“Ooh,” she sang out, her tone half teasing and half genuinely excited. “Let’s see!”
With a deliberately dramatic gesture, he took off his long black coat and draped it over a tree branch. Precious flew to the branch and perched on it, her delicate golden head cocked, her sapphire eyes bright with interest. Sugar leaped off Fen’s shoulder and glided to the branch to perch beside the dragonette.
“You’ve got an audience,” she remarked. “This better meet expectations.”
“It will.” He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, stretching out the drama.
“Is this a power demonstration or a strip-tease?” Fen inquired. “No complaints either way, mind.”
He gave her an enigmatic smile as he draped his shirt over his coat, then turned so she could see his back.
Like shifting,his chimera coached him.But more focused.
Wings unfolded from his back. They were his white eagle’s wings, but slightly smaller than they were in his chimera form, sized to lift his human body. He stepped away from the tree and beat them, lifting into the air. Fen gave a delighted gasp as he flew to her and landed lightly in front of her.
“Wings,” she breathed. “Your power is wings!”
“Oh, it’s more than that.” He concentrated, and the white feathers darkened and then vanished. He stretched out his black dragon wings, letting her get a good look at them before he made them go away. Then he focused on his eyes, changing them to Cillian Murphy ice blue, then Elizabeth Taylor purple, and finally wolf yellow before he shifted back to his usual Carter hazel.
Fen laughed in delight. “And the color changing eyes!”
“And claws.” He flexed his hands, extending dragon talons before making them vanish. “My only full shift form is the chimera you saw, but as a man, I have the power to get any animal feature that belongs to any of my original animals. Only one at a time, though.”
“Does the color shifting work everywhere, or just your eyes?”
Carter grinned. He knew exactly what she was thinking. He concentrated, and watched his bare hands turn a deep, almost burnished gold.
She gave him a slow smile hot as dragonfire. “So bored housewife and sexy sun god is still a possibility. Excellent.”
“I see we’ve started mixing and matching now.”
Generously, she said, “Feel free to contribute your own ideas.”
“If you don’t mind going on pure imagination, no actual wings involved, I’m going to put in a vote for bored business executive and sexy demoness who offers him a deal.”
“Deal,” Fen purred.
Chapter 32
Carter returnedhis skin to its usual color. “Ready to fly?”
She was about to agree when it occurred to her that even in Refuge City, where it wasn’t entirely unusual to see, say, a man dressed as a tree buying a double latte at Starbucks, the sight of a man flying with his own wings would attract unwanted attention. “How are you planning to stop paparazzi from filing stories about Carter Howe’s new mechanical wings, and everyone complaining when they never appear in stores?”
He chuckled. “Good point. You can ride me—”
“Oh, I will,” she put in.
“—in my chimera form. It has camouflage.”
"I don't," Fen pointed out.
"We'll have to get you some flying outfits. Black for night flying. Blue for day flying. Mist gray for cloudy days."
She glanced down at her sadly torn outfit, which was mostly black. “Wait till nightfall, then?”
Carter looked thoughtful. "There’s a place we could go right now where the only people who’ll see us come in for a landing are shifters. It's a place I'd like to go to. And I think you’d like it too."
"Where?"
