Misenchanted Shifter (4 page)

“That was just the Bellerophon myth. No one knows if it was an accurate way to kill a chimera.”

“And my blood can be used by shifters to take on another form. That is interesting. Does it say how long the effect lasts?”

“Just a day, but you have to cut your own skin to make the wound. Nothing else can pierce you. If they do manage to wound you, the location will not be correct and the blood will not have the desired effect.”

“Right.” She rubbed her forehead. “Can I get a translation of that?”

“Of course. I will work on it right away. The other books I have aren’t as thorough, but I will record what I can.” Teebie smiled. “My aunt is going to kick herself for not being here to greet you.”

“Why?”

“Because mythological creatures are not common. Despite her marrying a unicorn, she hasn’t seen a lot of your category of shifter in several years.”

“She married a unicorn?”

“Yup, but they are constant. There are always the same amount of unicorns in the world, no matter the different variants. None of your kind have been reported for at least two hundred years.”

Eileen watched Teebie rise to her feet. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure. Now, as for Harris, his reaction may just have been that of an aroused male who didn’t want his erection to upset you. Talk to him and find out.”

Eileen sighed. “I am sure he has gone to bed by now.”

“He hasn’t. He is waiting down the hall. Come out and talk to him.”

“Why do you care?”

Teebie grinned, her teeth white in her blue features. “Because I work at the Crossroads and getting compatible shifters together is my reason for being here. Come on. It won’t hurt anything and you might get some insight into why he is interested.”

“Fine. I will come out and talk to him if he is still there.”

Teebie exited the room and Eileen followed. Sure enough, Harris was waiting with a look of endless patience. Eileen nodded to him and stepped down the stairs with her head high.

She heard him follow and continued from the base of the stairs into the sitting room.

She took a seat on the couch, and he sat next to her, close but not touching. She folded her hands in her lap and waited, but he seemed content to sit in silence.

This was not going to be easy.

After five minutes, she whispered, “You flinched.”

Harris was calm. “You surprised me. The contact was not unwelcome; it was merely unexpected. I was going to explain but you ran.”

She tangled her fingers together. “I have more experience with rejection than acceptance.”

He nodded. “I understand, but sometimes you need to give it a few heartbeats before you make a run for it.”

She nodded. “I apologize for my sprint.”

“May I ask what community you were raised in?”

Eileen bit her lip. “Community?”

“Of shifters. I need to know what your courtship traditions are.”

“I wasn’t raised with shifters. I was adopted when I was seven.”

Harris nodded in understanding. “You were raised by humans.”

“I wasn’t raised by humans either. My mother is a half-elf and my grandfather is a full-blooded fey pain in the ass.”

Harris took her hand in his and smoothed her fingers along his. “I think you need to go back a little further.”

She sighed and decided just to come clean. “I was born to two omega coyotes. They were so far down the pack order that it was only at my first shift that any of the other pack members noticed that I didn’t smell right. When I transformed into a badger, they knew it. As you know, there are rumours that a fairy was able to change a shifter’s beast with magic, so my parents were ordered to find a way to make me a coyote or not bring me back.”

He winced. “So, your parents found a fairy to do the transformation.”

She lifted her free hand and rocked it from side to side. “We got me into a coyote form but the magic couldn’t bind me there.”

“We?”

“Lord Adros Heller. He is the elf that did the magic work. He and I worked to find the inner coyote, and he tried to bind it to my body. It worked until I shifted back to human and then back to animal. I became a peahen, a wolf and a bear in quick succession. The fey magic just increased the speed of my transformation, and for years, we believed it was the cause of the variety.”

She inhaled and finished this part of the tale. “I wasn’t allowed to return home with my family, so they left me with Lord Heller. He wasn’t sure what to do with me either, but he brought me to his daughter while he was figuring it out, and she and I hit it off. She was old enough to adopt me and worked from home doing artisan tapestries, so she was able to give me the care and attention I needed.”

“What about your parents?”

