Turning from the window, Kianso kicked back in the plush leather recliner and finally closed his eyes. He’d stayed up all night, projecting a panther protection on Sasha. Through the spirit animal, he’d guarded her in her sleep. And while he was miserable on one level because he’d given in to his shamanic calling, the part of him joined to Sasha felt damn fine. He liked watching over her.
But seeing her in bird form wasn’t nearly as engaging as when she was in her human form. Still, he could feel in his bones that it was his duty now to watch over her. The witch who had cast the spell on her had done so maliciously, and his law experience told him that vicious people rarely stopped with a single act of violence. Sometimes they carried a huge grudge forever, letting out their anger on others here and there for as long as they lived.
That thought prompted others: What if the witches couldn’t solve her problem? Was it possible they couldn’t reverse the spell? That she would have to live in this limbo forever? That he would only get to be with her three hours of every day?
TU Kai, he swore, reverting to a Hawaiian expletive.
He got up and walked over to Seth’s well-stocked bar and poured himself a glass of bourbon. He took a nervous sip, then shook his head resolutely.
No. The witches would find a remedy. They had to.
He took another drink, trying not to worry about Sasha. Like every other case he’d ever represented, this wasn’t something he would give up on. She would be free once more.
* * *
Usually the nights passed quickly for Sasha. She’d sleep through the night when nothing bothered her, and it didn’t matter if she was cat or bird or human. Her dreams were all similar in nature, showing her a time when she was free of the curse.
But tonight, an odd manifestation of dreams kept the peace at bay. She tossed restlessly. Her thoughts turned repeatedly to the shaman and his thoughtfulness in wanting to help her. When he’d introduced himself, his lingering handshake and easy manner had melted her tension away instantly. No stuffy pretense with this guy. His shoulders and chest were broad, as if he’d been swimming his entire life, and even though he had a tall, muscular frame, he moved with a laid-back grace.
She recalled his kind, golden eyes and handsome smile. A hint of a dimple nudged one of his cheeks. She had longed to place her palm there and ease his face closer to hers.
She jerked awake, and the feeling that she was being watched by someone washed over her. She glanced around, her instincts on high alert. Someone was in the room.
She shifted in the nest she’d created from a soft scarf. The silk rubbed against her feathers as she strained, leaning forward to see across the room better. There, on the other side of the space, a large black panther lounged in the bright moonlight. His yellow-green eyes angled up to stare at her.
Her breath caught, and for a moment, she wondered if she was still dreaming. She rose and stretched, and then flew across the room to a large, sturdy vase on a table. The cat tracked her movements with its eyes but didn’t budge. She dropped down and hopped cautiously across the floor, closer to the panther, and stopped a foot or so from its big paws. Her senses were going haywire because what she saw and what she felt conflicted. On one hand, the animal didn’t seem real. On the other, her brain warned her to be careful. And then, the strangest thing happened: the cat faded away like a hot breath on a cold day.
Sasha’s heart raced, uncertainty getting the best of her, as she moved over to the spot where the panther had been seconds earlier. Nothing. It had completely vanished.
Maybe it had been part of her dream state? A real panther can’t just disappear like that. She couldn’t help the hard laugh that bubbled out of her at the irony—she could disappear like that now, shifting from human to bird in the blink of an eye. She sighed. This was crazy. But whatever the panther was, it felt like a friend watching over her. Perhaps her lack of fear could be attributed to her own cat-shifting nature—like recognizing like.
She trotted back to her nest and snuggled into the scarf once more, returning to her thoughts of Kianso. Some unknown force kept calling her to him, telling her that was where she belonged.
After some time of restlessness, she flew to the window and looked out. The sky was already brightening with the rising sun. Caroline would be up and getting ready to head to the shop. Today was Sunday, so the store wouldn’t be open, but she still had to tend to the animals. There was no day off for that.
Besides, it gave Sasha the opportunity to seek out Kianso. Because if she had to endure this dreadful form, at least she could pursue the connection she felt with him.
She winged through the house to find Caroline. She was at the kitchen sink, filling the coffee pot with water. “Morning,” Sasha said.
“Hey there,” Caroline replied.
“I thought I’d let you know, I’m hanging with Kianso today.”
Caroline glanced over her shoulder. “You like him, don’t you?”
“Yes. I like him a lot.”
* * *
The layout of the condo underscored its functionality. The bedrooms were located on the northwest side of the building, and the kitchen and nook were on the east, which meant he could watch the sun rise over the tree line while drinking his coffee. The scene was picturesque in its own way, but it was a far cry from his home in Hawaii where the sun sprang up from the ocean. He missed that. He missed a lot of things.
While he sipped his coffee, the day grew brighter. The sun glistened through the trees, catching the morning dew. A bird settled on the top of the flagpole in front of the building. With its unmistakable green color, he felt certain it was Sasha. She turned her head left and right, seeming to be looking for something.
Could she have come to him? He set his mug aside. There was one way to find out. He exited through the front door.
Downstairs, the valet eyed him as he walked out onto the drive in his robe. “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?” the man asked.
