Page 66 of Shifting Hearts

PROLOGUE

Two Years Later

Emilia

Crystal Falls Paranormal Investigations

I t does have a nice ring to it. It looks even better carved in steel above the old stone building we rebuilt together. Third door on Main Street. Right next to the best coffee in town.

We solve what humans can’t explain and what the supernatural world doesn’t want explained.

Business is good. We’re good. And most days, that feels like a miracle.

“I told you he wasn’t human,” I mutter, flipping my tarot cards out on the desk.

Lucian leans against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, wearing that familiar smirk -the one that says I told you not to go into that alley alone.

“He was mostly human,” he says.

“His eyes were on backwards, Lucian.”

“That could’ve been a birth defect.”

I throw a card at him. “You’re a menace.”

“But you’re still in love with me.”

“Don’t remind me.”

He’s wearing jeans and a half-buttoned black shirt that still makes my thighs tighten when he leans too close. His gun’s holstered low on his hip, but his eyes… those haven’t softened at all.

We get a call.

Mysterious death at the edge of Crystal Lake. Could be a vampire. Could be another drowned spirit. Could be something new entirely.

Lucian’s already pulling his coat on. “You coming, witch?”

I smirk, grabbing my deck. “Try and stop me, wolf.”

He tosses me the keys to the truck. “You drive.”

“You trust me with your baby?”

“You crashed her once already. What’s the worst that can happen?”

I grin. “You always say that.”

We head out just before sunset and he drives anyway. But only because I let him. Because no matter how many monsters we track and no matter how dark the night gets, I know how this story ends.

With him.

With me.

With us.

Always.