"You smell different."

  That's what I got when I got back to the suite. No questions, no concern, just that.

  "What, just different?"

  "Yeah. But, y'know, still you."

  "Uh-huh. Me, but different. How's that work?"

  "Like.... hmm.... Sunbeams?"

  I blinked. "Okay, first, those have a scent? Second, why in all the hells would I smell like sunbeams?"

  "How would I know? You're the one who came back smellin' all weird. Now, enough foreplay. About my sister..."

  I shuddered. "Don't ever use the word foreplay when you're talking about your sister. It's gross."

  "What's wrong with'er?" Viv glared at me.

  "You mean other than the fact that she's, like, twelve?"

  "Eighteen."

  "Bullshit."

  "No bulls here. Eighteen Blake."

  "Fine, whatever. Other than that though, she's your sister!"

  Viv waited a couple moments. "So?"

  I sighed and sat down in one of the cheap chairs. "So, since you're like family, that kinda makes her my sister."

  Viv was uncharacteristically silent at that, which had me looking up at her. She was staring at me with a weird intensity. "Family, huh? That's how you see me?" Her voice was carefully neutral.

  Which was my clue that I was on boggy ground. Pack is everything to Thropes. "I, uh...." I sighed. Fuck it, right? "Yeah, Viv. Look, I know I'm not Pack, but yeah. Far as I'm concerned, you're family."

  Do you have any idea how unnerving it is to have a Thrope just stare at you? I mean, I've been shot, stabbed, set on fire, beaten until my bones were jelly, and now been through some kind of metaphysical reconfiguration of my soul.

  And none of it scared me as much as Vivian just standing there, silently staring at me.

  "Uh... everything okay...?" Look, I'm not gonna lie, I was tense. I mean, first Gramps and his shit, and now this? Especially because everyone knows that in a fist-fight, Thrope trumps Witch.

  Viv stared for a couple more seconds, then looked away. "Yeah. So, my sister. Plan?"

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  I breathed out a silent sigh of relief. "Extraction. I'm assuming I'm solo, since they'd know you. I get in, disenchant, then her and I get out."

  "Kay. So, let's go."

  "Tonight. That thing that made me smell like... sunbeams? Took a lot outta me. Nap first, then leave."

  I tensed again when it looked like she was gonna argue, then relaxed when she nodded.

  Turns out La Rosa had changed more than I thought. The place Viv's sister, and the Mage, were staying at was a nightclub.

  An honest to gods nightclub. In a little place like La Rosa. I was actually a little impressed.

  Which went away as soon as I walked inside. The decorations were... what's that word? Right, gaudy. Tasteless. The music was generic bullshit with like, no bass. Isn't bass kind of a requirement for club music? Not to mention there were only five other people inside, and from the looks of things, they all worked there.

  Of course, one of those five was Viv's sister. Wasn't hard narrowing down which was her, either. She was the only Thrope there. But there was a problem.

  All of them were Charmed.

  Smart move, obviously, would be to say screw it and just free who I came for, then bail. But the other four... they were someones family too, right?

  I tried, really I did. But I couldn't leave them. Complications are bad, and I avoid them as religiously as possible. This time... this time it felt like I just had to play the hero.

  Yeah, I know. And under the circumstances, I totally deserve that look. But it's not like I knew, okay?

  So, in my uninformed stupidity, not only did I start unweaving the Charms, I started doing them all at once. Takes more energy, but it's faster. And even then, I knew time was a priority. The Mage was there. Somewhere. So I did another dumb thing, and flooded the place with my Aura. Which is basically like throwing the alarm yourself, to anyone who can detect it, but again. Faster.

  I was just about finished when it hit me.

  The Mage.

  He was trying to Charm me! And it didn't take long for me to realize he was gonna succeed.

  Which meant another problem. I could finish up and free the people, who would be stunned and confused for who knew how long, or I could let them wait and defend myself, hoping that that would weaken the bastard enough for Viv to neutralize him.

  Both options were total shit, to be fair. If I'd had more time...

  Well, who knows, right?

  But I didn't have more time. I had seconds. So I did something really, really dumb.

  I took option three.

  I blasted out the last of my Aura, shredding all the spells in the room. Hearing a grunt behind me, I turned. He was.... not what I expected.

  His bald head was slightly egg-shaped, and he had fierce green eyes. His stocky frame was only emphasized by his dark red three-piece suit. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to expose his massive forearms.

  And he was pissed.

  The groans behind me let me know that I had broken the Charms, so good for me.

  Bad for me, though, because that's when my body stopped working.

  And by stopped working, I mean stopped listening to me.

  My wings tore out of my back, spreading wide. I could feel a.... Power, rising from deep within me. It was like an echo of what Gramps did.

  I watched as my arm raised to point at the Mage, fingers splayed. Fire stared forming in front of my palm, draining the heat from the room as it grew.

  Then it flickered as he renewed his Charm attempt. I staggered, then....

  It wasn't an echo, anymore. The flames spluttered, then flared white. I watched frost cover my arm, then melt as the fire grew to the size of a bowling ball, the bigger.

  I don't even know when his spell dropped away. All I could focus on was the power. Cause it wasn't like with Gramps. There wasn't any pain, this time.

  But it was still terrifying, y'know? Just imagine, being forced to watch as your body is made into a puppet for some unknown force, with unknown intentions.

  And then it was over, as I watched the fireball launch straight at the Mage, hitting him square in the face.

  And that's when I learned the truth. Because, in his final moments, before that fireball obliterated him, his Aura revealed it's truth.

  He was a Demi-God.