Shifters, Beasts, and Monsters (21 page)

"This is Ralph Green
from Sterling Industries. You interviewed for a position with us a couple of
months ago. The position re-opened and we were calling to see if you were still
interested in the job?"

If that isn't a lucky
break I don't know what is,
she thought, scanning the gardens
for any sign of Shamus. None. She had to admit that she did seem to catch the
lucky breaks when he was nearby. She refused to entertain the idea of him being
a leprechaun; her upturn of luck in his presence was merely coincidence.
Nothing more.

"Miss Winters?"
Ralph's voice cut into her thoughts.

"Of course. I would love
the opportunity to work at Sterling. When is the start date?" Excitement
rushed through her veins. The job was a recruiter's job in the human resources
department, just the type of job she'd been hoping for. The type of job she
went to college for! She'd finally get to justify the thousands of dollars
she'd spent on her education.

"We would like to have
you start next Monday. Would that be suitable?"

"Perfect." A wide
smile lit up Suzanne's features. If it hadn't been for an older couple walking
past her, she might have leapt into the air and let out a loud whoop.

"See you then, Miss
Winters. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call and ask for Ralph
Green."

"Fantastic. Thank you,
Mr Green."

"Have a good day Miss
Winters." Without another word from Ralph Green the call ended.

****

The encounter with Suzanne
had not gone as well as Shamus had hoped. If he was completely honest with
himself he would have admitted it went horribly. Suzanne thought he was
mentally unbalanced. Of course she would. Why wouldn't she?

"Suzanne, I'm a
leprechaun," he muttered, mocking himself. Crouched in front of his pot of
molten gold, he watched her. She had gotten the job she had been wanting and
her day was going much better again, but he could feel her luck draining. Yet
again. Like a car battery that couldn't keep its charge, Suzanne couldn't keep
luck and he couldn't seem to help her unless he was near her.

As the evening turned into
night her luck continued to drain. As her luck ebbed, the call to go to her
grew within him. She needed him. Again. He'd be able to ignore the call for
another day, perhaps two, but no longer than that.

Shamus rocked back on his
heels as he thought over the situation.

Something was wrong.

Her luck should have been
renewed and remained after a single touch from him. But even a kiss, deep and
filled with desire couldn't keep her luck running. His cock twitched thinking
about how amazing her soft, sensual body felt against his earlier that day.

Frustrated, both mentally and
physically, Shamus stood up. As he stood, the molten gold solidified into
thousands of golden coins and nuggets.

Shamus wasn't certain what
was wrong with Suzanne, what was hampering her luck, but he knew someone who
would.

Chapter 5

Wisdom Falls was a visually
stunning area. Instead of a blue sky, the sky in the Falls swirled with
hundreds of pastel colours, the colours shifting, turning and merging in no
logical direction or pattern. Shamus had seen the wondrous sight a number of
times, but each time he entered this zone he still needed to take a moment to
bask in its beauty. Apart from the sky, the land was similar to that in
Leprechaun Valley, green and full of life.

It was protected from all
forms of magic, except that of the oracles. Its protective barrier ensured no
other mystical entities could enter and force their will on the oracles. The
oracles themselves were powerful seers; if their wisdom and knowledge fell into
the wrong hands, it could tip the universal balance of good and evil. They only
gave information if the said information would not alter or disturb the grand
design, and more importantly to them, if the one asking for assistance had
something worth offering in trade for their services.

Shamus had come to see
Oriena. He had known Oriena for close to a century, but more importantly she
owed him. He'd saved her life several decades ago and it was time to collect on
the debt owed.

He called out her name as he
entered her home, which resembled a large white tent. The material it was made
from felt similar to a fine satin. She was in the first room, the main room,
chanting in an ancient tongue he had yet to learn, her back turned to him, deep
in meditation. Shamus knew the routine. She would greet him when she was
finished, and not a second earlier.

He surveyed the room. It was
barren with the exception of numerous white pillows, meant to be used as
chairs, which littered the white marble floor. Shamus walked over to one group
of pillows and sat, waiting patiently.

"Shamus," her
voice, soft and serene, brought him to full attention.

"Oriena."

"Don't get up," she
said as she stood, turning to face him.

Oriena stepped towards him,
though she seemed to float rather than walk. Her long black hair hung loose
down her back. Her pearl white all-knowing eyes peered at him. No, peered
into
him.

Shamus couldn't help but drop
his gaze to take in each and every inch of her. The garment she wore was made
of a sheer transparent white material. He could see each and every inch of her
body nearly as well as if she wore nothing at all.

