troubled past where there was a lot of abuse. Some of it aimed at him when he was a child. So, they lived a solitary life, just the three of them. It was safe… until it wasn’t.
I can understand her fear to an extent. My mom was so scared of others finding out she was fae. If Brycen’s mom wanted him to be away from the human side of his family, then we should honor that wish. She was his mom and if nothing else, I’ll do that for her.
I take a few minutes to speak to Aries telepathically. He can’t reply but nods or shakes his head as I talk. He’s in agreement with me. We have to keep Brycen away from the humans. They didn’t know of his existence and he’s fully fae. Now that I know there was abuse on Brycen’s dad’s side of the family, he can’t go to them.
Aries steps closer and crouches down beside me. Brycen tenses. “Hi, my name is Aries. I was wondering if you want to come with me and meet my mate. She’s a wonderful female and I know she’d love to see you.”
Brycen pushes closer to me until he’s pressed against my chest as he clutches my shirt. “I don’t want to leave,” he says in my mind. I wonder how much magic he can do at his age. Fae don’t come into their full power until they’re eighteen.
I look over to Aries and shake my head.
“Do you want to stay with Whit, Brycen?” The boy nods. “Can I bring my mate over to meet you?” He glances around the room with wide eyes on the other males as his head tucks underneath my chin.
“I think there are already too many in the room,” I tell Aries. “What if we clear everyone out, then you bring Cassie over?”
Aries smiles warmly. “I think that’s a great idea. Give me a few minutes.” Aries stands, but as he does, another thought occurs to me. One I can’t believe I let slip my mind for a few minutes. With