“No. I thought I saw something of interest out the window…a bird.” Kianso glanced toward the top of the flagpole, but the bird was gone. He perused the rest of the area.
“There are many birds around here,” the valet said.
“This one is of particular interest to me.”
As he shuffled back toward the entrance, a chirp made him turn his head. The green Quaker parrot had perched on the bench. She chirped again.
“Hey, there.” He held out his arm for her to come to him. She immediately winged over and landed on the back of his extended hand.
“Oh good. You found it,” the valet said.
“Yes.” He brushed the crook of his index finger over her head and down the back of her neck. She leaned into his touch. He proceeded through the entry doors, heading back to the suite.
When they were back inside the condo, he went to the kitchen and fixed himself another cup of coffee. “Are you thirsty? Do you want something to drink?”
“Water, please,” she said in her shrill bird voice.
He set a cup of water on the table, and she moved over to it. Then he sliced a sweet roll down the middle and placed one half on a napkin before her.
“Thank you.”
He sat and ate his half of the sweet roll while she pecked at hers. “Finished?” he asked when she seemed to have had enough.
“Yes.”
He cleared the table and cleaned up. Then he kicked back in the leather recliner with his laptop. She flew over and perched on his shoulder. “I’m doing some research on spells,” he told her.
“I’ve done some.”
He tried to interpret the key words she’d spoken. He’d noticed that at times she conserved her speech. “You’ve done some research already?”
She bobbed her head.
He paused, tightening his jaw.
Let go of the old and renew yourself, his sister’s voice whispered to him. He glanced around, trying to find her. But she didn’t seem to take a form.
Did you hear me?
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He balled his fist over the keyboard, frustrated. He didn’t want to keep reverting to shamanism as he had with the panther the night before.
But Sasha needed answers, and the spirit guides could have solutions. He sighed. “I’m going to ask my spirit animals. Perhaps they know of a way to rid you of this spell.”
It couldn’t hurt to check, he guessed. He closed his eyes and called on them to share new forms of guidance.
As he mentally prepared himself to enter a trance, he spoke to Sasha. “I’m going to access my dream state—” He paused, wondering what she’d think of this. “Don’t be alarmed if I’m unresponsive for a bit. My kind have been doing this since the beginning of time. Evidence can be found in rock art and cave art since the Ice Age.”
Listen to the spirits of your ancestors, his sister said. Heed the advice of the angelic forces.
Even though that’s exactly what he was contemplating, he fought against Jen’s advice. “I haven’t called upon my guides in a long time. I gave it up after my parents’ and sister’s deaths,” he admitted, the pain of their loss still searing his insides.
The Quaker nuzzled his cheek. “I’m sorry.”
They both jumped as a hawk materialized on the coffee table in front of them. “Life doesn’t always go the way you expect it. You have to accept change. Accept the life you are guided to live,” the hawk said in his sister’s feminine voice.
Sasha trotted along his arm to his hand, seeming to be intently looking at the hawk, as though she also could see it.
So what do you want to do? his sister asked him pointedly, her hawk wings braced tightly to her sides.
Chapter Eight
The hawk mesmerized her. Its presence was quite similar to that of the panther last night—with it kind of mysteriously there, and yet not solid or palpable. She didn’t know exactly what shamans did, but there seemed to be a connection between the animals and Kianso.
“I want to free Sasha from the curse placed on her,” Kianso said, his voice rumbling strong and authoritative.
He spoke like a man used to being in control, she thought. A man who didn’t accept no for an answer. A man—or lawyer—who loved to win. But at the same time, he seemed gentle and caring.
She fluttered her wings. “Thank you.”
She glanced at the clock, even though she internally knew the time. Six hours, twenty-three minutes, and eleven seconds before she transformed into her human self again. It felt like a lifetime before she’d be able to talk to him—really talk to him in more than these monosyllabic responses. Plus, she simply wanted to know more about this striking, complex man.
She turned and traveled back up his arm to his shoulder. Right there was where she would stay until she could change into her real self.
He set his jaw as he tapped the keys on his computer, flipping from one e-mail correspondence to the other. He had posted her problem to a group of his psychic friends. While she was interested in what he was learning that could help her, she tried not to read over his shoulder. The conversations were too complicated for her to comprehend, anyway, as they were speaking of entering different realms of reality, with open space and time constructs.
At one point she noticed that he was researching Quaker parrots, their behaviors, and what they ate. That was very sweet of him, she thought. He saw her looking at him and explained, “I wanted to see what to feed you so I know what to pick up.”
“Thank you.”
Around midafternoon, he set the computer aside and simply sat, staring straight ahead, as if focused on something far away.
Sasha angled her head one way and then the other, wondering what he was doing. He seemed to be in a trance of some kind.
The hawk, who had remained quietly sitting on the coffee table all day, spoke up. “We call it dreaming while awake. He has moved beyond the inner doorway.”
Sasha looked at the hawk in surprise. She opened and closed her beak, not quite knowing what to say.
