A Beast Among Gods (The Mac Tire Chronicles)

keep him away from Fabrizio. He’ll probably get placed in foster care, and it’s going to need to be a mystic family,” the officer said.
“Of course. Let me get Melanie.”
“Thanks, Sweetheart. I knew I could trust you.”
The woman walked away, and the officer came back into the room. His slight smile made me uneasy. I knew what was going to happen. I was going to get shipped off to some place where I didn’t know anyone and no one cares about me. I was scared. At least if I was at home with this monster they think my father is, then I would know him. Even if he never deals with me himself.
“William, I—”
“I don’t wanna go anywhere,” I murmured while I started crying.
“What?” He looked over to the door and then back at me. “How did you…?”
“I want my mom.” I cried even harder, and then he pulled me into him and held me while I cried until the woman came back into the room with another woman. This one was wearing a white lab coat over the pajamas. The man kept holding me while the women watched us. I needed to cry. I needed to know everything is going to be all right. But how could it?
It took some time to get me calmed down. I knew everything was changing, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. The woman in the white lab coat looked me over and smiled at me before she addressed the officer. “Can you tell what other mystic he is mixed with?”
“I scent mac tire, but the other scent isn’t common. It’s earthy. I’m just not sure. I haven’t scented it before,” the officer said.
The woman looked at me and sat in front of me. She placed her hand on top of my knee and said, “William, do you know about mystics?” I nodded. “Good, we know you are mac tire. Was that from your mom?” I nodded again. “Okay, good. Do you know what kind of mystic your father is?” I nodded again. “Can you tell me?”
Trembling, I said, “Ogre.”
“Oh… okay. Let me talk with Officer Pearson and Nurse Linda for a moment, and I will be right back.”
I could hear the tone of her voice change toward worry and anxiety. She ushered them out of the room and into the hall. But before she could start talking, the officer pulls them down the hall farther. Too bad he didn’t know how spectacular my senses actually were.
“Kurt, that boy isn’t going to be placed with a mac tire pack. The mystics won’t allow a half-breed with ogre blood into their pack. He will have to be returned to the ogres.”
“We can’t return him to his family. If I can build a case against Franco, he will be in mystics penitentiary.”
“Kurt, you don’t understand. Ogres can be cruel and violent. They aren’t allowed to mix with other mystics.”
“That sounds like Fabrizio. Cruel and violent. If I can save this kid, I’m going to do whatever I can to do it. He deserves better.” The officer’s voice was stronger.
I curled up on the bed, bringing my knees to my chest and tucking my head tight to me. I was left there for a little while longer before the officer came back into the room. My eyes opened to see him walk over toward me and kneel down to be eye-to-eye with me. “Hey,” he said with a sigh. “I found a temporary place for you to stay. You’ll be safe there.”
“No one wants me,” I whispered through sobs starting to come back.
“That’s not true. You’re just a little harder than most to place with someone that can take care of you.”
“I want my mom,” I whimpered.
“I know. Your mom was a brave woman who protected you. She’s going to be watching you from Tech Duinn.”
“Tech Duinn?” I asked, confused.
“The otherworld our kind goes to after death. The Donn calls our souls there when we die.”
“Oh,” I said with such sadness.

➣ Chapter 4
Secrets Hide Secrets
The officer carried me out of the hospital hours later when the sun had gone down and the moon was high in the sky. There was a sedan sitting in the parking lot that he walked to, and when he reached by the tire, he pulled out a black box, and when he opened it, there was a key inside. He opened the back door, and I crawled inside. He made sure I was buckled and safe before he got behind the wheel to drive off.
When we got onto the road, he turned on the music low for background noise. It was almost another hour before he spoke. “It’s going to be several hours before we get there. They’re nice.” He looked up in the rearview mirror at me, and our eyes met. “The couple that’s going to take care of you.” He looked back at the road and then back at the me in the mirror. “They’re nice.” I had wondered if he had wanted me to say something or tell him how I was feeling. I wasn’t wanting to talk. I found comfort in the silence.
A little while longer and I had dozed off. When the car stopped and turned off, my eyes fluttered open. We pulled up to a small white picket-fence house with a gravel drive. Fireflies danced in the yard, and the sounds of frogs could be heard from every direction. The officer twisted around in his seat and gave me a smile.
“Let’s go meet them.”
He opened his door and then mine. A couple came out of the house, holding close to each other. They had more love for each other than I had seen from a married couple. I hadn’t understood it at first. I had always thought about a marriage as a business arrangement. That’s what it was between my mother and father. Most of the time, my father was only there to order my