I think a lot of people back home would like to be able to believe they're just stories. Some of them really work at staying ignorant, but it's next to impossible these days. Most people have met or heard about a shapeshifter in their vicinity, and vampires are legal citizens now, so there's no avoiding them. They'll be rocking the vote sooner or later.

[She gives him a wry smile of sympathy.]

I remember having to keep it quiet. In some ways, it's still like that -- the laws can hurt more than they help a lot of the time. I've been forced to kill more than a few vampires without a warrant in order to keep other people or myself alive. If the cops found out, I'd be up on murder chargers.

[Hell, she has been. She shifts in her seat, making herself comfortable and taking a sip of her water.]

Well, different auras have different feels to them, if that makes sense? If someone has potential or an affinity for magic, I can feel it. If they're a null, I don't feel anything at all. Power kind of has -- a presence. Sometimes it's hard to define, but some are easier to pick out than others.

Werewolves or wereleopards who aren't good at hiding their power feel warm and sort of electric. Vampires feel cold and very still. Heavy. Like death is weighing on you. And they smell kind of like... snakes? Musty. But that's not part of their aura, just an unfortunate fact of life.