Shifter's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 3

by Harrison, D. L.

  When no one spoke, she went on, “Because of that, he may come here quickly, as opposed to hitting every coven on the way. The other problem is because it crossed state lines, the FBI is all over this thing, which could lead to exposure. Especially if the press gets wind of this thing and someone gets caught on national TV. There is no undoing that.

  “I think, if we manage to rescue the witch in his custody, it will slow him down in a couple of ways. One, without her recharging amulets, he won’t be able to bamboozle other packs into swelling his numbers, he also won’t be able to take out a full coven on their own ground, which means less visible attacks for the norms to see.

  “It’s no guarantee of course, but it should lower the risk, both to us, others, and to exposure. At the very least it will weaken him before he shows up here and we have to face him. Given points one and two I don’t think there can be much doubt that will eventually happen, unless someone else stops him first.”

  Exposure and war would be the worst outcome. There would be no reason for witches or shifters to hide what was going on anymore, which meant larger attacks, and of course much worse than that, there’d be a third player on the board, humanity. That would make it… bad. She didn’t bother mentioning that though, everyone in the room knew that.

  Ella spoke after a few moments of silence.

  “We can handle the FBI, what makes you think exposure is such a risk.”

  She almost laughed, a little hysterically, but held it in.

  “For the same reason the war never escalated to the extent that Jake is taking his attacks. There are limits to control, otherwise we would have stepped into the light long ago.”

  Damon shared a look with Allen before he said, “I suggest we discuss this among ourselves for a while, though I believe Celia is right.”

  She nodded at both councils, she’d clearly been dismissed. Paul and Ed followed her out of the room, apparently the rest of the meeting would be council to council only. She hoped they made a decision quickly…

  The feel of grinding herbs with the mortar and pestle was a Zen feeling, or at least, it used to be. Her cat nature made it not quite as effective as it was in the past. Still, she spent the rest of the afternoon brewing potions and making salves. It was relaxing, but only to half her nature. She would have to wait for a run to calm her tiger side until later however, and she gave serious consideration to driving out to Joe’s to do so in tiger form. The full moon was close, and her inner cat was growing more restless.

  The FBI, possible exposure, the shadow of war, the dynamic of her team, Ed and Paul, being off, and the pressure that her grandmother put on her, all conspired with the coming full moon to put her on edge. So she took a deep breath, taking in the scent of herbs and her home in an attempt to relax.

  Her home, the shop. It had been a while since that had been enough, had been all she needed to relax and feel at peace with herself. She loved being a tiger shifter, she loved her new job, even the fighting and conflict was appealing to her now. When she was honest with herself it was during the fighting that she had the least amount of doubts, when her predatory nature took hold. But there was a part of her that regretted the loss of simplicity in her life.

  The door connecting to the front of the store opened and when she looked up she saw a frazzled Fran. The coven leader for Rock Hill looked unsure instead of her usual confident self. Her state of dress seemed to match.

  “What happened?”

  Fran took a deep breath, “Need your help, witch from an Atlanta coven, in my car, in labor.”

  She decided that was enough information for now, it was time to move. She grabbed her satchel which had what she would need for a birth.

  “Let’s go.”

  Fran froze for a second, and then nodded and moved quickly toward the front door, Celia followed closely. She was assuming Fran would give the woman room in the coven house. Although it was possible, a shop on the main street in town wasn’t the best place for a woman to have a baby.

  She looked over to Berny, “Call Mia if you can’t stay, I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

  Berny just nodded and waved her out.

  She jumped into the front seat and turned the best she could after putting her seatbelt on.

  Fran spoke as she pulled away, “This is Angela, and her daughters, Christine and Marie. Angela, this is our local midwife Celia, she’ll take good care of you.”

  Angela was in her mid to late twenties, she was wearing stretchy pants, and a large loose shirt that was stuck to her skin in places. She had long dark hair, her eyes were closed in pain and she was breathing in and out quickly.

  Christine and Marie were about five, and had the same dark hair, and were obviously twins. Both of them were watching their mother with concerned look on their faces and a little fear in their blue eyes.

  Angela cried out and opened her eyes, the same shade of blue as her daughters.

  She asked calmly, “How far apart are the contractions?”

  Angela wiped the hair stuck to her sweaty face to the side and her breathing settled a bit.

  “Seven minutes for that one.”

  She nodded and dug into her bag and removed a potion. It would help with the dilation and dull the pain, although not completely.

  “Drink this.”

  Angela hesitated a moment, and then took the potion and drank it down.

  Christine, or Marie, she wasn’t sure which was which yet, said, “Is she going to be alright?”

  She breathed in the scents in the car. At first look everything was going okay, she didn’t sense any problems with her enhanced senses, and Angela looked calm enough for the circumstances. She did notice it would be another set of twins.

  “So far so good, are you having little sisters or brothers.”

  The girl’s nose wrinkled, “Sisters.”

  She turned to Angela, “How did you first delivery go?”

  Angela frowned, “Too damn slow, but no complications, hopefully this time will be faster.”

