Page 6

CHAPTER 6

“L ilianna is a man?”

Elora could hear the shock and confusion in Bren’s voice despite the background noise coming through the phone.

“Bren, where are you?” she asked.

“I’m at a crime scene,” he said.

“Holy shit! Why are you calling me? And how did you know Lilianna was a man?”

“Because I just got a text from Cece, who is very clearly worried about you being alone with some guy who claims he’s Lilianna.”

“He is Lilianna,” Elora said. “I broke the spell.”

“Fuck me,” Bren said as the background noise dimmed. “You broke the spell.”

“Yes, last night. He’s a shapeshifter cursed by a witch.”

“He’s like your sister?” Bren said in surprise.

“Yeah,” Elora said.

“Is he still at your place?” Bren asked.

“Of course, he is. He has no clothes, money, or ID, and I doubt he has anywhere else to go. He’s been a crow for the last three years. I can’t just kick him out.”

“He has no clothes?” Bren said.

“Well, I have him stuffed into a pair of Cece’s spare pajamas currently, but the guy is about six foot one billion and as muscular as Thor.”

“Okay. I’m stuck at work for at least another few hours, but I’ll send Kaida over right now to stay with you until I can get there.”

“What? Why?” Elora said.

“Because I’m not leaving you alone with a strange man in your apartment,” Bren said.

“He’s not a strange man. He’s Lilianna,” she said.

“Who you thought was a woman,” Bren said. “Hold on a second.”

She waited impatiently, pacing in her bedroom as she touched her lips. Had it really only been a few minutes ago that she’d kissed Jonah? And why was she so tempted to go back out there and kiss him again? And again? And maybe do other sexy things to him?

“Okay, I’m back. I have to go, but I just texted Kaida, and she’ll be there in half an hour.”

“Bren, no. It’s fine, okay? I don’t need -”

“This is not up for debate,” Bren said. “Kaida will be there in half an hour.”

He ended the call, and she groaned in frustration even though she was secretly grateful for Bren’s support and concern.

She took a deep breath and, steeling her spine, returned to the living room. Jonah was doing his own pacing in front of the window. He stopped when he saw her, and before she could say anything, he said, “Sorry, Elora. That was inappropriate, and it won’t happen again.”

Oh, that was definitely disappointment she felt. She forced a smile to her face. “Right, okay. So, um… a dragon is coming over.”

“Let me guess… Kaida?”

“Yes,” she said. “Sorry, but Cece called Bren, and Bren is kind of protective, and he’s thrown off by you being, well… you. He’s stuck at work, so he’s sending Kaida over until he can get here.”

“Where he will then escort me out of your apartment?” Jonah said.

“No,” Elora said quickly. “This is my home. I decide who leaves and who stays.”

“I appreciate that.” Jonah’s gaze dropped to her mouth, and God, why did that make her entire lower body tingle?

He studied his body clad in those ridiculous pajamas. “If you can get me some clothes that won’t get me arrested for public indecency, I can get out of your hair.”

She frowned. “Where will you go?”

“My house,” he said.

She blinked. “You have a house?”

He grinned. “Did you think I was homeless before being stuck as a crow?”

“No, I … where do you live?”

“Not far from here, actually,” he said.

“Won’t your house be… I mean, you haven’t paid your mortgage or taxes for a few years,” Elora said.

“My younger brother lives there as well, and the house is fully paid for, and taxes come out automatically,” Jonah said.

“You have a brother?”

“Half-brother,” Jonah said. “He’s human.”

“Oh.” Elora cleared her throat. “Did you want to use my phone to call him?”

“Can’t remember the number,” Jonah said with a shrug.

“Jesus, he must think you’re dead,” Elora said before wincing. “Sorry, that was rude.”

“He won’t,” Jonah said confidently. “I’ve disappeared before.”

“Sure, so has Sarina. It comes with the job,” Elora said. “But never for more than a few months. You’ve been gone a few years with zero contact.”

“I know, but my brother has a very,” Jonah paused, “positive outlook on life. He won’t believe I’m dead without actual proof.”

“Are you close to him?” Elora asked.

Jonah nodded. “When our father died, Caleb moved in with me. I’d broken free of the Academy a few years before that and had a place here in the city. We’ve lived together ever since.”

“He knows what you, um, do for a living?” Elora asked.

“He does,” Jonah said. “He also knew what my mother did.”

“So, your mom was a shapeshifter?”

“Yes, and a mercenary,” he said before she could ask. “She gave me to the Academy when I was four. When I got out at twenty-two, she helped me get jobs and establish myself.”

Elora stared at him, her stomach churning. “Your mother gave you to the Academy? What the fuck kind of mother was she?”

