Page 29 of Shift of Heart (Shifter Lords #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Four

I did not mention the detour to Moira or the others when I got to the shop a couple of days later.

All was quiet on the shifter front, but the morning after, I awoke to a small basket on my front porch filled with heirloom seed packs from one of my favorite places to order from and a hand-embroidered apron that read: I like big buds and I cannot lie.

A purple hand-blown glass vase filled with Belgian chocolates and a stainless-steel hand shovel topped everything off.

The sender had tucked a card inside that read simply:

You surprise me, Evie. You didn’t have to, and yet you did.

Again.

Lena fares well and sends her sincerest thanks. Her mate, the guardian wolf, also wishes to express his deepest gratitude for your actions.

It was signed Caelan .

An aggrieved sigh escaped me. He knew it was me in the woods.

I realized I probably couldn’t keep that secret bottled up forever, but more time would have been nice.

Her wound was mortal, but she had very little power compared to the Shifter Lord.

My magic didn’t require me to go as deep to help her as it had with Caelan.

I triple checked the basket to ensure he hadn’t slipped anything weird in, like a camera or listening device, but as I carried it in, an idea formed.

The basket and thank you card was a nice gesture, but it didn’t absolve him of responsibility for him coming into my house and creeping in my bedroom.

I’d been working on a little side project for Caelan so I could send him the check with style.

But I had a plan for a little payback while I was at it.

After I’d finished a cup of coffee and chatted with everyone, I headed to the back to check on the Venus flytrap I’d nurtured from a tiny seedling. But...I’d given it a little something extra.

Caelan was going to have a field day with this one. I chuckled to myself and reached for the bucket of handmade compost.

The Red Dragon flytrap greeted me by clicking dozens of its traps, the main, larger one stretching out to reach me.

“Hey Seymour.” I gently gave it a scratch underneath the main trap. It made an odd cooing noise that made me laugh.

“Hungry?”

All two hundred of the baby traps snapped in unison. “Okay. I brought you something extra today.”

After a few freeze-dried worms, Seymour settled down and allowed me to freshen up his potting soil.

I’d experimented with the flytrap in a way I never had any other plants before.

He was a project of my Floromancy and my rage at Caelan.

I’d chosen a carnivorous plant for obvious reasons, but Seymour was a distraction while I enacted my true revenge.

“You ready for a new home today?” I asked Seymour.

The flytrap tilted itself the way a dog tilted its head when curious.

“Remember what we talked about?”

Another head tilt the opposite way.

“It’s okay if you don’t remember, just toss the check at him.” I smiled. “Then bite him if you can.”

I fed Seymour another worm and gave him a tiny bit of water to tide him over, then carefully packaged him up, adding an envelope with a check so large it made me hyperventilate, and note that simply said:

Check & Mate .

I also checked the seeds I’d placed in a spelled container and tipped them out into a small brown baggie to take with me this evening.

Satisfied with everything, I tucked the bag into the transport box, tossed Seymour another worm, and carried it to the front of the store.

“Don’t touch Seymour,” I warned. “He’s got an attitude.”

Tess peered into the box. “Aww. He’s adorable! I’ve never seen one that color.”

“Special variety.” I grabbed my purse and hugged Moira who was giving me a thoughtful look. She knew something was up.

“Spelled how?” Ash asked as he looked into the box and physically recoiled. “Why is that thing so large?”

I pointed to the bag of worms. “Those and lots of love.”

Ash’s brow furrowed. “Flytraps are notoriously angry plants, but…” His voice trailed off, and he barked a laugh. “That’s why you named him Seymour.”

I grinned. “Yup. Except he can’t sing, and that’s a real shame.”

“I’m sure you could figure that one out if you really tried.” Moira’s voice was droll.

“Every plant is musical. You just have to possess the right frequency to feel it.”

Tess blinked at me. “Really?”

“Of course. Don’t you feel better when you’re in the shop versus when you’re in a place that has no green space?”

Tess thought about it. “Huh. I guess I do.”

“Your subconscious hears the music,” I explained.

She stared at the flytrap. “That’s so cool.”

“Want to hear it?” I asked.

Her attention snapped to me. “How?”

“Through me.” I held out my hand.

“Ooh! Me too!” Moira said.

