Power Shift (The Charming Shifter Mysteries Book 1) Page 10

  “No, she didn’t see me rooting around in the trash.” Cecil scowled. “I’m not that stupid. I’d had my eye on her around town for quite a while. She doesn’t know I shift. Anyway, that’s why the name bothers me.”

  “I see. Would it help knowing it’s a Spanish name and it means summer? My last name is French and it means little. Hence, I’m Little Summer.”

  He snapped his fingers. “That’s your name then. Little Summer, it is. Wait – lil’ Summer. We’ll make it like a rapper name.”

  Chia opened her mouth to speak but Cecil cut her off with his cheery rant.

  “Well, this dog has things to do. I’d best be on my way. Leave a rag or a piece of clothing or something on the place you want me to use for a bed. I’ll find it. Super sniffer, right?” He tapped the side of his nose. “This has been fun. Although for a sad reason.” His mouth quirked to the side, as if he were thoughtful. “I want you to know something, lil’ Summer.” He pointed a finger at her. “I believe in you. This dog is a believer.” With a sudden blur of light he shifted into canine form, rising up on his hind legs at the windowsill to be let out. She lifted the sash and he leaped outside, turning to give her a friendly bark, a generous howl and a tail wag.

  “Hey. You looked great today in those clothes.” She glanced at the pile on the floor. “Where do you want them?”

  He scratched the snow and dirt with his front paw, and pushed leaves and snow into the hole he’d made.

  “Hide them somewhere?”

  He barked.

  “Okay, I’ll leave them out next to the trash cans in a plastic bag. But no dumpster diving, got it?”

  Giving her a dog grin, he turned and trotted away in the snow, leaving her blinking with only her six ghosts as witnesses—like they’d ever say anything.

  Chapter Eleven

  Chia left her office right before dusk, intending to scoot home, grab some food and maybe a nap, and make a bona fide plan before heading out for the night to pursue said plan. Whoever declared her one day statement of intention a tall order had been right. What the hell do I think I can accomplish in twenty-four hours?

  Thirty minutes later, barely a flicker of light shone on the horizon. Her ghosts draped themselves across the seats, apparently snoozing or stoned with some vibrational narcotic. She puzzled at them for a second—useless wisps of energy—then quickly looked up as an elk slowly stepped across the road, illuminated by her headlights, his head down. She braked, quickly, spilling the ghosts onto the floor.

  One of his fine antlers had been broken, and the poor thing limped as if severely injured. A flap of his skin hung from his side, revealing bloody muscle and fascia. It almost looked like he glowed with a sickly yellow light. She blinked to clear her vision, thinking it a trick of the night sky or maybe her headlights.

  Since the rut happened in the autumn, she wondered what had befallen this magnificent creature. She thought about getting her gun out and finishing him off, but figured whoever had done the damage was no doubt in the vicinity, waiting for her to leave so he could eat in peace. Life and death—we’re never more than a whisper away from the end, you know? Ask Michael or Thomas.

  Once the elk had disappeared into the blackness, she stepped on the gas and eased the truck forward. Night had fallen in earnest, completing the job the cloud cover started during the late afternoon. She hoped D’Raynged would accept her peace offering. He’d be up soon, if he wasn’t already, and she’d find out.

  Even though the air temps were in the teens, she cranked up the heater and rolled down the window. She loved to hear the sounds of night…the gurgling creek…the small, tumbling waterfall up ahead…the sound of owls and wolves and other night stalkers. She stopped the Jeep to listen, leaning her head out the window into the crisp air. A weird warbling sounded from the small stand of trees. “What the hell is that?” She cocked her head but didn’t hear it again. “To heck with it. Let’s get out,” she said to the ghosts. “Maybe an idea will form.”

  The crunchy tromp, tromp, tromp of her footsteps seemed to echo in her ears in an unnerving manner, like each step set off an explosion. Smells swirled around her nose, both animal and vegetable, some pleasant, some not so pleasant as if she lumbered through a zoo, piled high with animal dung.

