The Shifter's Gift

by Haley Weir

  Belle felt the flutter in her stomach as he turned his attention to her and smiled. It was so wide it split his face, which Belle found endearing. It made her feel like she was the single most important person in the room. She wanted to feel special to someone based on something other than her looks.

  She wondered about the sincerity of the smile, but he opened his mouth and asked, “sorry about the hold up, what can I get you?”

  “Long island iced tea, please.” It was the first time she ever felt shy in front of a man. His voice was so friendly, upbeat, and truly genuine.

  “Sure thing!” he whistled, turned away, and she blinked in surprise. She wasn’t used to men abruptly moving away from her. She often felt like fly tape that hung on the ceiling, and she just attracted every pest within a fifty-yard radius.

  Belle watched as the bartender poured the drink, and she was even more mesmerized by her own hand reaching out to hand him her credit card. “Thanks,” she told him.

  She glanced up and gasped when they finally made eye contact. The light flickering from within the depths of his eyes mirrored her own.

  “What’s the matter?” he frowned at her.

  “Your eyes,” she told him. He whirled and looked in the mirror, then captured his gaze again. He froze, their eyes lit up at the same time, and Belle knew he was going to question her. Instantly, she turned on the stool and bolted out the door.

  Chapter 2

  Scyros cursed when the woman he was serving ran out the door. It wasn’t like he could chase after her; he had to finish his shift. He started working at Salute a couple of months ago, ever since Drakkain had cut him off financially and confiscated his credit cards. Scyros had raged at the time. He told Drake that he would go back to Europe where he had a room at the mansion of the European Council, but Drake pointed out debts don’t know borders and would eventually catch up with him. Scyros took the bartending job despite Drake’s protests that he was needed at night since the war with the Serpentina had heated up.

  “Maybe this will teach you responsibility, and that there are consequences to your actions. Humility is the better part of valor, Scyros.”

  “Fine,” he relented. “I’ll work off the gambling debts. But I don’t see why it’s such an issue. We all get paid per year and it isn’t like dragons don’t have the hordes of gold we are legend for. Plus, you could give me an advance for this year.”

  “Therein lies the problem. You don’t see the issue with an advance. Sure, we have the money, but that’s not the point. We live comfortably because we fight hard. But we don’t squander needlessly, because we are suffering and haven’t dealt with the loss of-”

  “Don’t you dare bring him into this.” Scyros felt his whole body shaking. He hadn’t meant to give Drakkain, Lord of the Dragons, an order. He was by far the youngest dragon in the American dragons and the European clans combined, but one topic he refused to discuss since coming to America was his deceased brother, Cairne. The only thing anyone needed to know about that was he wanted revenge. He got it nightly in the battle against the Serpentina, the female dragons who were responsible for killing Cairne, as well as so many other dragons and innocent people. The Serpentina had turned on the dragon warriors some time ago, and no one knew why. In the all the confusion, Cairne had been caught in the crossfire of the action.

  Drake had taken the two things Scyros had clung to for comfort since Cairne’s death: revenge and risk taking. By benching him, he was left out of the game and unable to continue avenging his brother. He also loved gambling, and the thrill of risking it all. But the tables in town knew who he was, thanks to an anonymous call from Drake tipping them off about Scyros’ problem, so he wasn’t welcome there anymore. Now he was stuck working off the later of the two comforts in this crappy little bar.

  Scyros pulled out his phone and dialed Drake. Even his anger at his leader wouldn’t stop him from doing his duty when necessary.

  “Scyros?” Drake’s low voice came over the line.

  “Hey, you are never going to believe what just sat down at my bar.”

  “What?”

  “A Serpentina.” Scyros slid a brandy across the bar at a suit and tie who had just sat down. The guy gave him a funny look, but quickly lost interest and turned away.

  “That’s impossible.” Drake’s tone was flat.

  “That’s what I thought,” Scyros said. “It’s also why I’m calling you. By the time I realized what was going on, she bolted out the door.”

  “Scyros, what you’re saying isn’t possible. You’re talking about a Serpentina. A feral, vicious she-dragon.”

  “Yeah, I know that. What’s your point Drake?” Scyros was getting annoyed. Wasn’t his boss ever going to take him seriously?

  “They aren’t civilized enough to just walk into a bar and sit down and have a drink. Never mind run away. If she were a Serpentina, she would have attacked you.”

  Scryos sighed. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, but I’m telling you Drake, she didn’t. She got up, didn’t even finish her drink, and left. She looked...surprised. Worried.”

  The phone line was silent for a moment and Scyros thought maybe Drake had hung up on him. “Did she talk to anyone else?” That was an odd question.

  “Yeah, couple of guys came in and tried to chat her up. She told them to scram. She got defensive when they called her out for being rude for turning them down, even though she was pretty polite about it.”

  “That’s most unusual,” Drake commented.

  “I know. It’s why I didn’t sense it before I looked in her eyes, and they were...you know...” Scyros looked at the occupants of the bar. Most of them were so caught up in their own misery they weren’t paying him any attention.

  “On fire?” Drake finished for him.

  “Yeah.”

  “Alright, let’s say it was a Serpentina. What do you think she wanted?”

