Chapter 1.1

Up on the roof of Morgana's house, a mysterious man squatted on his heels. His short, platinum blond hairstood out boldly against the dark night sky, and his glacier blue eyes seemed to glow with an eerie light. His features were well defined and proportioned with sharp eyes and a well formed mouth.

He looked down at his hands and smiled. He wasn't sure at first, but now there could be no doubt. She was the one. He tilted his face up to look at the sky and grinned savagely.

"Now its my turn."

He was greeted by the sounds of cars rushing on the expressway and faintly wailing sirens in the distance. There was no answer, but he hadn't expected one.

He rolled his shoulders and stood up, taking one last look down at his target.

She was a typical human. Foolish, ignorant and oh-so fragile. She had long, black hair like liquid obsidian and large, grey eyes that were the color of a stormy Atlantic sea, fringed with long, sooty eyelashes. She was small, even for a human, and she looked like she would crumble at the slightest touch.

A thought occurred to him and he extended his hand towards her. He closed his eyes and focused to gather a thread of power into his hand.

He gritted his teeth. It was pitiful that he had been reduced to straining for such a pitiful thing.

Once he had gathered enough, he formed it into a sigil and directed it to the woman sleeping peacefully below him.

"I'll be seeing you again soon." He whispered, then vanished into thin air.

By late morning, Morgana's hangover had faded some, which she was thankful for, but her headache remained. She couldn't recall the details of the night before, but the party had been very lively.

She got undressed and took a shower. As she was toweling off, she noticed something peeking over her shoulder in the mirror. She turned to see what it was and gasped in shock.

An intricate tattoo of a pair of outstreched wings ran across her shoulders. It was beautiful, but she couldn't remember getting it. She ran her fingers over it cautiously but it didn't hurt. She sighed in relief. Not permanent, then. For some reason, she felt a twinge of disappointment.

Morgana got dressed and came downstairs. Her mother, Nancy Rorden, was sitting at the table, reading on her tablet and drinking coffee.

She looked up and sighed. "I've put your breakfast in the microwave."

Morgana mumbled a thank you and reached for the brown paper bag. As she sat down at the table her mother sighed again and put down her tablet, folding her arms across her chest. Morgana knew what was coming and she put her breakfast sandwich down.

"I thought we discussed this." her mother said sternly, "No drinking until you've reached the legal age."

Morgana groaned. "Mom, it's graduation! Everybody goes to graduation parties."

Ms. Rorden rubbed her temple. "That may be true, but that doesn't mean you have to drink."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "That's the whole point of the party Besides, it's not like you stayed dry until you were 21."

Her mother sighed. "That's true. But I'm just trying to keep you from making the same mistakes as I did."

That hurt a lot more than it should have. Morgana knew that she had been concieved while her parents were drunk at a party in high school. They had attempted to raise their baby together for a while, but they never got married, and eventually, Nancy had decided to just raise her daughter alone.

Raising her daughter while trying to get her Doctorate was quite difficult for her. After she graduated, she became a workaholic and her relationship with her teen daughter became strained.

Ms. Rorden was silent for several tense minutes as she sipped at her coffee. Finally she spoke. "Your father called last night."

Morgana perked up at that. "What did he say?"

Her mother shrugged. "He didn't. I told him you were out and he said to have you call him."

Morgana's father was now a successful businessman who lived and worked overseas. She hadn't seen him for quite a while, but he would call occasionally and sometimes sent her gifts or money.

Morgana called him and waited for him to pick up as she finished her food.

After about five rings, he answered cheerfully, and congratulated her on her graduation. Then he asked about her plans for the weekend and made small talk before telling her that he had sent her a present. She asked about his job and when he was planning to visit, and recieved a non-commital answer, as usual.

After hanging up, she groaned in frustration.

It wasn't really his fault that he couldn't come back to the US more often, but knowing that didn't make it any easier.

Nancy pointedly ignored their conversation, and she immediatly asked about something else as soon as Morgana hung up.

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