by Reina Torres
“I didn’t blow it up.” Xavier’s hold on the bottle was tight enough to turn his knuckles pale in the sunlight. “There was a flaw in the design.”
“The flaw,” Locke reminded him, “was in drinking while the still was working. But this,” Locke tipped his bottle at Xavier, “is just you avoiding me.”
“I’m letting you sit in my house. Leave it at that.”
Xavier fixed his gaze out of the window and looked at the first stars appearing overhead and turned away. He didn’t want to look at anything like that. Things that burned with beauty weren’t for him.
He had to be careful.
He had to keep his focus on what was important.
What was going to keep himself sane.
The inelegant snort of sound from his panther made him snarl back, earning him a laugh from Locke.
“Sounds like your cat isn’t making things any easier than I am.”
“Both of you could learn to butt out of my business. I can’t take it out on him,” Xavier gestured at his chest where he could feel his panther stirring inside of him, “but I can still cut you to ribbons.”
“I’ll heal.” Locke sat back and set the bottle on his knee as he blew out a breath. “So, what’s this I hear about you coming to the rescue with that woman from the city?”
Xavier felt a door slam shut inside of him. No.
No, he was not going to talk about it, because he didn’t even understand ‘it’ in the first place.
True Sinclair walked right into his… vicinity and suddenly everything was off. His world had lurched and tilted as if the earth under his feet had shaken loose.
He didn’t like that feeling. Hated it.
Needed it to stop.
That’s why he’d taken off as soon as help, real help, had arrived.
His presence there hadn’t done any good for him.
He just hoped that he was done.
With the bar.
And with True Sinclair.
Because if he wasn’t, if he had to be around her anymore, he might have to consider heading further up into the mountains until she was gone.
His panther drove him to his knees, straight out of his chair, his bottle spilling across the floor.
Locke got down on one knee, leaning close enough to meet Xavier’s eyes when he turned his head. “Looks like your cat has a few things to say about whatever’s going on in your head. While you two are arguing amongst yourselves, I’m going to clean up your mess.” He got to his feet, and all Xavier could do was watch the lion walk away toward the kitchen.
Turning his attention inward, Xavier made his feelings known with a sharp growl. What?
We’re staying. Here.
Here. In the house? Fine.
Here, the cat snarled back, with True.
Xavier laid himself out on the ground and let out a pent-up breath. His head touched the wooden floorboards with a hard knock, and the pain was worth it. He needed some peace and quiet in his head.
Locke returned and dropped a wet cloth on his chest.
“What the hell?”
Laughing, Locke sat himself back in the other chair and took another drink from his bottle. “I figured that since you were already down there, you could do a better job of cleaning up.”
Sitting up on his elbow, Xavier glared at his friend. “So, I clean up while you drink my alcohol?”
Locke took another long drag on the bottle and sighed at the end. “Sounds good to me. If you don’t like the idea, get your cat to help. He’s the one that started this.”
Xavier pulled the wet cloth from the front of his shirt and flung it in Locke’s face. “Fuck you.”
He should have knocked Locke on his ass, but Xavier liked his chair too much. And his friend had done one thing right.
Taken his mind off of True Sinclair.
Oh, shit.
He let his head fall back onto the floor with a thud.
When True woke, she lay still for a moment, struggling to remember where the day had gone. The world around her felt warm and inviting, and she lifted her hands to touch her face, gently gathering her thoughts before opening her eyes.
“Well, hello there!”
True opened her eyes and saw a feminine face in her field of vision. Grey and white hair made a startling frame around her delicate features, and True tried to find the words, any words, to speak.
“Glad you’re awake now, sweetheart. Celeste was starting to worry.”
Celeste?
True sat up and felt the world waver around her again.
“Hey, hey… easy.”
Celeste.
True recognized Celeste’s voice and clung to it like a lifeline.
It was even better when she felt Celeste sit down beside her on the couch and set her arm around her shoulders. She’d spent some time with Aaron after she’d met Locke and Xavier, and now Celeste was there, taking care of her.
True felt horrible. “I’m so sorry, Celeste.”
“Sorry for what?” Celeste’s hand rubbed up and down True’s upper arm. “When Aaron told me what happened, I had to come. And it was good that I did. It’s always fun to spend time with Wren.” Celeste gestured at the other woman in the room, and True felt her cheeks warm with shame.
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “I didn’t introduce myself.”
“No need to apologize, my dear.” Wren moved closer and sat down on the coffee table, folding one leg over the other as she adjusted her long flowing skirt with a flutter of her hands. “You were out like a light when I arrived. I don’t think anyone expected you to extend a hand in greeting.” Wren spared Celeste a smile before leaning forward to touch her palm to the side of True’s face.
The gentle, nurturing gesture felt familiar.
“And really, it was worth all the hustle and bustle to see our pretty panther all riled up.”
True tilted her head slightly as her mind struggled to understand the words she was hearing. Pretty panther… pretty p-
“Xavier?”
“Ah!” Wren sat back, bringing her hands together with a soft clap. “I see you’ve met our dark-tempered friend.”
