A griffin with one life to live chooses to share it with a dark elf who matches every step she makes.
Maki has lived and tried to love, over and over again. As a griffin, she is privy to the memories of all the griffins who have come before. Every moment of their lives until they died in defence of others. The story is always the same.
When she is called back to the Crossroads for the third time, she has only a flicker of hope that this will be the charm.
Uhrl met Maki when she came to his nightclub. The shifter in his arms had sparked while they danced. His attempts to find out who and what she was met a sudden halt against her defenses, but he knew that he wanted more. He had a name and a general location to give to the seers. They had to do the rest.
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Feathers, Fur and Fey
Copyright © 2015 Zenina Masters
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0350-8
Cover art by Carmen Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Feathers, Fur and Fey
Shifting Crossroads Book 30
By
Zenina Masters
Chapter One
“Keep an eye out. Let me know the moment the coast is clear.” Irvinga Mackie put her finger on the button and waited.
A small thumb shot up. “The coast is clear.”
Giggling commenced and the party was on. Maki started up the music, and she danced with her two nieces and two nephews.
Babysitting was an adventure that she enjoyed taking on. In the next three hours, they would wreck the house and fix it again. Her brother had a lot of faith in her ability to keep control, and Maki made sure that she earned it every time.
* * * *
Irving Mackie backed out of the driveway, his wife sighing next to him.
“The lights are on and I can see the kids in the living room. They are having a party.” Melody sighed.
Irving grinned and kept backing out of the drive. “They will be nice and exhausted by bed time. Maki doesn’t come by nearly enough. This is fun for all of them.”
Melody snorted. “I still can’t understand why you call her Maki? It sounds Asian.”
“Because no woman deserves to be called Irvinga. Now, love, let’s enjoy our anniversary dinner without people at the table who put straws up their noses.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
Melody smiled impishly. “Aw, honey, you know how I love it when you do that. It is always a good look for you.”
Irving sighed and drove away from the house that his twin was currently rocking with all four of his children. Twins ran in both sides of the family, but what they became was always up in the air. Time with Auntie Maki was the best cure for any worry about changes in their lives.
The free babysitting didn’t hurt either.
* * * *
After hours of dance parties, games that involved all ingredients in the kitchen and some markers, the kids were in bed and it was time to clean up.
Maki checked on the littles one more time and looked at the time. She had ten minutes to undo three hours of insanity. No problem.
She straightened her shoulders and faced the kitchen. Her beak took over her face, and her claws replaced her fingers. Magic would be needed to fix the disaster in a matter of moments and that was a quality she had in ample supply.
A wind gathered up all loose and wild pieces, the flour, the chocolate chips and the strange trail of raisins that had made their way under the fridge.
The magic caught everything up and compressed it into a ball. She clacked her beak and the ball evaporated. Another flex of her claws put all of the sparkling-clean dishes, pots and pans back in their shelves.
She flexed her claws once more, and a final wave of bright magic washed over the kitchen.
When she was done, a series of hoots, hollers and wild applause came from the doorway. Sighing, Maki turned to face her audience.
Four small faces rushed at her, and she caught them all in curls of glittering magic, carrying them up to bed. She didn’t speak with her beak out, so she clacked at them and followed her charges back to bed.
She tucked them in again and changed her shape to full human when they were all where they were supposed to be.
Her eldest niece, by three minutes, smiled and said, “I don’t know why you won’t shift in front of us, Auntie.”
“Because it is uncertain as to what you will become when you shift, and if you see my particular method of changing, you will try and copy it when your time comes. We don’t want that. The shift back is safe. That is just the human coming back.” Maki smiled and caressed the golden-brown hair from Reema’s forehead.
“I want to be a griffin when I grow up.”
Maki sighed. “Of course you do. It won’t be likely. There is only one of us at a time. One griffin or less per generation.”
Roma piped up from across the room. “I don’t want to be a griffin. I want you to live forever, Auntie Maki.”
Reema grinned. “Me too. I will just hope to be a random when I grow up, just like you.”
Roma smiled. “Me too.”
She kissed Reema on the forehead. “That is sweet, but I hope that you both develop into something bright and strong that gives you a community you can depend on.”
She got up and kissed Roma before heading to the door. “Good night, girls. Dream of magic.”
A chime of giggles came to her. “Yes, Auntie.”
Maki closed their door, and she sent a curl of magic under each of the doors to touch the children and ease them into sleep as their parents arrived.
