He nodded, his chest rising and falling as if he’d sighed in relief. The man looked as fit as a brand-new fiddle. What on earth could he need healing for? “I’ll just have a look around.”
“Great. Let me know if you have any questions.” Alice sashayed behind the counter, not even fighting her grin.
“They really need to update that website.” Megan unplugged her soldering iron and cleaned up her mess. “The poor man came all this way to watch the creek shift. Well, at least he’s got a nice place to stay. I’d love to see the inside of Rainecourt Manor.”
“Shh… He doesn’t know we know where he’s staying.” Alice rose onto her toes to get a better view of Donovan as he browsed the artwork. The man is delicious.
“He must be so disappointed.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “But I’m sure you can make the trip worth his while.”
Alice giggled. “One taste of me, and he’d become a permanent resident.”
“He seems drawn to the bird sculptures. I’m tempted to tell him he doesn’t need aviary art when he can have the real thing right here.” Megan elbowed her in jest. “But we really need to make a sale, so I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
“Mmm… He can have this bird any time he wants it.” A burning sensation flashed through Alice’s chest, her skin turning to gooseflesh as electricity shot down to her toes. As the feeling dissipated, she shivered and rubbed the back of her neck. “That was weird.”
Donovan gasped, and she jerked her gaze toward him in time to see him stiffen before his entire body shuddered. His aura sparkled, the deep-orange turning to green shifter magic, and in an instant, he disappeared behind a display shelf.
“What the heck?” Alice hurried across the floor with Megan on her heels, trying to ignore the aching hole that seemed to be expanding in her chest. A man had collapsed in their store. She’d worry about what just happened to her later.
As she rounded the shelf, the sexy warlock was nowhere in sight. Instead, his satchel lay open on the floor, the mongoose standing with his little back arched, making a mewling sound deep in his throat as he stared at a startled crow.
“Shoo. Nobody eats crow in my presence.” Megan moved toward the mongoose, waving her arms, while Alice stood frozen in shock.
The familiar squealed and skittered across the floor, climbing the display shelf and knocking over a picture frame before plowing through a set of handmade wildflower trinkets. Megan snatched a ceramic pot from another shelf, grabbed the mongoose, and shoved him inside before latching the lid closed.
The crow looked at Alice, tilted his head, and then squawked before attempting to take flight. It flapped its wings wildly, gaining air and then crashing into the ground. It continued its path toward the open front door, and Alice’s shock finally subsided, turning to panic. She couldn’t let that bird get away.
“Stop him!” she shouted, and Megan shoved the doorstopper aside before yanking the door shut.
The crow continued forward, unable to stop, and plowed into the window head-first. He tumbled, smacking his back on the concrete floor and going completely still. Oh no.
“Is he a crow shifter too?” Megan set the jar of protesting mongoose on the floor and kneeled beside the bird.
“He’s not a shifter.” Alice joined her, fisting her trembling hands as her heart pounded. The hollow feeling in her chest expanded, and she knew exactly why. “He’s stolen my crow.”
Chapter Four
“What do you mean he’s stolen your crow?” Megan shot to her feet and locked the door before grabbing a seat cushion from a chair. “Your crow is part of you. How could he do that?”
“I don’t know, but I can feel it’s missing, and look…” She scooped the bird into her hands, and Megan set the cushion on the floor. As Alice laid the bird on it, she lifted its wing, revealing a small patch of white feathers on its side. “That’s my mark.”
“Son of a bitchin’ bald eagle.” Megan eyed the pot, in which the mongoose chittered away angrily. “How smart do you think his familiar is?”
“I heard them holding a conversation last night.” She pulled the pot into her lap and tapped on the lid. “Hey, can you hear me?”
“Of course I can hear you. I’m not deaf.” The familiar knocked on the lid.
“I’m going to let you out, but you are not to eat the crow. He’s your warlock. Do you understand?”
“Don’t eat the crow. Got it. Now let me out before I suffocate.”
Alice unlatched the lid, and the mongoose clambered out, skittering in a circle around the bird.
“What’s that smell?” Alice wrinkled her nose as a rancid stench rose from the jar.
“Ew.” Megan waved a hand in front of her face. “He must have those scent glands like a ferret.”
“Or a skunk.” She set the jar aside. Jesus Christ on a unicycle, the reek was enough to make her gag.
“What did you do to him?” the mongoose demanded. “Is he dead?”
“He did this, not me. And he’s breathing…I think.” She eyed the bird until the gentle rise and fall of its chest registered in her vision. “Yes, he’s breathing.”
“Turn him back!”
“I didn’t turn him to begin with, so you’d better start talking. How did he do this?”
“You did it!” The familiar raced toward her. His tiny claws dug into her arm as he climbed up to her shoulder. “Where is it?” he squeaked into her ear.
He slid his front paws down her collarbone, ducking his head as he dove into her shirt like a baseball player sliding into home. Alice squealed and jumped to her feet, shaking her blouse and trying to get the damn thing out, but he’d latched onto the underwire in her bra right between her boobs.
“Let go, you little weasel!” She lifted her shirt and grabbed the animal. He released his hold on her girls and instead caught the necklace in his teeth. Wrapping his tiny arms around the pendant, he held on for dear life, refusing to get the heck out of her shirt until Megan yanked on his tail.
“Watch it!” As he spoke, his grip loosened, and Alice jerked him away from her body, dropping him into the jar Megan held toward her.
“That went well.” Meg latched the lid, despite the mongoose’s squeals of protest, and clutched the jar as he struggled.
Alice stared at the unconscious bird. Her bird. How on earth did this happen? And more importantly, how in heaven’s name could she get her crow back inside her where it belonged? “When people talk about out-of-body experiences, I never imagined it would be like this.”
“Do you think it’s possible that you did it?” Megan set the jar on the floor.
Alice couldn’t take her eyes off her bird. “How? He’s the warlock. I’m just a bottom-feeding shifter.”
“Hey, now. We are not bottom feeders. Brains are far more important than brawn, no matter what the wolves and mountain lions try to say.”
She crossed her arms. “Well, I obviously didn’t do it. I wouldn’t have a clue how to even start.”
“But why would he take your power? He clearly wasn’t prepared for it. His own familiar wanted to eat him, and he had no idea how to fly. Maybe it was your hormones or something. Does anyone in your family have extra powers?”