The Mortal Affairs (The Secret World of Maggie Grey Book Series)

by Granger .

Himora Clarke “You’ve graduated top of your class at Drew Collins University. A very prestigious school, but very difficult to get into. That was over three years ago.

“In the fae community, it is called Eclipsed Syndrome,” I said. “A condition where we struggle with verbal and social cues as it relates to interacting with those around me. I developed my speech later on–––”

“GRIOT, Government Reconnaissance and Investigations of Other Worldly Threats

OMBRA is the Office of Magical Black Research & Affairs. They work directly with GRIOT agents on different cases and workloads as it relates to information and research.

Mortal affairs deals with humans…their habits…keeping track of content to put online about us, and our world.

“Here comes Himore the Bore,”

“Hey! Himora!? We got a bet going on how many words you

say on average a day! Can you just confirm it’s less or more than

“If I ask you to do something outside of your job, would you do it?” “Anything,” I immediately stated.

“No matter what?” He questioned. “If there is something in it for me, I would almost be encouraged to do it,” making it clear where I stand. Frank slowly nodded as his tongue pressed into his cheek. “Alright. Prepare me for my next meeting…The First Family has requested a private meeting with me.”

“What the fuck is wrong with your face? Did you pull a muscle or you gotta shit?” The three men started laughing as my smile dropped. Well. I tried. That’s as good as it gets for

Lolllll

“She is a peculiar fae…suffers from some sort of mental or social anxiety disorder. She doesn’t mean to be so…cutthroat. I don’t even think she realizes how she comes off but…there is something special about her. Something unique or I wouldn’t have kept her on this long. She was only hired as a favor to her father, but she has remained because I want her here. You’ll see what I mean. You’re a charming guy…loosen her up…see if you can get her to smile.”

She just glanced at it from what I saw, barely looked at it for all of five minutes before I took it from her… How the hell did she know all of that? Glancing at her, I noticed she rubbed her fingers, smoothing her fingers down to the manicured plain nail. “He gave you this folder before?” “No.” She continued to push and rub each finger that laid flat against her thigh. “It’s just the way my mind works.”

Trevor Coleman being a mimic meant that he could shift into anything he wanted without reason. Whatever was in his family tree of genetics, he could possibly turn into it. The official term was dual-born, someone who can shift into more than one mythic without fail but mimic was the popular term.

“What are you talking about?” “The grandmother,” Himora said as she began to draw. “Did Keondra mention her grandmother?” “Only that she passed away some years ago,” I said. “I asked about family members possibly being unsettled. You…know about the grandmother, how?” “I spoke with her briefly.” My brows came together, wondering how that was possible? Very few people could connect with the dead. It was a rare trait much like what I was able to do but. I watched Himora draw with the ink pen scribbling about.

“Those teeth belong to a fox,” she pointed out before looking up at me. “The grandmother.” “This is a cloth covered in blood,” I said, pointing at something rolled up. “I don’t know what’s inside but I can smell it.” “It’s a tongue,” she replied as if I was dumb for not knowing. “Someone’s tongue was cut out of their mouth.” “What the fuck is this doing in a hotel?”

“Her father and I were good friends…close at one point…I was there at the wedding and heard a few things about the divorce,” he added with a somber tone. “He called me for a favor to get her a job and she wasn’t supposed to last this long but,” shrugging, “she can be useful for the back-end stuff.” Useful? She put half the GRIOT agents I used to work with to shame in one single night.

“I called because what the fuck is someone who can speak with the dead doing in the Morts Department?” “Maybe Frank doesn’t know about it,” Ace suggested as he made a free throw shot and missed.

the second. “Not only have you been stealing… my sister has been made aware of your extracurricular activities involving children–––”

What...

“I have a personal family matter I need to settle quietly, and she is on commission collecting something for a blood contract that has been done incorrectly.” Marvin continued. “I need that file and the evidence to be stripped from the record, immediately.”

“Look how Gaia blesses us,” Wilhelmina said with excitement towards her brother. “You see? You claim this child appearing in the Underground is an accident, I like to think otherwise. The moon rewards us.”

Ohhh maggie just arrived at drew collins. Glad we getting the timelins of both stories

“This is Ace Martin, head of OMBRA officers and one of the highest-ranking warlocks in the world. He comes from–––” “The Martin family,”

The wooden dresser beneath it was chipped on the corners but I peeked behind it to see something drawn in dark brown ink. I turned around to see the woman staring at me with her arms across her chest, irate.

“The issue is my damn stove, not my bed–––”

“It’s not wise to have a mirror facing your bed,” I stated as I adjusted my glasses. “You will either need to remove it or keep it covered at all times.” “What does my mirror have to do–––” “It is a gateway for negative energy and spirits to watch and prey on you,” I said as I touched the dresser again. “Do you mind if we move this? There is something I want to see.”

He let out before gripping the mirror to push back to reveal the symbols unique to witches, particularly black witches. “I…I don’t know where that came from. I just got this from a thrift store when I first moved–––”

“I would suggest,” closing my notebook, “vetting the people that come into your space. Someone is tampering with your life right now. The symbol on the back of this represents death in various forms of traditional black magic. If you notice, the symbol is written in old, dried blood.”

