Moonlit Feathers

by Sarah Makela

  "Give me a moment, then I'll be able to talk with you further." I glanced around the corner at him, peeking out just my head and neck. He stood at average height, and his broad, muscular shoulders tapered into a narrow waist that made me think of a professional swimmer's physique. My mouth went dry as I wondered what his chest looked like.

  He peeled off his jacket while I watched him. "You can borrow my coat." His biceps flexed as he held it out for me. I started to protest, but he tossed it on the grass and turned around. "I insist."

  I leaned down and grabbed the leather jacket, keeping an eye on his back as I reached for it. For a guy as lean as he was, I thought the jacket might not cover me, but it did. It hung just to my upper thigh, showing lots of leg, but it could've been worse. I zipped it up and stepped around the corner.

  He kept his gaze straight ahead, as if unsure whether to turn around. Although from the stiffening of his shoulders, I knew he could hear me approach. I still walked a little louder than I normally would.

  The jacket rode up a little in the back, showing more skin than I wanted, and I tugged it down before I walked past to face him. "Hi."

  The blond-haired man stared at me without speaking, his blue gaze sliding down my body to my smooth legs. He fumbled out a few guttural sounds, then cleared his throat and tried again. "Uh, hi. Sorry. Guess I didn't expect..." He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, then chuckled. "Yeah, I'm tongue-tied."

  I wrapped my arms around me just under my chest. His reaction made me a little nervous. It had been a while since any guy had looked at me like that, and I wasn't sure I liked it—not after losing the one man who’d managed to get close to me. Grief clawed at my throat, forcing up all the feelings I tried so hard to shut down.

  "That's fine, Mr...?" I trailed off expectantly.

  "Call me Cody. No need to be formal with me." The guy grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets. There weren't any goosebumps on his bare arms, so he wasn't actually cold. His gaze rose toward the twilight sky, where the moon slowly waxed toward full. Could he be a shifter too? If he was, he certainly didn't appear very intimidating. I couldn't get a good read on him, aside from his obvious attraction to my human form.

  "Okay then, Cody. How can I help you?" I brought my gaze up to meet his. He had a sort of frat boy appeal to him, and I wondered if he was attending Hastings-Albrecht University. I'd given up my dreams of college as a preteen. Instead of school, I went with what I was best at—finding treasure like my dad. That was learned outside of the classroom.

  "Well..." He looked around the woods surrounding my house, as if something would jump out at him. "Can we go inside? I don't feel comfortable discussing—" He stopped himself, then flashed me a friendly smile. "Errr...yeah. Besides, I'm sure you'd feel a lot better in there too." He lowered his gaze again before dragging it back to my eyes.

  I nodded. I'd definitely feel more comfortable with him not staring at me like that. I cleared my throat, but instead of saying anything, I turned on my heel and walked toward the front door.

  "Turn around please," I said. I’d have to bend over and potentially show my butt because I kept my spare key under one of the potted plants. Carrying keys in my raven form was difficult at best.

  He frowned at me, but did as I asked. "So, uh, how long have you been in town?"

  I glanced up at his back, wishing he'd stop trying to make small talk. But he was trying to be civil, I guess, and we were both in a kind of awkward position. He probably hadn't expected the person he needed help from to be strolling around naked.

  "Let's just get inside and discuss what brings you here, okay?" I didn't want to be rude to Cody, but I desperately wanted to get this over with, especially after my conversation with Kevin. Even if I knew it was probably a good idea, how could he think I’d be able to move on so quickly? Pain surrounded me, and I could barely recognize myself at times.

  When I slid the key into the lock, Cody turned around. He frowned at me, his face a little more serious than it'd been before. I couldn't say I blamed him. I’d been a little more firm than I'd intended, but a long, hot bath was calling to me. The flight home had made my aches and pains turn into sharp, shooting stabs going through my arms and back.

