Page 20 of Shift of Heart (Shifter Lords #1)

Chapter

Fifteen

CAELAN

E vie had a pet bird. An intelligent one, it seemed. I lay low, nestled in the fertile ground around her property. Magic permeated the soil and everything growing inside and out.

The grass was soft and lush, and I felt comfortable lying here, even though I was staking out her place.

Everything was fertile and green and smelled like the world had before man destroyed much of the land.

The health of this soil and the overactive plant life were unsurprising with.

..whatever the hell Evie was. Floromancer, yes, but she was far more than that.

And she was injured. I followed her vehicle as far as I could, and when I’d lost her in the swarm of downtown traffic, I followed the scent of her blood.

Evie’s blood was curious. Disturbing. Interesting.

I’d gone to her shop tonight to—well, I wasn’t sure what the hell I planned to do when I got there—but things had gone downhill fast. Something happened to her, something traumatic.

I’d stalked her, and she was bleeding, and I couldn’t stop myself from getting so close to her.

In doing so, I triggered some deep memories inside her that paralyzed the poor girl.

I was an asshole of the largest caliber.

Evie’s bird stayed at the window for a long time, far longer than a normal bird should have. I’d never seen one like it around here. It had a mix of electric blue feathers interspersed with black around the eye and was extremely small. The creature could fit into the palm of my hand.

Sometime later, the bird nudged the blinds closed, but I waited an extra half hour before making my move. Skulking from the shadows, I crept down the small hillside and into Evie’s front yard, sniffing around the porch before I went into the back yard.

She had no pets that I could tell and no male at home, nor had there been any male here other than her companion dryad.

The thought sent a disturbing flash of satisfaction through me. I brushed it away, shifted to loosen the small bag around my neck, and shifted in a flash of bright light.

I dressed quickly in a thin pair of joggers and a t-shirt and reached into the bag again and withdrew two long stainless-steel picks.

Most people had a misguided sense of security. They refused to believe things like me prowled the night, or that it was this easy to get into their house. A few careful turns of the picks, and Evie’s lock clicked open.

I opened the door, pleased to see Evie kept her hinges oiled. Bad for her, great for me. But then something else occurred to me. What if someone else tried to break in? I stepped inside and closed the door, vowing to have someone over soon to reinforce her doors and windows.

She needed to keep things like me out of her house.

The thought made me still. Why was I so worried about her? She’d humiliated me in front of the Council, my Pack, and many power players within the state. I’d been furious when I burst into her shop, ready to punish her for what she’d done, but when I smelled her…

I let out a soft breath. She’d done nothing except for what I’d asked her to do, and she’d protected herself with that damn contract I’d blown off. My lips twitched. She was right. The fox had outsmarted the wolf.

Not only had she shown me a display of her power, she’d gone above and beyond and showed me not only how staggering her magic was, but that she had finite control. I’d never seen anything like those automatons, even if she’d pricked my pride.

I stood by the door for a long moment, sniffing out any threats, but the only person who lived here was Evie. For some strange reason, there was no avian scent.

Maybe there was an exit I hadn’t noticed. The bird was teeny tiny and could have made a quick escape. But it was odd I couldn’t smell any trace of its presence. Not that a bird would be a danger to me, but I liked knowing where anyone and everything was when I was in a new place.

A quick scan of the room told me a lot about Evie.

She was far from a minimalist. Every space was crammed with books or soft things or knickknacks.

Or plants. She had plants anywhere a flat space existed and even where there was no flat space.

They hung suspended from the ceiling, from curtain rods, piled on shelves and tables.

They grew haphazardly from cheap pots on top of the fridge, on the kitchen island, on the coffee table, on top of the television shelf and fireplace.

They were everywhere.

Every seat and couch in the living room had fluffy pillows and soft blankets. My fingers trailed over one on the back of the loveseat. A discarded mug sat on the coffee table next to a book placed face down. I peered down at the title and almost laughed out loud.

The History of Werewolves in America—Fad or Phase?

Straightening, I prowled through the house searching for her. She’d fled the shop seriously wounded, and I wouldn’t be able to sleep unless I knew she was okay. Even if she thought I’d gone to her shop to kill her.

I followed her scent to what I assumed was her bedroom.

Pausing at the entrance, I waited but heard nothing except for the faint whir of a fan.

It almost seemed like she was gone, but that couldn’t be right.

Her car was in the driveway and her blood was dotted all over the concrete and porch. Evie was somewhere in this house.

