Page 6 of Shift of Heart (Shifter Lords #1)

Chapter

Four

I jerked awake sometime later, a moan of pain slipping past my lips. Roots retracted from my body, reverting to fingers and toes. Unaware of how long I’d been out, I blinked my eyes open, relieved to see it was still dark.

Then I remembered what happened, and a sound of dismay came from me as I sat up. To my extreme relief, the shifter still lay face down. I hurried to my feet, brushing away the leaf litter and flowers that covered me while the earth restored me.

He still lay in a glowing circle of white flowers, the heady scent blowing from their swaying petals not of this world.

I crept over and peered down at his back, relieved to see the skin whole and blemish-free. On silent feet, I snatched up my shoes and basket and hurried back to my bike, but as I ran, I hesitated.

Leaving him here felt callous and uncaring. Should I stay until he woke up to ensure he knew where he was and didn’t need any additional help?

No. I’d already gone against my instincts by getting involved. Waking up before him was a gift from the gods, and I’d be a fool to squander such a boon. I could leave and remain anonymous. With one last glance at the sleeping shifter, I squashed my inner goodwill down and opted for safety.

Tonight, I’d sleep like the dead, and tomorrow I might be good for nothing, but I’d healed him, and that was good enough for me.

A figure sat on my porch when I rode up.

My feet stalled on the bike pedals until I realized it was Moira.

Relief filled me when I pulled into the driveway and hopped off, guiding my bike up the stairs.

Every bit of movement ached. The vampire stood, her eyebrows rising when she spotted my disheveled condition.

“I hope you met a handsome stranger with even handsomer friends, and you had a wild orgy in the woods, but something tells me your story is much worse.”

I snorted and winced when even that slight motion hurt. “Definitely worse,” I croaked.

She held out her hands, and I fished through my pocket and dropped the keys into her palm. While Moira opened the door, I unlatched my basket. She took it from me and waited until I got inside and curled onto the couch before grilling me.

At her third question, I held my hand up. “Moira. I get you were worried, but I’m exhausted. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

Her lips thinned. “At least tell me where you were and what happened. You’re never this late, and we were all worried sick when you didn’t answer your phone.”

I frowned and patted my back pocket. No cell phone. Muttering a curse, I went to the basket and dug through it, but it wasn’t there either.

I must have dropped it in the woods. Worry speared me. If the shifter found it, he might link me to his miraculous recovery. I’d have to go back out to retrieve it.

It’d be best if I did it tonight, but I couldn’t muster up the energy. Even sitting here, sleep was dragging me down.

I explained what happened, leaving out a bunch of information. Basically, Moira got the extremely clean version as I left out losing control not once, but twice, and that I used my strange and disturbing magic to heal a stranger.

The story I told was quick. I went into the woods to forage for tomorrow and found an injured man. I whipped up a healing potion potent enough to get him to his feet and helped him back out to the town square.

Moira’s eyebrows lifted. She knew I was full of shit, but her mojo powers didn’t work on me. Nor could she smell the lies wafting from my body. Part of my new weird magic. Being fae helped. It always confused shifter senses, but the chimera’s magic made me a blank page.

When the silence went on too long, I rose, hissing in pain as my back muscles twinged. I healed extremely fast, but the magic I used had drained me faster than my power could repair.

Moira’s lips thinned. “You know I hate when you lie to me.”

“That’s why I almost never do.”

“Except for tonight.”

I remained silent.

She exhaled and rose. “At least tell me you’re okay.”

I smiled, trying to make it reassuring, but at her grimace, I knew I’d failed. “I’ll be much better after a good night’s sleep and some of your amazing coffee tomorrow.”

“We’ll open for you. Don’t come in early.”

I gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks, Moira.”

She rolled her eyes and pointed to my bedroom. “March. I’ll start the shower for you.”

Dutifully, I turned and headed to the back. Within moments, the spray of water sounded in the master bath, and I had a handful of soft pajamas I couldn’t wait to climb into.

I came in two hours later than normal, thankful I had good friends. Everything still hurt, but I had a few things at the shop to help me recover faster. When I came in from the back, three sets of eyes swung my way.

Ash’s light eyebrows rose. His eyes glowed once before he slowly nodded. “I see,” he murmured. “You’ve spent some time...communing.”

That was the word he used when he spoke of earth magic. Ash did a lot of communing with the local trees.

“Something like that,” I agreed.

Tess floated over. My eyes widened at her careless display of magic.

“Relax,” she breathed, “we don’t have any customers right now.”