  Angela seemed to slowly relax a little more over the next few minutes, another contraction hit right as they were pulling into the driveway of the coven house. She checked the time, it had only been five minutes. Her last birth might have been slow, but this one was coming quickly.

  She talked calmly, knowing how important it was for the midwife not to panic, she knew there was plenty of time. When the contraction passed, she got out and opened the door, and helped Angela into the house, Fran led them to a guest room with a bed and they got Angela situated. She set up what she needed for the birth on the dresser after laying out a sterile cloth.

  Elaine came in with her daughter Cheryl, although Cheryl was at least four years older than the twin girls, it wasn’t hard to convince them to run off and play.

  Elaine said to Angela with a reassuring look, “You’re in good hands, I’ll keep an eye on your girls,” before she followed the children.

  She smiled as the woman left, ever since Ed and her had saved Elaine from her husband in New York they’d grown closer and Elaine had grown more confident and flowered. Elaine was definitely grateful, and happy in her new home. She wasn’t sure Elaine didn’t have an inflated opinion about her, but she wasn’t going to argue either.

  Fran asked, shaking her out of her thoughts, “What can I do?”

  “Something to clean them and bundle them up when their born. With twins I’ll need someone to help with the first after I get the umbilical and clear the lungs.”

  Fran nodded, “I can do that, I used to help your mother with the same.”

  There were no complications, and it was a quick birth, at least relatively. The next few hours Celia focused on doing her job as a midwife. The first child was named Carla, the second Genevieve, and they were both little miracles. She felt a tenderness and awe deep inside of her. She discovered something about herself, her love of helping a new child into the world had not been diminished, or changed, since her shifter side was let out. She w
as very happy doing what she was doing, and it was magical.

  Chapter 8

  It was late in the evening when she headed back to the store. She knew they’d have to talk to Angela about what happened to try and get some more information, but not today. Angela had been exhausted after giving birth and holding the newborn twins for a while, and was sleeping when she’d left.

  Mia was there to greet her when she went in the door, it was almost closing time.

  “Everything go well?”

  She grinned, “Yes it did, anything happen here?”

  Mia shook her head, “A few norms came in, and I got the orders out in time for UPS. It was a slow night.”

  She wasn’t too surprised by that, most of her real business was done over the internet anyway. They finished up the night and closed up before she went out for a run. The day had drained some of her energy, the excitement of the birth, but she still had plenty to burn. The night felt welcoming, and there was a nice cool breeze as she put in twenty miles. When she got back to the store she smiled as she picked up Ed’s scent and headed upstairs.

  He greeted her with a kiss at the door, and she stepped into him as he wrapped her up in his arms. His lighthearted kiss of greeting became something else and she felt her pulse start to race and her body heat up. Was she purring? She let him step away reluctantly when he broke the kiss.

  He said teasingly, “You need a shower.”

  She smirked, “Yes I do,” and walked away toward the bathroom.

  She turned her head halfway there with a playful smile and raised an eyebrow, “Are you coming?”

  He grunted something about water conservation, and followed.

  It was a couple of hours later, lying in bed, needing another shower, when Ed brought up work. She sighed, she was still trying to enjoy the pleasant soreness and sated feeling.

  “So I have news about a few things from the councils.”

  She cuddled up against him, and brushed his chest, “What news is that?”

  “The council wants us to either rescue or neutralize the witch if it comes to that.”

  She frowned, “Neutralize?”

  He nodded and pulled her close, “Only as a last resort, we can’t leave her in Jake’s hands. We are also not supposed to engage with their main force, or Jake, at all. From what we can determine, she’s behind and lightly guarded where Jake’s pack lives.”

  “Is that it?”

  He shook his head, “Keep the dumb act up for the Feds, if those agents come back just stonewall. At least, for now.”

  That confused her, “For now?”

  He chuckled, “Would you believe after we left, one of the council members argued we should come out? Apparently they are discussing it, and communicating with other cities.”

  A shiver ran down her spine, and she thought she was nuts.

  “That’s… crazy. Isn’t it?”

  She felt him shrug before he said, “Probably, but the point was made that technology is moving very fast right now. It’s only a matter of time until a camera is missed, or something gets on the net that goes viral before it can be suppressed. I gather the purpose of exposing our world is so we get to put our own spin on it. It might not even be total. They are discussing what level of exposure as well.”

  She frowned, “You mean just telling the government maybe? I think that would be a bad idea.”

  He blew out a breath.

  She added, “I mean, if it’s a secret from every day people, what’s to stop the government from experimenting on us?”

  He asked, “And if popular opinion on the news is to hunt us down?”

  She shrugged, “We hide in plain sight? I assume we aren’t giving them a registry of names?”

  He snorted.

  She sighed, “Back to the other thing, who’s going, and when?”

  “Early morning flight to Tampa, we need to be at the airport at six. It will be us, along with Josh and Paul.”