"You're here about the
girl," she said as she lowered herself beside him, lying on her side and
facing him. She reached out one long elegant finger and traced the outer side
of his leg, from knee to hip.

Shamus's breath caught in his
throat as her hand made its way back down, but this time she traced the inner
side of his leg.

"Yes. I..."

She raised a slender finger
to his lips cutting him off in mid-sentence.

"The spark is not a
mistake. It is a destined union." She rolled onto her back, and stretched,
arching her back as a cat would. Her breasts strained against the material
covering it, giving him an excellent view of her tight, pink nipples.

Shamus shifted uncomfortably
on the pillows, trying to cover his growing erection. He had to keep his mind
clear. Oracles were notorious for seducing their male visitors. He was all too
aware of the dangers involved in coupling with an oracle. Once seduced by an
oracle the man – mystical, human or otherwise – became enslaved to
her until she tired of him.
If
she tired of him.

Shamus had no intention of
falling into that trap.

"What is wrong with her
luck? Why can't I help her?"

The oracle turned her head to
face him, her pearl white eyes looking into his dark ones. "It's a
destined coupling."

"And what's that have to
do with my magic not working to help her?"

"The only way to help
her, to help yourself, is to be with her."

"Be with her?"

Oriena smiled at him. "A
destined coupling. Mind, body and soul. Two halves of a whole will perish if
divided." She gracefully raised her hands over her head, her body moving
and twisting as though she were being intimately touched by her lover.

Shamus kept an image of
Suzanne in his mind as he watched the oracle. His cock was hardening, but his
resolve won through
. Suzanne is my concern. Suzanne,
he told himself
.
Focus
,
keep focused
.

Even if he accepted them as a
destined couple and was willing to give up his life, home and immortality to
live in the human realm with her, he had no idea how he'd even get her to talk
to him again. The look she’d given him when he’d told her he was a leprechaun
had said it all to him. She thought he had lost his mind. He couldn't say that
he blamed her. If the roles were reversed he'd have thought the exact same
thing.

"How do I..."

"It was fated to
be," Oriena said, cutting him off as she rolled back over to her side and
faced him once again. "I've fulfilled my obligation to you Shamus; the
slate is clean. Next time you require my services," she paused, trailing a
finger across his jaw line, "then I expect you will have something to
offer me in return."

Shamus opened his mouth to
speak, but quickly snapped it shut again.

Oriena was gone. Vanished.
Leaving him alone in the room still sitting on the pile of white satin pillows.

He groaned in resignation, as
he allowed himself to fall back onto the bed of pillows behind him. How to make
a woman fall in love? That was the million dollar question to him at the
moment, the semantics of the situation he would deal with later.

"How to make you fall in
love?" he muttered as he gave himself a moment to enjoy the luxurious
comfort and tranquility of his current surroundings.

****

With the exception of getting
her dream job it was turning out to be a lousy week for Suzanne, plagued with
plain old rotten bad luck. Still, just the knowing that she only had a few days
left at the call center kept her spirits high.

As Suzanne stepped out of the
three-storey brick apartment building she was relieved to see the rain had
stopped and the sun was now attempting to force its way into the sky, through
the cloud cover. As luck would have it she hadn’t been able to get a parking
spot close to her building the previous night; instead she had been forced to
park a couple of blocks down from her building and walk home while sheets of
rain poured down upon her.

This morning seemed more
promising. As she neared the location where she had parked the car the previous
night, she began to rummage through her handbag looking for her car keys. She
found them within seconds. "Well, Winters, today is starting to look up
already."

Lifting her head to the spot
where she had left her car the previous evening she stopped dead in her tracks.
There was nothing there. The ground where the car had been parked was visibly
dry, evidence that a car had indeed been in that spot recently, but there was
now no sign of that car.

Suzanne glanced in both
directions and over to the opposite side of the street. "I'm sure this is
where I left it," she muttered. She walked back to the corner of the block
and peered down the street, surveying both sides. No Ford Focus.

She placed her hands on her
hips and scanned her surroundings for a second time. Heaving a heavy sigh, she
raked her fingers through her long locks and made her way back to the spot she
was certain she had left the car. Still nothing. She looked at the building
behind her and then it hit her. On a sign hanging from the convenience store
outside wall, in bold red letters were the words
No Parking: Tow Away Zone
.