Jonah’s cheerful look vanished. “She figured it was better to hand me over than try to hide me. The Academy keeps close tabs on shapeshifters who leave. They knew she’d had a baby, and it’s not like she could pretend I wasn’t a shapeshifter.”

“You were a baby,” Elora said, her anger at a woman she’d never met crackling through her. “You were sweet and innocent, and she knew what kind of life you would have there.”

“She did,” Jonah said.

“Your father didn’t stop her?” Elora said.

“He tried, but my mother threatened to kill him,” Jonah said.

“Oh my God,” she said.

“Yeah,” Jonah said. “She would have done it too. My father… he wasn’t a weak man, but he was only human, and compared to my mother, he had no chance of surviving anything she might do to him. They weren’t in any type of relationship. It was just a casual thing that resulted in my mother getting pregnant. She wanted to have an abortion, but my father convinced her not to. He said there was a chance I could be human, and if I were, the Academy would leave me alone. But I was a shapeshifter like my mother. My dad raised me until I was four, and then my mother took me to the Academy.”

He stared blankly at the wall. “My father never told me this, but Caleb said one night he got really drunk and told Caleb what happened with my mother. I guess he tried to take me and disappear. He knew my mother had decided I’d be better off if she gave me to the Academy, so my father ran. Only she found us, beat the shit out of him, threatened to kill him, and then took me and walked out of my father’s life for good. My father eventually fell in love with a human. They got married, and Caleb was born a few years later.”

“Where is your mother now?” Elora asked.

Jonah studied her. “You have that ‘I’m going to hex someone’ look on your face, little witch.”

“That is not a face I make,” Elora said. “Besides, I’m not a dark witch. I would never do a spell with the intention of harming someone. But I would love for your mother - and I use that term loosely - to meet Sarina.”

“Sending your sister to murder my mother is a waste of time,” Jonah said.

“Why?”

“Because she’s already dead. She died about six months after I got out of the Academy,” Jonah said.

“Even though she was a shitty mother, I’m sorry,” Elora said.

Jonah braced his hands on the windowsill behind him, his lean body tense. The cold sunlight made his dark hair gleam, and Elora reminded herself it was not at all the right time to wander over there and run her fingers through it, even if it did look silky soft.

“How did she die?” she asked.

“Job went bad,” he said.

“How did your father die?”

“A few years after I got out, he died of a brain hemorrhage.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“Thank you. He would write me letters and send care packages while I was at the Academy, but it wasn’t until I got out that we had an actual relationship. He was a good man who tried his best to be a father, even after what my mother said and did.”

“I’m glad you had a little time with him,” Elora said.

“Me too,” he said.

She studied him quietly, and he raised one thick eyebrow at her. “What?”

“Your life has been impossibly hard and sad.”

He just shrugged. “Plenty of people have it worse.”

“Did you know Sarina before you were trapped as a crow?” Elora asked.

“I knew of her,” Jonah said. “She has a reputation in our world.”

“What kind of reputation?” Elora was close with her half-sister, but Sarina had always refused to divulge any information about her jobs, and it didn’t matter how much Elora whined and wheedled. Sarina never gave more than the basics.

Jonah grinned at her. “I might have been a crow, but I am well aware that Sarina wants you to know precisely zero about what she does for a living.”

“Not true,” Elora said. “I’ve helped her with jobs before.”

His grin became a laugh. “Little witch, you can’t lie to me.”

“I’m not. I helped her with the teleporter. You were there, remember?”

“You knew she was helping a teleporter, and you did a binding spell on her clothing,” he said. “Nothing more. I’m not giving you any more information about your sister and her work. I like my head right where it is, thanks, and Sarina will happily remove it for me if I tell you anything.”

“She’s off the grid right now and will be for at least another month,” Elora said. “How would she even find out that you told me anything about her reputation?”

He made a ‘my lips are sealed’ gesture, and she scowled at him. “I can’t believe you’re afraid of her. You remember you’re a shapeshifting mercenary badass, too, right?”

“I am,” he said. “In fact, I’m one of the best. But your sister could and would gut me like a fish in three seconds flat.”

“Chicken,” she said.

“Bock, bock,” he grinned.

Her phone dinged, and she glanced at it. “Kaida is here. Don’t piss her off, okay? She also can be… protective.”

He laughed. “Elora, you’re acting like I don’t know who Kaida and Bren are. Trust me, I won’t piss off the dragoness or the cop. I like them. They’re good people who are good to you.”

“Sorry,” she said as she buzzed Kaida into the building. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of this.”

“I know you are,” he said. “But I promise you - I only want what’s best for you.”