Page 19 of Missing Moon

“Is that why he was allergic to clothes?” I chuckle.

Dusk laughs. “Who knows? I think he’s just a nature boy… or was. Hopefully, he’s grown out of that by now.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “He had clothes on when he came to visit recently.”

Dusk chuckles.

“Sounds like faerie magic,” adds Tammy.

My brother gives her side eye. “You’d know, wouldn’t you?”

Tammy blinks.

Dusk shifts his gaze to me. “Sam, did you get knocked up by a fey?”

Tammy and I burst out laughing.

“Hardly.” I tighten my jaw. Danny was (or at least ended up) about as opposite to fey as possible.

“If you didn’t have a kid with a fey, mind if I ask why her aura looks like a faerie’s?” Dusk eats another pretzel.

“It’s a long story.” Tammy swipes her hair off her face, doing the anime girl ‘hair over one eye’ thing without even trying. “But I’m not a half-fey… at least, if I am one now, I wasn’t born that way.”

Dusk eats three more pretzels in a slow, deliberate manner, buying time to think. “I wasn’t sure who I could possibly talk to about this, but...” He shifts his gaze to me. “I’m guessing you might not think I’m crazy.”

“Nope, I wouldn’t think you’re crazy.”

Tammy makes a face as if to say ‘the stories we could tell.’

“I’m worried about Mom,” says Dusk. “She doesn’t have an aura, either.”

“Like, at all?” I blink.

“Nope.” He shakes his head.

“That’s not normal.” I bite my lip, knowing the nature of auras and what they mean. Truth was, I hadn’t looked for Mom’s aura... or, hadn’t noticed it was missing.

“Nope.” He gives me a pointed stare. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t you know what it means if someonedoesn’thave one at all?”

“Not a clue. This is a first.” Dusk shoots Ant a look. “Lot of firsts going on. His is golden. Never saw that before, either.”

“Interesting.” Paxton squints at everyone, as if she’s trying to figure out how to see auras.

“So, it’s both you and Mom that don’t have them.” Dusk spins a pretzel fragment between his fingers. “Waiting for Mary Lou to get here. Maybe it’s something with the women in the family.”

“What am I, a toaster?” asks Tammy.

Dusk laughs. “Your mother had an aura when she was a kid, too.”

“I’m not a kid. I’m eighteen.” Tammy sighs.

“That’s a kid.” Dusk winks. “When you hit fifty, you’ll consider anyone younger than thirty to be ‘a kid.’”

Tammy’s about to say something wise, but gets a sudden ‘uh oh’ look. She nudges me and mouths, “Is grandma a vampire?”

Chapter Six