"I can't believe
this," she mumbled, certain the sign hadn't been there the previous night.
Well, almost certain. It had been raining hard. She had only looked quickly. Or
had she even looked? Suzanne ran a shaky hand though her long brown hair, once
more. "Unbelievable!"

"What's wrong?" a
male voice with which she had become quite familiar asked from behind her.

Suzanne spun around to see
Shamus walking towards her. If possible he looked even sexier today than he had
a few days ago. He wore his usual buckled shoes, which she was admittedly
actually starting to
almost
like, black trousers and a tight-fitting
forest green t-shirt that showed off the definition in his chest and abs.
"My car. It's been towed," she replied.

"I see." He allowed
himself a brief moment for his eyes to drink in each and every detail of
Suzanne before standing next to her, surveying the empty parking spot along
with her. He nodded, "Yup. It's gone all right."

Annoyed, Suzanne turned to
face him, hands still on her hips. "If you've stopped by to feed me more
nonsense about leprechauns and mystical dimensions then please save your breath
and be on your way. I am really in no mood to hear it right now."

"Wouldn't dream of
it," he shrugged, giving her a friendly smile. "It just looked like
you could use my assistance. I was mistaken." He nodded a good-bye as he
turned to walk away.

First my car gets towed
and now I'm feeling like an asshole for being rude
;
wonderful
day this is turning out to be.
Suzanne hesitated then reached out, grasping
his bare upper arm. The spark consisting of a rainbow of colours sprang out as
their skin made contact. This time, however, the tremor of desire that shot
through her body was stronger, more demanding than ever before. A burning sprung
up between her legs, so hot it left her breathless. Suzanne's face flushed.
Gasping, she pulling her hand quickly away, stepping back a couple of feet.

"What's going on
Shamus?" Suzanne demanded staring at him wide-eyed.

Shamus returned her stare,
his eyes heated. He replied, his voice thick with his desire: "We agreed
to not discuss leprechauns and things of a mystical nature." He took a
step towards her.

This time she didn't back
away. She allowed the distance to be closed. "Yes. But..."

"If I told you, we'd be
discussing just that," he reminded her. He turned towards the convenience
store. "Stay here. I'll find out where they took your car."

Suzanne watched him walk away
and disappear into the store, while trying to make sense of what was going on
between them. As much as she wanted to believe he had taken leave of his
senses, she had no reasonable explanation for the reaction that occurred when
their bodies came in contact with each other. Even if he could somehow
fake
the flare-up of colours that emerged when their skin connected he couldn't make
her
feel
what she was feeling.

He was back within a couple
of minutes.

"It's at the Smith and
Sons holding yard. Not far from here, I was told," Shamus announced,
giving her a reassuring smile.

He didn't need to be touching
her to make her heart flutter. The smile did it. For the past couple of weeks
he seemed to always be there where she needed him. He was becoming her knight
in shining armour, except with heinous-looking buckled shoes instead of the
armour. Suzanne gave his shoes another look. As ugly as they were, they really
did seem to be growing on her.

"So I suppose a cab is
just going to
magically
materialize now that we need one?" Suzanne
asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Sarcasm really doesn't
become you," Shamus smiled, not appearing to be offended in the least and
shook his head. "Nope. The clerk called one for me after I inquired about
the car."

His smile was infectious,
causing Suzanne to return the smile. Crazy or not, she decided at that moment
to give him a chance. She could do a lot worse than the dark, sexy and
mysterious man standing before her, even if he was slightly delusional.

"You know. As a thank
you for..." she spread her hands out, palms up, "all the help you've
given me, I was thinking I at least owe you lunch." She chewed on her
lower lip nervously looking up at him with tense blue eyes. She wasn't
accustomed to asking men out on lunch dates, but she supposed there was a first
time for everything.

The bright yellow cab rounded
the corner, pulling up beside them.

"Now?" Shamus
asked, stepping toward the car and opening the door for her.

Suzanne shrugged. "I
start a new job Monday morning anyhow, so, what the hell. Yes now."

"Would love nothing
better."

Suzanne slid into the cab’s grey
leather seat, closely followed by Shamus.

She took a quick peek, from
the corner of her eye, at Shamus sitting beside her. It occurred to her that he
didn't seem the least bit surprised at her news of a new job. It was as if it
were old news to him. Normally, the declaration of a new job came with offers
of congratulations from the other person, even if just a half-assed one. When
she came to think of it, it seemed he knew a heck of a lot more about her than
he let on. Perhaps she'd find out some of the answers she sought over lunch.