  I rolled my shoulders and neck a little, before I realized what that might do to the jacket, and promptly stopped. He wasn't casting admiring stares anymore, and I didn't know how to feel about that. Maybe I’d enjoyed his gaze on me. Maybe I did need to stop getting in my own way. One thing was for sure: if he was here for a job of any kind, then he was off-limits for the duration. I wasn't the kind of gal to mix business with pleasure.

  We walked into the living room, and I waved my hand toward the couch for him, while I claimed the armchair. It was best to keep a little bit of space between us. I wasn't exactly sure how much he could see when I sat in his jacket. I should've just gone off to my bedroom to change, but the sooner he left, the sooner I'd regain my space.

  I grabbed a notepad and a pen from the end table, which I kept there for business calls. I always like to be prepared when I need to remember information. My memory’s pretty solid, but I've gotten things mixed up before, and I don’t ever want to repeat that experience.

  "So, Cody, tell me why you're here." I held the pen over the paper and looked up at him expectantly.

  His frown had deepened, and he looked from me to his hands. "To the point, I guess. You probably get a lot of people needing your help, but this is different. I'm not trying to get rich or find some kind of archaic curiosity." He let out a breath then took in another. "You know the tornadoes that ripped through in April, right?"

  I nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

  "My family lost the house we’ve lived in for many generations." He shook his head and ran his hands through his blond hair, keeping his head bowed like that for a moment. "We had many irreplaceable Native American artifacts, one of which had magical properties." He raised his gaze to mine when he said it, as if expecting scorn or disapproval.

  I gave neither, since I knew magic existed. He didn't need to try to convince me about that. I'd dealt with the consequences of someone playing with it before. "Go on."

  He dropped his gaze to the pink, white, and grey Southwestern-style rug on the floor beneath the coffee table for a moment. "When the house was destroyed, we dug through the wreckage, and we were able to find most of our belongings, except my family's sacred talisman. We looked for it everywhere, and when we didn’t find it, we assumed it hadn’t survived." Letting out a long sigh, he frowned up at me. "It seems like we were wrong."

  My heart clenched in my chest, and warning bells rang out in my head. No... No way could I take this on. Not when I'd lost Ezra in my last search for a magical artifact. This wasn't a good fit for me anymore. If he needed to find some buried treasure, or wanted me to search through some catacombs in Italy, I was his girl.

  This? No, I didn't want to rip that scab off.

  Chapter Six

  Cody

  Something akin to panic flashed through the lady treasure hunter's eyes at the mention of the talisman. I'd heard from my archeology professor who used her services that she handled things like this, so I wasn't sure why she looked so worried. Maybe she knew more than I did. Regardless, the whole encounter had started off on the wrong foot.

  "It's out there," I continued. "I saw proof of it last night in the forest."

  "Proof?" She cocked her head at me like a bird, all while scribbling in her notepad. My coyote leaned forward, not keen on having to explain ourselves.

  "Yeah, I—" Her cell phone rang, cutting me off, and I sat back on the couch, trying to remain patient. My coyote saw the woods outside and paced in my chest, ready to run free again. The red duffel bag I used to carry clothes was tucked behind a tree out of sight. We'd cut through the forest to come here, but it was never enough for him. College had made us more restless than usual. Or maybe it was the magic. Power hummed quietly beneath my feet, spreading out from the ley
-line, and the coyote reacted each time it waxed and waned. I pondered that while she took the call, doing my best not to listen in.

  "Morgana, I'm glad you picked up. There's something you should—" Apparently, my curious coyote didn't mind snooping, not that I was surprised by that after the library fiasco. But his inquisitive nature had been helpful finding out about the talisman, so I couldn't be too hard on him. After all, it was in his nature to snoop and be aware of his surroundings. On the other hand, she deserved her privacy, but how could I explain moving away so as not to hear both ends of the phone call? Sooner or later, I would slip if I paid too close attention, but that didn’t seem to worry my coyote.

