“Shit,” Agent Hunter mentally cursed as the tavern went quiet and the Fairy delivered her warning. He had walked right into this with his insistence on speaking with Red and Greta personally to ensure that neither was a threat to the public. He knew they had some sort of deal with Fae, and yet he just waltzed right into a Fae community on their terms, completely weaponless. He did not expect a tavern full of Summer Court Fae and various other Arcane would be watching and waiting for him to do or say the wrong thing.

Still, the situation could be far worse. These girls may have pledged themselves to Fae, but they were at least Fae of the Summer Court, and Fairies were generally among the more laid-back Fae from that court. They were generally nonviolent, unless you did something to really piss them off, and their magic was mostly illusion, meant more for distraction and misleading. It was everyone else in the building that he had to worry about.

The fact that they had not only fallen in with the Summer Court but been accepted into one of their clans was a pleasant surprise. It meant that they would most likely listen before doing anything drastic, that they would continue to keep Red locked up during the full moons, and that Greta was most likely getting some form of training for her magic. As long as he was honest here about his intentions, it was likely that he could still come out of this alive.

With all that in mind, Nick attempted to calm himself as he bowed his head to show respect to the Fairy Chieftain and said, “As you wish, Chieftain Rissara.”

“Tell me, who are you and what is it that you want from the girls whom I have welcomed into my clan?” The Fairy asked, watching him carefully for any signs of deception.

“As I told the two that I spoke with on the first night of the full moon, my name is Nicholas Hunter and I work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, using my skills as a Huntsman to handle cases involving Arcane,” he explained. “As long as those girls continue to ensure that they aren’t a threat, then I’m content to leave them be after I speak with them.”

“And what, to your mind, would present such a threat?” the Fairy Chieftain pressed. For such a tiny person, she presented a huge presence, even among other Arcane in the tavern that he suspected were far more dangerous.

He didn’t hesitate as he replied, “Those that cannot or will not take measures to control themselves and keep their true natures hidden. Those who leave a trail of dead bodies behind them, who are an active danger to the public, or a risk to reveal the Arcane secret through their actions. I don’t want the general public to know about the Arcane any more than you do. If it was made public somehow that you exist, there would be Witch hunts, and I don’t believe that all Arcane, or even most, are the monsters you’re presented as.”

She said nothing, only watching and listening. In fact, the whole tavern was eerily quiet save for the sound of his voice. So, he continued trying to convince them. “While I have put down my share of dangerous Arcane for the greater good, I believe that many of you just wish to live your lives in peace, and I have tried to help some to do that when I can. I have already killed the werewolf that turned Miss Hood’s grandmother and pinned the blame for her death on him. I am confident that Miss Hood is innocent of anything but self-defense in that case and have shut down any further investigation into the matter. Nobody else will be looking for her as anything more than a missing person.”

Nick’s gaze then turned from Red to Greta as he added, “As for Miss Heinrich, while I am certain she did kill the Witch that she inherited her powers from, I believe that it was warranted in that case and a matter of self-defense. She and her brother were not the first to suffer at her hands, there was plenty of… evidence found on the premises. I have buried that case so deep that it’s melting in magma.”

“I can assure you, Agent Hunter, that we will not allow these girls to become a threat,” the Fairy in charge stated calmly. “At my request, Simone has taken Greta on as an apprentice, to teach her to control her magic and use it responsibly and, as you have seen, we have been taking measures to keep Red contained whenever the moon is full. If that is all that concerns you, then I trust you are satisfied and will leave in peace.”

For an instant, Nick was tempted to just take the opportunity to leave with his skin intact. He couldn’t do that though. There were things that those girls needed to know, that they needed to be warned about, and his extensive knowledge of the Arcane could save their lives or prevent them from doing something that they, and everyone around them, would regret.

So instead of leaving, he stood his ground and spoke up. “Honestly, all I want to do here is make sure that Miss Heinrich is getting proper training for her magic, which now seems to be the case, and to share the benefit of my knowledge and experience with Miss Hood and the blonde Vampire. I’m a Huntsman, and I’m familiar with details about their kind of Arcane that they probably aren’t. There are things that they will need to know if they aren’t going to become a danger to themselves and everyone around them.”

The Fairy Godmother gave him a long searching look and the tension in the room was palpable. Finally, her tiny head nodded as she said, “Very well, I sense no deception and I am satisfied with your intentions, for now. You may speak with them, should they wish it.” Then her questioning gaze fell upon the Werewolf, Vampire, Witch, and Slime-girl.

I listened carefully as the Fairy Godmother questioned the Huntsman, and when she turned to give us that questioning look, I sighed and turned to the others. “What do you think, girls? It wouldn’t hurt to hear what he has to say.”

“If he really can tell us more about Vampires and Werewolves, then it’ll be worth it, I guess,” Goldie reluctantly agreed. “We have been going into this whole Arcane thing blind until now.”

“I guess so. I’ll go with whatever you decide, Red,” Berry added as she gave Agent Hunter a wary look.

“Fuck, go ahead and talk to him if you want. I probably don’t even need to be here for this conversation anyway, and my dinner break is about up. We’re fucking packed tonight, so I should get back to work.” With that, the busty Bavarian blonde stood up and went to talk to Deirdre at the bar and get back to work, leaving just the three of us.

I nodded to the Fairy Godmother and gestured to the recently abandoned chair at our table. Agent Hunter came to join us immediately, though several Fairies hovered over the table to monitor the conversation, including Chieftain Rissara. As he sat down, the Huntsman looked over the three of us and said, “Well, I guess I should get right down to business. So, to start, I’d like to know what you’ve figured out on your own, and how you even became Arcane in the first place. It would help me clarify some things. I’m certain that you only acted in self-defense, Miss Hood, but I’d like to hear the story from you.”

