Once Upon a Steamy Night
Chapter Twenty

"Do you believe me?"

Claire eyed Liam and Scot as they paced up and down while trying to digest what she had told them. Adam had thought it was a bad idea, but she was tired of keeping secrets from Liam and Scot when they were both trying to help. Scot shrugged. "I always knew something weird was going on in this town but not this."

"Liam, what do you have to say?" Adam prompted sharply.

Liam sighed and settled on the sofa. "It's overwhelming. How do you expect me to react when I've just found out my girlfriend isn't human, and neither am I."

"Don't forget the part where you're supposed to kill her," Scot chirped in.

"Shut it, Scot!" Liam growled, "I'm aware of that but I will never do anything to harm Claire, and everyone knows that including my subconscious so when I become a hunter tomorrow it changes nothing. I still love Claire." Claire's eyes glistened with tears as she stared at Liam, love, and admiration shining in his eyes.

"I love you."

Claire engulfed Liam in a fierce embrace allowing the tears to flow down her cheeks.

"I almost lost you today, Liam."

"You would never lose me, princess," Liam mumbled.

"I hate to disrupt your activities, but I've found evidence that Claire isn't the murderer of her adopted parents," Scot said. Claire pulled away from Liam and focused on Scot.

"You have proof?"

"Yeah, I told you about it. And now we need to act upon it because they are going to burn the corpse soon," Scot replied.

Liam furrowed his brows in confusion. "Hold on, you found proof that Claire is innocent? Why didn't you tell the Captain or my father?"

Scot scratched his head nervously. "Err...who's going to tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Liam eyed them curiously.

"Listen, son," Adam placed a hand on his shoulder, "This town ain't what it is. There's a lot of secrets here and one of those secrets involves your father and the council." "What did they do?"

"I don't think we should be discussing this till after he's been initiated, Claire," Adam stated.

Claire sighed. "Dad, we talked about this, remember."

"He's a hunter, Claire! Don't blame me if I don't trust him," he snapped.

"Adam, just give me a chance," Liam stressed.

"That's what I'm doing else we won't be having this conversation and that's why we need to continue this conversation after tomorrow night!" Adam stormed off. Claire sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm so sorry, Liam. Just give him time he'll come around."

Liam shrugged. "I don't blame him; he's trying to protect you and that's what matters."

"Today has been eventful but I must go continue my research," Scot said.

"Eventful indeed!"

The three kids whirled around and saw Lilian marching into the house.

"I cannot believe you ditched your party without telling me and I was so worried about you!"

"Mom, I'm so sorry," Liam sighed.

Lilian smiled at them. "I'm just glad you're alright."

"I'm sorry, Lillian," Claire apologized.

"It's alright. I know he would enjoy being with you more than with the people at the party."

Claire waved as Liam, Lilian and Scot left. She needed sleep urgently, but the worry in her heart left her eyes devoid of any rest that night.

***

"Good morning, princess."

Claire blinked as she opened her eyes and shut them Immediately wincing from the bright light that almost blinded her eyes.

The annoying part was that it wasn't sun rays from her blinds but from something her insensitive father was holding before her eyes! "Ow! Could you stop, dad?"

The shimmering stopped immediately, and she pried her eyes open.

"I'm sorry, princess."

"It's alright. Good morning."

He smiled at her. "I brought a gift for you from your grandma."

"Ha! She would have your head if she ever heard you called her that," Claire chuckled.

Queen Morgana had gone back to the faerie kingdom quickly because a queen cannot be away from her kingdom for long.

Claire had been instructed by her to come to the faerie kingdom so she would be trained by the Guardians before going to close the veil and it wasn't a bad idea for Claire. Matter of fact, she wanted to know more about herself and the kingdom.

"The gift, Claire," her father prompted snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Right. What did she give me? But knowing who she is, I'd say more assignments."

Adam chuckled. "Shut up and listen, you don't wanna be late for school."

Claire made a motion of zipping her mouth and her eyes widened when she saw the sparkling crystal in her father's hands.

"It's beautiful!" she gushed.

Adam smiled. "I know, princess. It's a crystal and it belongs to you."

"What is it for?"

"There are times when you won't be able to perform magic, the magic in this crystal will help," he explained and handed it to her.

Claire gasped when she touched the cold crystal, but it hummed with energy and felt warm, her magic synching with the crystal's magic as it glowed softly. "Thanks, dad. It's beautiful."

"All thanks to your grandma. Now, get dressed for school Liam will be here soon."

***

Normally, Claire will be excited about going to school after her friendship began with Liam but now, she was moody and walking down the hallway like a zombie.