True certainly couldn’t argue with her description, because it was accurate on its face, but personally, she took umbrage with it. She just couldn’t say anything at that moment. Her thoughts where Xavier were concerned were already confusing. She didn’t have much to say to either woman that wouldn’t invite conversation or questions. She wasn’t ready for either.
“I’m sorry,” Wren’s voice was softer, her expression contrite. “I do like to tease, sometimes when I ought not to. And really,” she looked over at Celeste as if she was seeking her agreement, “Xavier is somewhat of a mystery to most.”
“What do you mean?”
Sitting back in the broadly dramatic way that True recognized as Wren’s own special personality, the older woman lifted up a hand to pat at her curly mop of hair. “With the exception of Celeste here, Xavier doesn’t have time for women, let alone humans.”
The declaration, made as a matter-of-fact comment, hit True deep in her middle.
“Don’t let Wren get under your skin too much, True.” Celeste bumped her shoulder against True’s. “She likes to gossip more than anyone I know, but there’s not a mean bone in her body.”
True gave the other woman a good look, narrowing her eyes to focus on her energy and what was just beneath the surface. “What kind of bird are you?”
Then, as the two women sat in stunned silence, True wanted to shake herself in frustration. “Unless your name is the clue.”
Wren spoke first, even though True could see the questions in Celeste’s eyes as well. “Well,” she cleared her throat, “my mother called me magpie for I do so love sparkly things, but there’s enough human mixed into my family tree that I really don’t have the ability to shift.”
The other woman’s face looked paler than it had been, and True pulled in a breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be
rude.”
Wren’s laughter was almost real, and True felt even worse.
“Not rude, my dear. I’m just not used to new folks in town zeroing in on it so quickly.”
Celeste took hold of one of True’s hands and gave it a squeeze. “I know you come from Sylvan City, but being human,” she gave True a curious little look, “I didn’t think you’d figure things out so quickly.”
True understood only too well. It was only a short while ago that a single act of violence had revealed shapeshifters to the world at large. The mayor’s daughter in Sylvan City would have been shot if one of the local police officers had not shifted to save her life.
On live TV, there was no way to shove that tiger back in the bag.
After that Sylvan City became the go-to city for shifters to live if they wanted to live openly.
“My family has lived in Sylvan for somewhere around a century. If you ask my mother’s people, they’ll tell you that they founded it, but I wouldn’t swear to it as gospel truth. Some of my family on her side are a little…”
“Dramatic?” Wren asked with a big grin.
“Narcissistic,” True corrected. “It’s all about them all the time. In fact, I think some of them live to fight over the littlest things, so I just don’t engage. And it’s also why I jumped at the chance to come here to Mystic. All of this clean air to clear my head.”
Celeste nodded in agreement. “Maybe all that clean air got to you a little too much? I’m glad that Aaron brought Wren to see you. She’s our local healer here. We don’t have need for a human doctor even at the worst of times.”
True watched as Celeste rubbed her hands over her rounded belly. From what she understood, Celeste had twins in college, but that was with her former husband. Now, as the mate of a Polar Bear, she was set to become a mother a second, or was it third, time around?
There was no way to mistake the glow of health around Celeste, and it seemed as though Aaron’s mark had given her a measure of his own innate healing ability.
“True?”
Shaking herself free of her mental wanderings, True looked at Celeste and smiled at her gently furrowed brow. “Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.”
Wren didn’t say a word, but True looked over at the fascinating woman who was equal parts Woodstock and Professor Trelawney and saw her curiosity clearly written in her expression. “Funny you should say that…” Her thoughts drifted off as did her attention. Getting up on her feet, Wren turned to Celeste and gave her a cheery kiss on each cheek and headed for the door.
“Wren?” True stood and found herself steady on her feet.
Turning about at the door, Wren swept her mass of curls from her face. “What is it, dear?”
Looking back and forth between the two women, True struggled to find the words. “Were you… did you… have something you wanted to tell me?”
The furrow between Wren’s brows deepened at the thought. “Hmm… maybe?”
True drew in a breath to steady herself because her thoughts were all over the place. “Maybe?”
Wren waved it off. “Well, whatever it is will keep for another day. If it was something you needed to hear right now, I would have remembered it. Fare thee well, my dear. Fare thee well.”
And before True could reconcile the moment in her head, Wren was gone.
She blinked and blinked again to clear her thoughts and only succeeded in stirring them up even more making her head muddy in the process. “That was… something.”
Celeste laughed from her stationary seat on the couch. “That certainly is one way to describe it. She might not be able to take the form of a bird, but our Wren certainly can flit about like one.”
True’s troubled mind understood that.
She gave the other woman a hesitant smile. “Are you having second thoughts about hiring me?”
The shocked look on Celeste’s face had True regretting the question. “Celeste, I-”
“Why do I think that you’re harder on yourself than any other person could ever be?”
Trying to strike a balance between her self-confidence woes and the less than favorable impression she’d made on Xavier earlier in the day, True returned to the couch and sat down beside Celeste. “Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this to the woman who hired me, but yes, I’m always hard on myself. I spend so much time in life trying to avoid the negativity, that I think I try to over-compensate and end up being doubly-negative.”