Maki checked her watch. Just enough time to get ready for the party downtown.
Irv and Melody crept quietly into their home, giggling like teenagers.
Maki snapped her compact shut and gave her twin a look through her lashes. “What sort of time do you call this?”
He winked and cuddled with his wife of eight years. “I call this ten o’clock.”
“Precisely. You are right on time.”
Melody smiled. “How were they?”
Maki got to her feet. “They were great. Their dancing is really coming along.”
She slipped her purse strap over her shoulder and ran her hands down her cold-shoulder top. “Well, I have an evening out to attend.”
Melody rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I still have half an hour to get downtown. Plenty of time. I also know that you two don’t take advantage by going for overtime.”
She hugged her sister-in-law and put a kiss on her brother’s cheek before heading out the door with a wave and a soft closing. No sense waking the little darlings up.
&
nbsp; Maki drove through the fairly quiet streets of the suburbs and into downtown. The parkade she selected was conveniently close to the club without being overrun by drunken idiots who were positive they were fine to drive.
She stayed in her car while she texted her companions. It was three minutes before she got the response that they were inside the club and the party had begun.
Sighing, Maki left the parkade with her boots clicking on the pavement. Everything about Knights Out was subdued. The subtle signage was a glowing grey on black.
The club had been open for two weeks and entry was by invitation only. A bland-faced human in an all-black uniform guarded the door.
He made a small motion with his hand, and she extracted her invitation, sliding it into the scanner.
The door opened and she stepped inside. She felt the fey magic wrap around her the moment she walked into the space. A greeter was just inside the door.
“Are you meeting your party here or are you on your own?” The woman was elegant and had an amused smile on her lips.
Maki knew another shifter when she spotted one. She didn’t mention it, but the other woman had the same moment of recognition.
Maki smiled. “I am meeting my party here. They are already inside.”
“The birthday party.” The woman smiled. “Jen will show you the way.”
A woman materialized from the shadows with a bright smile. “Please, come with me.”
Maki nodded to the shifter at the podium and followed Jen into the club itself.
She felt as if she was wading through a static field, but she followed dutifully through the expanse of alcoves overlooking the main stage where an elf was dancing with fire.
The elves might not like being stared at in public, but if they could charge for it, they were all in.
Her guide took her to the rear of the club and smiled as they stepped up toward the alcove where the party was underway.
Liette waved at her and patted the spot next to her. Jen asked, “May I get you a drink?”
“I know it is a pain, but lemon soda with a splash of grenadine please.”
Jen inclined her head and disappeared into the shadows.
The ladies were fixated on the fire dancer in the centre of the room, and Maki didn’t blame them. He was stunning. Only leather trousers covered him. His feet were bare and his body was marked with a strange sort of tattoo that Maki hadn’t seen before.
Dark elves had a beauty all their own, but the tattoos that were in this one’s charcoal skin formed a narrow collar around his neck and bands around his arms.
He rolled a ball of fire across his chest, causing Maki to snicker at the lack of body hair that made the manoeuver possible.
The semi-circle of seats allowed everyone a lovely view, though their precise location wasn’t the best angle to see the dancer from.
Music with a heavy drumbeat filled the air, and he flung his arms wide, sending flames running along the ceiling to ignite torches around the room for a few seconds. Light flared and then everything went dark and silent.
The club erupted in applause, and a moment later, a spotlight came on where a male and a female with silvery skin began a series of acrobatic movements that were breathtaking to watch.
Liette whispered, “I am so glad you could make it. Did you bring it?”
Maki nodded without looking at her friend. She opened her purse and pulled out the long, ornate envelope. She handed it to Liette and kept her gaze on the elves as they twisted, turned and climbed each other in the most graceful of manners.
“Thank you so much. She will love it.” Liette’s voice was high with enthusiasm.
The other girls shushed her, and they watched the act until it concluded.
Maki got her beverage and sat sipping at it while the contortions continued. It concluded in a balancing act where the woman was supported by the fingertips of her companion as he rolled and twisted while he kept her balanced. In the end, he lay back and lowered her; she draped her body across his as she descended.
It was well worth the applause that they offered.
Chapter Two
Ginny opened her envelope, and she gasped when she opened it and saw the logo.
Eagle’s Nest Spa was well appointed and offered services that were guaranteed to satisfy. Maki had an in. Her sister-in-law owned it. Melody often provided full days of beauty in exchange for babysitting.