Since the hawk appeared to be spirit instead of flesh, she didn’t seem to have the same communication problem that Sasha had. “The seeker has access to a transcendent connection to the sacred realms of the spirit world. The fabric of reality is composed of a multilevel vibrational field that is conscious and intelligent. He is searching for favorable conditions in which the field will respond,” the hawk explained.
“Unusual abilities,” Sasha chirped, watching Kianso as he looked beyond what she could see.
“Yes. He is a talented shaman. It has pained me to see him turn from his shamanic calling since our accident.”
Sasha’s breath caught. Was Kianso’s mother the spirit inside the hawk? She wondered who the female was.
“He has the great gifts of wisdom, power, and healing,” she went on. “Our reconnection with Nature is the gateway into the invisible worlds all around us.”
“Are you his mother?” Sasha asked, wanting confirmation.
The hawk shook its head. “No. I’m his sister, Jen.”
Sasha’s beak dropped open. She really shouldn’t be surprised at what was possible anymore, but it still always awed her.
A knock sounded at the door, and Kianso’s body jerked. He shifted and straightened, groaning softly as he came out of the trance.
The hawk vanished.
“It’s the witches,” he said, standing.
She wondered how he knew that, but she supposed it had to do with the spirits and various planes of reality. Or something.
He walked to the door and opened it wide, revealing Pandora and Charisma.
“Good afternoon,” Charisma said. The greeting lacked enthusiasm.
Neither witch smiled; they just nodded and entered as Kianso invited them inside. Sasha’s stomach knotted with uneasy anticipation.
“Would you like a cup of tea or a soda?” Kianso offered.
“No. Thank you,” Pandora said. “We thought we should come in person to tell you what we’ve found.”
Sasha prepared herself. By the drawn looks on their faces, it couldn’t be good news.
“I appreciate that,” Kianso said.
“As do I,” Sasha chimed in. Pandora gave her a sympathetic smile.
Charisma wet her lips. “The spell can be broken,” she started, “but only on Samhain’s full moon. And only by her true love.”
Sasha’s heart sank. She hadn’t even been on a date in over six months, never mind discovering her true love.
“Fortunately, we will have a full moon this Halloween,” Pandora added.
Kianso’s lips tugged upward.
Anger roiled in her chest. What did he have to smile about? Halloween was a mere three weeks away. It was impossible.
He set his left hand on his shoulder, indicating for her to step onto it. She did, and he moved her in front of him so they were eye level and between Pandora and Charisma.
“Then there is hope of freeing her of the spell,” he said. “I have seen it in my visions and know it in my heart… I am her true love.”
No sooner had he said it than she changed into her human form.
She inhaled a deep breath. “Say what?”
He put his hands in his pockets. “Don’t worry. I have a few weeks to convince you, but we are destined for each other.”
“Well,” Pandora said, “it’s simply a matter of timing, then. We’ll leave you to get to know each other.” The sisters turned in unison, heading for the door.
Charisma paused outside in the hall and looked back at them. “Oh, and just a reminder. It has to be the real thing or the spell won’t be broken. No love potions or getting Willa to make a special ring or anything like that.”
“Charisma, hush,” Pandora chastised her.
“Just telling the truth,” the other witch responded.
Sasha moved closer to Kianso, threading her arm through his. She’d been perfectly content sitting on his shoulder all day. Why should she feel differently now? “Thank you for stopping by and sharing what you learned,” she
said with a nervous smile. “And thank you for even helping at all.”
The witches nodded.
“Well, see you two around,” Pandora said, waving as they left.
* * *
As soon as the door closed, he pulled Sasha into a hug. She felt so good in his arms, so right. He slid his palm up and down her back, trying to soothe her, to reassure her. “It will be okay,” he said.
She dipped her head and leaned it against his shoulder. “I want to believe that.”
After a moment, she stepped back and searched his eyes. “When did you see us together? Just a while ago when you were in that trance?”
“No. It was when I was younger,” he said. “When I saw you at Mummy’s the other night, you seemed familiar. Like I should recognize you. But it wasn’t until we were at Nick’s place that it registered.”
“Wow,” she breathed.
He ran a gentle hand over her arm. He couldn’t get enough of touching her. “Do you want to go out for a bite to eat?”
“How about we order in?” she suggested. “I’m on a schedule, you know.” She let out a small giggle.
“Okay.” He closed the distance between them and cupped her face in his hands as his lips claimed hers. Good heavens, she tasted wonderful. “Then I better take advantage while I can,” he said against her mouth. When she broke the kiss, he let her go.
She drew in a deep tremulous breath, searching his eyes. Her hand came up and rested on his chest before she threaded her fingers in his hair and pulled him toward her, initiating a longer, more passionate kiss.
When she moaned, he pulled her tighter against his body. What a powerful aphrodisiac to know she was as attracted to him as he was to her. He wished he could touch her and kiss her all night long.
Images flashed in his head of taking her into his bedroom. Reluctantly, he ended the kiss. As he eased to her side he said, “Um, dinner?” He tilted his head and gave her a wink. “Although I’ll admit I’m hungry for far more than food.
The Shaman Charms the Shifter Page 5