  She returned her gaze to me and pursed her lips as if in thought. "Sorry, Kevin, now isn't a good time. I'll call you back later." When she hung up, she messed with the phone a little more as if sending a text, then set it aside again. There was an elegance to her movements that drew me in. I was impressed that she'd set aside time to talk with me, someone she didn't know, after I showed up unannounced. Sure, she was beautiful, but there was more to it than that.

  She seemed to be around my age, but I'd never seen her around Woodland Creek. With a little over three thousand residents, that wasn't easy. The college was a decent size, but not big enough that I wouldn't have seen her before, so I could only wonder if she locked herself away from everyone else on purpose. I preferred to have some distance from the everyday worries of humans myself. It was hard enough trying to survive the college lifestyle with a rambunctious coyote. Bars and other normal hangouts weren't my thing.

  I couldn't help but drink in the brisk, somewhat aggressive, black-haired woman in front of me. This chick was different. I could tell she was a shifter, since she didn't smell like any human I'd ever been around. The way she carried herself and her focused attention spoke of strong self-control brought to mind something predatory. Regardless of the type of shifter she was, she exuded strength in a no-nonsense way that was admirable, even though I sensed an enormous amount of pain floating off her. She came across a bit like a wounded animal, and I hated seeing anyone like that.

  "We should grab some coffee tomorrow." The words spilled from my lips before I could hold them back. At her frown, I continued in a rush, "So I can tell you more about the talisman and the proof, of course. Besides, it's getting late, and you have to call Kevin back." I hated how desperate I sounded, when I’d never struggled to ask anyone out before. The slightest bit of jealousy crept into my voice, and I gave her a crooked smile to defuse it. I felt like an idiot, but my coyote seemed to approve.

  She frowned at me, watching me closely for a moment as if I might pounce, but then nodded in acceptance. "Okay, that sounds fine." Picking her phone back up, she tapped it a few times, then glanced at me once more. "How about four o'clock?"

  Penciled in. Ouch. My teeth ground at her needing to schedule time with me, but I forced myself to relax my jaw. The last thing I wanted was for her to see how much it annoyed me. It wasn't exactly a new experience. My siblings never wanted to spend any time with their white brother. They allocated me as little time as possible, and instead played with others who shared their heritage more strongly.

  She was probably just busy with other clients and didn't want to overlap appointments. "Yeah, that's good. My classes end around three, so I'll be free." Something about her made me want to try for more than a strictly business relationship. Maybe I was a sucker for rejection. Who knew? Maybe it was my coyote hoping for the best, a place to finally belong. Someone to spend time with who mattered to me.

  With even my own blood not wanting to be near me, I'd had more than my share of trouble growing up. Part of me always longed to head out into the woods and lose myself. If I followed my coyote, maybe he would be my light in the dark. But I never gave in, fearing the isolation from humans might twist me into a feral inhuman monster, like the witikos of Cree folklore.

  "Good. If you have any pictures of the item or the proof, please bring them with you tomorrow. I..." Pausing, she fidgeted with the phone for a moment, scratching at its edge as if nervous. "This doesn't mean we have a deal, you understand. I just want to get all the facts before I decide whether I'll be taking on the job. It's better for me to have a full understanding of what I might be looking for. Small details make all the difference." She stood in my jacket, and I glanced down at her long legs again before I could stop myself. Her gaze followed mine, and she drew her arms around her chest. "Just stay here for a moment. I'll be right back with your jacket."

  I watched her go, unable to help myself. Beneath my skin, my coyote nipped at me, wanting me to follow and give her a great time to wash away that sadness weighing her down. Then I'd be no better than that creep Donnie...but he ultimately hadn't been rejected. I ran my hands through my hair again. If she didn't take me on, what would I do? I hadn't really thought that might be a possibility, even though I was a college student living paycheck-to-paycheck, and I bet she catered to the wealthy. Her house was much bigger than my family's had been before the tornado.

  She had to agree to help me.

