by Ashlyn Chase
***
When Chad heard the crazy commotion outside his apartment door, he squeezed through the wooden door and found a flurry of activity going on.
A wild owl was dive bombing a falcon in the stairwell. Merry, Morgaine, and Gwyneth were rushing down the stairs shouting at them, and each tried to grab the owl.
Dottie stepped out of her apartment, screamed, and hurried back in, slamming the door. She glued her huge round eyeball to the peephole, though. By the time they made it to the first floor, Nathan had stepped out of his apartment to see what was going on, froze in horror, and ducked back in, but left the door partly open. Then he reemerged in his raven form.
Now there were three of them, flapping all over the place.
A female figure with a camera around her neck held a pad of paper and a pen. She peered through the glass of the outer door and watched the whole thing wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
The owl finally cornered the falcon and was readying to snatch it with lethal-looking talons. Then Nathan in his raven form did something so brave, Chad never thought he'd see the day. He rammed right into the owl, knocking her into the wall so hard, it temporarily stunned her.
Both raven and falcon flew into the sanctuary of the first floor apartment and a second later, the door slammed shut and the double locks clicked.
The woman outside the front door rushed to the right and must have jumped because by the time Chad squeezed through the glass, she was hanging onto the windowsill in order to peer into Nathan's apartment.
What Chad saw through the window didn't entirely surprise him. A naked landlord and naked Nathan leaned against the door, staring at each other.
Bummer. Their secret's out.
***
Jason spotted the woman in the window about to snap his picture and took off running. A bright light flashed before he made it very far.
"Nathan, I need clothes!" he yelled.
"Borrow whatever you like. Everything's in my bedroom closet."
He wasn't kidding. His bedroom held very little furniture. A bed and a bookcase to be exact. Throwing open the closet door, Jason revealed a few items on hangers, very neat and orderly. Everything black—apparently Nathan's favorite color, being a raven and all.
"Nathan," Jason yelled. "I don't see any underwear, and there's no time to look around."
Nathan appeared in the doorway, wearing only black jeans. "I go commando. It helps me avoid getting caught in my clothes in case I have to shift in a hurry. And take one of my black shirts. Leave the top couple of buttons open."
Jason grabbed a pair of slacks and hopped into them. "Smart. We should probably talk at some point."
Nathan shrugged. "Do we need to?"
"You saved my life, man. I'd like to thank you and talk to you about how you control your shifts so easily. You popped into human form faster than I did, and I really wanted to get out of my tasty falcon body."
"Oh, in that case, fine."
"What did you think I wanted to talk about?"
"Oh, I don't know… eviction?"
Jason chuckled. "Not hardly. I owe you my life."
Nathan's lip rose in a half smile. "I guess you do. But don't expect us to become best buddies or anything, no offense. I'm just not into that 'bromance' stuff."
Jason pulled a shirt off the hanger. "That's good, because neither am I. Still, it's weird to find another shifter in the same neighborhood, never mind the same building."
Nathan smirked. "You've never heard 'Birds of a feather flock together'?"
"Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with coincidence?"
"Paranormals tend to attract other paranormals. Why do you think you were attracted to this building?"
Jason straightened. "Because of you?"
Nathan nodded. "Maybe. And maybe I'm not the only one."
Shocked, Jason braced himself against the closet door. "Are you saying there are other shifters in this building besides the three of us?"
"Three? Oh, then you know about Konrad."
Confused, Jason asked, "Wait a minute… Konrad's a shifter too?"
"Oops. I thought he was the third one you were referring to. Who did you mean?"
"You, me, and my uncle."
"Ah, Ralph is your uncle. He's a falcon at times, too? I wondered why you hired the pair of them. He's next to useless, and she's a complete liability."
"Yeah, well, they're family. But whatever you do, don't tell Dottie. I don't think she knows, and I'm sure she'd freak."
Nathan laughed. "Damn. That would be so much fun."
"I'm serious."
"Yeah, okay. What are you going to tell her just happened?"
Jason slapped a hand over his eyes and slumped against the door. "I have no idea."
"Have you tried the 'you must be hallucinating,' routine?"
He nodded. "Unfortunately. She caught me in the elevator in falcon form, stuck in my sweater. I hate to make her think she's going nuts."
Nathan snorted. "Stuck in your… Oh, that's priceless."
"Yeah, well, that's one reason I'd like to talk to you. It seems there are some things I need to learn that you can teach me."
Chuckling, he said, "I guess so. New to this, are you?"
"No, but I'm only half-shifter. It's harder to control sometimes when new circumstances add stress. It's happened a few times recently. I've been able to keep stress to a manageable minimum before this, but now…"
Nathan nodded. "It's been harder since you acquired a girlfriend, right?"