  She crouched in front of the babbling brook and stared into the black waters, jerking when she saw small glowing fish make their way up the stream. “Crap,” she said. “What the hell is going on? It’s like the time I ate shrooms with some shifters.” She stared at the glowing fish, perplexed. A light flash caught her eye and she lifted her head to see a large, strange shimmering creature staring back at her. “Holy heck!” she said, falling back on her palms.

  One of her ghosts, the ghost of sexual transgressions, swirled toward the creature and wrapped itself around the energy blob, freakishly coiled, the same way she’d seen slugs mating on a nature show. They pulsated with light as if she were witnessing the aurora borealis copulating with itself.

  “Ew. Get a room, you two.” Her own body throbbed with desire as if plugged into the pair’s electrical circuit. “Sweet baby Jesus, what the holy hell is happening to me?”

  The creature threw back its head—if that’s what you called it— and laughed—or that’s how it seemed. A pleasant trilling filled her ears.

  Chia wiped off her hands and got to her feet, dusting her rump off in the process. Her wrist, the one she’d badly bruised freeing herself from duct tape, glowed in a similar sickly yellow as the elk, while the rest of her shimmered in vibrant shades of violet, gold and blue. Her brow knit together in confusion. She placed her hands on her hips, standing akimbo.

  The world around her seemed alive, way more alive than usual. The piercing sound of howls came from the distance, stabbing her eardrums. Coyote yips sounded in the other direction, like high-pitched gun fire. Eyes glowed in the brush. She swore she heard mice breathing, bears hibernating. Forms shimmered, incandescent.

  Something that looked like what her grandma used to call shades—the actual spirits of dead people—fluttered by. Even her ghosts took on a more luminous appearance. An anguished bellow came from far away and she instinctively knew the elk had left his body. She heard the footfalls of something or somethings racing along the distant tundra, hot in pursuit of something else, followed by growls, a whimper, then nothing but the crunching of bones and the ripping of flesh. Freaked, wondering who slipped what to her when, she stumbled toward her vehicle.

  The creatures twirling in the sky seemed to grow more aroused, as if nearing climax. Her own arousal grew maddening, like off the charts. Sweet baby Jesus, I feel as if I could orgasm right here and now. I’m so turned on. She briefly thought about making haste to the truck and taking care of her needs, but her pre-occupation with her state of mind took precedence.

  In the darkness, she made out the appearance of a spectral white form, making absolutely no noise whatsoever, propelled by downy soft, ghost-like feathers. It flew overhead, toward her, as if summoned by her arousal. As it got closer, she stared at the graceful winged creature, recognizing it as a snowy owl, one of her favorites. She teetered backward as the bird dove straight toward her, head first, colliding with her face, hard. Shit.

  A strange, fractured explosion shattered her mind, scrambling her brain cells. She expected the bird to drop to the ground in a dead faint but it whooshed right through her skull, snagging her mind in the process. “What the…?” As the bird exited, she experienced the most unbelievably pleasurable sensation she’d ever experienced.

  Enraptured, she fell onto the arctic road, yet her consciousness seemed attached to the flight of the owl. For a few moments, she sensed the spirit of the bird, hunting for prey. She seemed to see through the owl’s eyes, heard sounds like an amazing high-tech speaker system was wired to her brain. Soaring silently, caught by a strange communion with the bird, her whole body thrummed with pleasure, like she’d drunk iron fillings and her body, surrounded by a magnetic current, grew taut with se
nsation. Sweet God in Heaven, she thought. This is incredible.

  Then, as if she’d reached the end of a tether, her mind boomeranged back into her body with another whoosh, making her flesh and bones jerk in response. “Holy cannoli,” she exclaimed. “What the hell is happening to me? I’ve gotta go lay down and wait this out.”

  She stormed back to her Jeep, threw open the door and leaped inside. Powering it up, she sped along the frozen-over road, toward her home, always glad for snow tires, trying desperately to ignore the myriad of lights around her. Small tiny sprite looking things flew in front of the window, some forming luminescent splatters on the windshield.

  Larger looming lights floated by her side, whirling into dust devils as the vehicle sailed by, then re-forming into the “whatever the heck they were.” Once in her driveway, she made the same crazy maneuver from yesterday, barely missing the barn as she one-eightied to a stop. This time her ghosts simply flew overhead, having learned their lesson. She grabbed her purse, burst from the cab, sped for the house, threw open the door and came face to face with D’Raynged.