Liam hadn't picked her up at home, her dad dropped her off. He hadn't picked up his calls and he wasn't in school either and now she was trying his line it was going straight to voicemail.

After having three horrible classes without him she headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Her stomach was in no mood for food as was her mind. She refused to believe that Liam had betrayed her so quickly. Her stomach grumbled when she brought the food close to her lips and she almost puked.

Pushing the tray away, she picked up her phone and dialed Liam's number again and it went straight to voicemail again.

"Wow, Princess Claire is having lunch alone!"

Claire could hear the sarcasm dripping from those words as she heard the click of heels followed by Anna's sneer.

"Hello, Anna," she muttered dryly.

"Well, someone is heartbroken," Anna smirked.

"Leave me alone, Anna," she mumbled as Anna tapped her long, manicured nails on the table. She was not in the mood to speak to her, and she didn't want to hear anything she had to say.

"I thought you both will last longer than this, but I guess I was wrong," Anna mused with a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Claire asked, anger flaring in her eyes.

Anna shrugged. "Nothing, Claire. Have fun moping around without your boyfriend."

Claire eyed her as she strutted away with her bitches and heaved a sigh of relief. Thanks to the new spell she learned, she could alter someone's words and she knew Anna had come to say things that would drive her crazy, so she had used the spell.

She stared at her phone and knew she couldn't wait any longer for school to end so she sneaked out and headed to see Liam. She was so glad his house was a stone throw from the school but when she arrived and was refused entry into the house, her heart sank. The housekeeper had informed her that Liam wasn't available to see anyone.

She hadn't expected this but maybe her father was right, she thought as she left with a heavy heart.

***

Liam paced up and down in his room, his mind a nervous wreck as he saw the moon outside his window. He dreaded when it would be full but he also wanted to get over this initiation process so he could prove to Adam that he truly loved Claire, hunter or not.

His door creaked open, and he saw his father enter his room with the signature smile he's been wearing since yesterday.

"How are you, son?"

Liam frowned. "You've kept me locked in this room since morning without access to my phone, how do you expect me to be especially since I haven't heard from Claire."

"Your mind needs to be cleansed so that you will focus on tonight's task. You need to remain in solitude, besides Claire just left," his father replied.

Liam's eyes widened as he imagined what must be going through her mind. "Shit! What did you tell her dad?"

"No time for that, son. We have to go."

Huffing in annoyance, Liam followed Tyler out of the house eager to be done and go see Claire. When they arrived at the lake house, it was filled with six other men.

Liam could recognize each of them as being part of the council. The first one was Captain Jones, the inspector of their town, Mr. Jerry, the morgue attendant was present, Principal Jenkins was present, Mr. David, Anna's father was present, Mr. Foster, the town bank manager was present and lastly was Sabrina, one of the young women working in the lake house.

Does this mean that these people knew about dragons, faeries, and magic? He wondered.

"Welcome, Liam," they said in unison.

"Creepy," he muttered.

"Liam, you are familiar with everyone here except Sabrina," Principal Jenkins began, "She's a seer."

Liam frowned. "Seer as in?"

"I see the future," Sabrina replied with a smile.

"So, everyone on this council has powers?" he asked startled.

"Not powers but gifts and no, it's just you, Tyler, and Sabrina," Jerry replied sharply.

"Let's get started, the full moon waits for no one," his father interrupted impatiently.

The atmosphere tensed up and became serious as the sword his father had used to slay the goblin was handed to Sabrina, a small circle was formed around him, and the sword was placed beside him. A sparkling crystal was beside him and a bowl filled with neat water.

"What's all this for?" he asked.

"Quiet!" Mr. David hissed.

"Kneel," his father said softly.

Liam knelt and watched as they joined hands together while the crystal glowed softly. He strained his ears to hear what they were saying but it seemed like they were speaking in another language. "Give me your hands, Liam," Sabrina ordered.

Liam stretched his hands and when she grasped them, he gasped at how cold her hands were. He was barely aware of the bowl filled with water showing images, when he finally stared at it the water cleared. "He's the one," Sabrina whispered.

He felt a sudden pull towards the sword beside him. When he reached out to touch it, he saw Sabrina's eyes turn white as she went into a trance scribbling something on her diary. When the trance wore off, he stared at what she had written in clear bold words: A hunter never misses its prey.

This time when he felt the pull, he didn't hesitate as he picked up the sword and stood up. He lifted it to the sky and thunder rumbled in the sky.

They all clapped and cheered while his father clapped him on the shoulders.

"Make me proud, son. Go fulfill your destiny."

He parted his lips to respond but was assaulted by a blinding headache. The last thing he remembered was staring at their excited faces before he gave in to the darkness.