July 15, 2002 – 18:00
"He's not entirely wrong, I think there is a war brewing between factions, and possibly against humans, but not all of us are against them," said Coralis.
"That's what we told them and Hector pointed out why you and Sebastian would never fight with the radical ones."
"I would never indeed. Many of them have tried to recruit me over the years, but I always refused."
"Refused? You mean you destroyed all of those who came after you," said Erik.
"If this is true, and a war erupts, it's not the vampires or the shifters that are going be at the forefront of it, especially if the EBEE is behind it. It's those who stood against them," said Kief.
"If history taught us anything, it's always the witches that end up being hunted or those that are perceived as such. Oh lords from above, my girl, if war comes to us again, I fear for you," said Barla, hugging Coralis.
Frank felt as if he was meeting his in-laws for the first time. He could clearly see the family-type bond between them.
"My mom loves her and Sebastian. Well, Sebastian is dating my sister. The first time she met her, Blue saved her life against four guys and that's something she still remembers well. When we were in the car, on the way back, after she heard me and Vic talking about the vase, she repeated something she told me after Blue accepted guardianship for Audrey. To her, if Blue had any intention of annihilating humans, she would never have saved her that night. She said that she'll help protect their secrets at all costs."
Coralis looked at him. She could hear her friend Victoria telling her 'I told you so'.
"That's good to hear because if we get into a war, Blue would be among the most hunted ones, by both humans and elementals," said Kief.
Erik grabbed Coralis' phone lying on the kitchen island and examined it closely.
"That's what I'm afraid of. She wasn't lying when she told me about having a phone book thick of enemies and I've been hearing all sorts of stories since I found out. I also remember the night I went to pick up my sister at Healing Moon and the case about a fay trying to summon a wolf."
"Don't worry sis, we'll make sure that the EBEE can't touch you. I don't like that they tasked you to inquire about the vase and that it ended up in Plurio's hands. It stinks like hellhound poop," said Henry.
"Sis, who sold you that phone?" said Erik.
"I bought it at an electronic store run by werewolves near Saint-Jerome."
"Whoever sold it to you is not your enemy, that's for sure," he said, looking at its guts after trying to make a call on Gus' satellite phone from it. "That person went above and beyond to serve you. Got some admirers that we don't know about?"
Gus took it from his hand to inspect it and look at his phone screen. He tried to make another call.
"Agreed, keep that wolf in your close contacts. I couldn't have recommended you better."
"Saint-Jerome, isn't it where the pack of Stephanie's boss is located?" said Frank.
"Yeah, Emma is from the pack there."
"Odds are that the employee who served you personally knows one of the werewolves whose connection you fixed the other day."
"My girl, you need all the allies you can get," said Barla.
"Think she got most of the local werewolf packs behind her," said Frank.
Gus reassembled the phone and the pizzas arrived.
"And so is King Matthew's family, I'm sure, judging by the creepy cherub he sent you. That shows a vampire's love," said Henry.
"According to Princess Veronica, she's to be considered as family. That was quite the story she told us regarding the vase replica she made," said Frank, while refilling his glass.
"King Matthew's family is powerful, they are good allies to have," said Kief, walking to Frank and passing his right arm around his shoulders. "It's good to see you supporting her like that. You're a good man, our girl chose well."
"Agreed, you need to come to our End-of-Year party, I don't care that you're human, I think that you're good for her. I want to meet your mother, is she coming tomorrow to the game? I'd vouch for her if she doesn't mind sitting next to British fans," said Barla.
"We don't get along with some of the team members' relatives, so we reserved our own box with Gus and Alastar. I think Gus' cousin is also coming," said Kief.
"I didn't talk to her about it, but she loved the game. I'm sure she'll come if I ask her. Audrey is coming, right?"
Coralis could feel her cheeks reddening. She wasn't expecting that development.
"Think it's time to start working on warding this apartment. I can handle my enemies, but his connection to me puts him in the line of fire. Audrey is coming, yes, I'll be picking her up like last time, but Lizzy works tomorrow night."
"Let's do this," said Erik and Henry at once.
While Coralis took Erik, Henry and Gus to the rooftop, Frank called his mother.
"She wants to come," said Frank as he hung up to dial Victoria's number, "but she lives across town from us, so I'll ask Vic if she minds picking her up on the way."
The next day, Victoria pulled at Frank's over 2 hours before the start of the game.
"I know it's early, but I need to pick up my parents and your mother, and it's a weekday, so I'm expecting a lot of traffic on the road to get there."
"Your parents are coming?"
"Of course, we're playing in finals against Britain, as if they were gonna miss that. You'll see what I mean when the game starts. Get ready for beyond epic. However, I won't be with them. They'll be somewhere in the stadium and I'll be with you in the team member's box. By the way, my parents know her civil name, but keep calling her Blue."
"I was planning on it. I'm getting used to calling her like that. I don't want to break that habit and leak her name by accident in front of someone who doesn't know."
Victoria's parents lived out of town, in a small town on the north shore. She picked up Frank's mother and headed to her parents.
"I heard you'll be having a date night with the opposite team," said Victoria to tease Molly.
Frank got out of the car to sit in the backseat so that his mother could sit in the front passenger seat.
"My son asked me if I wanted to go watch the final game of the season, I wasn't going to say no, I loved the experience when you took me there 2 weeks ago. He said that I would be sitting with British fans who were close to Coralis, I mean, to Blue, so they were no danger to me."
"Barla Fullemon and her husband would have adopted her if they would have been able to, back when we were in high school, and their sons play for the British team, so this is definitively going to be an interesting night for you," said Victoria, a smile growing on her face.
Victoria pulled into her parents' driveway and they came out of the house as soon as they saw her car.
"I'm happy to see that I'm not the only human out there who's enjoying watching flyball games," said Jonas as Victoria was getting back on the highway.
"You are most definitely not the only one, my sister also loved it when we came to watch their game against Mexico."
"Mexico has a strong team, but it's not the same calibre and intensity as a game against Britain."
"Nowhere close. Good part of it is because of the history between Blue and the British players," said Victoria.
"Not just that. You two went to a Scottish school and a lot of British fans are resenting her for not playing in their national team," said Suzanne, Victoria's mother.
"Their loss, their team could have recruited her when they had the chance, but they passed," said Victoria.
When they arrived, Victoria called Gus to let him know they were there. A few minutes later, Barla met with them near the main entrance. She immediately spotted Victoria and Frank.
"Oh Victoria Millous, I haven't seen you in many years," said Barla, hugging her.
"Indeed, you didn't come to visit us when Blue lived with me, now I'm jealous."
"You must be Frank's mother! I'm Barla Fullemon," she said as she hugged her, "Blue went to school with my boys, she is like a younger sister to them."
Molly followed Barla to their box, while Frank followed Victoria to The Northerners' box. Barla introduced her to the people with them. When the game started, she showed Molly who were her sons on the field.
The game was intense. Molly was deeply focused on the game, as Barla told her about the summers Coralis spent at their house. She watched Sebastian stopping all the balls, as the crowd cheered loudly. She watched Coralis and Barla's sons playing as if they still were innocent children playing sports. She could feel the mix of rivalry and love they had for each other, and she wondered if her grandchildren would be playing like that.