Cara’s lips pursed. “This might be a sign your powers weren’t triggered by the attack. They were manifesting all on their own.”
“Is that normal?” I added my new and mostly useless sports bra to the bag, although who knows whether I’d need it. Training to join the CAF seemed like a pipe dream now.
My gut twisted as she seemed to consider my question. “It might indicate that your Cryptid blood is stronger than most.”
She didn’t seem too sure, and it only increased my uneasiness about all this. “Can other people attract animals and shred hearts?”
Cara handed me back my phone. “Hybrid Cryptids can have some interesting powers. Some are quite unique. I will try to trace your parents and see where it leads.”
My heart constricted into a painful ball. “Good luck with that. My entire family was killed in an accident almost two years ago. I was in a coma for three months, and when I woke up—well, I can’t remember anything.”
Her brows rose, but her eyes darkened with sympathy. “You don’t remember the accident?”
I swallowed. No one knew about my past—it wasn’t something I talked about. But somehow, telling Cara made sense. “I don’t remember anything of my life before it,” I confessed.
Her brows fell. “Nothing at all?”
I shook my head. “Only stupid little glimpses that make no sense. The doctors thought I might eventually remember, but when I couldn’t—it was why I moved away. To start a new life here.”
Her graceful fingers stroked her chin. “With your healing ability—you must have experienced extensive brain damage to lose your memories like that.”
The thought gave me pause. “The doctors didn’t expect me to come out of the coma,” I admitted. I was pleased that my voice didn’t do much more than quaver. The accident was a defining moment in my life. Only the doctors knew the full scope.
I’d struggled to rebuild my life for months, before acknowledging that the best thing was to walk away from it and start over.
And now, I might have to start over, again.
“I’m sorry,” Cara said.
She did sound apologetic, but it wasn’t her life that was being ripped to pieces here—it was mine. And mine had already had more than its fair share of strife.
My life. I wanted control over it, damn it. “How long will it take to teach me to control these powers?” I asked. “I wanted to enter the CAF this summer.”
Her fingers tapped against her thigh. “Why the armed forces?”
I shrugged. Something about her expression demanded an honest answer, not the usual brush-off. “I like the idea of traveling, and helping people in bad situations.”
“Ah.” It was more an exhalation than a comment, but something in her eyes told me her mind was ticking over, hard. “What if I told you we needed people like you?”
I froze with a tee shirt in hand. “Who is we?”
“Cryptids.”
I stared. “Non-humans, you mean.”
Her lips pursed. “Cryptid is a general term that describes those that travel between realms. This is the human realm, but there are multitudes, accessible via gateways.”
My mind disengaged from its well-oiled gears. Well, damaged gears, anyway. I heard it happen, a subtle click in my brain. Gateways? Other realms? No way I’d be listening to this if Kitani’s face hadn’t grown a muzzle and fangs.
Everything I’d assumed about my world had ended at that moment.
I sat down on the bed. It wasn’t a conscious action, but my legs shook so hard they refused to hold me up. “There are otherworlds?”
“We refer to them as realms. And yes. Many. Some, like this one, are considered virgin, in that they know nothing of other realms or Cryptids. In those places, the Cryptid council labors very hard to protect that secret.”
My brain proved that it hadn’t gone completely offline by providing an assessment. “You work for this council?”
“I help them out. Kitani and Cody are on their payroll, as is Jason.”