  She reached for her phone, and sent a text to Berny that she’d be watching the store alone tomorrow, and why. She decided to pack a bag in the morning, she just didn’t want to leave the bed…

  “Absolutely not.”

  Her brain wasn’t quite working yet as she sipped the coffee from the travel mug. It was almost five thirty in the morning and they needed to get on the road to the airport. After packing a bag, they’d gone downstairs to Ed’s car, and found Berny waiting for them. Berny looked disgustingly chipper and awake with a carry-on bag thrown over her shoulder, perfect hair and makeup. She looked more like she was headed to a modeling shoot than a rescue, but that wasn’t exactly fair, she knew she wasn’t unattractive, just much less put together right now.

  Her friend might have had a smile on her face, but there was steel in her blue eyes. It was hard to deny her the right to do what she wanted, Berny was definitely growing up.

  “I’m coming, you might need me for something, and this effects everyone. Mia will cover the store today.”

  She looked at Ed to handle it as she took another sip, but she almost burned herself at his reply.

  “Sure, your telekinesis may come in handy, we’re not sure how many shifters will be there either.”

  She started to splutter at his betrayal but he shook his head and added, “We may need to split into two teams if Karina and her son Carl are being held far apart. If Berny wants to help we shouldn’t stop her.”

  She wasn’t happy with that, she didn’t want her younger friend in danger. They’d had this conversation before though, and she knew if she pushed it too far she’d just lose Berny as a friend. Berny was young, beautiful, powerful, and idealistic. If anything happened to her she wouldn’t forgive herself, but she really didn’t have a choice.

  “Fine, just be careful.”

  Berny hugged her and grinned, like she’d been given a gift, before jumping into the backseat of the car. It actually made her feel guilty for trying to hold Berny back. She sighed and slid into the passenger seat and focused on waking up and sipping her coffee as Ed took them to the airport. The plan was to meet Paul and Josh there.

  Their flight was right after seven, and the airport was almost deserted as they picked up their tickets and made their way through the security checkpoint. They still had time before boarding, so they stopped for a quick breakfast. She picked up a bagel sandwich, double bacon, and they ate quickly before heading for the gate.

  Paul and Josh showed up just before boarding, and they all got onto the flight. Unfortunately, none of their seats were together since they all got the tickets at the last minute, and she wound up sitting next to a slightly overweight middle aged man wearing extremely strong after-shave.

  Add to that her shifter nature of not being able to sit still for too long due to all the energy she had, a packed plane with so many humans, some of them wearing perfumes and other strong scents, and she wasn’t sure she would make it through the flight sane. Or at least, not crazier than she already was. It was her first plane trip since her shifter side was revealed, and as they took off she wondered why they hadn’t just drove.

  She put her head back, and tried to calm down through meditation, also with the hope that the guy she was sitting next to would leave her alone. Too bad she wasn’t that lucky.

  “Hi, I’m Tom. You going to Florida for business or pleasure? Or do you live there?”

  She held back a sigh and opened her eyes, Tom’s eyes were not pointed at her face, but lower.

  “I’m sorry, I’m trying to rest, do you mind?” she asked plaintively.

  Tom’s eyes narrowed, “I’m just being friendly here.”

  She held back a growl, and muttered a few words under her breath. She smiled when the man’s head fell back and he was clearly knocked out. Now maybe she could try meditating, and making it through the flight without losing it. Either way, her new self was not thrilled with airplanes.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and then groaned as Tom started to snore…

&nb
sp; She managed to survive the flight, so did Tom. She released the spell as they taxied up to the gate. It was with some relief that she made it out of the plane and into the airport. They all met up outside the gate ramp, and headed to the car rental counters. They’d need at least a minivan, since they’d be seven on the way back they would need the seating room. She was wide awake now, and bursting with energy after sitting still for over an hour.

  “How long is the drive?” she asked no one in particular.

  Ed replied, “Ninety minutes give or take. Maybe two hours.”

  Berny asked, “Do we have a plan?”

  Paul replied, “Sure. Drive there, kill the witch’s guards, take the witch and her son, come back.”

  Berny snorted, “Really?”

  Ed shrugged, “So far yes, we’ll need to scout the place out before we can come up with anything better.”

  Josh returned with a set of car keys, and they all headed out to the bus that would take them to the right rental car lot.

  She could help with that, the scouting part. She was kind of embarrassed she hadn’t thought of it before now. She knew the right property, so she sent her air elemental to get some bird’s eye views of the place, and the amount of guards along with the basic layout. She was very specific about it, so that her elemental didn’t come back and tell her about every blade of grass, every slat of wood, and every nail in the house. She had to be cautious, and made sure it would just report on people, where they were, and how many rooms. Since there was a witch involved, she also had the air elemental report back on any wards and protections on the property.

  By the time they reached the lot and were heading out in the light blue mini-van, her elemental had returned. She felt her elemental place the information in her mind, a large amount of information, although nothing she couldn’t handle. The reason it was so much was there were wards on the property, or at least, on the house. She had a full understanding of those wards right now, every line of magic, and what the intent was.