Frowning, I stepped away from the door and explored the rest of the house, searching every room, but there was nothing except faint traces of her presence. When I went back to her bedroom door and searched again, I still couldn’t hear any breathing. But something told me she was in there.

I reached out and turned the handle.

Bloodstained, ruined clothing lay discarded on the floor, her sandals lying at opposite ends of the room.

I moved further into the room and looked around.

Her forest green comforter was darkened at the foot of the bed.

I peered closer and inhaled. More blood.

But the bed was empty. I moved toward the closet and peered inside, thinking maybe she had collapsed. Nothing there either.

A lamp on her dresser cast a warm, golden light over the room.

If her living room and kitchen looked like a jungle, this place looked like a fairytale forest. Orchids of all types sat on multiple shelves and all over her nightstands.

Vines curled through the blinds and around the curtain rods, some with fragrant purple blooms. She’d chosen a dark blue paint color, giving the bedroom a comforting, peaceful vibe.

Something in the heart I’d thought long frozen thawed.

Had Evie lived a life of war and sought solace in the things she could control?

A stack of books lay haphazardly on her nightstand, a mix of romance and mysteries, along with a glass carafe half filled with water.

A Tiffany lamp sat beside it, the stained glass a mix of blue and emerald.

She had about a dozen pillows scattered across her bed, and what looked like a hand knitted wool blanket that held an odd tinge of strange magic.

But where the hell was she? I spun in a circle, feeling her presence. She should be here, and yet, there was no trace of Evie, only the strong scent of her magic and her presence soaked into the very marrow of this house.

I sat on the edge of her bed, avoiding where she’d bled, and closed my eyes, opening all my senses. Once the room fell completely silent, a faint, tiny sound pricked my ears. The noise came from around her dresser.

Confused, I rose and went over to the old, scarred wooden dresser and looked around.

A silver necklace with an acorn charm rested in an abalone shell.

Next to it lay a leather necklace with a silver goat charm tied onto it.

I’d never seen her wear either, but I’d only been in her shop a couple of times.

A pair of leaf earrings lay next to the necklaces, and a wrap-around ring in the shape of a laurel wreath lay on top.

A half-burned candle, another small stack of books, and a vase of fresh-cut flowers sat in the middle. But on the edge, there was a small oval basket with part of a soft blanket hanging out. There. That was where all the magic came from.

I stepped over and peered down. My heart stopped in my chest.

The blue wren from the window lay there, deep in sleep. My mouth fell open. Evie was a shifter. Or something. I’d never seen someone who could shift into such a small form. With every ounce of magic in my body, I kept as quiet as I could as I studied her.

Opening my senses as wide as possible, I bent down and listened. The faintest sound of a rapid heartbeat was evident, but I had to strain to hear it. As I focused on her, I noticed shiny bits reflecting the light. When I realized what it was, I swore under my breath.

Glass. Tiny shards of shimmering glass lay scattered all over the blanket and inside her body.

I spun abruptly and on silent footsteps went into her bathroom and dug around until I found a pair of tweezers and a small cup.

I set those down on her nightstand and picked up a small chair close to the window and set it beside the bed.

Then I reached in gently and picked Evie up, along with her blanket, gently shaking the glass from the fabric, and knowing I wouldn’t wake her.

She might not be a full shifter, but she’d fallen into the deep, almost comatose, healing sleep all of us found when we’d been seriously injured.

Once I had settled into the chair, I placed her on my lap, careful not to jostle her too much. The human part inside me screamed I was violating her territory and if she found out, she would never speak to me again, but the voice was overshadowed by the snarling wolf screaming I must protect her.

The wolf always won.

I picked up the tweezers and gently spread one of Evie’s delicate wings out. She didn’t move an inch, still locked in sleep. Oh so carefully, I began picking glass out of her body, marveling at the delicate bones and soft feathers.

It took me a couple of hours to find every single piece of glass, and when I was finished, I gently tucked Evie’s blanket back into the basket and set her in the middle, going by memory to ensure nothing was different from when I arrived.

Once I put the tweezers away, I folded the small paper cup full of glass over and tucked it into my pocket. When I stood at the back door, I did one more sweep to ensure I wasn’t being observed and sent a pulse of magic through her house, wiping my scent and my presence from the area.

Later, when I stood on the small hill overlooking her house, I sank to the ground and buried my face in my hands.

Where we’d be tomorrow, I couldn’t say, but tonight had escalated so far out of my control, I couldn’t think about it without feeling a deep sense of shame.

She’d be well within her rights to never see me again.

But I’d do everything in my power to ensure that wouldn’t happen.

And the thought bothered me more than I could say.