For the next hour, Goldie, Berry, and I told him our stories, and he tried not to interject unless it was to get us to clarify something or to tell us something that we didn’t know. Berry had him stumped. He had never seen a permanent summon bonded to anyone but the Arcane who summoned them before. As for me and Goldie, it looked like we had managed to figure out most of the most basic and important things about being a Werewolf and Vampire.

Goldie was the last to finish her story and the agent, who had told us to call him Nick, gave her a sympathetic look. “I am sorry to hear that you went through all of that, Goldie. I’m surprised that you can control your bloodlust so well, usually, it’s much harder for younger Vampires to resist the urge to feed and they’re hunted down as a result. I’ll be heading to the Chicago area after my business here with you is done, so I’ll look into those two Vampires in Aurora and hunt them down while I’m there.”

The blonde Vampire stared at the agent in shock. “Really? I didn’t expect you to…”

“They’re using their positions to attack the vulnerable, and they would have killed you if you hadn’t escaped. They’re a danger to the people under their care and a risk of turning more Vampires or revealing the Arcane secret. They need to be hunted down,” he stated firmly with a grim expression. “You all seem to have a pretty good grasp about what you’re dealing with and don’t seem to want to hurt anyone, but there are a few very important things you need to know.”

“Like what?” Berry asked. I didn’t think he was talking about her though since she was a bit of a mystery to all of us.

“Goldie, unless the circumstances are incredibly dire, never feed on Red, or any other Arcane under a powerful curse. Feeding on a person with such a powerful curse would only fuel your own and you would become an Elder Vampire.” Seeing her wary glance at the bottle in front of her, he quickly assured her, “Don’t worry about bagged or bottled blood, it needs to be straight from the source.”

“What’s an Elder Vampire? I mean, like, what’s the difference between that and a regular one?” I inquired, looking at my girlfriend in concern.

“There have only ever been three Elder Vampires that I know of. One of those was Dracula,” the agent told us seriously. “If you were to become one, you would need to drink more blood than you do now, as much as five times more in a day, and the bloodlust would get stronger. You would also be far more powerful than you are now and gain new abilities that would make you much harder to take down if you ever lost control and turned on those you care about. Beyond that, even I don’t know much about Elder Vampires.”

If Goldie could have gotten any paler, I was certain she would have. “Well, shit. Okay, unless we’re in a life or death situation, I’ll be very careful about who I feed on from now on.”

Nick nodded and turned his attention back to me. "What was it like for you, Red? The change, I mean."

I frowned as I thought back and tried to remember something that I didn’t even really want to think about. “I don't remember much. All I remember is pain followed by a haze... like when you have a fever and are delirious. I could sorta see through my eyes, but I couldn’t control my body, and it was like everything was being filtered through that fog of animalistic rage that I couldn’t break free from, no matter how hard I fought it.”

“That rage you felt, that’s the curse, the wolf within you,” Nick said with a faint smile. “The fact that you can remember anything aside from the pain is actually a good thing, that means that you’re fighting for control and have a strong will. It’s possible that you could learn to tame the wolf within someday and control yourself during your change. It is a slim hope, but hope, nonetheless. Your first change could have been far worse, but it’s extremely rare for Werewolves to go into heat the first time changing.”

"Heat?" Goldie asked, turning to gape at me in shock.

"Yes, it varies from wolf to wolf, but Werewolves don't just multiply by infection, the females also go into heat in order to mate. It can be as little as once a year or as much as every month. The usual is once every four to six lunar cycles."

I could feel my stomach sinking as I tried to process what he was telling us. "You mean...?" My throat tightened and I couldn’t finish the question.

"Unfortunately, yes,” he replied, catching my meaning. “Typically, you can see the signs on the first day of the lunar cycle leading up to their change. Increased moodiness and irritability mostly, it’s essentially similar to PMS, though I’ve been told that they start feeling a building heat in their... umm… loins as well that can’t be satisfied. Then after they change, they start calling out for mates and get hostile towards other females in their vicinity. If they can't attract a mate, they change focus into attacking men to infect them so they can create one. On the second day, the effects linger, and the arousal and desire to… copulate increases. It tapers off during the last day and night of the full moon though."

“Nononono!” I protested as I violently shook my head. “Not going to happen! I don’t… I’m not even attracted to guys!”

The agent gave me a sympathetic look as he shook his head. "I’m sorry, Red, but it won't matter, especially when the wolf is in control. Now do any of you have any other questions before I leave?"

I was still reeling from the bomb he had just dropped on me and was having enough trouble just trying to keep my breathing under control and not go into a panic attack. Goldie and Berry were watching me in concern, but it seemed that the Vampire did have something that she needed to know, or at least, that she was curious about. “In the movies, they always start with the eyes, claws, and fangs...why did Red’s ribs all break when she started her change? That looked agonizing for her."

"If the change started with a human cardiovascular system, she would have died,” Nick explained. “Her lungs and heart had to change first, or she would have suffocated. and with bigger organs, the ribcage has to get bigger to accommodate them."

I couldn’t think of anything else to ask in my stunned state, but Berry and Goldie both found a few more questions to ask. Nick answered as best he could but eventually, there were no more questions, and he finished the beer he had ordered and got up to leave. “If you girls need anything, or have any Arcane concerns, don’t hesitate to give me a call. You have my number. Next time I’m in the area, I’ll give you a call to see how you’re progressing.” Then he headed to the bar to talk with Simone before they left together to return him to their earlier meeting place outside of Shadowtown.