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Lauren leaned towards the bed, lifted her original shirt, and put it back on. Her second-sight grew dimmer, and when she closed her eyes, she could clearly see that her hawk was looking through fabric. When she opened them, both vision inputs were overlayed once again. She looked around the room, and after a few passes, the two inputs merged better, so the one moving around stayed overlayed over the stationary view.
“This is going to take some getting used to. What else will I get from him?”
“I don’t know too many specifics,” Mordecai told her. “Your Shifu might know more, but you’ll need to talk to your mother before you bring him into this. I’m not going to recommend it, at this time.”
“Right. The more people who know, the harder it will be to keep quiet, but Link and Dusty knew something was up right away. They called me two-natured.”
“By energy, but not by scent,” Ambrose said. “I believe that once you gain some control, you can learn how to hold the energy so no one notices.”
You need to stay out of Alfheim until you have complete control,Mordecai telepathed.
Lauren didn’t have to ask why. There was no telling what might happen with so much raw magic saturating the air. Plus, there were all sorts of issues around her being the only child of the Queen, but adopted. She didn’t want to be the successor to a realm, so that worked for her, but if she showed up with powers of her own, she worried they might decide she could be a princess with a tiara, rather than one without, which was her current status.
Agreed, and thanks for pointing it out.Aloud, she said, “If that’s all, Ambrose and I should go upstairs to dinner so we aren’t even more rude than we’ve already been.”
“It isn’t all, but it will do for now. You can tell your hosts you had a fight with Nick and your energy is off, which is true. It doesn’t explain why you seem two-natured, and it won’t explain everything, but it will probably keep them from asking more questions.”
Mordecai popped out, and Lauren was left looking at Ambrose. “I guess we go eat now.”
Chapter 2
Gavin was in contact with Link via telepath, so he knew when dinner was finished. He and Nick waited in the parking lot for Link to let him know they were relaxing after dinner, enjoying their wine and the rain.
He knew the two bears had sensed, but not scented, that Lauren was two natured, and he knew Ambrose had exposed part of a hawk’s head on her shoulder and then taken her somewhere else to talk.
He’d tried to contact Ambrose, but the demi-god had respectfully requested that he not be required to hold two conversations on this night, and Gavin decided not to push. He knew Ambrose had no trouble doing so, but he trusted there was a reason for the request.
“I feel as if we’re going in blind,” Nick told him. “I don’t like it.”
“We are, but these are my people. I trust Link and Dusty implicitly, and Ambrose has never given me a reason to doubt him.”
“But you don’t trust him?”
“To a point. He claims to be a demi-god, and it’s a valid claim, but he’s seven-eighths god and only an eighth human. His great-grandmother was human, meaning his grandmother’s mother was a true demi-god. His grandfather was a god, which made his mother a quarter human, and since his father was a god…” he shrugged. “Calling himself a demi-god is accurate, but misleading, especially since, because of his particular lines, he’s more powerful than many full-blooded gods.”
“But Lauren’s been around Mordecai, so he isn’t going to be terribly impressive to her, right?”
“It isn’t about that, but it’s a valid point.” Gavin looked out the windshield and then out of the driver’s side window. “I’d hoped the rain would let up a little, but it doesn’t look as if it’s going to. I have an umbrella. I suppose I should offer it to you.”
Nick shook his head. “I don’t melt.”
And with that, the lion exited the car and made his way down the pier. He didn’t have a key card to get past the gate, so Gavin grabbed his umbrella and caught up with the hardheaded lion.
Gavin owned the yacht, but he always made a point of knocking before entering. However, Dusty felt them coming and got up to open the door and let them in. The seating area was empty, but Gavin knew the rest were upstairs.
“I’d say look what the cat dragged in, but that would be in poor taste, considering.”
Gavin gave him a level glare, but Dusty only smiled and took Gavin’s umbrella to the kitchen, where he propped it in the sink to drain.
“Would you like a towel, Nick?” Dusty asked while he dealt with the umbrella.
Nickchangedhis head to lion and back to human, and walked past the others and up the steps to the upper deck, which was enclosed this evening to keep the rain out. He must’ve followed Lauren by scent, because as far as Gavin knew, Nick had never been on the yacht.
Dusty lifted an eyebrow and met Gavin’s gaze, and Gavin telepathed,Cats.
And do you use that same tone when speaking of bears?
Only when you do inexplicable bear things.