Celeste’s expression went a long way to soothing True’s worries.
“You do know that a double negative is supposed to be a positive, right?”
True agreed. “But I want you to know that I really am good at my job. I’m going to do everything I can to make your opening a fantastic success.”
A few heart-pounding moments later, Celeste spoke as she reached over and took True’s hand in her own.
“I’m not worried about the opening, True. Your talent is going to make our bar the envy of the shifter world. I just want to make sure that you know you have me to talk to about the rest.”
“The rest-” True had to stop parroting people when she was confused. Most told her it was cute, but she found herself biting the inside of her cheek to get her thoughts under control. “You mean Xavier.”
Celeste’s smile held a warmth in it. “Did you know?” She didn’t wait for an answer to her ambiguous question, she continued on. “Did you know that he came to the cottage when you fainted?”
What?
Thank goodness she was sitting down, because the idea of Xavier seeing her so weak and unconscious. “Goodness, he already has a thing about humans, and he had to see me out like a light. I can only imagine the look on his face.” She turned to look at Celeste. “Now he’ll avoid me like the plague.”
Celeste’s smile changed ever so slightly. It wasn’t pity in her eyes, but… amusement?
“Oh, he might try to avoid you, but I don’t think he’ll be able to.” All True could do was gape at the other woman. “He held you, True. Wrapped those amazing arms of his around you and held you close. Aaron said he’d never seen Xavier so concerned, about anyone.” She opened her mouth to say something, but an odd grimace touched her features. “Oh,” Celeste rubbed at her belly, “someone’s getting restless.”
Almost on cue, a soft knock sounded at the door.
“And there’s daddy, ready to take us home and rub my feet.”
The sound that came from Celeste as True moved across the room to open the door almost made True blush. Opening the door, True stepped back as Aaron entered with purpose. He strode across the room and swept his mate up in his arms, placing a not-so-chaste kiss on her lips as he held her close.
“Would you like to come to dinner at our home tonight?”
True heard the real welcome in Aaron’s tone, but she also saw the bright look of love in his eyes and swore she could feel the waves of longing rolling off both of them. “I’ll be all right. I think I might need a little extra sleep tonight to acclimate myself to Mystic Mountain.”
“Hmm… okay.” Aaron flickered a look in her direction before he turned his focus back to his mate. “Just know that the offer is open anytime.”
She shut the door after they left and set the lock before she moved past the couch, grabbing the blanket off of the back, and entering her bedroom.
The whole room was, in a word, lovely. It had all the creature comforts of home and really, shifters knew about creature comforts. The mattress and linens felt like a cloud under her body, and she didn’t even bother crawling under the covers. Grasping the extra pillow beside the one her own head rested on, True wrapped her arms around it and held it close.
He held you, True.
Celeste’s words echoed in her head, and while they touched her lips with a smile, they also reminded her that her luck with men was just that bad. The hottest man she’d ever seen had held her in his arms, cradled her against his incredible chest, and she couldn’t even remember it?
Wrapping her
arms tighter around the second pillow she rubbed her cheek against its softness. “Well, here’s to tomorrow and not making a complete idiot of myself.”
As she drifted off to sleep, she swore she could hear laughter.
Yep, she sighed, just my luck.
Four
True wasn’t sure that she’d ever had good dreams, at least not one that she could remember, but her bad dreams didn’t have much in the way of variety. It was one of her first memories as a child and left her terrified for days.
She had been falling. Falling for what seemed like forever and she woke up right at the moment when she was sure she was going to hit the bottom. For some reason it had been her cousin Lorna there when she woke up. Instead of calming True, she just sat there staring, and it had ramped up True’s fear and anxiety. And that’s when she’d started to sniffle and feel tears slowly slip across her cheeks.
“Don’t snivel.” Lorna’s tone had been hard, curt. “You don’t need to cry.”
But that hadn’t had the effect that she’d wanted because True’s hold on her composure slipped, and she started to sob and hiccup as her eyes watered with tears.
Fear turned to terror when her cousin lost her patience. She’d grabbed True’s arms and shook her hard. “Stop it!”
And that’s when the dream came roaring back. But not the fall. That was a small mercy, perhaps, but the feel of her cousin’s fingers digging into her upper arms brought even more into her mind.
“Don’t!” True had struggled to breathe and talk, so the word came out like air squeezing out of the mouth of a balloon. “Don’t!”
“Don’t what?” Her cousin’s voice sounded like the screech of a hawk diving for a meal, demanding answer.
“Don’t push me over!”
Those were the last words she’d said for a week. Her cousin had made sure of that. She’d slapped her hand over True’s mouth and leaned in close, hissing into her ear. “Shut up! Do you hear me? Don’t you dare say that!”
And even when she didn’t try to say another word, it didn’t stop there.
Lorna took her straight to the mudroom of the house and kicked a bucket over by the sink before she’d set True down on the bottom of the bucket. At that height she could lean over and drink from the faucet, but that wasn’t the aim.