The group ooh’d and ahh’d as the subtle announcement came through the speakers that the dance floor was now open.
Maki glanced at the open spaces and smiled at the lack of takers for the invitation to become part of the show. It was far easier to stay in their safe little cocoons and remain with friends instead of daring the open spaces.
Ginny continued opening her gifts, and she laughed at each one offered by the other six women, piling up the tribute for her thirtieth birthday.
In the open space next to her, outside the alcove, Maki felt the shadows move.
“Would you do me the honour of dancing with me, lady?”
Maki turned and looked at the man made of smoke and shadow. He was all the colours of a midnight campfire, including the red burning embers of his eyes.
“Me?”
He smiled and inclined his head. “You.”
There were at least three hands trying to shove her out of the cubicle and toward him. She took the hint as the rest of her friends burst into giggles that suited someone half their ages.
Her would-be partner extended his hand, and curls of blue power moved out from the contact point.
“I apologize. I should have warned you.” She murmured it softly as they approached what had been the stage and had now sunk down into the floor to create a dancing area.
“I knew I sensed power. Do your friends know?”
Maki shook her head. “They do not.”
“Then, they shall not.” He turned toward her and took her other hand.
He nodded his head slightly, bright and energetic music poured into the air around them.
It took a few steps to get the rhythm, but once she learned the details of his balance and how he moved, she matched him. Slow steps increased in pace until they were twirling, she was being flipped and the occasional strains of a tango pulled them together.
Maki was used to holding back with strangers, but with this elf on this dance floor, she met him step for step, slide for slide.
When the music finally subsided for a moment, he smiled and led her back to her friends. “Thank you for the dance, lady. I hope to see you again, soon.”
Maki inclined her head. “As charming as that would be, this was a one-time visit. My friend is a member, and she got us passes for the night.”
He frowned. “What is your name?”
She blinked. “Maki.”
“Is that a first or last name?”
She grinned. “Yes. What is yours?”
He blinked. “You don’t know?”
“It is my first time here.”
“Ah, I am Uhrl Delock. Proprietor of Knights Out. Come by anytime during business hours and announce yourself with Mira. She will come and get me, and we can have a more direct interaction without an audience.” He bent over her hand and pressed a kiss against her wrist, twisting her palm upward so that his lips caressed her pulse. “Thank you for the dance.”
She looked into his ember-bright eyes and returned to her seat with all of her friends smiling foolishly at the fey in their midst.
Her ability to tune out the attractiveness of men around her was a skill that came with long practice. She had the funny feeling that she was going to remember him for a long time to come.
The party giggled softly as he bowed to them all and disappeared.
The moment he dissolved into the shadows again, the women focused on Maki with a thousand questions from how big were his hands to what did he smell like.
Maki answered as best she could without confessing that he smelled right.
The
ice had been broken, so to speak, and the dancefloor came alive at midnight. The party headed to the centre of the room, and they enjoyed the freedom of a girls’ night out.
* * * *
Uhrl watched her from the shadows as he rubbed his palms together. His skin wanted to remember the sparking shock of her touch. He had brushed into shifters in his considerable lifetime, but he had never touched one deliberately before.
Maki. He would get what information he could out of Tegan in regard to the member who had booked the party. From there, he would begin his search. It wasn’t practical to ask about a woman who smelled of sunlight, wind and flowers.
In the meantime, he watched her dance. With her friends, she kept her movements within the human scale, but he knew she was capable of so much more. Her magic was extraordinary. She hummed with energy and the potential to do the impossible. He got the feeling that the impossible happened around her on a regular basis.
He would count the hours until he could find her again. Perhaps he should enlist Teelion’s manager to help out. Bets were a shifter in good standing. She might have some advice for him; she had certainly been helpful in setting up the books for the business as well as hooking him up with a shifter accountant. Apparently, tortoises were all the rage in the bookkeeping world if you were a shifter.
Uhrl watched them for hours from the observation booth before they left, two girls each leaning against the remaining two for support. Maki was sober and holding up two of her friends.
He called Jen’s number. “Make sure they make it to their cars all right. Four out of the six are incapable of driving.”
“Yes, sir.”
He moved to his desk and generated an observation orb. He watched Maki support her friends to her vehicle and drive off. He stared at the solid SUV she was driving and noted the make and model. The license plate was beyond his vision. He could track her or the car, and he picked her.
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