Blood & Magic by George Barlow Page A

you didn't try and go there babe?” Sabrina said.
    “Okay, Henry and I are-”
    “You will be my guests until Henry calms down. You only found your way here because I led you to me. There are distraction fields everywhere, they won't be able to get to you here. Plus, you both could probably do with a stiff drink, you especially Gabe.”
    So they sat and, after Henry was drugged up again to make sure his power didn't spike, they drank. It started as a little, but then a little turned into a lot. Soon they were laughing about anything and everything, the world outside completely forgotten.
    “So, I've got this politician in bed and I'm rocking his world, if you know what I mean, and he asks for a receipt for when we are finished. Says he can put it down as an expense. I mean, what a thing to bring up then, of all times. Makes a girl feel unwanted. Well, that was before all the expenses scandal and fortunately he didn't
quite
make it out of here, so it didn't make the media coverage. You win some, you kill some. You know how it is,” Sabrina said as she swayed on her seat.
    “How did you end up here Sabrina? I mean, were you born an alternate?” Henry asked, even while inebriated he was still one for questions.
    “Gorgeous, apart from the Inks, we are all born alternates.” Sabrina said. “Mine isn't exactly the happiest of stories, but I suppose none of ours are. My brother and I were orphaned at the age of eleven on the streets of the under-city. My father and mother were members of one of the big covens who had gone to war with the Inquisition. They got in over their heads and the Inquisition inevitably came a-knocking and killed them. Abandoning us before it happened was their only choice. So we grew up here, mainly stealing and conning our way through life. I was good at mind tricks, my brother fast and strong. Together we were unbeatable. It was the world against us, and we always won. When we grew older-”
    “You went into prostitution and blackmail. Silas, well, he worked as a gun for hire, until he decided to join Deliverance. There are warrants for the capture of the both of you,” Gabriel said.
    “Well, yes, but you two can't bring me in, so what exactly is your point?” Sabrina said, her tone noticeably frosty.
    “There isn't one, but don't try and sell what you both do as noble. You are driven by money, your brother by power,” Gabriel said.
    “Well, lets try and keep it cheerful shall we?” Henry said.
    “Cheerful? Why are you in such a good mood, given that for all this to have happened, your father must have been killed tonight? You were aware of that, weren't you?” Sabrina said.
    It hit him like a tide of hailstones, leaving him no place to shelter. His father was dead? How could
his father
... be dead? Did Gabriel know? If he did, he would have said something, right? His father couldn't be dead. She was lying.
    Henry stared at Gabriel. She wasn't lying.
    “Henry, look at me,” Gabriel said, grabbing Henry by both shoulders as his world began to unravel. “The man you call your father is not dead. He is fine and well, probably at home with your mother and that stupid fluffy excuse of a dog, but Sabrina didn't lie to you. Your father, your biological father was killed tonight. It's how this works, it's why I came to find you. He dies, you get your abilities, it's the rules of the game. Henry, he told me to find you. Now, it's a lot to take in, but-”
    “A lot to take in! You tell me that my mother and father lied to me my entire life and expect me to be calm about it?” Henry said.
    “No, they didn't lie to you. The people you call your mother and father believe beyond anything that they are your real parents. Nobody ever questioned it, not even you and you're the proclaimed questioner of everything. Surely you can appreciate you don't exactly look alike? Before you were born, your real father knew this life would not be safe for you, so tried to free you from it. Your mother died in