Page 79 of Lana Pecherczyk

“That’s the moonshine talking,” Lark said. “Also, that’s absolutely tragic.”

“No wonder your aura’s so knotted.” Ravi looked personally offended. “A female of your passion going undernourished … it’s practically criminal. Well, my boy may be stubborn about some things, but he knows how to worship at the altar of feminine pleasure.”

“Again, Ma!” Sera rolled her eyes. “We don’t need details.”

“What? Orgasms are nourishing. It’s a medicinal fact!” Ravi tested a brush on her skin, the pattern glowing as the room darkened with twilight. “These patterns will highlight your beautiful form and guide River’s attention to all the right places.”

The right places? Blake blinked. “What?”

“It will help with the confusion. Do you have special human markings for mating?” Sera asked, reaching for a jar ofshimmering blue powder. “Or do you just … find each other in the dark?”

Blake laughed. “Some humans get tattoos or wear perfume, but nothing like your UV patterns.”

“If they can’t swoop,” Lark asked, “what did the males do to announce their interest in courting?”

“Some brought flowers or wrote songs,” Blake said. “Jeff once scored tickets to the grand final. That was his big romantic gesture where he proposed.”

The sisters exchanged puzzled glances.

“It was a footy game,” she explained.

“A game with feet?” Ravi’s head cocked.

“That’s … it?” Sera asked, clearly unimpressed.

“Enough about that. Time for some crow education.” Lark flicked out flowing silk trousers resembling a pleated skirt, cinched at the ankles with intricate embroidery along the sides.

“These”—she waggled her brows—“are your courtship windways.”

“Oh, good choice.” Sera hiccuped and squinted at her empty glass.

“Perfect for optimum blood flow and easy access,” Ravi added.

Blake glanced at the other pairs of pleated pants. “They look the same.”

“For the most part, they are,” Sera said. “Unless you change one thing.”

“You’re supposed to wear modesty shorts with them,” Lark explained, her expression serious.

All three crow shifters looked at each other, then burst out laughing, their wings rustling and disturbing hanging trinkets.

“What’s so funny?” Blake took another sip of moonshine. The bitterness had gone. It was all sweet now. Yummy.

“She’s an expert at forgetting her modesty shorts.” Sera refilled Blake’s cup. “Almost every pair of windways she owns is of the courtship variety. Show her, sis.”

Lark poked out her bottom and flicked one pleated panel. Her wing snapped, gusting wind to blow the flap wide, flashing the curved naked flesh of her underbottom. “Oops.” She glanced over her shoulder, covering her mouth in mock surprise. “The wind caught my ways again.”

Sera waggled her finger in Blake’s face. “A well-timed flash will surely wipe the confusion from your mate’s eyes.”

“Now,” Ravi said, holding up a delicate brush, “let’s clean you up and get those patterns started so you can join your Well-blessed mate.”

Blake noticed Ravi put a strange emphasis on some of her words. But the moonshine made her feel a little loose. It burned away her last reservations. “Fuck it. Can’t be any more awkward than Jeff’s annual birthday inspection of me lady bits.”

She reached for the hem of her borrowed blouse, hesitating just a heartbeat before she pulled it over her head in one fluid motion.

Chapter

Twenty-Five