“I send them cards at Christmas, but I never get anything in exchange. I am fairly sure I am dead to them.” She shrugged. “Mom loves me though, that I am sure of.”

“Your adoptive mother?”

“Yes, Amethyst Heller. Her mother and Adros were marred for eleven decades before she died; he gave her as much youth and life as he could. In the end, Mariella Heller passed away and he took her last name to honour her memory. Even love couldn’t hold back death.”

She shook her head and glanced quickly at Harris. He was looking a little surprised, but his loose grip on her hand was still there.

“You were raised by a half-elf.” He nodded. “That would explain the impeccable grooming.”

Eileen was startled into laughing. “It would. As Lord Heller’s granddaughter, I had to attend any number of fey events. Mother taught me to turn myself out and suggested that some of the older fey would be comforted by a more retro look. I took up eveningwear styles from the forties and fifties, and it served me well. The hair is a little more complicated, but I am used to it now.”

He smiled. “I like it. How do you wear it normally?”

She shrugged. “Up in a ponytail. I work frequently in hostile territory and keeping my hair back gives me all my peripheral vision.”

He asked, “What do you do?”

“I am a substitute teacher.”

He blinked and chuckled. “That is a very strange coincidence.”

Teebie came in with a tray, winked and set it down before leaving. Coffee and cake were arranged delicately with a sign that said,
Decaf
on the pot.

“Would you care for some coffee?” Eileen went immediately into hostess mode.

“Please, and some cake if you do not mind.”

She set about pouring the coffee and handing him cake and one of the teeny forks. It looked ridiculous in his fingers, but he wielded it with practice. “Cream or sugar?”

“Cream and two sugars.”

She blinked at them sharing taste in coffee additives. She set both cups up the same and stirred neatly before putting the cup and saucer within easy reach.

“Now, why is it coincidence, and why do you look like you are used to having tea parties?”

He grinned. “I have six nieces who have bullied me into finding a mate of my own because they are getting tired of me being alone.”

“Six?”

“I am the youngest of four children. My oldest niece is twenty-four.”

“Any nephews?”

“Five. My sisters are all content with the families they have. It is their children who were a little on the pushy side. Their mothers might have been in on it.”

“Your siblings are all girls?” Eileen laughed. It explained several things about him.

“They are. I had to practice dancing with all of them, was dragged shopping for not only prom but wedding gowns when the time came. I have been to hundreds of tea parties, birthday parties and pixie parties in the backyards of my nieces over the last few decades.”

Something in the way he said it clued her in to something. “You are a little older than you look, aren’t you?”

He smiled shyly and nibbled at his fork.

She tried not to laugh at the image of his broad-shouldered body and huge hand gracefully clutching the china plate and teeny utensil.

“If I told you how old I was, my sisters would kill me. If I am the youngest, it is not something that my sisters would want me to admit.”

Eileen narrowed her eyes. “What is your beast?”

He focussed on his coffee. “I am an elk, usually.”

“What are you when you are not usually an elk?”

“An Irish elk.”

“Those are extinct.”

“You don’t have to tell me. It is something I am very aware of.” He looked into her eyes and smiled. “Now your turn.”

She hedged, “What?”

“What is your beast?”

She followed his example and sipped at her coffee. “Well, that is a little awkward. Apparently, I am an extinct creature as well, sort of.”

His eyes brightened when she flicked her gaze at him.

He asked, “Sort of?”

“Mythical, actually. So, I had no idea it was actually a thing until I had to provide my nail clippings to the transporter. She just about had kittens, which is very unusual for transporters.” Eileen stabbed her fork into the cake.

Harris put his hand on her knee. “What are you?”

“Chimera.”

His fingers clenched suddenly. “You are sure?”

“I am sure of nothing, but the transporter guild master was sure, the mage guild master was sure, the guardians here are sure and so I will take it on their expertise. After reading one of the ancient records, it does make a certain amount of sense.”