Moira sprawled across one of the chairs, braiding sweetgrass, and cursing occasionally when one of the stems would slip from the weave. She eyed me and jerked her head toward the coffee pot. “Made that special blend you like. There’s half a pot left.”

“And I left a vial of healing potion next to the pot,” Ash added as he eyed me critically from head to toe. “Moira mentioned you might need it.”

I smiled. “Thanks.” Ash’s healing potions were legendary.

I made a mean one, but he always put an extra bit of oomph in his.

When I mentioned selling them in the shop, he clammed up and refused, saying his gifts were reserved for those he cared about and not for sale to the general public.

He was so solemn and serious about it, which was completely unlike Ash on a normal day, that I never mentioned it again.

Half an hour later, after coffee and a dropper of the dryad’s potion, my pain was down to a solid three, and I felt worlds better. I dropped a kiss on top of Ash’s head when I passed by on my way to the register, and he blustered a little before his cheeks turned bright pink.

“You’re the best, Ash!”

He grumbled something under his breath and went back to training his bonsai maple into submission.

We didn’t have many of those to sell because it took Ash months to create them, but they went for a pretty penny when we did.

I tried to give Ash all the money when we sold the first one, but he flat out refused and insisted on giving me a twenty percent commission.

As dryads went, he was the strangest one I’d ever met. He was also my favorite, so it evened out.

Moira and the others broke for lunch around noon, after I insisted on staying behind and making up the slack for my late arrival.

It was a Tuesday, and customers were slow to come in, so I powered up my e-reader and caught up on my newest romantic fantasy obsession, a tale about pirates and the female serial killer who falls in love with the captain of a cursed ship.

Around one, Ash and Tess burst into the shop, back from their lunch break.

“Evie!” Ash breathed. “Have you heard?”

The shop was slow enough that I’d heard nothing except the imaginary, breathy moans of a killer as the handsome pirate captain plundered the main character’s booty. “Nope,” I called, regretfully putting my device down. Number one on the agenda once the shop closed was finishing that book.

Ash rounded the corner first and plowed into the register desk, eyes wide with glee. “The Shifter Lord was spotted coming out of the forest this morning wearing barely anything!”

Tess came up beside him, her normally expressionless face lit up with the thrill of hot gossip.

I’d never met the Texas Shifter Lord, nor did I ever want to, but Ash’s words made my stomach sink like a stone.

Moira rounded up my friend group, her face somber, and her eyes filled with worry.

Shit. Shit. Shit!

I pasted a smile on my face. “Oh? He must have had some rendezvous out there!” Mustering a half-hearted chuckle, I reached for my e-reader and tucked it into my purse.

“But that’s not the best part!” Tess breathed. “He’s on the hunt for someone. A female.”

I stilled. “How do you know that?”

Ash’s jaw dropped. “How? The entire town is talking about it! He met a woman in the forest, and apparently, he’s now obsessed. Caelan is offering a massive reward for whoever hunts her down.”

I was going to hurl. Healing a random shifter was one thing. But healing the freaking Shifter Lord? That was an entire truckload of trouble about to land on my doorstep.

“I don’t understand. He doesn’t know who she is?” I busied my hands with closing out the register.

Moira had yet to utter a word. Judgment marred her pretty face, but she hadn’t sold me out to the others. Something I’d thank her for later.

Ash waved his hand. “Semantics. What I want to know is who is this mystery woman? What did she do? And why is Caelan so insistent on uncovering her identity?”

Tess swooned. “It’s like Cinderella.”

“Except with sharper teeth and more danger,” I said ruefully.

Ash’s eyes narrowed. “You always like hot tea, Evie. What’s crawled up your butt today?”

“Nothing good will come of the Shifter Lord’s attention,” I said quietly.

Ash snorted. “Hmm. He’s rich, famous, mysterious, and one of the seven most powerful creatures in existence. Most women would throw themselves at his feet if he spared them even a single glance.”

I grimaced. “No thanks.”

He shook his head and sighed. “Hopeless, I tell you. This is why you’ll be a spinster forever. Little Evie and her avoidant attachment syndrome.”

Usually, I laughed when Ash psychoanalyzed me. Today, it felt like a knife in the heart. I closed the register drawer. “Moira, mind taking care of this? I’m going to head out a little early today.”

The vampire nodded, sympathy flickering in her eyes. “Of course. I’ll pop by later for dinner if you’re up for it.”

I offered a wan smile. “I’ll text you later.”

Grabbing my purse, I headed toward the back, only to hear Ash and Tess murmuring. Moira’s sharp rebuke echoed behind me.