Page 30 of Hers to Claim

Willow huffed. “Sin isn’t real. That’s some puritanical bullshit. And the hells and the heavens aren’t divided up by morality. They are opposed to each other, certainly, but those are more philosophical differences than moral ones.”

“I don’t follow,” Mari said carefully.

“You have to stop watching so much television,” Willow said primly. “Demons and angels have opposing energy. It’s just two axes of magic. Magic of the body and the mind; the incarnate and the ephemeral.”

Willow continued on in a tone that belonged more in a lecture hall than around a dining room table, “Your magic is magic of the body. It’s visceral, carnal. My magic is more cerebral, more intellectual. I manifest magic from my will rather than from my body.” As they spoke they put two pieces of pancake on either side of their plate and gestured between them.

“Where do shifters fit in?” Rio asked.

“There’s a third house of magic,” Willow said as they repositioned a bit of pancake into a third spot on their plate. “Natural magic. It’s the magic of animal spirits and the land. These beingsaremagic. This covers everything from fairies to dragons.”

Rio nodded. “And that’s the magic that’s native to Earth?”

“Exactly right. Incarnate magic comes from the hells. Ephemeral magic comes from the heavens. And natural magiccomes from the Earth. As far as we know, everything paranormal fits into one of those houses.” Willow pointed their fork at Mari. “But that doesn’t mean any type of magic is evil or good or moral or sinful just because of where it comes from.” They scoffed. “That’s a failure of language and nuance rather than anything inherent in the beings.”

“An angel can be evil,” Rio said in a low voice. “I know that from personal experience.”

Willow put their hand on Rio’s and squeezed. “Any word on finding him yet?”

“No, we’re getting his location narrowed down. We hope to have it taken care of and have everyone back before the party.”

“And no word yet on Cisco’s friend?”

“Not yet. We’re hopeful she’s with someone else and not Vincent.”

Willow nodded. “Anyway, your strange stalker does seem particularly carnal in nature, so he might be a demon, but there are quite a few species of natural magic creatures that are also pretty into the more body-focused things. Shifters and many of the fae come to mind.” They leaned back in their seat. “And the astral projection stuff seems more ephemeral to me. There’s a lot going on with him.”

Mari laughed. “You don’t know the half of it. He just about threatened to eat Dante whole.”

Willow tittered politely. “Oh my. Well, Dante isverypopular. He’s very good at his job. And easy on the eyes.”

“Unicorns are natural magic?” Mari asked.

“Uh huh,” Willow said. “Like I said some of the natural species are pretty body oriented too. Why?”

Mari shook her head. “I’m not sure. Dante said his magic tasted like kin. Whatever that means. Maybe it’s why Dante can see him?”

“Hmm. Unicorns are a relative of the fae. That could mean Dohal is some type of fae.” Willow made a considering noise. “I’ll do some digging.”

Mari rose with her coffee. “Okay, I’ve got to get to training.”

“How’s that going?” Willow asked.

“Good. Tell Esmé I said thank you for the recommendation whenever you talk to her next.”

“Will do.” Willow started to collect their papers that were arrayed all around them. “Party meeting over lunch?”

“Yup, you can try to convince me to do an orgy again. It’ll be great.” Mari grinned and waved.

“Listen, all I said was that an orgy would be amazing publicity.” Willow laughed. “The viral social media posts alone will be worth it.”

Rio held the door for her as she walked through on her way to the office. When it swung closed behind them, he said, “We wouldn’t let anyone get close to you if that’s what you wanted, if that’s your worry.”

Mari nodded. Her worries were much less about people she didn’t know being too close, and more about how little control she still had over her urges in the moment. But sharing that felt too much like admitting that she’d already failed. “I know. I trust you guys to look out for me.”

The only one she didn’t trust was herself.

* * *

---