Tippy rolls her eyes. “Jax says it’s rabbit food. That’s offensive to rabbit shifters.”
“You have rabbit shifters here?”
“We have every species you can imagine in the Labyrinth.” Tippy laughs.
“Talking of Jax, was he in here just now?”
Tippy shakes her head.
I frown. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely, I’m sure. Why d’you ask?”
“I just saw him ride off down an alleyway on his motorbike. I waved at him, but he ignored me.”
“Are you certain it was Jax?”
“He looked human. I couldn’t see his face because of the bike helmet, but it looked identical to the bike he was on yesterday. Black and shiny.”
“It could have been a fae, their build is very similar to humans. Their features are different—sharper, more pointy, but you wouldn’t be able to tell if they had a bike helmet on. A lot of fae ride motorbikes.”
“Maybe it was a fae,” I agree, but I still feel ruffled for some reason. I was so sure it was Jax.
Tippy whizzes up another smoothie and passes it over to me.
I sip it, gingerly at first. A zing of flavors hits my tongue, kind of like apple and ginger, with the tartness of lemon, and the sweetness of honey perfectly harmonizing and a herb that’s reminiscent of mint, but not quite. “Oh, I like it,” I say, licking my lips.
“Thought you might need a pick me up.” She winks at me. “Otis been keeping you busy?”
“Erm, yeah, I guess.” I feel my face flush.
She pops innocent amber eyes at me, then leans in and murmurs, “Looks like you might not have had enough sleep last night.”
I bite my lip and hide behind the smoothie.
A big figure looms next to me at the counter.
I look up to see Brody grinning down at me, in his human form, except for those brown ears twitching. With him is a handsome guy with shaggy golden hair. When Brody introduces him to me as Kazmo, the guy’s face morphs for a second into a lion, replete with a huge mane.
“Oh, you’re a lion shifter,” I say, stating the obvious, super-pleased that I didn’t flinch this time.
“We shifters tend to show our species briefly when introduced,” Kazmo explains. “It’s like giving someone a business card. Monsters are used to it, but it must be a bit disconcerting for a human.”
“I’m getting used to it.” I grin. “Does it frighten the peripherals?”
Kazmo shakes his head. “We don’t communicate with peripherals.”
Brody adds, “They’re programmed to keep their distance from us.”
“Programmed?” I frown.
“Yeah,” Brody says. “By the human authorities. It keeps them in line.”
“How do they program them?”
“They put a device under their skin, here.” He waves at his neck, just above the collarbone.
And suddenly it dawns on me why Celia mentioned my neck. I’m not programmed, like most of the other humans here. My eyes widen. “Does that mean Jax has a device fitted?”