  Chapter Seven

  Morgana

  I shut the bedroom door behind me, feeling my pulse start to race. My breath came out in harsh pants, as if I'd just run a freaking marathon. The way I'd felt in front of Cody was too much for me. I didn't want to feel any different about him than I did any other client, but something about him had caught me off-guard. He was charming and nice to me. Something about him made me think of how Ezra had been at the beginning of our relationship. I slammed that mental door shut and bit my lower lip, hard.

  I'd shrugged out of a pair of jeans and red t-shirt earlier before I'd gone flying, so I slipped into a pair of red lacy panties and a matching bra before putting that outfit back on. They had only been worn for a few hours, so the jeans and shirt weren't nasty. Besides, I'd been pretty clean after that long bath last night. Memories of it made me crave another. Cody would need the coat if he were to walk wherever home was for him. The weather was beginning to feel more and more wintry. I looked down at the brown leather jacket and brought it to my nose, inhaling his scent before I caught what I'd done.

  Get a hold of yourself, girl! I was going birdbrained after talking with Kevin last night, and then being around Cody. That needed to stop. I was a strong, independent female. Ezra had been the love of my life. That was over. It didn't matter what Kevin said. No one else needed to be put at risk for the sake of my relationship status.

  However, I did need this job. Kevin had one point. I did need to get out of the house more. Keeping myself locked up and torturing myself over my inability to save Ezra wasn't helping me. That behavior did more harm than good.

  I opened the door to my bedroom and walked back out into the living room to the sight of Cody's strong back as he stared out of the sliding glass doors. The snug shirt he wore gave an excellent view of the delicious expanse of muscles underneath.

  "Here's your jacket," I said, laying it on the couch where he'd been sitting. "I'll think about whether or not I'll take your job. Like I mentioned, bring whatever information you have tomorrow. I'd like to know what I might be searching for." The last time someone had held back info, the person I'd love had died...and that part definitely was my fault, whether I wanted it to be true or not.

  But I couldn't keep beating myself up over past failures. I’d learned a very hard lesson, and someone I'd loved had paid the price. Now I was hopefully smarter, and maybe I'd be more aloof about relationships in the future, especially when they intersected my career. For better or worse, I was a treasure hunter. This was my living, and I needed to stop hiding from it.

  "Thanks." He turned to face me, and took a few steps to cross the space between the window and where I stood by the couch. "I didn't catch your name before...?" He held out his hand to me, and I looked at it a moment before accepting his.

  "My name is Morgana. Since you found out about me, I would've thought that you might know that already."
Shrugging a shoulder, I grabbed my notepad from the end table and flipped to a blank page to jot down my number.

  "Yeah, I guess you're right." He gave me a roguish grin, and I caught myself melting a little. "Someone told me about you through e-mail. They didn't know who you were, just that there was someone who finds things that lived in these cabins by the creek."

  "Good to know." I raised both of my eyebrows, surprised that I'd managed to get a reputation among people in town. Who was talking about me? Who would come looking for me once they knew my talents? The idea concerned me. If Cody had found out about me, then other, less savory types might as well.

  He nodded. "It's all good. No worries."

  Still, my feeling of unease didn't go away. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow at four o'clock. How about Woodland Creek Coffee?" I forced a smile.

  Cody grabbed his jacket from the couch and nodded. "Yeah, sounds great. I'll be there." The atmosphere of the room shifted, as if he could sense my discomfort. He turned away from me, and I followed him to the door.

  After seeing him off, I decided to call Kevin back. He probably wouldn't be going to bed anytime soon. He always claimed he did his best work in the wee hours of the morning. But it was better that I see what he wanted sooner, rather than later. He'd sounded too relieved when I'd picked up. That meant something.

  The phone rang and rang and rang. Of course, he wasn’t answering. I sighed. It figured. He was probably back in his basement with his earbuds in again. It was any wonder he could still hear with how loud he played them.