She didn’t bother trying to fill in the awkward silence anymore. She closed her eyes and tried to meditate. His scent was really distracting and she hated herself for being attracted to him. The meditation sort of helped, she was calm and in control for the most part when they pulled into a parking lot. She looked at the sign and suppressed a laugh.
A security firm, of course, it was a perfect job for strong powerful shifters.
They escorted her from the car. The building looked innocuous, just another office building among many.
She saw the restroom and veered that way. They didn’t say anything and let her go in alone, there was no window or other way out. She cringed when she looked in the mirror and checked her head. It looked perfectly healed, but there was dried blood on her face and hair, she looked like a wreck. She took a moment to take care of business, she’d been in the cage a long while.
She did her best to clean her face and then put her hair into a ponytail. She sighed; at least she looked more like she’d just rolled out of bed instead of like she’d been in a fight, except maybe for the blood spots on her shirt. She left the bathroom and followed Paul, the two wolf shifters followed behind.
They walked past reception and took the hallway into an open area; a number of shifters watched them as they moved between the desks to a conference room. The table was made of wood, there was a large screen television, probably for presentations, and ten office chairs. It was… strange.
She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, maybe an empty warehouse, or a cave somewhere they could put a bullet in her brain and drop her down a hole. Nope, she was in what looked to be an executive conference room, she found herself reevaluating all the things she had heard about shifters.
She had no doubt they could be violent, brutal even, but the prejudice she had grown up with painted a much different picture than what she was seeing so far. She wondered what the war had been about exactly, outside of the prejudice she didn’t really know. They were enemies, but why?
Paul interrupted her thoughts, “Take a seat muffin. They’ll be with us soon.”
She didn’t bother responding to the new pet name and took a seat halfway down the table. A few minutes later they trickled in one at a time giving her the opportunity to study them.
The first was a woman that looked to be about fifty, like her she was a tiger shifter. She was still an attractive women, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes. Between her facial attributes and the scent she just knew this was Paul’s older sister. Interesting. Whatever the woman thought of her, she wasn’t showing it.
She heard Paul say lightly, “This is my sister Ella, one of the local council.”
A few moments later a wolf shifter came in. He was the oldest shifter she’d ever seen. He still moved with strength and grace, but it almost looked strange, based on his gray hair and wrinkled skin she thought he should be tottering.
Once again Paul filled her in as he took a seat but this time with just a name, “Allen.”
She was starting to feel nervous, her life was in their hands. Even if she managed to somehow escape they had the power to either give back or bar her from her old life. Of course, even if they did send her back, she’d have the witches to deal with as well. The third councilor actually made her smile and relax a little when he came in.
It was Joe, the bear shifter alpha that had fetched her the other day for his daughter in-laws birth. He closed the door after coming in and took a seat. It was quiet for a minute, as if they were evaluating her in some way.
Joe sighed, “Well isn’t this a pickle.”
Chapter 10
Ella rolled her eyes and said shortly, “Report.”
Paul spoke in a matter of fact voice, “As far as I can tell she had no idea what she was until two days ago. I can confirm the shifter in her was suppressed when I spoke to her the other day. It’s also easy to tell she is unfamiliar with and uncomfortable with her instincts.”
That disturbed her a bit, she realized they’d had a lifetime to hone and learn what their body language and the myriad scents told them. She knew a lot about them from her new senses and she was just a baby at it. She felt a little… exposed. She’d thought she’d managed to hide what attraction she had, now she was almost sure they could read her like an open book.
Brutal. It was a word that described the shifters well. She’d been taught, and the witches believed they were savage, less evolved beings. It wasn’t hard for her to see though, that with these enhanced senses there was no point in polite white lies or diplomatic fictions. It simply wouldn’t work for a shifter, playing nice for them didn’t exist, they would either like her or not, and she’d know it. They’re brutality applied not only to battle and violence, but also to being honest and forthright no matter the cost.
She frowned, she should have gone straight to Kelly and Lily. She’d never imagined before this moment they had meant exactly what they said. She should have trusted them.
Ella shook her head, “What are your intentions Celia. We’re all uncomfortable with this, but the only shifter law you broke has already been forgiven by the wolf alpha. You’re a risk however, and I’m sure you know why.”
She did. She could hurt the shifters badly if she passed on all she learned to the witches.
She was surprised how firm her voice was, “My intentions? Go back to my store, live my life. I have no intention of allowing either shifters or witches to gain an edge through me, or use me in that manner. I am a healer, and a midwife. Not a warrior. I would however offer my services to both sides, much how I offered my skills and products to Tina.
“As for how realistic that is… I don’t know. I just know if I want to survive I’ll need to be neutral. That probably means I need to let the witches council know what I am as well.”
Allen said bluntly, “Why should we take that risk on you?”
Joe shook his head, “It isn’t that simple. I trust you Celia, you saved my granddaughter, and my daughter in law, and my nose tells me you meant what you said. But what if the witches don’t give you a choice?”
