My coyote perked our ears to listen in on nearby conversations, not helpful when I'd rather be doing anything else but study. Normally I'd go back to my dorm, but my roommate was having his girlfriend over tonight. Didn't want to go through hearing that again, regardless of how my dopey coyote felt.
The words on the page blurred together, and I took another sip of dark roast coffee from Geek Beans. I didn't know why I bothered, since caffeine didn't affect me like it would a normal human. My coyote's metabolism quickly burned it off. His attention was on everything but my textbook. I growled under my breath, causing the two girls at the next table to look up from their books. Maybe I'd been a little louder than I thought. I smiled, and they went back to their reading.
The coyote backed down the tiniest bit, but not nearly enough. He just turned and focused on another couple of students toward the other side of the room. They spoke in hushed whispers. This time I tried to rein him in, but my coyote held firm, as if he knew something I didn't. It gave me pause.
"Did you hear about what's been going on in the forest? Interesting stuff."
I frowned, my curiosity sufficiently piqued. I certainly hadn't heard about anything strange going on. Then again, with my course load being so heavy right now, I wasn't really up to date on everything.
The guy leaned into his female companion, even as she leaned away, obviously not interested in his advances. "No," she said. "What's going on?"
He leaned that much farther into her, either oblivious or unable to handle rejection...or both. "Strange magic." He made a spooky voice as if trying to scare kids around a campfire.
It achieved what he was going for, though. The thought chilled me.
My grandmother had been experiencing some odd and unsettling feelings recently. She wasn't exactly a full-blown wizard like the Sullivans or the Thomases, two of Woodland Creek's founding families. She was more like a Native American shaman. These feelings didn't happen to her often, but when they did, our family made sure to listen. The last time she'd felt this unusual tension was before our family home—which had stood for almost a hundred years and through countless storms—was hit by a powerful tornado that ripped through the area.
Many of the artifacts we’d passed down for generations had been tossed around, some broken, others lost. One of the more powerful magical talismans was presumed destroyed, although my grandmother had never accepted that conclusion. She claimed she would've sensed the power leaving it.
With all the chaos at the time and the rebuilding afterward, I’d shrugged it off, but there were times when I wondered if she was right. I'd witnessed the strong magic it possessed when I was younger, and I doubted even a tornado would destroy it. Magic had a way of preserving itself.
I brushed those memories away, refocusing my attention on the couple's conversation. I'd missed some of it, but from the disgusted look on the girl's face, I doubted it had been important.
"I should've known this was just another attempt at getting into my pants." She pushed to her feet as the guy reached for her.
"Come on, babe. It's not
only
to get into your pants." He rose to his feet and lowered his voice again. "I thought you'd want to check out the creepy area my buddy Rex and Roger found. Said it was like nothing they'd ever seen before, and around this place, they've seen things that'd keep you up at night."
Letting out a harsh sigh, the girl ran her hand through her pixie-cut sandy brown hair. "Fine. Only if you promise that we'll come back later before the library closes to keep studying. Jerk." She murmured the last part under her breath. Her male companion didn't seem to hear her. He gave her a not-so-subtle smack on the butt before gathering up their textbooks and study materials.
While it might've been nothing, I couldn't forget my grandmother's recent warnings. Just to be safe, I'd follow them and see what was going on. Life had been relatively quiet in the six months since the tornado hit. But if someone had found my family's talisman, I needed to retrieve it before they or any innocent bystanders were hurt. The small wooden carving was way too powerful to remain in the hands of someone who didn't know how to use it, including me.
My studies could wait.
Chapter Three
Morgana
Kevin lived far enough away from where I'd been in the heart of the forest that my wings ached from carrying the heavy rock. Needless to say, it had taken a few spills. Its smooth shininess might've gained some dirt and a few new dings, but I couldn't exactly say I cared now. When I got home, I'd be soaking my sore limbs in a hot bubble bath to ease some of the strain.
I dropped the golden ball to the ground near Kevin's porch and
krawed
at the closed door. When he didn't answer, I tapped on it with my thick black beak. Still nothing. Kevin didn't go out often, but maybe he wasn't here? Doubtful. I cocked my head to the side, using my raven's heightened senses to check for him. The faintest sound of a man humming came back to me.
Typical. He was likely in his basement laboratory with his earbuds in again. His laboratory was locked down like a fortress. It used to have small rectangular windows, but he'd had them blocked up after inheriting the place from his parents.
That left one option: knock on the door in human form. It wouldn't be the first time he'd seen me naked, and I did need to talk with him about the find.
Ugh...
I
krawed
again, more out of frustration than in hopes of getting his attention.
Feathers retracted into my body, leaving me cool and naked. My bones and muscles stretched from the two-foot-and-change raven form into my five-foot-six human form. I banged my fist against the door as hard as I could, causing the nearby window to shake in its frame. It wasn't supernatural strength, just determination to get home.
"Kevin!" I shouted.
I pressed my ear to the door to listen again. A string of curses followed the loud clattering of several things dropping. Pain shot through my arm and upper back as I grabbed the gold ball and took a few steps away from the house. I knew the kind of magic Kevin toyed around with, and I didn't want to be in the blast zone. I wasn't stupid.
Besides, he knew I was here now. He'd get to me whenever he was finished averting the disaster he was dealing with.
Ten minutes passed, and I considered knocking again. What if he'd been working on a dangerous potion or spell, and I'd broken his laser-sharp focus? Concern clenched my chest. He could need my help. I stepped toward the door, just as it swung open. My raven shook out her feathers below the surface of my skin and
krawed,
feeling every bit as jumpy at Kevin's sudden appearance as I did.
