Page 24 of Shift of Morals (Shifter Lords #2)

Chapter

Fifteen

H azel and I had a cup of tea once I’d returned from Caelan’s, the witch raising her eyebrows when she spotted my dress but not commenting. Progress for Hazel, that’s for sure.

When she retired with the promise we’d begin testing my magic the next day, I poured myself another cup of Earl Grey and curled up in the rocker on the porch, watching the night pass me by.

My thoughts were hectic and disturbed after the last meeting. It was obvious Caelan wanted me. Shifters were hungry, possessive creatures, and I was too smart to think he loved me. Wanting someone and loving them were two wildly different things.

As to how I felt about Caelan? Mixed. Some days I couldn’t stand him, even as I craved his nearness. “Idiot,” I mumbled to myself. If I were a smart woman, I’d pack my shit and set up shop somewhere else far from here. Ash, Moira, and Tess would come along if I asked.

Fresh starts were underrated.

Sighing, I sipped my tea and closed my eyes as a cool wind blew through the trees.

Night-prowling creatures slithered and preyed on the property, tiny blips to my senses.

Greenery and trees stretched toward the night sky, seeking the moon.

Night-blooming flowers opened, their heady scents tantalizing and mysterious.

I smiled, pushing the rocking chair using the motion of the ball of my foot. As nights went, I’d call it somewhat of a success. Gianna wanted red, white, and blue, and she’d have it, even if it made my inner decorator shrivel up and die.

The wind died down, and with it the noise. My eyes opened abruptly, sensing the unnatural shift in the air. Every plant in the area turned away from the fence, seeking the safety of my wild magic.

Someone or something was out there.

A snapped branch caught my attention. I stood from the chair and went down the stairs, pressing my bare feet into the earth, just in case I needed to call on my power. A familiar scent made me freeze just as a man stepped right outside the property line.

A stranger rested against one of the fence posts, arms crossed over his chest. He smiled at me, a friendly smile if I didn’t know better. The porch lights caught the crimson glow of his eyes.

“Finn.”

“Hello, Evie. Nice night, isn’t it?” His glamour flickered and fell away, revealing the too-handsome Chimera who’d come close to ruining my life.

“It was,” I agreed.

Finn’s smile widened. “You haven’t made use of the gift I gave you. Why ever not?”

“You mean the curse? Why would I use anything you gave me?”

His eyes narrowed as he pushed away from the fence, stopping right at my new wards. Finn lifted a finger and touched the shimmering magic. My wards dropped like water from a bucket, gone as if they’d never existed.

Fuck. It had taken me a full week to create those! Note to self, make the damn things Chimera proof. How? No idea. I might have to zap myself a few times before I figured out how to keep him out.

“Nice try. Few things can keep me from a place I want to be,” he said.

Finn possessed a devastating beauty, one that had gotten me into my current predicament.

Night dark hair, wicked blue eyes, and lips made for sin, the man was beautiful, and he knew it.

I’d met him on a trip after my divorce from the man I refused to think about, danced the night away, and met him in a field of thistle on a cold Scottish night.

I thought I might have been falling in love, but as soon as Finn and I were alone and he’d scented me, my life was over.

He’d left me for dead in that field, broken and violated, and the only reason I was alive now was due to the kindness of a witch who’d taken me to her home and showed me my life still had worth.

“Stay back,” I warned.

“Or what?” he asked as he drew ever closer. “Why do you push me away when I’m the only one who can help you become what you’re meant to be? We are the last Chimeras alive, Evie. Together we can repopulate the world.”

“Um.” I stared at him in horror. “That’s going to be a hard pass. Children are not in my future.” Especially not with him.

“The Chimera gift is difficult to survive, it’s true. You are not the first I’ve marked, but you’re the only one who’s survived.” He stood about a foot away, his hands loose at his side, but I didn’t trust his casual posture. I knew how fast the man could move.

Finn tilted his head and studied me. “I didn’t mean to mark you.” He closed his eyes and inhaled. “But your scent.”

I took a step backward.

“What can I say? It drove me wild and kicked old instincts I thought I no longer possessed into overdrive.”

The old fear and despair and disgust I felt when I thought about what happened to me on that field rose like a wave. My throat tightened and hot tears pricked the backs of my eyes. “Leave, Finn,” I said hoarsely.

He ignored my command. Magic welled inside me, the property alert and waiting for my command.

Finn put his hands in his pockets, affecting a casual air, but I knew he was the most dangerous thing on my property tonight. “Acting as a florist for a Lord is beneath you. Why do you insist on menial jobs when you can be a queen?”

“Your queen.”

“Who else’s?” He clicked his tongue. “I’ve already touched the Lord’s wedding in ways not even he will expect. Continue with your work. It won’t matter soon, anyway. Those flowers you plot so meticulously won’t be for a wedding when I’m finished.” His smile hinted of madness.

I took another step backward and turned to run, aching for the safety of my house, but Finn darted out, his hand wrapping around my arm like a vise.

I lashed out with my magic, and the property rose to defend me. The earth rumbled beneath our feet, bucking us both off balance. A sharp pain ripped down my arm, and I tore away from his grip, throwing out a palm crackling with magic.

It collided with Finn. His bark of pain settled my resolve, but when I tried again, a tearing, horrific pain in my chest sent me to my knees.

Finn’s bloody grin loomed above. Wild vines blooming with purple and crimson flowers rose from the ground, tangling around me.

My bones cracked and shifted, the tips of my fingers turning to lethal claws.

Every vein in my skin glowed golden, a low keening from my throat the only sound I could make.

