Page 10 of Dragon’s Golden Mate (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #2)

“Breathe in deeply.”

Gentle music flowed through the room. The scent of various essential oils reached Maeve’s nostrils as she obeyed her niece, pulling in as much air as she could and then letting it out slowly. She could sense Amanda’s hands hovering just above her body, not touching her and not needing to.

She needed her mind to be clear, but Kendrick loomed large there regardless. That kiss they’d shared the previous day had been far more than a peck on the cheek. The way he’d watched over her as she’d shifted had been quite a statement, and even their shared experience at the church was noteworthy.

But she needed to let it go. Maeve pulled in another deep breath, imagining her thoughts of Kendrick flowing out along with the air that passed through her lips. He was an incredible man with many desirable traits, but she was only torturing herself by spending time with him.

“You can open your eyes.”

Maeve saw Amanda’s familiar face smiling down at her.

She had her mother’s generous features, with high cheekbones, a wide mouth, and doe-like eyes.

It was almost the same face that Maeve had grown up sharing a room with, although Lucille was now as old and gray as she was. “Well? What did you find?”

“Not a thing,” Amanda replied as she helped Maeve sit up. The assistance wasn’t really needed, but Amanda treated all her clients with delicacy when they’d just been through a session. “Your chakras are beautifully aligned, and I didn’t find anything blocking your energy flow.”

“I suppose at the very least I come out of your sessions well rested,” Maeve said with a smile, although she was a bit disappointed.

Amanda was one of the best energy healers in the area, and Maeve didn’t believe that simply because they were related.

If anyone had been able to find something wrong, it would have been Amanda.

“I just don’t understand what’s going on with my magic. ”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” Amanda replied sincerely. She pulled the claw clip out of her hair, letting her dark waves cascade over her shoulders. “We can check it again in a few days.”

“I don’t want to keep you from your practice any more than I already have, but thank you. It's not fair for me to cut in at the front of the waiting list.” Maeve slipped off the low couch in her altar room and slowly stood.

Amanda had been putting her supplies away, but now she looked sharply over her shoulder. “Who told you I had a waiting list?”

Maeve realized her mistake. She twisted her fingers in front of her mouth as though she were twisting a key in a lock. “A little bird, that’s all.”

“A bird named Lucille?” Amanda asked. When Maeve didn’t answer, she shook her head. “I told her that in confidence.”

“She’s just proud of you. It’s a mom thing. We can’t help it. When we know our children are doing well, we want to tell everyone.” It was something Maeve had to be careful about, because she didn’t want anyone in the coven thinking that her blood family got preferential treatment.

“I suppose you’re right,” Amanda admitted with a shy bob of her head.

“To be honest, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want anyone to know,” Maeve pointed out. “You’re successful enough in using your natural talents that you’re making a living. You should be proud of that.”

“I am,” she said as she put away the last of her crystals and turned off her speaker.

“It’s just that we’re all at slightly different levels here.

I don’t want anyone to feel like they’re running behind, nor do I want them to feel they have to go into this kind of business.

There’s nothing wrong with having a job that’s more mundane. ”

Maeve tipped her head. “This is about your sister, isn’t it?”

“You got me. Jamie hasn’t found her niche, but a lot of the other people in our coven have. She’s talked to me about this a little, how it feels like everyone else has their future staring them right in the face, but she’s sort of lost.” Amanda shrugged. “It makes me feel bad.”

“That’s sweet of you, but don’t use it as an excuse to sell yourself short.” Maeve put her arm around Amanda. “It could actually be more helpful to Jamie if you go ahead and let your inner light shine.”

“I’ll work on that.” Amanda checked her watch. “But it’ll have to wait until later. I’m going to be late for my first appointment.”

As Amanda rushed out of the covenstead, Maeve followed the sound of voices into the kitchen. Several of the other witches were gathered around the big table there.

“It was really freaky,” Jamie was saying. She looked slightly less like her mother and had some of Arthur’s features, but it was still obvious that she and Amanda were sisters.

Erin sat next to her, her hands around a cup of tea. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”

Iris held her fluffy orange cat on her lap. “Do you think it was some kind of wild animal? Jake slipped out the door the other day, and I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

Jake lolled limply in her lap, closing his eyes as he enjoyed her fingers through his fur, clearly unaware of any danger.