  He gave her a wide, toothy grin, as if eager to see her. “You’re home!”

  The vampire glowed so brightly she had to look away, putting her arm in front of her eyes for good measure. “Turn it down, D.”

  “Turn what down?” he asked, innocently.

  “Whatever you’re doing that’s making you glow so bright. My eyes can’t take it.”

  “Child, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t play innocent with me, vamp.” She dug in her purse, pulled out her sunglasses and put them on her face, turning tentatively toward her roommate. Still squinting, she found it tolerable to look at him. “What did you do? Tell me. Have such good sex with Sultana she made you glow?”

  D’Raynged appeared truly perplexed. “She called and told me she had to rush out of town. We’re to reconvene tonight, if your bounty hunter hasn’t already done her in. I still sense her, though, so I think you’re safe.”

  “I’m safe? Me? I’m on some sort of hallucinogenic trip only I don’t know what kind, how I did it, who did it to me, or when it happened. Therefore,” she snapped, “I don’t know when it will end.”

  “Oh.” He drew out the word in a long, knowing manner. “Come. Sit with me before I depart. I’ve prepared some refreshments.”

  “More dead rats? Headless chickens? Snakes?”

  “My, child, whatever is the matter? You’re in a worse mood than yesterday. And here I thought things would be pleasant between us tonight.” He shook his head, turned, and strode toward the front room.

  A crackling fire burned in the fireplace.

  “You made a fire?”

  He rolled his eyes. “No your dead grandma made it, what do you think?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Seriously. Who made the fire?”

  “Me. Who else? What’s got you so suspicious? I know how you humans like to be warm. I’m not that old. And definitely not out of touch,” he added with a sniff. He poured a glass of wine for her, lifted his goblet of serum bloody awful whack juice, and said, “Thank you from the bottom of my dead heart for your gift. It meant a lot to me. I consider us back to even ground, as long as my vampire lover lives. No human has freely offered me blood as a gift in such a quaint, endearing manner.” An actual tear seemed to form in his eye.

  Chia squinted at him through her dark glasses. Okay, it’s a blood droplet but it’s in the correct place for tears. “Um, you’re welcome. I’m sorry. I’m having kind of a weird, stressful day.”

  “You shouldn’t be now,” he said, lifting a tray of crackers and cheese. “Same old cheese from last night. You really need to get to a grocery. But I found an unopened box of crackers in the pantry.”

  “Thank you. And why shouldn’t I be stressed?” She took a cracker and nibbled the edge. Hunger took over and she popped the whole thing, cheese wedge and all, into her mouth and chewed like a…well, like a dog.

  D’Raynged arched an elegant eyebrow. “Because I accepted your gift. I ate it, although much more politely than you’re eating right now. And while I found the chocolate cheap and tasteless, the blood was delicious.” His eyes took on a dreamy appearance. “Type A, I think.”

  “Yes, you’re right. Um…I hope it doesn’t…um….well, you know, I hope you don’t have some sort of power over me now. You know, like the literature suggests?”

  “What, control you like a puppet? Like I have the time to do such a thing.” He waved a hand at her. “Child. You have the oddest ideas. While I’ll be able to sense you easily until the blood digests, you’re the one who should be experiencing a difference. Oh, my!” He pressed his palm against his smooth, unlined forehead. “Your current state of mind…why didn’t I put two and two together?”

  “What about it?”

  “It could be…yes, it might be…you might possess latent skills and our energy exchange has enhanced it. You could be more than a mere human. Wouldn’t that be something?” He snorted. “You, an itty bitty woman who looks like a cupcake having supernatural powers?” He hooted with laughter. “Or even strength?”

  “Stop trivializing me. I get so tired of men sexualizing me or dismissing me because I’m cute.” She glared at him, furious. “Stop it! D’Raynged, cut it out!”

  “I’m sorry,” he wheezed. “Really, I am.” He worked to quell his laughter.

  “Look,” she said, exasperated. “I’m short, I’m cursed or blessed with cuteness and sexual appeal but there’s far more to me that that. I’m intelligent. I have good instincts and a mind for strategy, although there’s been no evidence of it lately. All you males see is my appearance.”

