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Story: Blood Brother Cursed

Phoenix reached out and placed his hand palm down on the table. “I dare say your father was probably in the room when you were born, and it became obvious.”

“Why would it matter?”

“Because, Astrid, we are all born in our natural form.”

After a pause, she said, “I came out as a cat?”

“Yes.”

“Does that mean that my mother had to shift first?”

“No, women stay in their human form to give birth most of the time. But infants always make it obvious if they have shifting abilities right from the beginning. No one has to teach you how to shift.”

Astrid said, “I never really thought about that. My dad kept me home for the longest time because I shifted a lot when I was young. It was only when Evan made me promise not to shift around other people that I stopped.”

“So, Evan convinced you not to shift in public?”

“Yes, the fear of disappointing him made me keep that promise. I really loved my brother.”

While maintaining eye contact, Phoenix nodded. “He was very charismatic and easy to get along with.”

“I still miss him.” It was the first time Astrid had voiced that feeling in a while. Suddenly, she started crying.

She was vaguely aware of the plates being moved, and then something was placed in her lap. Astrid looked down and saw that it was a handkerchief. He had taken their dishes and moved them to the sink to wash while she cried. He didn’t interrupt her as she just wept. But at one point, he came over and rubbed her back.

This brought her back to the present. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t invite you here for this,” Astrid snuffled. “Let me go get cleaned up.”

“Actually, I need to get going. Why don’t you get some sleep and try to recover and maybe reflect on your rather rash decisions.”

She smiled a little while wiping a tear away with the hankie. “I suppose I need to clean this now,” she said, holding it up to him.

“Keep it. I have plenty of others.” He patted her shoulder. “Have a good day, and let me know if you need help with anything.”

Phoenix was halfway to the door when she called out, “Can we get together again?”

“Sorry, Astrid. But from here on out, it has to be work only. I’m not going to be the reason why both you and your brother died.”

Even though he confirmed what she had thought, Astrid wasn’t sure how to respond. A part of her was angry. He clearly knew about the curse when he befriended her brother, but he did it anyway. At the same time, she knew what her brother was like. Unlike her, he was gregarious, and everyone loved him. Astrid was combative and temperamental. Evan was mellow and level-headed. Phoenix had left by the time she could think of something to say.

Exhaustion hit her hard. Dragging herself to the bathroom, Astrid made quick work of removing the grime from the last twenty-four hours. As soon as she reached her bed, she collapsed and slept for over ten hours. Her dreams were peaceful and included a pair of soft, clear blue eyes.

Chapter 8

A Day of Annoyance and Visitors

For a couple of weeks, Astrid would text Phoenix several times during the day. He had started sending her the information he had on the area, and it took her several weeks to process it all. At the same time, she started a large project for a tech startup company. Over time, and as that project seemed to be going smoothly, she had more time to focus on her personal project.

Astrid researched the area and the military base, supplementing what Phoenix had found with new information. When she found something she thought was helpful, she’d send it over a secure connection she had established with him so they could swap information.

After emailing him, she would text him, initially to let him know that there was something for him to review, but over time, she started checking up on him. Astrid asked how he was doing, if he had gotten enough sleep, and if he wanted to talk to decompress. Occasionally, he would call her later in the day; although the talks never lasted long, they did become more frequent.

This went on for a few months, and Astrid looked forward to chatting with him. It was a nice contrast to the tech project, and it was nice to have someone she could talk to, even if only by text most of the time.

She learned that he was working out of town most of that time, and Astrid wasn’t particularly interested in getting to know other people in town. She simply didn’t know whom she could trust. The only place where she might be able to return was the bakery, but her shame at what she had done and how Phoenix had cleaned up after her made her reluctant to go back.

It was easier for her to live a secluded life than to actually get out and interact with people who might be working withwhoever was behind her brother’s death. Apart from the teams she was working with on the tech project, Phoenix was the only person she talked to in a meaningful way over several months.

He started to open up a bit to her, but overall, Phoenix remained guarded. As September rolled around, she hoped he would start feeling more comfortable about opening up.