He towered over me at six foot three, with angry hazel eyes and dark brown hair that stood on end. A scowl creased his brow, and he opened his mouth as if to yell at whoever dared darken his doorstep. When his gaze lowered to me, he froze in place.
Shifters might not think much of nudity, but I doubted wizards were as used to it.
Ezra never could hide his arousal over my human form, so he’d always frowned upon me arriving at Kevin's doorstep naked. He never understood how natural and non-sexual this was for me. Granted, being around humans made it different. So we'd driven to Kevin's when we spent time with him. Now, I didn't really care about pleasantries. This was who I was. As a wizard, I knew he accepted that, even if it was a little out there.
Kevin's mouth dropped open, and he sputtered a few incoherent sounds, totally flummoxed for once. "I... uh... Hello, Morgana." He cleared his throat before stepping away from the doorway to let me in. "Um... Sorry it took a moment to answer the door."
The weight of his gaze descended on my backside as I walked past him, and I glanced over my shoulder to cut him a look.
"It's fine." I set the heavy golden ball on the one clear corner of his kitchen table. The rest of it was filled with pizza boxes and Chinese take-out containers. Before Ezra's passing, he’d been neat and organized to near anal-retentive levels, but from the mess and the dark bags under his eyes, I couldn't help but wonder if we were both still reeling from the loss in our own ways. "I have something I'd like you to take a look at."
He closed the distance between us, but his gaze remained forcibly fixed on my face as if he didn't trust himself not to check me out again. It was understandable. He wasn't used to me walking around like this. I wished I had a change of clothes so we wouldn't feel this uncomfortable around one another, especially since it had been a while since I'd last talked with him. The funeral...
My shoulders slumped forward. Thinking back to it made me want to curl into a ball.
Stop it, Morgana...
Kevin laid his warm hand on my shoulder and frowned down at me. "You know, I'm here to talk if you ever need it. Not only about work, either." Pulling away, he walked to the couch and grabbed a flannel blanket from the back for me. "You can't keep closing yourself off from everyone." He stared down at the huge piece of pseudo-gold. "Some things are more precious than gold or treasure. Don't think you can't have what Ezra gave you again. Life's too short to spend it all alone."
My lips curled back in a snarl that would make any Wolf shifter proud. "Don't lecture me about that, Kevin. Not now." I wrapped the blanket around myself in a few quick, jerky motions. "You should know I'm all bad luck. No good can come from being with me." I stalked to the other side of the dining room, keeping my back to him for a few minutes while I regained some composure. "Just look at the stupid rock."
Kevin's scowl returned in full swing. "Look. I'm doing the best I can for you. You feel like you're cursed. I get it. But you're not. If you were, I'd be able to sense it." He slouched into a kitchen chair and pulled his glasses from the top of his head to the bridge of his nose to get a better look at the golden ball. He didn't need them to see. They were magnifying glasses for the worn-out ancient texts he liked digging through.
Grudgingly, I took a few steps closer. I knew I was being a little harsh when he only wanted to help, but I wouldn’t let him be next on my bad karma's hit list. That's why I'd gone to such lengths to separate myself from him, even if it hurt to turn my back on a friend who grieved just as deeply as I did. The fact that he'd told me to move on spoke greatly of his ability to put others before his own pain, but it didn’t look like he was exactly following his own advice. However, having his support made me feel like at least someone else in this world cared if I lived or died, something I hadn't really felt worthy of in the past few months.
"Where did you find this?" He gaped as he pushed his glasses back onto his head. "I haven't really seen anything quite like it before." His voice wavered a little as he spoke, but I thought that might be residual emotion from our conversation. "Let me take it down to my lab and crack it open. I need to get a better look at it. If you don't mind, that is." He shifted abruptly back to his normal laid-back self.
Before I could answer, he headed for his laboratory. The wooden steps leading to it were worn from heavy use, with scorch marks and chemical burns marring the last four. The once light-colored walls had seen better days, and sported hasty white patches easily visible to the naked eye in one corner. The air carried the familiar scent of bleach and ammonia, which I'd grown used to in his lair. Kevin leaned over the central table, muttering under his breath about the rock’s color details and making notes on a yellow legal pad.
"You definitely have something different here. See this pitting here on the surface?" He took off his glasses to hand to me, but I waved them away. "Gold plating would cover that." He strained a little when lifting it. "Hmm... Weight is off too. Where did you find this?" he asked, his voice holding echoes of awe. His gaze remained glued to the golden rock in his hand.
With the clearing weighed down by a heavy blanket of magic, I didn't give him too many details. The less he knew, the less chance there was of him getting hurt. I'd lost enough friends and family already. "In the forest. I accidentally dropped it a few times on my way here. Any idea what it is?" I said, hoping he wouldn’t ask for more specifics on where I'd found it.
"None whatsoever. One thing I do know is it's not natural, but it’s not man-made, either. A few of my high-level clients might have an idea of what it takes to do something like this. Don't hold your breath, though." Kevin set the golden orb onto a copper plate close to his workbench. With a few careful moves, he brought the copper plate beneath his high-powered magnifying glass to get a better look.
While he examined the surface of the rock, I shifted my gaze to take in the basement. Various instruments and glass vials neatly lined one desk. What looked like a cabinet filled with chemicals took up an entire wall toward the back. Some containers looked harmless, while others contained eerie fluids that changed color every few seconds. A broken glass beaker lay on one counter, with watery orange liquid spreading across it. I kept my distance from that one. It seemed that whatever I’d interrupted had taken all of his attention. Tendrils of pent-up energy flowed from the liquid, as if searching for a vessel. Thankfully it didn't have much reach, or I'd be waiting upstairs. I made a mental note to keep away from that area, and to be more patient when knocking next time.