“So how did your own tea-leaf readings go?” Merry asked. “I know you were concerned about what you saw in my teacup. Did it affect you in any way?”
Gwyneth smiled. “No, thank goodness. No danger in our cups, but…” Her countenance grew more somber. “There was an indication of trouble for a loved one. It was probably just confirming what we saw before.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You consider me a loved one?”
“Well, of course, honey. Who couldnotlove you?”
Jason smiled at Merry and squeezed her knee.
At last, an unseen door clicked open and Morgaine emerged.What’s that thing on her shoulder?An owl swiveled its head and spotted him.
Jason leapt to his feet. “Jesus Christ!”
The owl took off, flying right at him, screeching its head off.
“Not now!” Jason yelled. He dashed for the door, covering his head.
The two female hostesses stood immobile and open-mouthed for a moment. Then, Morgaine bellowed, “Athena!”
The owl ignored Morgaine’s command, and Jason fumbled with the doorknob. Merry dashed over to him and batted the owl away. He had just opened the door when he shifted. His clothing fell off and prevented the door from closing completely.
Feathers flew everywhere. Standing between him and a frantic, hungry owl, Merry took a winged beating and cried out. He did his damnedest to shift back, but the fight or flight instinct was too overpowering. Jason flew off into the hallway and prayed that either Morgaine would get her predator under control or Merry would be able to rip his clothes out of the way and shut the door on his assailant in time to prevent a catastrophe.
When Chad heard the crazy commotion outside his apartment door, he squeezed through the wooden door and found a flurry of activity going on.
A wild owl was dive-bombing a falcon in the stairwell. Merry, Morgaine, and Gwyneth were rushing down the stairs shouting at them, and each tried to grab the owl.
Dottie stepped out of her apartment, screamed, and hurried back in, slamming the door. She glued her huge, round eyeball to the peephole, though. By the time they made it to the first floor, Nathan had stepped out of his apartment to see what was going on, froze in horror, and ducked back in, but left the door partly open. Then he reemerged in his raven form.
Now there were three of them, flapping all over the place.
A female figure with a camera around her neck held a pad of paper and a pen. She peered through the glass of the outer door and watched the whole thing wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
The owl finally cornered the falcon and was readying to snatch it with lethal-looking talons. Then Nathan in his raven form did something so brave, Chad never thought he’d see the day. He rammed right into the owl, knocking her into the wall so hard, it temporarily stunned her.
Both raven and falcon flew into the sanctuary of the first-floor apartment and a second later, the door slammed shut and the double locks clicked.
The woman outside the front door rushed to the right and must have jumped because by the time Chad squeezed through the glass, she was hanging onto the windowsill in order to peer into Nathan’s apartment.
What Chad saw through the window didn’t entirely surprise him. A naked landlord and naked Nathan leaned against the door, staring in shock at each other.
“Bummer. Their secret’s out.”
Jason spotted the woman in the window about to snap his picture and took off running. A bright light flashed before he made it very far.
“Nathan, I need clothes!” he yelled.
“Borrow whatever you like. Everything’s in my bedroom closet.”
He wasn’t kidding. His bedroom held very little furniture. A bed and a bookcase to be exact. Throwing open the closet door, Jason revealed a few items on hangers, very neat and orderly. Everything black—apparently Nathan’s favorite color, being a raven and all.
“Nathan,” Jason yelled. “I don’t see any underwear, and there’s no time to look around.”
Nathan appeared in the doorway, wearing only black jeans. “I go commando. It helps me avoid getting caught in my clothes in case I have to shift in a hurry. And take one of my black shirts. Leave the top couple of buttons open.”
Jason grabbed a pair of slacks and hopped into them. “Smart. We should probably talk at some point.”
Nathan shrugged. “Do we need to?”
