“No, Grey isn’t here. And unless you’re gay, I don’t have to worry about him. I mean the Djynn you’re all touchy-feely with over there.” She pointed to Kat.

Djynn?

“But I’m not a—” Kat looked even more perplexed than everyone else. “I’m human.”

“Mmm, mostly. But you’re definitely a Djynn. Halfsies. Not wholesies. Ooo … some naughty Djynn musta banged your momma. No offense to your momma. I’m sure she was quite bangable.”

“My—but … my mother? Mom?” Kat was entirely incredulous.

“Oh, she probably had no idea. It’s against the rules to you know with humans”—she pumped her fist in and out—“but it’s not unheard of.”

“That’s why I can’t see her!” Kat cried. “I’m an effing Nightwalker??”

“The sun! That’s why you’re allergic to the sun. Why you blister!” Ahnvil said with no small amount of shock.

“Well, sure,” SingSing said. “I would think that might happen.”

“But then how could I talk to Bella?” Kat wondered. “Because I’m a half-breed?”

“Talk to who now?” SingSing asked.

“Bella,” Ahnvil said, then rapidly explained the situation.

“Or because of the Amulet,” Kamen put in. “It’s helping you to see partly beyond the curse.”

“Wow. Curses. Spells. Amulets. Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!” SingSing said. She poked the dragon head until it disappeared back into her hair.

“I have a headache,” Ahnvil grumbled. “She gives me a headache.”

“Humph, I know when I’m not wanted,” SingSing said with a pout. She reached up and with a snap of her fingers she disappeared. Then an echoing, “Ta-da!” was heard.

“Great, you scared her off,” Leo said dryly. “We learned more from her in the past minute than we have in the past hour.”

“Sorry,” Ahnvil sighed.

“Djynn. I’m not weird, I’m just a Djynn,” Kat was marveling.

“Partly. I wonder if that means you can use magic,” Kamen mused.

“Magic!” Kat gasped.

“Djynns derive their powers from objects that harbor magic. Like the Amulet,” Kamen said. “It’s imbued with magic. You could probably use it to perform a trick … like maybe SingSing’s disappearing act.”

“Oh. No. No disappearing,” she said hastily. “I might not be able to reappear again.”

“I can teach you some magic that would—” Kamen began.

“No!” Ahnvil cut him off sharply, putting himself between Kamen and Kat. “You’ll no’ teach her anythin’!”

“Better she be taught than to do something accidentally that she has no control over,” Kamen said darkly. “Rather like putting on an Amulet without recognizing its power. She put it on for a reason. It called to her. Attracted her. But instead of using it as a power resource she put it on and now is stuck wearing it.”

“I doona care. If she has to learn then it will be from SingSing or Grey or anybody else but you.”

“Whoa. Hostile much?” Bella asked when Max finished interpreting him. “I don’t mean to get in the middle of this, but clearly she couldn’t see us, either. What do we do now? I mean, maybe it’s because I’m half human and half Druid just like she’s half human and half Djynn that we can sorta talk to each other. But that doesn’t change the fact that none of our world knows about yours and there’s something standing in the way of it. And the only people who can communicate with us are human mortals … who none of the races I know have told about themselves so on our end it’s out of the question. So maybe one of you guys”—she indicated Leo and Max—“can help us out? We need to contact the Demon King the Vampire Prince, the Lycanthrope Queen. There’s a lot of people out there who need to learn about this.”

“On our end as well,” Jackson said. “We’ll need to get in touch with Grey, the Night Angels. The Phoenixes, too … although it is beyond me how to do that. Same goes for the Mysticals. Do they even have a leadership?”

“They do.”

The room turned as one to see a new male had entered the room, although how he had entered was a mystery to Kat.

“Grey,” Ahnvil said, answering the question. Another Djynn! Someone she could potentially learn a lot from, Kat thought with no small amount of eagerness. Someone Ahnvil already said he would not mind her learning from. Someone she suspected had to be incredibly powerful to be the leader of the Djynn in all of North America.

After Grey was brought up to speed he was utterly intrigued. “Something beyond my scope of power. Fascinating,” he said, only supporting Kat’s perception that she would have a lot to learn from him about being a Djynn. “SingSing told me to come to you, but didn’t mention why. I am so glad she did. She’s a good girl. Always able to tell when she is over her head.” He eyed Kat thoughtfully. “I’ve heard of Adoma’s Amulet,” he said, moving closer to her and lifting the object into his hand. “Yes, it’s really quite powerful. Why ever would you want to take it off?”

“Because I can’t,” she said dryly.

“Humans. Always wanting what they can’t have only to realize they don’t want what they’ve gotten after all.”

“Well, luckily I can always put it back on again once I figure out how to get it off,” Kat said.

“Are you so certain of that?” he asked archly.

Kat wasn’t certain about anything anymore. She was in this surreal new world where she didn’t know a damn thing about herself … where she was even more normal then she thought she was all of this time.

“Look at me,” Grey instructed, touching her under her chin and lifting it. He examined her on one side and then the other with his eyes. “Sun sensitive?” he asked.

“Very,” Kat said.

“For a full-breed Djynn, we turn to smoke at the touch of the sun. You blister and burn because you need to learn how to voluntarily become smoke. You have enough power for it, I believe, but we will only know in time. It will have to be the first thing you learn. In order to protect yourself.”