by Zoe Chant
But he seemed just as interested in her, and so soon he’d heard all about her sisters and her childhood and Des Dieux a Tes Levres. And while he was happy to tell her that his favorite sport was soccer, his favorite movie was March of the Penguins, he loved traditional Mexican breakfasts, he was a terrible cook, and he liked playing video games, he was vague about his past and family.
There was something he wasn’t telling her. A divorce? A divorce that was still in progress? Whatever it was, she wished he’d bite the bullet and confess. She felt certain it couldn’t be anything that bad.
The dirt road dead-ended, and Angel parked the car. He got the picnic basket and Everly hefted her backpack. Rock clawed her way up Everly’s tank top and perched on her shoulder. And so they set off through the woods, following a barely-there trail that Angel said was a deer path.
“About the portal…” Angel said slowly, then stopped, looking worried.
“I promise not to tell anyone about it,” Everly assured him. “Though I’m a little nervous about Rock. It’s going to be hard to keep her a secret in the city.”
“You can train magical animals to become invisible to anyone who doesn’t already know about them. Rock’s too young to learn, but if you can keep her secret for a couple months, it won’t be a problem after that.”
“Oh, good. I can keep her in my apartment for a couple months, and hide her in my purse when I’m taking her for outings. Though I don’t know where I could take her outside in Refuge City where there aren’t at least a few people around.” She darted a quick glance at Angel, then said, “Guess I’ll have to come back here a lot!”
She’d hoped he’d say something like, “Yes, come back all the time so we can spend more time together.”
He looked wistful, and didn’t reply immediately. For the first time, the conversation came to an awkward halt. Angel took a deep breath, and said, “There’s something I haven’t told you. I brought you here so I could show you after I tell you.”
Here it comes, she thought. At least it wouldn’t be a wife or girlfriend. He could’ve showed her a photo anywhere.
“You already know magical animals exist,” he went on. “Well… Magical people do too. We—”
“You’re a wizard!” Everly burst out, delighted. “I knew it!”
“No…”
“An elf!”
“No…”
“A vampire?” she asked nervously, hoping it wasn’t that. Then, trying not to be prejudiced, she quickly added, “I mean, if you are, I’m sure you only suck blood from people who consent in advance.”
“No, no, nothing like that,” he assured her. Then he laughed. “I was so nervous about telling you about this, but I obviously shouldn’t have been. You’re unflappable.”
“I have a baby dragonette on my shoulder and I manage a five-star restaurant,” she pointed out. “I kind of have to be. Wait, I know it! Are you a real angel, with wings?”
He laughed again. She loved his laugh. “None of the above. I’m a shifter—a person who can turn into an animal.”
“Oh!” She was surprised, but not disbelieving. He moved with a grace that was just this side of more-than-human, like a stallion or a deer or a—
She looked into his eyes, dark as pools of clear water in a forest at night, with a light in them shining like the full moon, and she just… knew.
“You’re a unicorn,” she breathed.
His jaw dropped, then he gave a wry chuckle. “And you are amazing. I was going to wait to shift when we got to where we’re going—it’s much prettier—but now that the cat’s out of the bag…”
He set down the picnic basket and took a few steps back, holding up his hand to keep her from following him. Then he stood still, looking into her eyes. A faint mist gathered around him, glowing silver as if the moon shone through it.
Everly forgot to breathe. As the mist dissipated, she beheld the unicorn.
She’d always imagined unicorns as beautiful horses with horns. But the unicorn that Angel had become was slimmer and more delicate, but also more fierce: something like an Arabian racehorse, something like a stag, and something entirely its own.
His coat was a shimmering silver-white, and his cloven hooves gleamed like pewter. His mane and tail flowed like waterfalls with rainbows playing over them. An opalescent horn grew from the center of his noble head in a slender spiral, ending in a very sharp point. It looked more like glass than bone, and yet it didn’t strike her as fragile. It was beautiful and dangerous, like a hawk’s talons or a tiger’s claws.
