Ruling through fear was the worst way to stay in power. Eventually, the desire for freedom would lead to revolt.
“I see the doubt on your face. I have no desire to be feared, only the desire for a voice. That’s all.” Barrett rose and walked his mug over to the small sink.
Brownie point to him for washing it before he left. When he turned, he inclined his head. “I hope to hear from you.” He rattled off an address and left after giving Moira a long look. “And you, too,” he murmured.
The door closed behind him, and Moira sagged against me. “Man. Blonds aren’t usually my thing, but he is preeeettty.”
“And dangerous,” I said under my breath. “That’s definitely your type.”
“What can I say? I have a type.” She snuggled into me and inhaled.
“Stop smelling me. It’s weird.”
“But you smell like flowers and the outdoors. It’s nice.”
I ruffled her hair. Ash and Tess came out from the back.
“He smells a little bit like you,” Ash remarked.
I eyed him. “I didn’t know your sense of smell was that powerful.”
He shrugged. “It’s not. Chimeras have a specific hint of something other in their blood.”
That didn’t sound good. “Easily identifiable?”
It was one thing for the residents of this town to think there was something unique about my scent. But if Barrett and other Chimeras came around and revealed themselves, it would take no time for others to realize what I was. And I wasn’t ready for that. I might not ever be.
“Maybe, but I’ve been around you for years now. It’s as familiar to me as my own scent.”
Moira nodded. “Ash is right. I’d recognize it, but my sense of smell is far more sensitive than either of yours. Any other shifter would find it unique but probably wouldn’t peg someone who had it as a Chimera.”
“Tess?”
The banshee lifted a pale shoulder. “I have a perfectly normal sense of smell unless it comes to death. You smell like Evie to me. No more, no less.”
“Glad to know no one here is about to die again,” Moira said.
“Give it time,” I drawled. “The day is still young.”
Chapter
Four
CAELAN
The air was cool and crisp, the scent of pine and the wild fresh in my nose. Evie’s presence was a beacon to my senses, drawing me down the sidewalk and into her shop. Things were good, really good between us, and I was doing my absolute best not to fuck it up again.
Between Rowan’s admonishment and Evie’s disappearance into the accursed fae tree, my faith in myself and the world around me had been shaken to the core. Seeing her emerge, furious and naked, her magic, a thundering cloak around her body, made me see things in a different light and grasp at the second chance we’d been given.
But after rounding the corner and catching a glimpse of the sign hanging above her shop, something else caught my eye. A small group of men had gathered outside Little Shop of Florals, speaking in low undertones. Unfortunately for them, my hearing was keen, and I caught every word.
“I didn’t expect her to be so hot,” one of them whispered, a tall, lean, young…something. Not human, not shifter. He held a small bouquet of flowers in his hand. Sweat beaded at the top of his forehead, his jaw clenched with nerves.
“Yeah,” said another. “She’s smoking.”
“I dunno, man,” said a shorter, blond man. “I can feel her power signature all the way out here. I have no desire to be someone’s bitch.”
A frown creased my brow, but I kept walking. Maybe the witches were having one of their weird Beltane parties. Wait. No. That was in the summer. Winter solstice, then. They had copious amounts of sex at all times of the year, so maybe this one was…Yule.