  “A drink?” Scyros blurted before he had time to think about it.

  “Scyros…” Drake warned.

  “How should I know? She came in, dressed kind of shabby with a backpack and sat down to order a drink. She handed me her credit card and-” Scyros stopped, looking at the receipt train on the register.

  “What? What is it?” Drake demanded.

  “She gave me her credit card. Which means-”

  “Which means Corey can probably trace the bank and address for us,” Drake finished.

  “Do you want me to come-”

  “No. Stay there and finish your shift. I will send Arrlien and Crylaine.”

  “Do you really need to send two warriors for one slip of paper? I can handle this, Drake.”

  “Stay where you are and finish your shift, Scyros. I’m sending Ari and Laine so that one can collect the information for Corey, and the other can scan the area to try and discern where she went. I don’t suppose the bar has a security feed?”

  “It’s disabled.” Scyros felt the burn of anger in his chest. He could just as easily scan Times Square for the Serpentina. Probably a lot faster than Ari and Laine and without being seen because he was younger and smaller. Dragons flew so fast that the only thing humans could see was a passing shadow, a trick of light, but Scyros kept tabs on his stamina, strength, and speed compared to his warrior brothers. It was more likely he would catch up with the Serpentina before his brothers got down to the bar. “Drake, I can help.”

  “I know you can. But I need you to see this through, Scyros.”

  “You don’t understand, I-”

  “It’s decided, Scyros. Get back to work.” Drake hung up and Scyros stared at his phone. He glanced out the window hoping to see the Serpentina. Maybe she went to gather reinforcements. If that was the case, he’d still get his chance to fight. He just couldn’t stand being benched day after day. His skin felt tight, and he knew if he didn’t shift and get in a good fight soon, he was in danger of exposing dragon shifters to the public. Scyros turned back to the patrons at the bar and refilled the glasses for
whoever was asking for more drinks. Normally, he would have chatted up the ones who sat at the bar, especially the females. But today was different. He felt restless and in between glancing at the clock and out the door for the woman to come back, Scyros couldn’t focus on his work.

  “Sky, you okay today? Ever since that girl left you’ve been out of it,” said one of the waitresses, Samantha. Usually the waitresses mixed their own drinks from a mini bar on that side of the restaurant, but when there were special requests, they came to Scyros. They had been coming to him a lot since he started working there. He didn’t mind, but he wasn’t interested in any of them unless it was a casual fling. Laine had warned him about breaking hearts and workplace drama. But what did he know? He was Drake’s second-in-command and too busy with the war to have a job mixed in with humans, but he felt he had to say something to Scyros. He was mated, anyway. His mate Jennifer had almost been just that, a fling. Scyros liked Jennifer, though. In fact, he liked all of his brothers’ mates. Drake’s mate Claire was a pistol, and Ari’s mate Riley was tough as nails. It grated on Scyros that he did not have a mate of his own.

  “Yeah, I’m alright. I just thought I recognized her. That’s all.” He smiled at Samantha but didn’t let it reach his eyes. He could smell the arousal on her. She’d pined for him since he started working there, and he felt bad. The feelings just were not reciprocated. Mingling with humans was complex, and he wanted to tread lightly.

  “Okay. Well I’m here if you need to talk.” She smiled at him and her black ponytail swayed behind her as she turned and walked away. If only he could talk to her about everything that was on his mind.

  Scyros sighed and tried to refocus his efforts on restocking the inventory that his boss had given him that week. He didn’t see the point in taking inventory when the quantities of what they had would fluctuate within an hour. People drank, and they drank a lot. He knew that Scott, the owner of the bar, was just giving him busy work. He was the fastest bartender Scott had, and Sky brought in double the profits because the ladies flocked to him and left generous tips.

  Ari and Laine walked in after Sky finished up topping off his regulars. Scyros used sleight of hand to pilfer the woman’s tab from the pile growing on the receipt spike by the corner of the register.

  “Ari, Laine, what can I get you? On the house.” Ari and Laine smiled at him and gave a polite casual nod, then they each ordered a beer.

  “Can you explain what she looked like?” Ari asked. He finished pouring their drafts and slid the receipt under the rim of Ari’s glass when he told him in depth about her fiery eyes, dark hair, and dark skin.

  “She could be one of us with that description,” Laine mused.

  “She is technically one of us. All Serpentina are,” Ari muttered.

  Scyros felt the heat rise in his chest at that insinuation. Ari of all people should know how unlike the dragon warriors the Serpentina are. He had lost his first mate to the battle, and he knew what it felt like to hate any remaining Serpentina and want them all annihilated.

  “And she didn’t say anything to you at all?”

  “It’s like I told Drake. She was here one second, and the next she was gone.” Scyros scratched his head. He hadn’t had the opportunity to talk with her much, but she had been completely civil. That concerned him the most. How had she shown such restraint? Serpentina seemed to always fly off the handle at the slightest provocation.

  “I’ll take a stroll around the square and see if I can spot her. My concern is that she is off to gather reinforcements and the Serpentina have finally given up caring whether or not humans see us. That will be the catalyst to the war,” Ari offered.