A pair of huge, beautiful dark eyes regarded her. They were much bigger, but she recognized them as Angel’s eyes.
“That’s how I knew what you were,” she murmured. “You have the eyes of a unicorn.”
He took a step toward her. The dappled sunlight struck his horn, making it blaze like molten gold.
“Can I touch your mane?” Everly asked, hoping she wasn’t being too forward. They hadn’t even held hands yet. She still wasn’t totally sure if it was a date yet. But the unicorn’s mane looked so silky, she just had to ask. Before he could respond, a horrible thought struck her. “Or do I have to be a virgin? Please tell me I don’t have to be a virgin!”
The unicorn that was Angel gave a whicker that sounded almost like a snicker. He lowered his head, letting his silken mane fall across her hands.
She let out a sigh of mingled pleasure and relief. “I didn’t burst into flames, so I guess not. Can I touch—”
The unicorn snorted, then shoved his velvety nose into her shoulder. She giggled and stroked his face. His coat was as soft as a puppy’s ears, his mane light as a cloud. Daring, she ran a finger along his horn. It was smooth as glass. When she tapped it with a fingernail, it rang like a bell.
And then Angel himself was standing before her, his head lowered. Her fingers were tangled in his black hair, which was almost as silky as his mane. Instinctively, she pulled him closer to her, and he caught her up in his strong arms and kissed her.
In her entire life, she had never been kissed so passionately before. His hands were warm on her back, his mouth was hot against hers, and she wanted nothing more than to live in that moment forever. His scent enveloped her, an enticing masculine aroma that made her think of sunlight on grass. She breathed it in, letting it fill her lungs.
Her feet were on the ground, but she felt like she was floating on a cloud. Her body melted into his, and it felt as if they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, as if they had been made for each other, as if they had always been meant to be one.
It felt as if they might have gone on kissing forever, but two things happened to make them break apart: her phone buzzed, and Rock, startled by the sound, fell off Everly’s shoulder and fluttered squeaking to the ground.
Everly scooped up her little dragonette, crooning, “It’s all right, baby.”
In a stage whisper, Angel said, “Don’t tell her you forgot she was on your shoulder. She could be traumatized for life.”
“She’ll never know.” Then, unable to resist, she said, “Now that we’ve established that I’m not a virgin, I have to tell you that you have the biggest horn I’ve ever seen.”
Chapter 7
Angel put on the most exaggeratedly sexy voice he could manage. “So, you like my big, long, hard horn?”
In a breathless voice to match his, Everly said, “I had no idea a man could be so… so horny!”
They both burst out laughing.
This is what I wanted, he realized. A woman who isn’t just sexy, isn’t just beautiful, isn’t just smart and easy to talk to, but a woman I can laugh with.
It had been so long since he’d laughed like that. Tears actually came to his eyes, and he saw her dab at her own. It was the kind of laughter that wasn’t just about bad horn jokes, but came from sheer joy.
My mate, he thought.
He could still feel the warmth of her mouth on his, of her body pressed to his own. Her hands stroking his mane.
She gave him a playful shove. “They do not, you liar.”
“Non-virgins get a kiss instead.”
“Good thing I’m experienced.”
They kissed again. Everly had Rock cupped to her chest, so they leaned into each other. Only their lips touched. And yet it was just as passionate, transporting, and magical as the first time. Once again, he didn’t want it to end.
But the kiss was punctuated by a series of buzzes from her cell phone, until Angel worried that she’d get in trouble at work if she kept ignoring it. Finally, he asked, “Do you need to get that?”
“Probably.” She checked it, blew out an exasperated breath, and handed it to him. “Welcome to my vacation.”
CITY GARBAGE COLLECTORS ON STRIKE. BAGS OF GARBAGE PILING UP OUTSIDE RESTAURANT.
BUS BOYS DISCUSSING SOLIDARITY STRIKE.
REFUGE CITY TIMES RESTAURANT CRITIC RUMORED TO COME TONIGHT.