“So, you are the lion, goat and serpent mixed?”

“I believe that was a general description of what folks saw.” She set the cup down neatly. “Would you care to see? I can’t change more than my face in this dress, but it should give you the general idea.”

He nodded. “Please.”

To her surprise, he took her hands and held them loosely as he faced her squarely.

She looked at his face, the square jaw, blade of a nose and deep brown eyes. The curve of his lips was encouraging.

“Fine, but if I show you this, you will tell me how old you are.”

“It is a deal.”

She took in a deep breath, and as she exhaled, she started to show her half-features.

Snakes, birds, cats, dogs, a unicorn, dragon, all the creatures she had ever read of or seen in a book crossed her face. She could tell that Harris was reacting to some of the faces, his hands clenched on hers. When he saw something he liked, he squeezed, and when he saw something he didn’t, his hands chilled.

She finally resumed her normal features and swayed slightly. “That was enough for today.”

“Do you have more?”

She nodded. “Many, many more.”

“One hundred and fourteen. My family are ancients. Each of us embodies an extinct species and we do not age until a new ancient of our creature is born. Even my parents and grandparents are still alive. We choose to live a little off the beaten path.”

She scowled. “That is unfortunate. I am a teacher. I need to be near a school that can use my services.”

Part of her mind was whirling with his age and the potential of an entire family of old shifters, but her practical sense was focussed on her occupation.

“Well, we will work something out. I am sure of it.”

Eileen realised what he said at the same time he did. She smiled slowly and leaned in as he did, meeting his mouth halfway.

The sparks flew between them as he pushed through the fey magic, and she held his hands tightly as their link went from a soft celebration to a violent hunger. They stood together and made their way up the stairs without ceasing their kiss. Her heels kept them close enough that with careful manoeuvering they could keep their heads level as she backed up the stairs step by step.

When she backed up to her door, it opened for her, causing her to spill backward. Harris caught her and eased her into her room, righting her and turning her away from him.

She felt him ease the zipper down and held her breath as cool air spiralled down her spine. It was now or never.

Eileen kept herself calm and shivered as he kissed her bared shoulder. The fabric of her sleeves was being eased off when she heard the door close behind them.

She smiled and enjoyed the unhesitating feel of his touch on her body. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on his shoulder as he caressed her dress off her arms and pushed it to the floor, leaving her in her slip, bra, panties and heels.

He shuddered, but this time, she didn’t run. Harris pressed his lips to her neck, and exhaled and inhaled sharply. “I believe I need to leave.”

Eileen blinked in surprise. “What?”

He turned her and held her against him, leaving no doubt as to his own interest. The heavy throb of his erection through his trousers was unmistakeable.

“I grew up in a different time, and sex is not casual for me. When we do make love, I want to be able to turn to you time after time, not be rushed out into the world after we first connect.”

Eileen swallowed as she remembered that she had been told that having sex was an eviction notice, more or less. Not being ready to return to her mother’s home after not even a full day, she nodded. “Right.”

He shivered. “This is very hard for me.”

“I can feel that.”

Harris flexed his hands on her arms. “Funny.”

He slid his hand between them and rubbed gently at her sex. He shuddered again. “You are so hot and getting wet already.”

She blushed and bit her lip. “I can’t help it.”

“I don’t want you to, but remember, the teasing goes both ways. I will see you for our picnic.” He kissed her softly and continued to stroke against the fabric covering her sex while his lips moved over hers, and he flicked his tongue into her mouth.

She moaned and clutched at him, widening her stance as she got closer and closer to the edge of pleasure while her sex throbbed. She gasped against him, holding on as the sudden snap of tension turned into waves that rioted rapidly from the steady caress of his hand.

Her legs quivered and she moaned as her sex gripped rhythmically for something that wasn’t there.

Harris stopped stroking her and broke their kiss. He raised his fingers to his lips and shuddered. His voice was low and gravelly when he said, “And on that note, I will see you in the morning. Good night, Eileen.”