  “I’ll remain here in case she returns with anyone.” Laine turned back to his beer. Ari got up and walked out the door.

  “What can I do?” Scyros cracked his neck and looked at the clock again.

  “Finish your shift, Scyros. Drake wants you here, doing what you need to do to work off your debt.”

  “I can help, Laine!” Scyros hissed at him. The regulars were eyeing Ari and Laine since they walked in the door. The resemblance between all of them was uncanny. He did not want to have talk about his fake family tree, which he knew would be a problem with the waitresses.

  Scyros felt slightly vindicated when Laine got caught fielding questions from various waitresses about whether or not he was single. He was polite and let them down civilly, but it didn’t deter them from wanting to hang around and talk.

  When Ari came back half an hour later, he shook his head and Scyros knew he hadn’t found her. It was strange that she hadn’t come back with reinforcements yet. The usual modus operandi of the Serpentina was to blast in, fire-blazing, without a care about who got caught in the crossfire. His shift wasn’t over for another four hours, and then he could go home to the brownstone near Central Park on Park Avenue to ask Corey if he found anything on the receipt that might help them. During his shift, he hoped for updates and received none. He worried that they would leave him out of the take down, if there was one.

  He was just beginning to drive himself completely insane when the clock finally struck two a.m. The bar had been closed since one. It took him an hour to close out the register and clean up, and then he stepped out the door. Times Square was no less busy at two a.m. then it was during the day time. He had orders to report to Drake every night after his shift, and was usually given some schlub job around the house helping Corey until the night was over and his brothers returned from patrol. Scyros could count on both hands the number of times Drake had let him out of the house to patrol; he was itching to rack up the sky miles.

  He wondered what boring task Drake would order him to tonight, but at the very least he would get to check in with Corey and find out about the receipt. He turned a corner and the Serpentina was standing there, twisting her baggy shirt in her hands, waiting for him.

  Chapter 3

  Belle waited for half an hour for the bartender to finish his shift. She had returned home and debated whether or not she wanted to go back and ask who, or what, he was. His eyes had been on fire. She was certain of that. There was no way she could deny it, because her own had done that from time to time. Belle had always known she was different, but she had never been to a doctor about her concerns or questions. She would be reported as some genetic freak if they started doing any tests.

  This was the first time in Belle’s life that she felt like she might get some answers. When she got home, she ate dinner and resigned herself to go back down and talk to the bartender, but she started second guessing herself. What if he shunned her and thought she was crazy? What if it really was a trick of light?

  Belle considered all the pros and cons of going down there to talk to him. In both categories, he might just call her crazy. But she could live with that, and it would be easy enough to never see him again. On the plus side, she thought, there was so much she could learn about who she was and where she came from. Maybe she could even find her family. There were so many possibilities that Belle decided it would be worth the risk to approach the bartender.

  Next, she had to decide if she would dress up and look presentable. He hadn’t reacted to her appearance, but she always dressed that way to appear less approachable. Maybe he would be more receptive if she put on something nicer? She opted to remain in her baggy clothes and just wait for him. He would either talk to her or he wouldn’t. She knew it was creepy to stand outside and wait for him until he got off his shift, but with the evening crowd coming in, she didn’t think he would have the time to talk until after.

  Belle ate dinner and then did one of her favorite leisure activities before she would walk back down to Times Square and approach him; she worked on her dragon themed jigsaw puzzle. She didn’t know why she was so drawn to them. She loved doing puzzles, looking at the various colors and how the scales blended with one another. Her whole apartment was decorated in jigsaw puzzles that had been completed and glued together. It wasn’t like she had fam
ily photos to adorn her walls. She loved to look at the strength and power of the beasts. She somehow felt connected with them. She knew it was crazy; dragons weren’t real. But what if they were? Belle was currently working on a green dragon. It was her favorite so far. She’d done red dragons, brown, black, and even purple and silver, but green was her favorite color. It reminded her of a place she had never known, but still seemed so familiar. She had a bad case of wanderlust. Sometimes, she sometimes thought she could climb the highest skyscraper in Manhattan, fling herself into the breeze, and fly off on a draft of wind. She knew that was also crazy.

  Belle was working on the eyes. They were her favorite part; lit from within, like her own. Sometimes she liked to pretend dragons were real and she was one of them. Long lost with no connection to humans, which was why she didn’t fit in very well. But maybe, just maybe, she had found someone like her tonight. She could find a place to fit in. Ancestry was a start, so was culture. Even if she never found a blood relative, she would be happy with a cultural connection.

  Belle was giddy with excitement right up until she stood across the street from the bar and she began to question her sanity. She twisted her shirt in her hands and forced herself to remain still. She watched as the bar patrons came and went, and watched for an hour while the bartender cleaned up and cashed out the register. Belle could feel her heart skip a beat when it was time for him to close the door and lock up. As he stepped out, she pushed away from the bollard that she was leaning on and waited for him to turn around.

  When he saw her he jumped in surprise, squinted at her, and then glared. “So, you finally came back, huh? Where’s your back up?”

  “Huh?” Belle looked around. Was he talking to her? “I wanted to talk to you about...your eyes,” she stammered.