Chapter 1 #2
The crow hopped off Thano's shoulder and landed on the floor where it transformed into a naked woman with long tousled hair.
Eli quickly looked away. Shit, he'd never seen a naked woman up close in his entire life, and he didn't want to now either.
What if someone entered the shop? He looked through the window, but no one was moving on the sidewalk outside.
"Have you never seen a cupcake?"
He kept his eyes glued to the crow's eyes as he looked at her. She tilted her head as if she was still a bird, and he guessed she was. Only her form had changed.
"Not in reality. I've seen pictures."
Excitement sparked in her eyes. "Do you have the pictures?"
"No, sorry. It was in a magazine I found when I was a kid.
" He'd snuck out to the abandoned houses in the area between the settlement and the wild country.
It belonged to the others, but he'd been curious.
Some older boys had seen him with the magazine when he'd come back into Last Hope, had beaten the crap out of him and taken it from him, but for a short while, he'd held a treasure.
He remembered the photos vividly, there had been a recipe and several different toppings shown in the image.
"A magazine." She looked between Eli and Thano. "Where do I find a magazine?"
Eli chanced a glance at Thano. "They're forbidden."
"I'm breed. Your laws do not apply."
His laws? He didn't make the law. He'd been thrilled if books and magazines had been legal.
Her dark eyes pinned him in place. "Where did you find the magazine?"
"In one of the abandoned houses." He'd never go into one now, but he'd been young and stupid.
She nodded and a black wave of feathers washed over her before she shrank and flew up to sit on Thano's shoulder anew. Eli stared. He couldn't help it. He'd seen Draven shift once, and it had blown his mind. How could a human body transform into a bird or the other way around?
"Most houses have been searched. When the paper ban came into effect, they raided all buildings. Should they have missed something, I fear the elements have gotten to it. Magazines don't last long if they get wet."
Thano gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Eli waited. Waited for them to leave or to ask something else, but they simply stood there watching him.
He fidgeted, his gaze jumped from Thano to something in the shop, then back to Thano again.
He was striking but oh-so-dangerous, and Eli didn't want any trouble.
He'd turned forty-one back in January, and the only reason he'd made it this far was because he'd been careful and done his best to avoid conflict.
There had been moments in his youth when he'd been reckless, but not anymore.
He cherished his life, however crappy it might be.
"What do you need to make cupcakes?"
Eli jumped when Thano finally spoke, then did his best to conceal it. "Oh...I'm not entirely sure, but you'll need eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder or baking soda, and whatever you'll flavor it with. The hard part will be the frosting." Baking powder wasn't easy to get hold of.
"What's in the frosting?"
"I think it can be different things."
"Then it can't be too hard."
Maybe not. Maybe it would work with simple whipped cream, though he believed it should be with cream cheese or buttercream or something. No reason to argue with a vampire, though. "You're right, my bad."
Thano's eyes narrowed, and Eli took a step back.
"We'll be back." He walked toward the door.
"You're welcome any day." Eli dipped his head and got another narrow-eyed look in return. Fuck. Displeasing Thano could cost him his life.
* * * *
Thano Moonlight walked into the meeting room they used whenever the board was gathering.
He'd disliked the meetings before when he'd been the only breed present, but now he detested them.
All they did was discuss trivial things.
They had before too, but then he'd only had to observe, and if it didn't have any impact on The Moonlight Ranch, he'd disregard it.
When they had taken out the board ten months ago after they'd come for Romeo and had shot Emeric, he'd believed his life would get easier.
They'd be a majority of breed, five compared to four humans.
Whenever they voted about something, they'd be the majority.
He hadn't foreseen how flaky humans were.
They were worse than crows. And they wanted rules for everything.
Instead of having a leader who set the rules, they were squabbling about every little thing.
They'd spent weeks arguing about a phone.
Who cared about a phone? Thano had never made a phone call in his entire life, and he wasn't planning on starting now.
The stupid thing was all the humans were in favor of Last Hope having a phone, but they'd bickered about where it should be.
As it was now, it was at the hotel, but some found it unfair.
Why should whoever owned the hotel, Thano never learned his name, have access to a phone when no one else did?
Considering he had paid the fee to have the wire or whatever connected, and was paying for all the other fees--there were always fees with humans--Thano didn't understand what they were fighting about.
It was the hotel owner's phone. He'd never met him, or maybe he had, but he didn't remember meeting him.
The whole argument was silly, and it put him in a bad mood.
Fala walked in, dressed for once. She didn't like to be in human form for long, and when she was, she seldom dressed, but Thano had explained how everyone needed to be in human form and dressed when they had a meeting.
Next Mabel Mallon entered. She was an annoying human who wanted to be able to tell everyone what to do.
She'd been on the board for the last ten months while the other three humans had come and gone.
Thano didn't much care, but it was annoying to have to learn new names and try to remember what they looked like.
"Where is everyone?" Mabel glared at Thano and Fala before sitting as far away from Thano as she could. He'd realized they became nervous when he switched places, so he tried to do it every time. It was the only fun he had these days.
"I don't know. Where are they, Mabel?" He gave her a blank look. It was another thing that made humans nervous--when he showed no expression and looked them in the eye.
Charles Riggle entered next. He'd only been on the board for a couple of weeks, and Thano hadn't been able to determine if he was an annoying human or only a stupid one.
Next, Raven entered, and Thano nodded in greeting. He wasn't pleased they had two birds on the board, but both Raven and Fala had wanted a spot and few others did, so...Ravens weren't as easily distracted as crows, but Thano still didn't like it.
Conal and Tuur entered next. Conal was the only wolf they had left. After Tatwulf had tried to get rid of Romeo last year, the wolves had left. First, about half of them had stalked away during the night without a word, then the rest in the following days. Conal was the only one who'd remained.
It worried Thano a little. They didn't need wolves at The Moonlight Ranch, but the wolf pack had been second only to the crows in number, and they'd been in contact with humans.
Without the wolves, some things got harder.
And for Conal personally...Wolves were pack animals, and he was the only one who'd remained.
He wasn't as happy nowadays as he'd been before.