Page 18 of The Baker and the Kraken

Adam’s chest was heaving. He took a step away and stumbled. Calder reached for him, and Adam yanked away.

“Don’t touch me!” Adam snapped.

Calder’s face went even more expressionless. “Adam—”

“Don’t—I can’t—I have to go.”

And this time, Calder let Adam push past him and rush up to his apartment. He didn’t stop moving until he’d locked the door behind himself, and then he leaned back against the wood and slid to the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest.

A shifter. And Adam had been envisioning a future where they could be together.

His phone buzzed, and he yanked it out of his pocket and switched it off. He couldn’t deal with anything right now.

What was he going to do?

As soon as Simon caught sight of him the next morning, he gaped. “Gods and goddesses, what happened to you?”

“Didn’t sleep well,” Adam mumbled.

He’d scarcely slept at all, and he’d spent all morning dropping ingredients and burning baked goods.

Simon plucked the bowl out of his hands, set it on the counter, and turned Adam to face him. He put his hands on Adam’s shoulders and stared him down despite the fact that he was a good four inches shorter than Adam was.

“Nope. What’s going on?”

Adam huffed a breath, but the words spilled out. He needed to tell someone. “Calder lied to me.”

Simon’s eyes grew huge and then narrowed sharply. “What did he do? Does he already have a partner? Is he bonded? If you bake it, I’m sure I can poison a cake—”

Adam let out a sharp crack of laughter that didn’t sound quite right.

“No, no, nothing like that. He’s not seeing anyone else. He’s a shifter.”

“And?”

“I can’t be with a shifter!” Adam practically wailed.

Simon blinked at him. “Why not?”

Adam spluttered. “Because I can’t!” He hadn’t ever had to explain this before. His father had been there with him, and Adam hadn’t trusted anyone else enough to explain. He didn’t want to explain now. Swallowing, he said, “Not after what happened with my mom and my aunt!”

Simon’s expression softened a little, but there was still some sharpness there. “I’m sorry if shifters hurt you and your family, but let me ask you this: if witches had done whatever shifters did to your family, would you be avoiding all witches?”

Hotly, Adam started, “No, of course not—”

He was brought up short. Of course he wouldn’t, because that would be ludicrous. That would be prejudiced, and Adam wasn’t prejudiced. He’d just grown up hearing about how shifters were to blame for what had happened to his mom and Aunt Susan… He hadn’t really thought about it.

“Shit,” he said, shoulders slumping.

“Are your mom and your aunt why you didn’t want to get a familiar or bond?” Simon asked more gently.

“Yeah.”

“But were you maybe thinking about a future with Calder?”

“Yeah.”

“And then you found out he was a shifter and flipped out?”