Liam grinned back. “Oh, I’m not only a veterinarian. I’m a physician as well.”
“You’re a… wait, what?”
He laughed at her awed expression. “Yeah, I can treat shifters in either form. I’m actually the only one so far who’s both physician and veterinarian, but the Council is working on a program to encourage others to do the same.”
“I’m speechless,” she admitted.
“I told you, they’re all about helping shifters, and that includes education. We even have a committee, on the International level, working up protocols for if shapeshifters are outed to the humans. Although,” he added, grimacing, “with cameras and cell phones everywhere, not to mention satellite, it’s really more a question of when, rather than if.”
Naomi frowned, turning that over. “Protocols?”
“Yeah. Public relations, press statements. Controlling the dialog as much as possible, adaptive responses to media coverage. Identifying the shifters who would be most immediately at risk and how to protect them. Damage control in general. Search and rescue teams to retrieve any shifters taken captive by scientists, the military, crazies, you name it.”
She swallowed, hard. “That sounds like a nightmare scenario.”
Liam looked grim. “Yeah, it’s going to be. That’s why we want to be ready. They have lists of those willing to go public and make our case, but the people are carefully chosen. I was discouraged from volunteering. Maroulla told me not to risk being disbarred as a physician, which would be almost a certainty in the beginning. Katerina’s volunteered to be on the front lines, though, and Troy supports her in that.”
“Wow, I never even thought of it. I mean, not in detail like that. It sort of makes my head want to spin.”
“It’s a rabbit hole, for sure,” he warned. “Once you start going there, you can make yourself crazy.”
“Yes, I get that.”
She frowned suddenly. “If Katerina comes forward, wouldn’t that necessarily put all her family in the spotlight? It won’t take the media half a minute to discover Kester, then their parents and immediate family.”
“I’m told the Kazakis family had an extended family meeting to discuss it. Katerina could tell you more. But consider the size of the community here, in the Hudson Valley. So three of ours go public. Katerina was a famous fashion designer, and is now making a name for herself as an artist. Her fiancee is a respected veterinarian, a human, with articles published regularly in veterinary publications. Tamera also wants to go public, and she works at the same veterinary clinic, where all the partners are aware of shifters. Kester owns a local Greek delicatessen. But besides those three who do go public, we also have at least two dozen more shapeshifters in the immediate area, not to mention Jacinth, and Angus and Renee who are God knows what, but they’re clearly powerful. We’re in a better position than most to circle the wagons, so to speak.”
Naomi picked a tortilla chip covered in cheese and peppers and popped it in her mouth. “Oops, they’ve gotten cold. At least we’ve finished most of it off.”
“True.”
She shot him a look from under her lashes, then dropped her gaze to the table. “Is it cowardly of me to not want to come forward? I sort of feel like I’ve had enough stress and trauma in my life up until now.”
“No, I get it. Plus, you’re a librarian, in your job you deal a lot with kids. You’d be fired within the hour.”
She sighed. “Yeah, there’s that, too.”
“Remember, it’s a rabbit hole,” he warned. “Don’t go there.”
“Right. Rabbit hole.” She nodded, then grinned at him. “It’s not like I don’t have plenty of other stuff to think about. What time is Maroulla getting here?”
“She’s coming down from Maine by train, so she’ll be in late tonight. She’s staying over with Katerina and Troy, and will be here at the inn first thing in the morning.”
“Okay. I’ll be sure to set the alarm, so I’m up and ready.”
“So, you said you read those romances as a teenager. Not anymore?”
Naomi shrugged uncomfortably, her glance falling to the half-empty margarita glass before her. “It became hard to read all those happy endings, once I really understood I’d never have a chance at one for myself.”
Chapter9
Naomi saton the edge of the bed and stared, dissatisfied, at the clothes she’d picked out. Not that she had a lot of choices, but she’d have liked to have met Maroulla wearing something a little nicer than jeans. However, jeans or shorts were her only choices, and it was thirty-five degrees outside, according to the weather app on her phone, so… nope. She wouldn’t be choosing shorts, even if she wasn’t meeting the Warden of the Northeastern Council. Maybe she should have asked Liam to take her shopping last night after dinner, instead of a driving tour of the area, followed by falling into bed at an early hour. Again.
However, Katerina had provided a really nice, silky blouse in a soft shade of green that complimented her fair coloring.
She glanced at the clock as she tied the strings of her sneakers. It was eight o’clock. Liam would have left for the vet clinic already. She had no idea when Maroulla would arrive, but it’d be better if she had some food in her. After not having eaten for so long, and after eating so much of the nachos, she hadn’t been able to eat much of her dinner the night before. But she was hungry now. Although, she grinned to herself, Liam’s trick about a partial change sure did the trick! After all the margaritas she had last night, by all rights she should be sick as the devil right. But she felt terrific. Aside from being hungry, of course.
Descending the stairs, raised children’s voices guided her to the dining room, where three women sat at a collection of tables all shoved together, watching over a group of what seemed like a dozen children ranging in age from infant to pre-teens. They looked around as she entered, and one of the women, was around her own age, rose from her chair, smiling. She was pretty, with a cloud of dark red hair against fair skin with eyes a deep shade of blue.