She sighed. It was a real possibility. She didn’t think Bernadette or Fran would betray her, none of the other members of the Rock Hill coven either. But who knew about the rest of them? She didn’t think she could trust all the shifters either, Tom was one who would happily see her dead just for being born the way she was.
She shrugged at a loss, “What do you suggest?”
Paul said diffidently, “I may have a suggestion.”
Ella looked at him a moment but it was Allen the wolf shifter that answered, “What would that be?”
Paul shrugged. “It seems to me we need to make her high profile. If she simply retires to her shop in obscurity it will be too easy for radical elements on both sides to get to her or try to use her.”
She wasn’t so sure of that, but as she couldn’t access a lot of her new power right now it was true enough for right now.
Paul continued, “I’d suggest you get with the witches council and propose her as a… liaison of sorts. She could keep her store, but would have to hire more help. In effect, she’d be working for both councils which would make it much harder for either side to take advantage.”
She was a little disturbed, it seemed like he’d put a lot of thought into this idea.
“Liaison? What exactly would I have to do?” she asked skeptically.
Paul replied, “Perhaps you could work with Ed and I. You could probably provide unique points of view on our investigations, not only because of your heritage, but your chosen profession.”
Ugh, it sounded easier just to kill her, she wondered for a moment why they hadn’t, but didn’t come up with anything much less a good reason. She wasn’t going to ask either.
“I don’t know if that’s something I’d be interested in,” she said noncommittally.
Paul shook his head, “I disagree, you were quite interested in our current case despite the fact you hated the deceased. I
think you’ll surprise yourself, the shifter side was already coming out then. The case was also the first thing you asked me about on the way here as well, maybe the old suppressed Celia wouldn’t be interested, but you aren’t that person anymore, are you dear?”
She couldn’t really argue with that, and truthfully it sounded a lot better than being dead or on the run. She’d still have the store too, but most likely would have to hire another person, Berny couldn’t do all of it, she’d barely kept up herself. Did she really want to do this though?
More importantly, did she really have a choice?
She nodded reluctantly and waited for the council to decide. If this did work out, she knew it wouldn’t be simple. Having two masters never really works out well.
Ella sighed, “Very well, if there are no other suggestions? Celia, you may go, we’ll be in touch after we discuss this with the witches’ council.”
She said tentatively, “My car is…”
Tony interrupted her, “Outside with my mate Natalie.”
She blushed, “Thanks,” and stood uncertainly and made her way out.
When she got back to the store, and home, she parked out back and went straight up to her apartment. She closed her eyes when she saw Berny had already been up here and had fed her cat. She regretted the mysterious notes she’d left for them, she’d only been gone a day.
That was all to the good of course, she was home. Silva was sane for the most part, even if terrified by their magic. Her secret was out, and she was still breathing. Granted, the witch council still had their say coming, but the fact the shifters seemed to want her alive cheered her, even if she didn’t understand why yet. Sure, she was wary, but alive.
She jumped into the shower and washed her hair three times before putting in conditioner to make sure she’d gotten all the blood, dirt, and sweat out. Then she scrubbed her skin everywhere at least twice. She felt a hundred percent better now that she was clean, and put on a pair of jean shorts and a light red shirt. She grabbed a coffee before heading downstairs.
When she walked in the front there were a number of people there including Fran, Berny, and Berny’s boyfriend Dan. Sharon, Mia, and Mira were there as well from the coven. Just to keep her life interesting, she also spied Detective Brett Johnson sitting in his unmarked car across the street from the store.
“Hi everyone,” she said a sheepishly.
Berny glared, “Where were you? A note? Really?”
She sighed, “It’s a little complicated but I’ll explain.”
To her relief Sharon, Mia, and Mira who she didn’t know all that well left at that point, they’d just been there to pick up supplies. It would be a lot easier to explain it to just Berny, Dan, and Fran. Relatively.
She gave them a brief overview of her last few days, it was hard to talk about. Not because it was painful, but because she worried at how they would react. Would they be afraid of her? Angry? Or worse, disgusted? Fran was like family, and she always considered Bernadette to be like a little sister. She was afraid to lose that.
Berny didn’t look like any of those things though, she looked shocked and her face betrayed disbelief. She’d skipped a few things, such as the split soul discovery, and the new insights she had into shifters. She’d also left off how her magic was crippled past a certain point.
Fran sighed and said softly, “I’ve always suspected. Your mother swore it was a witch who was your father, one she met in passing one night after a battle. This doesn’t change how I feel about you Celia, but I can’t promise the same for the rest of the coven.”
Berny frowned and sounded both confused and cutely stubborn, “But, she’s still Celia.”
Fran laughed, “Yes, but they don’t know her like we do. It’s a lot harder to see past prejudice when you don’t know someone personally.”
Berny blushed but nodded.
Celia suppressed a sigh of relief. Fran seemed to know exactly what Berny needed to hear to form a positive opinion. Dan looked… thoughtful, but so far he had chosen to keep his judgment to himself.