"How did you know?"
He rolled his eyes. "Women. They can complicate the shit out of everything."
Just then, another camera flash through the bedroom window temporarily blinded them.
Jason glanced at what Nathan was wearing—jeans only—then at himself—pants and an open shirt. That, plus where they were standing—beside a queen-size bed—added up to bad news.
"Shit!"
Chapter 13
MERRY DIDN'T QUITE KNOW WHAT TO DO. SHE LOITERED in the hallway outside her front door, knowing Jason was inside her neighbor's apartment, but should she knock? What if he was hurt? Did Nathan know more about helping a shifter than she did?
She had already told Morgaine and Gwyneth that a reading was probably out of the question in the foreseeable future and to keep their pet in the apartment at all times—hidden—and on a tether.
Maybe the future wasn't meant to be foreseen. Perhaps hers would never be easy to predict now that she had landed in the capital of the state of weirdness.
Mentally counting on her fingers, she ticked off each resident's "special gift." Morgaine and Gwyneth were witches. A ghost lived across the hall from them. She lived next door to a raven and her boyfriend and his uncle were falcons. Oh! And she mustn't forget about her vampire dad in the basement.
She remembered Konrad's seemingly superhuman strength and wondered what his story was. He was friends with Sly, so he must be something-or-other. Another vampire? Maybe one who shifts into a bat? Sly had laughed at her when she asked if he could do that.
So how did she end up here, anyway? Oh yeah. The ad in her weekly small town newspaper. Boston sounded so exciting, and the ad had been placed there for three weeks in a row—until she answered it. Sly had asked Morgaine to use some kind of spell to be sure she saw it and no one else did, but that was impossible, wasn't it?
What the hell… In this weird place, anything seemed possible.
As she waited patiently, contemplating her life turned upside down, Jason flew out of Nathan's apartment, only this time in human form and half dressed.
"Stay here," he shouted when he caught sight of her. Then he yanked open the front door and vaulted over the railing.
"What the…?"
Nathan appeared in his open doorway and leaned against it, appearing entirely too casual under the circumstances. "Nice night, isn't it?"
"What was that about?" she asked, pointing toward the front door.
"You mean Jas
on?"
"Yeah, he just ran out of here like he was being chased by a grizzly bear."
Nathan laughed.
"What's so funny?"
He shrugged. "He wasn't being chased. He's doing the chasing, and if a mere five-foot-five woman thinks she can outrun a peregrine falcon, she's sorely mistaken."
"Five-foot-five woman…?" Suddenly Merry remembered the flash she thought she had seen through the front door, and a horrible foreboding invaded her gut. "Oh, no!" Her eyes narrowed and she balled her hands into fists.
"You know her?" Nathan asked.
"I hope to God it's not who I think it is."
"Why? Who is she?"
"Lila Crum." She practically spat the name. "Did you happen to see the newspaper a few weeks ago?"
"No, why?"
"This paparazzi reporter made up a rotten story about Jason and tried to ruin his career and our relationship."
"That blows. I don't read the newspaper. Too depressing."
She stared at him a moment. "But you work in a morgue."
He laughed. "Death isn't depressing. Most of the folks we get were old or sick and death was a release from a painful prison."
"I guess… So what do you think Jason's going to do when he catches up to… whomever?"
Nathan shrugged. "You know him better than I do."
"What would you do?"
"Oh, I'd peck out her eyeballs. Then I'd probably take her camera and drop it in the river. Or the ocean. Yeah, the ocean would probably be… Are you all right?"
Merry hadn't realized it, but her face had probably lost its color and the room was beginning to swirl. Nathan reached her before she passed out and lowered her gently to the floor.
"Breathe slowly. You're hyperventilating."
Merry blinked and exhaled, then purposely slowed her breathing. Her vision cleared. "I'm okay. Thanks."
"Think nothing of it." He stood and watched her while she shakily struggled to her feet.
"So, do you think Jason would do that? Hurt someone, I mean?"
He shrugged. "What do you care? I thought she tried to hurt you."
"Not physically. No eye pecking. Nobody deserves that. Besides, I feel kind of sorry for her."
Nathan made a noise that sounded like pshah. "The paparazzi? They deserve whatever they get."
"She's a human being, or was once. I think she lost a big piece of her humanity. The part that cares about other people's feelings."
"And some people have more than their share of humanity and care too much. You, for instance."
"Me? I don't care too much. I care just right."
Loud cursing outside signaled someone's approach. Merry opened the front door and Jason hurried inside, buck naked, dragging Lila with him.
"Jesus! Look at you."
