Chapter 3 #3
He crossed his arms and eyed me, a thoughtful look on his face. “I have a feeling Joy Springs might be an interesting place to be. For at least a little while.”
Normally, this place was a fun, small town, but over the last six months, it had turned into a hotbed of fae and Shifter Lord drama. Only a few people knew my secret, but the more attention I brought to myself and this shop, the more likely that secret would be spilled.
If I thought I’d been in a world of trouble when I was stuck in the tree, I had a feeling it’d be nothing compared to an entire town chasing after me with fiery pitchforks. But all the activity on my land and at Caelan’s Keep had begun to draw the curious.
Last week, Moira had shown me a Joy Springs gossip blog where speculation about me and the Shifter Lord ran rampant. They even had a wedding countdown clock.
Caelan asked me if I wanted him to have the writer take it down, but I declined.
If we gave it any attention, people would double down and make it worse.
I was all about ignoring my problems in hopes they’d go away.
One thing we hadn’t done was show off as a couple in town.
To my surprise, Caelan was completely content to hang out at my house or the Keep, though I suspected he might like my place better.
Less demands on his time. Every once in a while, he’d smuggle Fee and Poe in, letting the raven and phoenix explore the territory to see if there was anything new to check out since the last time they’d been, though they had to keep relatively low to the canopy to avoid detection.
Fee was almost fully grown, in bird years at least. She glowed with a ferocious power that made her difficult to look at head on, though she dimmed her natural fiery glow when she wanted to be stroked.
Barrett grinned at my discomfited look. “All I want is for you to be more involved in diplomatic relations for our kind.”
I blinked. “That’s worse than marriage,” I blurted. “Are you insane?”
“Not at all. It’s time for our people to have a seat at the table.”
I stared at him like he’d grown a second and third head. “Do you want me to die?”
He chuckled. “No one is going to die, Miss Quinn. Chimeras are far too powerful to die easily.”
“Says you,” I muttered. I’d almost died a few times since the Chimeras had come into Joy Springs. “We’re the stuff of nightmares. Others use us as their bogeymen in bedtime stories.”
Barrett’s easy smile made me nervous. “Perhaps. But you know how we fix it?”
Moira had wandered over from the worktable and perched on the edge of the couch beside me. “If you say public relations,” she drawled, “I’m going to punch you right in your pretty mouth.”
A flash of teeth. “Feisty,” Barrett murmured, his eyes heating as he stared at my friend.
Oh boy. Soren, the Shifter Lord currently sniffing around Moira, was going to love this development.
And I knew he’d blame me for this development.
“It’s true,” Barrett said after looking away from Moira. “Good PR can turn the devil into a saint.”
Moira scoffed. “What about you?” She waved her hand in his direction. “You’ve got the look. Tall. Blond hair, blue eyes, sharp jaw. Television would love you.”
“I’m a stranger to everyone here. Evie is well known.”
I snorted. “Not really. Evie keeps her head down and tries to stay under the radar.”
Moira patted me on the shoulder. “Tries is the right word.”
“Shut it,” I said under my breath.
“Everyone in this town knows you’re dating the local Shifter Lord.”
I shook my head. “No. They suspect. That’s not the same as us popping downtown for dinner.”
Barrett pierced me with his bright gaze. “Then why don’t you?”
“She’s shy,” Moira said.
I sighed. “I’m not interested in being the face of anything, much less the Chimera awakening or whatever it is you’re trying to do with your people.”
“Our people,” Barrett said. “And just because you don’t want to doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary. We’ve been in the shadows for far too long. It’s time we get a seat at the table.”
It finally clicked. “You want to take power from the Lords.”
Moira sucked air through her teeth.
“No,” Barrett said immediately. “I’m not interested in taking power away from anyone. A single Chimera can devastate a city. We are our own power.”
Ruling through fear was the worst way to stay in power. Eventually, the desire for freedom would lead to revolt.
“I see the doubt on your face. I have no desire to be feared, only the desire for a voice. That’s all.” Barrett rose and walked his mug over to the small sink.
Brownie point to him for washing it before he left. When he turned, he inclined his head. “I hope to hear from you.” He rattled off an address and left after giving Moira a long look. “And you, too,” he murmured.
The door closed behind him, and Moira sagged against me. “Man. Blonds aren’t usually my thing, but he is preeeettty.”
“And dangerous,” I said under my breath. “That’s definitely your type.”
“What can I say? I have a type.” She snuggled into me and inhaled.
“Stop smelling me. It’s weird.”
“But you smell like flowers and the outdoors. It’s nice.”
I ruffled her hair. Ash and Tess came out from the back.
“He smells a little bit like you,” Ash remarked.
I eyed him. “I didn’t know your sense of smell was that powerful.”
He shrugged. “It’s not. Chimeras have a specific hint of something other in their blood.”
That didn’t sound good. “Easily identifiable?”
It was one thing for the residents of this town to think there was something unique about my scent. But if Barrett and other Chimeras came around and revealed themselves, it would take no time for others to realize what I was. And I wasn’t ready for that. I might not ever be.
“Maybe, but I’ve been around you for years now. It’s as familiar to me as my own scent.”
Moira nodded. “Ash is right. I’d recognize it, but my sense of smell is far more sensitive than either of yours. Any other shifter would find it unique but probably wouldn’t peg someone who had it as a Chimera.”
“Tess?”
The banshee lifted a pale shoulder. “I have a perfectly normal sense of smell unless it comes to death. You smell like Evie to me. No more, no less.”
“Glad to know no one here is about to die again,” Moira said.
“Give it time,” I drawled. “The day is still young.”