“Alright. Put your hand on my arm,” I instructed.

Ash heard the music every day. He was already part plant and more connected to the earth than I ever would be because it had literally birthed him. Once a quarter, Ash returned to his main tree to refresh his magic, and when he came back, the music in the shop was boosted for weeks.

“Ready?”

Both women nodded. “Alright. Close your eyes.”

I had to be careful not to use too much magic. Once Moira had her hand on me, and I was clutching Tess’s hand, I slowly opened my senses and sent a trickle of magic into each woman. Moira laughed and Tess gasped.

“Listen,” I commanded and slowly turned the volume of music I always heard a little louder until the store was suffused with sound.

“Oh,” Tess breathed, silvery tears shining in her eyes as the music swept around us.

“My god,” Moira murmured. “Is this what you hear all the time?”

“It is.” The inherent music of the earth used to be overwhelming until I learned how to control the volume. Now it acted as a barely noticeable background soundtrack to my life unless I was tangled in the earth communing. Then I opened my senses wide and let the sound cleanse and purify my body.

“Plants don’t technically make music. It’s sound and vibration translated into musical notes, so we can better understand.” Tess and Moira gripped me tightly, their eyes squeezed shut as they continued listening.

“It’s like new age music combined with techno,” Tess said in a hushed voice.

“I could listen to this for the rest of my life,” Moira breathed.

“Maybe we can get a few of those devices that translate the sound. I think you can buy them online.” I’d seen a few that seemed legitimate.

“Yes!” Tess said. “I want to hear what those carnivorous beasts you keep in the back sound like.”

Speaking of the deadly plants, I was worried Caelan had absconded with them, but I later found them tucked in the back by the cooler. Why they didn’t attack him was curious, but maybe he wasn’t the one who moved them. Maybe Caelan had let a sacrificial lamb do his dirty work.

I’d been meaning to call another repairman for the cooler door as our regular one was booked solid, but someone had fixed the door sometime after our confrontation, probably at the same time he’d had the window fixed.

When the music crescendoed and faded into a slight hum, I let my magic go, and the plant sounds faded away.

Moira let go and wiped her face. Tess gripped my hand for a moment longer before she let go and sighed.

“It sounds the exact opposite of death.”

Moira and I stared at her dumbly before the vampire gathered herself. “What does death sound like exactly?”

Tess shrugged. “Kinda like that noise when you stub your toe really bad. Like a sharp intake of breath before the inevitable wail, followed by a lot of screaming.”

Poor Tess would have a tough time finding another job if she ever left the shop. Her personality was frightening on a good day.

“Well,” Moira said. “That’s good to know.”

Tess smiled and floated away. Moira and I exchanged a wide-eyed look.

“Wow,” she mouthed.

I loved the banshee, but she always strayed far too close to death for my comfort. Shaking my head, I grabbed my purse and the box. “Heading out. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

The shop was closed for the next two days. One was our normal off day, and the other was a Joy Springs holiday celebrating the town’s founding, aptly named Day of Joy. Any day off was a day of joy, and no one kept their shop open that day.

The first year I’d arrived and had just opened the shop when I realized it was almost eleven in the morning, and the town was a ghost town. One of the other shop owners took pity on me when she spotted my “open” sign and stopped to inform me about the holiday.

The town put on a small celebration every year, complete with food and craft booths, a live band, and a magic show for the unsuspecting humans.

I’d only gone a couple of times and found it a bit too peopley for my tastes, so tonight, I planned to drop off Caelan’s check, then go home and soak in my tub for an hour.

I was behind on my mental and physical exercises for the month and needed to catch up on those—otherwise Hazel would have my ass— if she found out. Having your mentor in another country wasn’t always ideal, but it did allow for more slacking than normal.

The witch had given me a rigid schedule but stressed the mental exercises were the most important to keep the Chimera magic at bay. A strong mind equaled a strong will, and only a strong will could control the magic that threatened to overtake me when my emotions got the best of me.

A quick stop at one of the local apothecaries netted me a bottle of my favorite lavender vanilla bubble bath and some of her new rose and neroli body oil.

One last stop at the in-town winery to grab a bottle of their famous blueberry wine, and I was on my way home, with Seymour happily nestled in his box awaiting his new quarters.

Tonight promised to be epic.