Fragile Brilliance (Shifters & Seers) by Tammy Blackwell

nodded as if that made perfect sense, although not much was making sense to her. She didn’t know much about Shifters and Seers, only what her grandmother had told her when she was a little girl. At the time, she thought they were merely stories. Even a six year old knew boys couldn’t really turn into wolves and girls couldn’t really see things that weren’t there.
    But then she’d received her gift and learned magic does exist. When she asked her grandmother about the Shifter and Seer stories from her youth, she’d said, “But of course they were true, Maggie-Chan. Why would I make up such a terrible thing?”
    The stories her grandmother told her really had been terrible. The Seers in the story would find where “our kind” was hiding with their abilities, and then the Shifters would come and pull them out of their homes to hold trials. At the time, Maggie thought “our kind” referred to humans in general, but she later found out differently. The word Thaumaturgic literally means “someone who can do miracles”, but for some reason the Shifters translated it as “evil witch”. Thus, the trials they held were actual, honest-to-Arthur-Miller witch trials, and more often than not of the stake and flames variety.
    “I thought the Alphas would be older,” Maggie said to Talley, fastidiously ignoring the others gathered round. True, they all looked more eavesdroppy than murdery, but Maggie knew if she acknowledged their presence, her fight or flight response would kick in again.
    “Yeah, usually the Alphas are older and a little less Scout-like, but…” Jase shrugged off the end of the sentence, which left Maggie wondering about what had changed. “Listen, I know this went all sorts of wrong, but despite anything Liam might have said, we aren’t going to hurt you. Really. We didn’t even know you were a Thaumaturgic until like five minutes ago.” He tilted his head to the side and gave her a once-over. Even if Talley hadn’t been standing there, tethered to him by their interlocked hands, she would’ve known he was sizing her up instead of checking her out. “You are a Thaumaturgic, right? You’re not like some other crazy supernatural person running around that we’ve never heard about, are you? Because I’m not really ready to accept anything else at this point in my life.”
    “You have to promise me, Maggie-Chan. No matter what, this is our secret. This is a truth only the bearer can know. Your grandfather is a good man, but the power doesn’t live in him, so he doesn’t know it exists. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, Sobo,” Maggie said, and at the time, she really thought she knew what she was promising. What did a twelve year old know about keeping a lifelong secret? “I won’t tell anyone.”
    “I know you won’t,” her grandmother said, placing her wrinkled hands on either side of Maggie’s face. “You are Sobo’s good girl. It’s why I’ve given you this gift.”
    Maggie didn’t answer Jase. Her promise wouldn’t allow her to confirm, but she felt like it would have been just as much of an insult to her grandmother to deny it. So, instead of saying anything, she concentrated on the way the sun filtered through his hair.
    “No comment?” Jase guessed.
    “Is pleading the Fifth an option?”
    Joshua looked down at her, a smile on his lips. “For now. But you know I know, right?”
    Of course she knew. The bond between Immortals and Thaumaturgics wasn’t the same as the one between Shifters and Seers - Maggie’s grandmother said the two couldn’t exist without the other - but the ancient treaty between the two groups had become ingrained in the DNA of Immortals and Thaumaturgics. Maggie hadn’t met an Immortal until Joshua tackled her to the ground, but she’d known deep in her soul what he was the moment she saw him. She could only assume it worked the other way.
    Maggie tilted her head up, having to look pretty much straight up to see his face clearly. “I know that