Remove the mirror from your home. Burn the dresser from afar and cleanse your home with proper sage.

“Do you consider yourself human?” I asked. Trevor looked taken back and for the first time, his usual butterscotch complexion turned red. “I do,” he said. “For the most part. I’m not like everyone else here. I’m more human than not.” “But you understand you’re not, yes? You’re the furthest thing from a human.” His eyes darkened for just a moment and for that split second, a chill went down my spine and I felt my skin tingle. The sudden threat of what felt like danger had my body reacting to flee the scene, but Trevor suddenly masked whatever that was with a smile. “I’m

Interesting i wonder what he is

she was a fae of Nyambe descent. One of the oldest fairies known to this earth. She had the sharp ears that were usually covered by the hair and although I hadn’t spoken to her long enough to notice her teeth, I’m sure somewhere in the back, they were sharper than most. Most fairies these days showed no signs of wings and if they did, they had translucent wings that would sometimes appear and disappear in seconds. Something straight out of a fairytale book.

was a prime example of being human but born to a long line of high witches and rootworkers. A woman like Himora dipping into my genetic pool would benefit my future lineage, but the thought of her even being pregnant was amusing.

Trevor jumped into the passenger seat with his things. He was full of sweat as he dropped his book bag down in front of him and pulled out a few bags. There was no telling what he shifted into but from the way his shirt was barely on to the sweat pouring down the sides of his face, I could only assume he’d been outside following her car for a while.

So trevor can shape shift

“Have you gotten that looked at?” I asked, trying not to make it a big deal. “What, looked at?” He asked, trying to play dumb. “The shifting…You aren’t able to control it anymore. That’s not normal.” “It’s normal to me. Only happens when I shift now…just takes a little longer to adjust. It’s cool.”

My mind flashed back to the raining night after training where I stood behind the building, watching what I thought was Trevor… shift into something that he struggled to control. Till this day, I never said anything about it, but I always question his health when I noticed something was off. Trevor

She’s close with her father…a man named Terry Clarke who is a carpenter by profession. His ex-wife lives above ground and works as an attorney at a law firm. When they divorced, she took her first two children, Julian and Christina with her and left Himora with the husband.”

The black car cut off and out stepped a tall man with wide shoulders. His massive muscular build and heavily bronzed skin was filled with tribal markings wrapping around his biceps. He looked around like he was making sure he wasn’t followed and that’s when I noticed the pointy ears and wide flared nostrils. “He’s an Nkoro,” I said with an impressed frown. African orcs were traditionally known for being big in height and weight. One of the largest mythics in the Underground, they had short tempers and were prone to violence. So, what the hell was she doing waiting on him?

Himora stepped out as she stood in the doorway of the room. You could see the double bed where she had clothes laid out but that…wasn’t…that’s not what did it. She was only in a black bra that held up perfectly round breasts like mid-sized brown melons, and the usual dress pants. She spoke with the man who was getting his things together from the back seat. We couldn’t exactly hear but this must have been the exchange she spoke about yesterday.

She winced at the mention of clipped ears, something faes, elves and other nymph-like beings were known to do to appear more human.

“Long ago, it was said before the Underground was built that mythics would meet in secret every night at 3 in the morning at a church. It was also the peak hour for the darkest of energies…according to my father, it’s when a fae could turn into a goblin. Have you never heard of the old sayings? The witching hour? Why humans wake up at 3 every morning? Statistics show that–––”

“What are you talking about, chile?” I asked with my eyes only for Himora. “We spoke this morning and again yesterday night. I’ve been keeping in contact with you. You told me you were in a school program that requires you to travel some….”

Wow i remember when maggie called in the first book

“Mom is out there getting her box knocked in,” I went on. “Same as you and your little motel exchanges.”

Himora’s entire demeanor changed while I caught on a second too late what I just said out loud. Shit. “Excuse me?” She said with several blinks behind the frames. “My what?”

“For the safety of everyone, I want to keep her here where she can be controlled and contained. We don’t know what we’re dealing with after all.” “She’s…you’re familiar with her?” “Yes.”

Himora’s eyes bucked out of her head so wide, I could see the white through the dark like something just occurred to her.

“I hire a service company that comes out at your desired location and takes care of your sexual needs,” she stated. I looked between her and the road, knowing I passed several working doors at this point but just kept driving down this parkway. “They’re clean and reputable and you have the ability to pick out whoever you want for your night. I’m more familiar with those from the same background as me–––”

“Yes. It’s easier than pretending to talk and get to know someone. I’ve never been good with social cues and the stress relief sex provides for my body is important. It's one of the few things that will put my body into remission. Otherwise, my wings would pop out at any given moment from being excited to startled, fearful…angry… They’re very sensitive–––”

“I should have known that was you but for some reason, I’m unable to detect you until you’re there…”

“I said, did you hear about the First Family having a granddaughter pop up at the school? She looks exactly like Gaia, mother magic herself…white hair and all. The largest white marking you’ve ever seen. She’s of course a vampire; there’s no denying it.”

All it’s gonna take is something bad happening at that school because the last thing we need is another First Family running around.

The Southern Five referred to the ancient old families of witches tracing back to five different women who reigned supreme over their territories. I came from the Dubois family