HEAD WAITER GETTING GARBAGE-INDUCED MIGRAINE.
MOUSE SPOTTED IN MEZZANINE.
FISH TRUCK CIRCLING BLOCK. MIGHT BE PLOTTING SOMETHING???
Angel’s head spun at the thought of having to deal with all this. Part of him wished he’d let her go on ignoring the messages. Then he felt like a jerk for even thinking about sabotaging her career. “What a shame. Never mind, I’ll drive you back. We can have the picnic some other time.”
“What?” She gave him a blank look, then chuckled. “Angel, this isn’t some kind of catastrophe. This is normal. Hang on, just give me a second.” She typed rapidly, then tossed her phone back in purse. “Okay, we’re good.” Everly looped her arm around his, as if he was escorting her to a dance. “Lead on. And tell me all about the portal, and how you got to be a dragonette vet, and all the stuff you didn’t want to tell me before I knew about your great big horn.”
Tell her you’re her mate, urged his unicorn, pointing his horn proudly upward.
It’s too soon, Angel replied. It’s too… big.
He smiled, realizing the double entendre. Everly nudged him. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. Just thinking about my horny secret that you have absolutely no problem with.”
“I love your secret horniness. Most things are secret because they’re bad, but yours is a secret because… why, actually? You don’t want to become a celebrity and be swarmed by paparazzi and thirsty virgins?”
“I wish it was just that,” he said as they continued along the shaded path. “Shifters have powers other than being able to turn into animals. We can recover from injuries faster and better, we have sharper senses, and we…”
We can recognize our mates, said his unicorn pointedly.
“That is, some of us have other powers. Valuable ones. We have to keep a low profile, or we could get kidnapped and trapped in labs where people experiment with us to see if they can transfer our powers to themselves, or use us as weapons. It’s happened to people I know. Not close friends or anything, but people in the community.”
Her fingers closed tightly around his arm. “That’s horrible!”
“Yeah. And the same with the portal. The magical animals that come through are harmless… mostly… but none of them deserve to be captured and studied in a lab. Even most shifters don’t know about the portal.”
“I’ll never tell a soul,” she vowed. “Who does know, though? The other vets? The receptionist? Isa?”
“Right on all counts. Isa knows because we once had to get out our tranquilizer rifles and chase an angry cockatrice through the Come On Inn. Luckily it was the off season.”
“Can I tell her about Rock, then?” Everly asked hopefully. “I’d love to show her off.”
“Absolutely. Just make sure no one else is around.”
They turned a corner and reached their destination. The woods opened up to a sunny meadow of wildflowers. Angel had known it would be pretty, but he hadn’t visited it in a few weeks, and the meadow changed rapidly in springtime as one set of flowers blossomed and others faded. Today it was covered with brilliant red cardinal flowers, delicate pink-and-white spring beauty, and yellow star-grass. Bees buzzed around, butterflies fluttered, and hummingbirds darted about, their wings vibrating too fast to see.
“Oh, it’s gorgeous!” Everly exclaimed. “The perfect spot for a unicorn.”
I’m perfect anywhere, said his unicorn.
Angel gave her a quick explanation of what an inner animal was, then repeated his unicorn’s words.
She laughed. “He’s vain. Doesn’t sound at all like you. Are you sure he’s your primal self?”
“They also have some traits that have more to do with the type of animal,” said Angel. “Unicorns tend to be very aware of exactly how pretty they are.”
“Like having an inner supermodel.”
“Thankfully minus the high heels.”
Rock fluttered out of Everly’s hands and began romping and pouncing and chasing butterflies, her blue-and-white colors like a bit of fallen sky amongst the flowers.
He spread out the blanket for the picnic, set the basket on it, and began to unpack. She did the same with her backpack. It was immediately obvious, before they’d taken out half their goodies, that between them, they had assembled enough for two entire picnics.
“Possibly I overdid it,” she admitted.