My hair lifted from my shoulders, floating around my head and neck, as power crackled through the air.

“Finn,” I moaned, my voice a low, distorted moan of pain. Never-ending pain.

“Let it be, Evie,” Finn urged. “Your transformation is almost complete.”

I forced my innate power into my veins, but it couldn’t compete with the Chimera’s magic. The shift forced itself upon me, skin and bones morphing and shifting, flickering in and out of different forms, human, non-human, Magic poured into the ground, the sky, my body, burning me alive.

Finn’s dark laughter echoed above until he popped out of existence, leaving me to die alone.

Again.

My eyes fluttered shut, the pain too much to bear. Darkness claimed me a moment later.

“Evangeline.”

The voice was a wild forest in the tangles of my mind, a rumbling thunderstorm bringing me out of my pain.

My eyes opened.

Cernunnos, the fae king, crouched beside me, a glowing hand resting on my shoulder.

“Am I dead?” I croaked.

The god’s mouth tightened. “Dying,” he confirmed.

“Shit,” I breathed.

“An understatement.” Healing magic flowed through my body. “I cannot interfere more than to give you more time.”

“I can’t handle the magic,” I whispered. “It’s too much.”

“You must. Or you die.” Cernunnos wore simple brown pants and his chest was bare. His moss-covered antlers glowed with bioluminescent fungi, and his eyes glowed with ancient magic.

“Where’s Hazel?”

“Inside. Trapped by my magic for now. She cannot help with this. You must accept the Chimera, Evangeline. You’ve gone far too long with dual magics. Your body is failing.”

I hissed as I moved my arm, realizing with horror that Finn had damaged my thistle tattoo. Slapping a hand over it, I tried to sit up, unable to do so without assistance.

Cernunnos braced one muscular arm behind me, gently raising me until I could sit up on my own. Mostly.

“That is the least of your worries.”

“Not true,” I muttered. “If anyone scents what I am, I’ll sign my death warrant.”

“Won’t matter if you die on the ground,” Cernunnos said simply. “Choose. Death or rebirth.”

My lower lip wobbled. “I don’t want this.”

“Few good people want power thrust upon them. Becoming Chimera is not a death sentence. It is…new. That is all.”

Our eyes met. “I won’t be like Finn.”

His mixed color eyes swirled with power.

“Finn was like this before he was changed. Power has only corrupted him over time. You are not like him and never will be.” He lifted his hand, leaving behind a glowing, golden palm mark behind.

“Dark days are coming, and you must be prepared to meet them at full strength.”

“I don’t want to give up my Floromancy,” I whispered.

Cernunnos studied me for a moment before he tilted my chin up with his index finger. I shivered at the power crackling against my skin. “That was never a worry. Your Floromancy comes from the very heart of the world, a blessing from the oldest goddess herself.”

A tear slipped down my face. “You promise.”

Cernunnos smiled, the gesture one of terrible sadness.

“Gods are not in the business of promises, daughter of the earth, but in this…” He laid a hand over his heart.

“In this, I promise your Floromancy will remain. Perhaps changed, but forever there. The earth will still answer your call. This is not a death sentence unless you make it one. Change, Evie. Embrace who you are meant to be.”

Fear, my ever-present companion, made my fingers tremble. “Stay with me?” I whispered.

“Always,” Cernunnos promised.

The competing magics burned inside my body, snapping against each other, tearing my insides apart. I reached for the god’s hand, not caring about showing weakness, and let my magic go.

I let go of everything. I let go of what it meant to be Evie Quinn, Floromancer and local florist, of what it meant to be confused and angry and hurt. I let go of past transgressions and mistakes and let the magic do with it what it would.

“Remake me,” I whispered to the winds.

And the magic responded.

I sank into unconsciousness once again, the pain too much to bear, and awoke only at the barked sound of my name when Ben’s familiar scent washed over me.

If I could shift, I would turn into a wren and fly away to avoid him seeing me like this, but I was as weak as a newborn kitten. Warm hands and blue healing light settled on my body.

The front door slammed open, Hazel’s accented voice speaking rapidly.

“We need to get her inside,” Ben murmured. “She’s lost a lot of blood.”

A scream tore from my throat as Ben lifted me.

“Shh, baby. I got you. I’m so sorry.” His deep voice rumbled over me, concern thick in his tone.

Ben cradled me gently against his chest as he carried me. Every cell in my body screamed in agony. All I could do was whimper and wish for death.

When he laid me down, I gagged in pain.

Ben hissed. “I’m almost done. Hazel is getting something for the pain.”

I opened my eyes to see Ben on his knees next to me, palms glowing with blue light. Hazel’s herbal scent washed over me.

“A little stick and burn, Evie.”

The needle went into my arm, blissful relief flowing through my body almost immediately. I moaned. “Hazel.”

“Hush, child. Rest now. Let this healer work on you. We’ll talk later.”

My skin knitted under Ben’s careful ministrations, the shifter’s eyes glowing bright blue. I could barely keep my eyes open, but Ben and Hazel’s murmured conversation kept me conscious. Barely.

“She was smoking,” Ben murmured. “Covered in thorns and blooms and magic I’ve never seen or sensed before, crimson magic all over her and soaking the ground.”

Hazel sucked in a breath.

“What is she?” he asked.

“Some questions are never meant to be answered. If you’re smart, you’ll let this one lie.”

A low growl sounded.

“Don’t you growl at me,” Hazel snapped. “I know how to neuter a dog just as well as a man.”

A surprised snort from Ben.

And blissful unconsciousness.