“I’d keep him inside, just to be safe,” Zoe suggested.

“What’s going on?” Maeve could sense the tension and fear in the air.

“Erin, Zoe, Iris, and I went for a run this morning,” Jamie explained. “We needed a chance to stretch our legs.”

“Or wings,” Zoe added.

“We heard this awful, mournful cry,” Jamie went on. “It sent shivers down my spine, but I had no idea what it was.”

Erin fiddled with her nose ring. “Some wildcats make pretty strange noises. Cougars sound like a woman screaming.”

“Are you saying it was you?” Kristy asked, referring to Erin’s inner bobcat.

“No!” Erin tossed a napkin at her.

“But don’t you think it sounded kind of sad?” Iris added. She kissed the top of Jake’s head.

An odd, cat-like shriek made Maeve think of the strange gargoyle that’d come after her and Kendrick the previous day, but as far as she knew, those creatures hadn’t left the church. “No one managed to see it?”

“I tried,” Zoe told her. “I flew up pretty high, but I didn’t find anything.”

“And where was it?” Maeve asked next.

Erin pointed to the back of the house. “We went that way, towards the woods.”

“Hm. We should probably be careful for a little while, and keep our eyes and ears open,” Maeve advised.

It sounded like they weren’t too far from the cathedral, but again, she wasn’t sure if that meant any real danger.

Maeve had briefed the rest of the coven on what’d happened, but no one quite knew what to think about it. “Don’t go out alone.”

The coffee machine beeped just then, signaling it was ready, and the witches jumped up to grab their mugs, the creamer, and the sugar.

Lucille stepped into the kitchen then. She observed the chaos and smiled. “I take it they’re not worried about the weird noise anymore.”

“Muffins are done!” Jamie announced.

Maeve laughed. “No, I’d say not. I was just wondering if it could be one of the gargoyles, but I don’t know. I don’t know much of anything.”

“I’ve got a bit of information that could be helpful. Grab some muffins and come with me,” Lucille suggested.

“If I can do it without losing a hand,” Maeve joked. She put two muffins on a plate, poured some coffee, and stepped out onto the back porch with her sister.

They sat in the same wicker chairs where she and Kendrick had spoken when he’d come to the house in search of help. Lucille was much more proportionate to the furniture.

“What are you smiling about?” Lucille asked as Maeve set the muffins down on the small, tiled table between them.

“Was I?” Maeve asked innocently. “I’m sure it was just because I like seeing how well everyone gets along here. Our coven is made up of all different kinds of shifters, backgrounds, and ages, but sometimes they remind me of teenagers at a slumber party. I like that.”

Lucille looked doubtful, but she cleared her throat and held out the book she’d been carrying. “I found this and thought it might help you.”

Maeve took the slim book. The hard, clothbound cover was ragged around the edges.

Gargoyles and Grotesques was barely legible along the spine.

When she opened it, the inside of the book had been taped to the cover to help preserve what little binding was left.

“Where did you find it? In the dumpster?”

“I may as well have! It wasn’t in our system anymore and was going to be discarded.

” Lucille clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and ran her fingers through her thick strands of chin-length white hair.

“That’s what happens when no one checks a book out for a long time.

If the people lose interest, then the library does. I never liked that idea.”

“Spare me the lecture on library science and archival preservation.” Maeve agreed with her sister, but it was more fun to tease her.

Lucille knew that and ignored the jab. “It looks to me as though someone had already tried to salvage it once from an even older binding. You can read it in more detail, but I skimmed it.”

“And?” Maeve would study it, but they both knew Lucille was a librarian for a reason. She highly disliked the fact that so much information these days was dispersed through videos, because she could glean it all from a book with more efficiency.

Lucille picked up a muffin. “There are plenty of texts regarding gargoyles in the architectural sense, serving as downspouts and such, so it was hard to weed through them and find something that discussed them as supernatural creatures. It turns out their power is psychological more than anything. There’s no known language for them, but they communicate telepathically. ”

Maeve took a bite of her muffin and washed it down with a sip of coffee. “Then the strange visions and the awful feelings Kendrick and I had came directly from them. I’ve been wondering if those were warnings or threats.”