“I can eat a lot. Being a country vet involves a lot of exercise. You literally have to chase after your patients sometimes. And lambings are easy, but when you have a big animal like a cow that’s much stronger than you, trying to pull out a calf—” He broke off, remembering that they were eating. “Let’s just say that it takes muscle.”
“I’m not squeamish,” she assured him. But she was distracted from getting more details on calvings by the next thing he removed from the basket. “What are those?”
“Scotch eggs.” When she looked blank, he said, “Hard-boiled eggs wrapped in sausage meat and fried. I got everything at the Pipe & Pudding. It’s a currently-British restaurant.”
“What do you mean, currently?”
“It’s a restaurant space that keeps closing down and re-opening with new management and themes. Six months ago it was Mexican—that one was pretty good—and before that it was a dessert restaurant, which was great. Before that, it was vegan keto. We won’t speak about that one.”
“That does sound unspeakable.” Everly reached into her pack. “I grabbed a few things from the market. You’ll be happy to know that while some are technically vegan and some are technically keto, none of them are both.”
It turned out that what they’d gotten was remarkably compatible. She’d brought a jug of Coke, a loaf of golden-crusted bread, a hard salami, a chunk of white cheddar, and a bag of plump cherries. Angel had bought a large bottle of lemonade, Scotch eggs, cucumber sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, scones with little jars of clotted cream and lemon curd to spread on them, and shortbread.
“So how did you hear about the portal?” Everly asked. “You said most shifters don’t know about it.”
“I was recruited by Waylon and Bryan, the other vets here. They’re shifters too.”
“Unicorns?” She practically glowed with excitement. “Pegasuses?”
“Pegasi. But actually, Waylon’s a grizzly bear and Bryan’s a wolf.”
“Also cool. Though not as cool as unicorns.”
Our mate has excellent taste, said his unicorn.
Grinning, Angel said, “There’s not that many shifter veterinarians, so a lot of us know about each other to some degree or another. We have a private online forum where we talk about stuff like ‘what do you feed a baby dragonette’ and ‘I’m a wolf shifter and my cat patients are scared of me, help.’” He sliced a Scotch egg in half, revealing the golden yolk within the sausage, and took a bite. He washed it down with lemonade, then went on. “I was the only unicorn. Usually unicorn shifters become doctors, not vets.”
>
“How come? I mean, not just why not vets, but why doctors?”
He had to unclench his jaw before he replied. “Remember those extra powers that some shifters have? Unicorns have one. Their horns can heal. Not everything, but a lot of things. Only mine doesn’t work.”
Of course it works, thundered his unicorn. It works perfectly.
“You look like someone just yelled at you,” said Everly. “Was that your inner unicorn?”
“Yeah.” He repeated what his unicorn had said, and explained, “My horn has a calming influence. It works on people and animals, even when I’m in my human form. But it doesn’t heal.”
“Calming is important,” she pointed out. “I can’t tell you how valuable it would be for me if I could calm people down. Especially if I could do it long-distance.” She cast a dark look at her purse, where her phone was buried.
“I have to touch them. Anyway, I’m a double disappointment to the unicorn community: no healing power, and I work with animals instead of humans.”
A scowl that would make a brave man quail appeared on her face at the word ‘disappointment,’ but instead of remarking on that, she said, “Is that why you became a vet? Because of your power?”
“No,” Angel admitted. “I love animals. I used to almost wish I wasn’t a unicorn—” Sorry, he said inwardly. “—because it was so much pressure. But I’m glad I’m some kind of shifter, because otherwise I’d never have gotten my amazing job.”
Still scowling, Everly popped a cherry into her mouth. The lipstick had worn off her lips, but they were now stained red with cherry juice. It made him want to lean over and kiss her then and there. The only reason he didn’t was that he’d wanted that ever since he’d met her, and they had to do something other than kiss some of the time.
She spat out the pit with some force. “I really hope the other vets at your hospital appreciate you more than those judgmental unicorns!”