Page 56 of Horn in My Side
“I looked back through the delivery company’s records and I hounded them all day until I got a hold of the warehouse in Spokane where the basilisk stayed for one night on the way here.Turns out, they were also holding some weasels in the same warehouse.”
“What?”he said, incredulous.“Weasel odor is deadly to basilisks.”
“I tore them a new one.Thank the Mother Goddess I found out that day and was able to administer the antidote in time.”Thinking about the whole thing infuriated her again.“But what does that have to do with anything?”
Mal’s expression turned serious.“Jasmine, I believe you have an affinity for animals.Not just because you love them, but because you’re in tune with their nature on a metaphysical level.A kind of magical link with them.”
“M-magic?”She couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d told her he thought she was a mermaid or a vampire.“That can’t be.”
“I noticed it not only with the egg but other things.Let me show you.”His humungous palm engulfed her hand, the calloused skin rough and warm against hers.Lifting their entwined hands, he led her away from the counter and toward the oozlum cages, where four of the little feathered creatures flew aroundbackwards in circles around the cage.Letting go of her hand, Mal placed his palm against the side of the cage.
“See?”
“See what?There’s nothing happening.”
“Exactly.Now.”Circling her wrist, he placed her hand in the same spot.“Look.”
The oozlums slowed, then flittered toward her hand.Their claws clung to the bars, stopping right by her fingers, chirping happily.
“They always do that,” she said.
“Not for me.”He pulled her hand away and replaced it with his, and the creatures went back to their usual flight path.“The other animals act the same way too.”
Jasmine could only stare at his hand, her mind whirling like the oozlum’s reversed flight trajectory.
“Surely you’ve had other experiences in the past?”
“Yes, but I ...How come I didn’t notice?Do you suppose Vrig could tell?”
“It’s possible.Perhaps he didn’t say anything because he thought you knew.”He scratched a claw on his chin.“But aren’t you human?Do you have someone in your family tree who wielded magic?An ancestor maybe?”
Her lungs squeezed the air from her body.
An ancestor.
“Jasmine?Are you okay?You look pale.Do you want to sit down?”
She lifted her face to meet his gaze.“No.”Her lungs decided to work again as she took in a deep breath.“But I might have an explanation.In my family, we have something we call The Inheritance.”
“Like money or property?”
“No, nothing like that.”She didn’t know quite how to explain it to an outsider, but she had to try.“The Inheritance isn’t aphysical thing.It’s a gift.See, my grandfather was our town’s medicine man.Analbularyo, as we say.He could heal people by whispering spells and making herbal cures from plants.”
“He had magic, then?”
“Yes.According to family legend, one of my ancestors, Emilio Gonzalez, received this power from a goddess or spirit.She disguised herself as a poor, sick woman who walked into town one day.No one would help her except Emilio, who took her in, nursed her back to health and gave her food and clothing.After three days, she returned to her true form, and as a reward, gave Emilio the ability to heal sick people and lift curses.”
“So you have these powers now.”
She shook her head.“No, I don’t.”
“You saw—”
“No, no.I can’t.It’s not possible.”She stopped to catch her breath, as her heart was pounding as if she were running a marathon.
Or running away from her past.
“There was a catch, you see.The Inheritance could only be wielded by one person in the family at one time, passed on from one male heir to another, and chosen before the current holder dies.Naturally, only someone with male children could inherit, or else the magic would be lost forever once the current holder passes.When my grandfather died, my dad’s younger brother inherited it.So, it’s impossible that I have it.”
