We fall into another awkward silence, and I can’t stand that our time together has ended like this. I go to apologize, but he interrupts me.
“Come back and visit if you can. I’ve really enjoyed our time together.” He sounds as sad as I feel, like he’s saying the words knowing the chances of it happening are slim. Shifters aren’t allowed in the human zone without special permission. I’m sure as the queen of the shifters, I could probably get in, but I’m not sure a booty call is the right reason.
“Or we could meet in the neutral zone, at my café, for lunch maybe,” I say hopefully.
“Sure, maybe. I’ll text you,” he replies, but I know from the look in his eyes he’s only giving me lip service. I don’t think he’s anti-supernatural, since he admits to having a fascination with magic and the like, but Nox is a self-confessed loner, and even the sparsely populated neutral zone probably has too many people in it.
I stand up, knowing that the longer we draw this out, the more painful it’s going to be. “I need to get going. There is no point in putting off the inevitable anymore. The sooner I can get my grandparents settled in at the bakery, the quicker I can get this over with.”
He chuckles darkly. “You sound like you’re going to your death. I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be that bad to be queen. Hey, you may even love it. What shifter form are you hoping to gain?”
I gape at him, unable to control my shock at his words. “Shifter form?” I say, and his eyes almost bug out of his head.
“Yeah, part of the magic gives you an animal. You will learn to shift. How else can you control shifters without having the same kind of power?”
I wobble slightly, and he puts a hand out to steady me. I shake my head. “I haven’t even thought about it. Hell, I don’t even know all the different kinds of shifters there are.”
Once I’m steady, he lets go of my arm, moves over to his bookcase, and pulls out a large hardcover book. “Here, take this. It’s shifter 101.”
I take the large book from him and open it, flipping through some pages. The information is everything one would need to know about shifters, even closely guarded information.
“How did you get this?” I ask, and he waves a hand.
“It’s been in my family for years. Someone must have had shifter connections in the past.”
I hug it to my chest. “Thank you. Hopefully I can get through it in the next few days or so, then I won’t look like such an idiot when I present myself to the palace.”
He reaches out and gives my hand a squeeze. “They would never think you are an idiot. Humans are deliberately kept in the dark, but I think you’re going to do amazing things, Colbie. Havefaith in yourself.” He sighs and steps toward his room. “Just let me throw some clothes on, and I’ll run you home, okay?”
He walks toward his room, and it’s all I can do to bite my lip and hold in the sob that wants to escape. Tears well in my eyes, but I don’t let them overflow. Crying about this isn’t going to solve or change anything, but I’ve been so happy the last few days, and I will hold onto these memories tightly for the rest of my life.
Chapter
Eighteen
Colbie
We don’t really talk on the drive back to my grandparents’ place. There is nothing much left to say. When he pulls up in front of their cottage, I brush a kiss across his lips.
“Thanks for everything,” I whisper before hopping out.
“Good luck, I’m sure you’re going to be amazing,” he tells me, and without a backward glance, he drives away. I stand there, watching, until his truck disappears from sight, and only my grampy’s voice calling my name has me turning my attention back to the present.
“You okay?” he asks, opening the gate and letting me pass through.
“Not really.” I don’t bother lying to him because he’s always been able to see through them anyway.
“Ah, kiddo. I’m sure everything will work out for the best. Now, if you want to pack up the rest of your things, Granny and Ihave already put ours in the car. We will drive to the edge of the neutral zone and leave it in the long-term parking, then catch the public transport the rest of the way.”
“Sure. Give me ten minutes, and we should be good to go,” I tell him as he presses a kiss to the top of my head.
It doesn’t even take me that long to gather my things, and before I know it, we’re on the road. I lean against the window in the back seat of my grampy’s truck and watch the seaside village turn into suburbia before it becomes a city. The freeway takes us around the main central business district and back into suburbia again. There’s a small gap where the houses end and the neutral zone begins. It’s like the humans didn’t want to be too close just in case.
Regular traffic isn’t allowed in the neutral zone, so people park their cars in a parking lot and then switch to the public transportation or electric scooters to get around. We have too much luggage for electric scooters, so we all climb aboard the bus that winds its way through the neutral zone. It takes about twenty minutes for it to get to my apartment building, and then we all hop off. I wince when I see my mother in the front room of her studio. The minute she sees my grandparents, she’s going to be all over me.
I can’t quite stifle the groan that leaves my mouth quick enough, and Grampy hears it and chuckles, but Granny frowns when her gaze follows mine.
“Oh dear, your mother is going to be so dramatic about this,” she says, sounding put out, knowing her daughter all too well.
