Page 1 of Shift of Morals (Shifter Lords #2)

Chapter

One

M oira and I stared down at the shriveled plant lying on top of my new worktable. I’d experimented for weeks to nurse the vine back to health, but nothing I tried had worked. I’d gone from a gentle nudge to something more substantial before attempting a full-blown magic blitz.

Nada. If plants had tongues, this one would be nana booing me.

“Why won’t it get any better?” the vampire asked. Moira was my best friend and shop employee. A lock of dark hair fell over her eye as she bent forward to peer at the poor thing.

“There isn’t much I can do for a plant that refuses to live.”

Moira blinked and looked up at me. “You’re just going to let it die?”

I held my hands out. “Contrary to popular belief, I am not a plant god.”

She frowned and reached out a pale finger, gently touching one of its leaves. “But you kind of are.”

“It’s not that simple. Sometimes things don’t want to live. I can nudge and encourage, but I never force. Even if I did, any boost would be temporary. If a plant decides to die, there’s nothing I can do for it.”

She gave me a sideways glance. “And this one has decided?”

“Looks that way.” I sent a soft pulse of magic into the heart of the plant and felt its flickering life force against my mind.

Moira’s expression as she stared at the lifeless plant twisted my heart, so I pulled my magic away and turned to grab a small pot from the shelf behind me.

I set it before her and pushed the special pot of soil next to her.

“All I can tell you is to give it the best possible environment to grow, put it in a window with lots of natural light, and keep the top layer of soil moist. If you want to go the extra mile, play it some Beethoven a few times a week. We’ll revisit in a month, okay? ”

Moira tugged the pot closer. “Think it will work?”

I didn’t want to give her false hope. “Love and care can turn the worst situation around. All you can do is try.”

Moira nodded and straightened, grabbing the soil scooper. I left her to tend to her new project and headed back over to the register. Tess was there, wearing new sparkly barrettes in her hair and new lip gloss. I’d been dying to say something all morning, but I didn’t want to embarrass her.

Things between her and Ash were progressing at a glacial pace, but then things like this happened, and I knew she and the dryad were well on the way to a warm and cozy romance. “How’s it going?” I asked as I came up beside her.

“Fine,” she said in her monotone voice. “It’s not very busy today.”

Tess wasn’t wrong. Ever since Caelan had stopped coming around so much, it was like the townspeople were too scared to pop by, thinking I’d fallen out of favor with the Shifter Lord.

This couldn’t be further from the truth as he (or someone at his Keep) had requested I do the flowers for his upcoming wedding.

The wedding I tried not to think about. After the disastrous dinner party where Finn, the attacker who’d turned me into a Chimera, had shown up and tried to get me to make amends and become his …I had no idea, actually, things had gotten real weird.

Everyone in Joy Springs was abuzz about the identity of Caelan’s mysterious fiancée, but no one had seen her yet. Not even me, and I was part of the wedding planning team. I’d spent way too much time thinking about what she must be like if she’d caught the Shifter Lord’s eye.

Beauty was the obvious choice. But she was probably smart and politically savvy, too.

She had to be to keep up with Caelan. The question I’d had in my mind since the second Simone walked into my shop and broke the news was why.

Why would Caelan pursue me and make me feel like he wanted me, then abruptly go and get hitched?

It made no sense.

My life over the last several years made no sense.

Par for the course, I guess.

“You alright?” Tess’s querulous voice nudged me from my maudlin thoughts.

I blinked and straightened. “Yes. Sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”

The banshee fidgeted with the ink pen by the register. “Caelan getting married is a good thing,” Tess said. Her words were slow and even, as if gauging how I might react once she said them.

My stomach clenched. His upcoming marriage was a good thing. Every strong leader needs a partner, and Caelan had been running this region by himself for a long time. He deserved one.

So why was I so bothered by the thought of his wedding?

I forced a smile. “Of course it’s a good thing. I hope Caelan and his new bride are very happy.”

A dry laugh sounded from behind. “You hope a meteorite strikes the wedding.”

I stifled my grin. “Ash! How terrible. I would never.”

“You would always,” he corrected. “God might not be petty, but you sure are.”

I laughed as Ash sauntered over and placed two coffees on the desk. “A cortado for Evie and a saltwater taffy latte for you.”

Tess gave a shy smile and slid hers closer.

“Thanks!” I popped the tab off my cup and took a sip.