  “Honey,” D’Raynged said, arching an eyebrow. “You smell like you’re in heat all the time. You need it more than most, I’m guessing, but you get it less than many.”

  “Come on. It’s not that bad. I’ve been far too stressed. Now I’ve set myself up good and stupid. I promised the townsfolk results within twenty-four hours…now it’s down to eighteen and a half…or else I’m resigning.”

  D’Raynged grew still. “You said I’d have to move if you lose your job.”

  She shrugged. “I did. And you will.”

  “I like our living arrangement. I like you.”

  “You do?” Her mouth fell open.

  “Of course. I love our practical jokes. No one’s ever retaliated.”

  “Or lived to retaliate, I presume. I’ve got other things to think about.” She made the same swishing motion D’Raynged had done. “That’s why I need to use my strategic skills to their fullest and not be distracted by weird ghostly things that twirl with my ghosts, or tiny sprites or supernatural hearing.”

  “You met the Fae, I take it? And the wee sprites?”

  “I didn’t meet anybody. I witnessed quite a bit. And I think I killed a few of them. They were splattered against the window as I drove.”

  “It happens.” D waved his hand. “Daily. The little ones are like insects. They have short lifespan anyway so…” He scoffed. “No harm, no foul. And yes, there’s a fairy who’s taken keen interest with one of your ghosts. They’re often hermaphrodites, did you know? The Fae, I mean.”

  “I didn’t, no. I thought they were fictitious creatures.”

  “Oh, Lord, no. I’ve witnessed quite a few encounters between your ghosts, as you call them, and the supernatural world. This one seductive fairy in particular. I’m surprised you don’t feel it when you’re awake. They take off at night, while you’re sleeping and do all sorts of naughty things. Since you’re ‘all one,’” he said derisively, “you should feel what they feel.”

  Hmmm, I do feel horny a lot. “Hey, speaking of feeling what they feel, could they have alerted me to danger?”

  “How so?” He sipped at his bloody drink.

  “Last night…I was with…never mind. I was out near the outcropping on the other side of town, where another shifter got killed I might add, and one of the
ghosts started buzzing around my face. A few seconds later I heard a branch crack and Red Spotted Dick stepped into the opening. Then, they flared around me, concealing me. Do you think they did that intentionally?”

  He brought a slender finger up to his lips and tapped, thoughtfully. “It’s possible. If they’re offspring of acts you’ve done and feel badly about, as you’ve told me, they’re intrinsically a part of you. Don’t think of them as separate. What qualities do they represent?”

  She pointed in the air at the energy bursts. Currently, they hung from the overhead fan, set on low to disperse the heat from the fireplace. They spun around and around as if on a merry go round. “The red one, that’s rage. Orangish one is sexual transgressions. Green is, um, envy, jealousy, whatever you want to call it, resulting in a broken heart. Yellow and pink one is greed. Pale orange is a lesser sexual transgression. That colorless one is a ‘better than thou’ situation.”

  D’Raynged chuckled. “You have your own version of the seven deadly sins of Christian origin. All you’re missing is sloth and greed. I’m curious why you have them and others don’t. People do ridiculous, horrific things every day.”

  “I know, right? That’s what I tried to explain to you last night.”

  He lifted his eyebrow again. “We had other, more pressing things to discuss, if I recall. I do hope they’ve been taken care of.”

  “Sort of. I’m working on it.”

  “Anyway, it’s hard to tell if your energy bursts do things to protect and serve or merely to protect and serve their food source.”

  “Their food source? Me?”

  He rolled his eyes again. “Use your bright mind.” He tapped the side of his head with a tapered finger. “They come from you, so you say. They’re part yours, so you say. They can’t exist without you giving them energy. Of course, you’re their food source.

  “There must be a way to utilize that energy until or unless you’re willing to deal with it at all.” Once more he made the dismissive hand wave. “Let’s move on. As for the other phenomena you’re experiencing, all I’ve done by ingesting a drop of you, if I’ve done anything at all, is awaken you to the world around you. You probably saw Fae, sprites, shades, ghosts, spirits and all manner of bothersome things outside, am I right? And your senses were no doubt keen, right?”