Nathan sighed. Sounding bored, he asked, "Where'd you leave my clothes?"
"Marlboro Street. About two blocks down. I'll go back and get them later."
"No need. I feel like taking a walk. I'll just go get my keys." Nathan disappeared into his apartment, but left the door ajar.
Lila grinned. "Oh, so you share clothes as well as a bed?" Then she turned her evil smile toward Merry. "I'll bet you didn't know your boyfriend had a boyfriend."
"He doesn't," she said, and crossed her arms.
"Oh yeah?" Lila laughed. "When I get through with him, you're the only one who'll believe that."
Nathan reemerged shrugging into his black jacket. "Look, lady, I don't know what your damage is, but this guy doesn't deserve whatever crap you're dishing out."
"Defending your lover, are you?"
"Blow it out your blowhole, lady," he said calmly and pushed past her to leave.
"Hey, see if you can find her camera while you're out there," Jason called after him. "She threw it in some bushes."
Merry worried her upper lip. "Jason, what are we going to do with her?"
"We?" he asked. "She's my problem."
"Well, yes, but she seems intent on destroying my reputation too. Unless you don't think a nurse's reputation counts."
"Of course it does." He looked pensive. "Can you get my key so we can take her up to my place? It would be harder for her to escape through a window from the fourth floor. Besides…" He looked down at himself. "I need some clothes—again."
***
Once in Jason's apartment, an uncomfortable silence passed between Merry and Lila while he dressed hurriedly. When he reemerged from his bedroom, Lila was sitting in his comfy chair. Merry stood in front of her with her arms crossed.
"Can I have something to drink, please? Something strong?" Lila asked with surprising politeness.
Jason frowned. "First of all, get out of my chair. You can sit on the couch."
While she moved, he looked to Merry. "What's your opinion on giving her alcohol?"
Merry sighed. "Well, we don't want her to go into withdrawal. If it's been a few hours since her last drink, she might. Who knows how long she was lurking outside the building."
Jason sat in his chair and nodded.
"Hey, you sound as if you think I'm an alcoholic."
"Aren't you?" Merry asked. "Your bartender friend seemed to think so."
"Kevin? He'd never say that. Besides, he's not my friend anymore."
Casually, Merry said, "Really? Then I guess you don't need a drink and can do without one now."
"Damn straight. I can take it or leave it. I—I'd just prefer to take it."
"Prefer to or need to?" Merry asked. "I need to know how to keep you safe."
"Don't you dare diagnose me!"
Merry shrugged. "Fine. No drinks then. Why don't you tell us why you're doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Trying to ruin my reputation," Jason said. "And possibly my relationship with my future fiancée." He frowned and waited.
She smirked. "Future fiancée, huh?"
Merry sat on the arm of his chair. "No matter what you print, I'm not going to believe it, by the way."
Lila shrugged. "Whatever. I report what I see, and I've seen some weird shit around here. Why wouldn't I report it? Give me one good reason."
"Because it's destructive."
"Hmm… Nope. That's not enough. Perhaps I should have said, give me seventy-five thousand good reasons."
Merry leaned forward. "Was that a bribe? Why, you brain-damaged, parasitic…"
Jason put his hand on Merry's arm. "Stop. I'll pay it." She sat up straight. "You're kidding!"
Jason held Lila's gaze. "The money comes with certain conditions, though."
"I'm interested. Keep talking."
"The story dies right here. The pictures are destroyed. And you never come near this building or the people who live here again."
Merry interjected. "And you go to rehab."
"Whoa!" Lila stood and clenched her fists. "I told you, I don't have a drinking problem."
"Thou doth protest too much."
Lila started toward Merry. Jason jumped up and stood in front of her. "You touch her and not only will the offer be rescinded, but I'll sue you and your paper for libel, defamation of character, and attempted bribery."
Lila stopped in her tracks.
Ah ha. We know what to use for leverage. Jason wanted to avoid the stress and publicity of a trial at all costs, but she didn't know that.
"I'll lose my job."
"Maybe you need a new line of work, anyway. Look, Merry's idea was a good one. I'll pay for a full treatment program. If you sign out early or against medical advice, the money stays in my bank account, and I'll sue the paper for millions."
"What makes you think you'll win?"
"I have an excellent lawyer. He's never lost a case." That wasn't necessarily true either, but it sounded good. He must have convinced her, because she remained quiet and appeared to be thinking it over.
"Look. Lila," Merry's voice softened. "I know of a couple of excellent thirty-day programs. I've recommended them to a couple of people I know and they were
damn glad they participated. Each got more than they expected—not just a chance to sober up. It improved their whole lives."