The banshee grimaced. “I don’t know how you drink that.”

A cortado was my new favorite discovery.

As coffee drinks go, it’s a simple one. Equal parts espresso and milk, and I took mine with zero sugar.

The only downside was its size, and that’s because I was more American than anything these days.

Four ounces of deliciousness was a small amount, but two ounces of espresso was enough to get me going.

Tess’s latte, on the other hand, was a monstrosity of artificial flavor and whipped topping goodness.

I tasted it once and felt my mouth pucker, but the banshee drank one a day.

I suppose it’s a good thing sugar doesn’t affect people like us as it does humans; otherwise, Tess would have fallen into a sugar coma months ago.

Ash sipped his coffee, a simple black breakfast roast. He might be a dryad, but his taste in coffee was simple. Moira, though, was all about the tea and turned her nose up every time she spotted one of us with the blue paper cups with the adorable Brewtide Beans logo.

The merfolk-owned coffee shop stood a few blocks from the flower shop and served up the regular offerings for the tourists, along with a few quirky offerings they could talk about once they got back home.

There was a secret menu for the residents, serving up delicacies for the vamps and wolves, and Tess’s special order saltwater taffy latte.

Mine was one of the touristy drinks, but Lir, the main barista and owner, told me he was coming up with something extra special for me, and he’d have a sample to try soon.

I was weirdly nervous about it because I had a human palate.

What could he possibly make for me that would suit my unique biology more than a cortado?

Espresso and milk. Goddess bless the combo.

“What do we have on the docket today?” Moira asked, nose wrinkling when she spotted our cups. She held a delicate teacup, dotted with blue and pink flowers and a thin layer of gold coating around the rim. A light floral fragrance steamed upwards and tickled my nose.

Bergamot. One of Moira’s Earl Grey blends.

It smelled delicious, and I liked tea, but I loved coffee even more.

“That bouquet is still in the walk-in,” Ash said. “We’re already two weeks behind. Maybe we should move that up the priority list.”

“Ugh.” That bouquet was cursed. We’d stuck it in a magic dampening pouch several weeks ago and pushed it to the back of the storage fridge. I meant to take it out much earlier to take another look, but every time I got near it, I got a bad case of the heebie-jeebies.

Men normally didn’t touch their bride’s bouquets, but this one possessed a distinctly male, oily, malevolent feeling. A magical feeling, one not belonging to the natural world.

I went to the fridge and fetched the bouquet, keeping it at arm’s length as I carried it back to the desk. We gathered around and stared at the pouch.

“We should open it,” Tess said. “It’s hard to feel how bad the magic is with the dampening sack.”

“I don’t want to,” Ash muttered.

“She’s right.” Moira sipped her tea. “It’s too late to turn down the job since Evie has already put the client off twice.”

I winced. “I’ve been busy.”

Ash snickered. “Pining over an emotionally unavailable Shifter Lord.”

“Don’t forget engaged,” Tess said.

“He was not engaged when all this nonsense started,” I muttered. “But you’re right.” I threw up my hands. “Fine. Let’s get to the bottom of this creepy bouquet so we can restore it and get it out of our fridge.”

I reached for the pouch, but Moira slapped my hand away.

“I’m the least vulnerable to rogue magic, so I’ll do it.

” She undid the zipper and shook the bouquet out.

All of us stepped back, expecting something to go boom, but nothing happened other than a rose head snapping off and plunking onto the table.

Ash cringed. “Can you fix it?”

“Not sure. I’ll have to figure out what’s causing it first. The preservation spell should have held.” I grimaced as I turned the bouquet over, and two more flowers fell off. It was decomposing before my eyes.

As wedding bouquets go, it was simple but tasteful—a mix of blush roses, cream peonies, baby’s breath, and several other filler flowers wrapped with floral tape and blush-colored ribbon. Probably middle of the range in terms of cost, but cookie-cutter.

I’d guess the bride used a popular wedding planner who earned kickbacks from all the local businesses in the town. We had a planner in Joy Springs, but there was no way to tell where this bride had gotten married. Our shop was well known throughout the state, and our customers came from all over.

Our town’s planner had a touch of magic, so she should have sensed something if she’d met the groom.

While it wasn’t her responsibility to warn the bride, I’m not sure I could have stopped myself.

Inserting myself in other people’s affairs seemed to be my current M.O. One I hoped to correct very soon.