It was too early to tell, but she had hopes this would work out somehow.
Chapter 11
Apparently shifters don’t dawdle. It was barely an hour since she’d been back in the store when Ed stormed in. That meant the witches didn’t waste any time either once the shifters had called. She stood behind the counter. She was surprised when Berny stood up and stepped closer and stood right next to her as if in silent support. She felt a surge of affection and gratefulness to her younger friend and stood up a little taller as Ed approached the counter.
Part of her though, wished Fran had stuck around to be here for this. Ed still had the same scowling annoyed face as yesterday, and she wondered if he was always like that.
Berny asked, “Can I help you?”
Celia almost snickered out loud. She just hoped the girl wouldn’t go too far on her behalf. The witch’s council generally left witches to their own devices, but they were also strict where the laws were concerned, no one wanted to be on their list.
Ed frowned at Berny momentarily derailed.
Celia stole his focus back, “Is this about the case, or…”
Ed snapped, “No, it’s not about the case. You will come with me Celia Winters, you’re to answer to the council.”
Celia felt a surge of amusement, and had a mental picture of a cat yawning and lazily showing her claws. Apparently Silva didn’t even rate Ed enough to get angry.
She sighed, “Can you watch the store Berny?”
Berny replied, “Sure, I’ll see you later.”
Celia wasn’t sure, but she had the feeling she definitely needed to look into another new hire. She didn’t mention it yet, because she wasn’t sure if the shifters plans for her would work out yet. The strange thing was she wasn’t sure if she wanted them to or not. Part of her wanted to just stay in her store, another newer part was excited with the possibility of doing much more than that. Either way she was sure all of her was determined to stay a store owner and midwife, even if only part of the time.
Her phone rang as she moved around the counter. Before she was halfway to the door Berny was calling her back.
She took the phone from Berny, “Hello?”
Kelly said excitedly, “Hey Celia, it’s Kelly, I just heard the news.”
She frowned, apparently she’d managed to make another shifter friend for life. It was all too much for her and she wasn’t sure what to say.
“Yeah, it was quite a surprise actually,” she said inanely.
Kelly snorted, “I bet. Anyway, the reason I called was if you ever need a place to run you’re welcome on our territory. That comes from dad, so it’s an official invitation. Also, I’d love to do something soon, Tina as well.”
She felt a tear in her eye. She couldn’t figure out why everyone was being so nice to her. Sure, the shifter council had some angle in mind. But Berny, Fran, Kelly and Tina didn’t seem to have any reservations about her at all. She’d been so sure she would be shunned for what she was, and she would be no doubt, but she knew she could weather that with good people in her life.
“That sounds great, and thank you. I need to run though, Ed is here from the witch’s council and they want to see me.”
Kelly replied, “Good luck, I’ll talk to you soon.”
Celia hung the phone up and gave a half wave to Berny, Ed looked extra annoyed now and she headed out the door. It was so weird to smell anger, she didn’t know what to do about it though, so just ignored it. The car ride was tense as they headed out of town. She turned and looked behind, sure enough the unmarked cop car was following, though she couldn’t tell if it was Jim or Brett.
“Umm,” she really didn’t want to talk to Ed.
Ed snapped, “What is it?”
She said carefully, “Did you know we’re being followed, by the human cops? They’ve been watching me ever since Bruce’s murder.”
Ed growled, “That would have been useful to know bef
ore we left the store.”
Like it was her fault? He was the council investigator. Shouldn’t he have known already what the human cops were getting up to? It’d been more than obvious to her. She knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to point that out though, it would only make him angrier.
She shrugged, “Sorry, I thought you knew.”
He muttered a quick glamour spell under his breath.
She watched as the cops took the next exit off the highway, presumably they were following an illusion of the car. She thought it was a sloppy way of dealing with it but kept her peace. After all, what would the cops do when the car they were following turned a corner and disappeared into thin air the moment they didn’t have eyes on it?
She had a feeling it would mean nothing good for her when she got back to the store, assuming of course, that she would. If she died she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.
She’d never met the council but she went over what she knew in her mind. They didn’t actually live in Charlotte. They had a mansion right outside the city limits where the whole coven lived. The actual council though was just the three strongest in the coven.
Other than that all she knew were the names, and of course, the stories. She felt a little nervous and eventually held her hands together to avoid fidgeting.
Silva purred inside of her, “Relax, we are strong, they will not harm us. The shifter council has claimed us, they will not dare harm us.”
Celia wished she could be as sure, but Silva’s calm aura in the back of her mind helped tremendously. It had been a hell of a few days, and it was all catching up to her. She needed time to process, time to breathe, but things were moving too fast for that.
She tried to meditate, but the moving car and the noises were too distracting. Then there was Silva in the back of her mind, she wasn’t sure how that would affect her meditation either. They finally arrived, pulling into a driveway.
Ed punched in some numbers on the keypad and the gate slowly and silently opened. He drove them up to the front door and gestured for her to get out.
Witch's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 1 Page 7