"The roof?" Gio said, but he got out of bed and reached for the clothes he had been given by his hosts. The outfit was comfortable and warm, warm pants with flaring cuffs and a wool shirt and coat. He got dressed and followed Max out of the room, which he had thought was on the top floor. It turned out this was only the case if you didn't take a flight of stairs up to a trapdoor that led to the flat roof of the building.
The view was dizzying, and staggeringly beautiful. Clear, bright sunlight bathed the mountain peaks. Far below them, herds of sheep and llamas looked like tiny pale flecks in the autumn-tinted fields. The tiled roofs of the village gleamed in the morning sun.
The air was sharply cold, but there was a fire blazing in an open clay oven on the rooftop. Sofia sat beside it in an oversized, bright red and blue sweater, holding a cup of coffee and feeding twigs to the flames.
"Good morning, you two!" she said. She reached for the tin coffeepot sitting on a brick in the fire. "Come on over and have something to eat."
She looked tired and tousled, her hair coming out of a sloppy ponytail. Either she hadn't been to bed or she had been up for a while already. To Gio, though, she also looked energized in a whole new way. There had been something a little crumpled and flattened about her when he had first met her, as if life had ground her down. Now she was bouncing back, becoming a vivacious and energetic person who reminded Gio of her sister.
Max accepted a cup of hot, strong coffee and served herself and Gio from a plate of small, sweet crescent rolls. "Medialunas," Max explained to Gio. "No one makes them like Aunt Juliet."
"I don't know whether to thank you or push you off this rooftop for all the work you've saddled me with," Sofia remarked. She pushed loose hair out of her face with the back of her hand.
"You know you love it." There were several camp chairs near the fire. Max pulled one over for herself and another for Gio. "I was planning to show Gio the view, but this is a lovely surprise. I see I'm not the only one who misses our rooftop breakfasts when we were kids."
"Back in the old days," Sofia agreed, looking wistful. "How are you feeling?"
"Healing up okay," Max said. "Mama told me that Nacio's in the dungeon."
Sofia sighed. "I don't know what to do with him. He was popular with some of the old guard. I was up half the night talking to the village elders, getting people on board with the change in leadership and making sure no one was going to push for an alpha challenge against me, at least not immediately."
"You'll be a good alpha," Max said. "Everyone can see it. They're not fools."
"I'm glad one of us is confident about that," Sofia said wryly. "But it's going okay. In other news, I talked to Mama and Papa about your problem."
Max looked suddenly alarmed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep. They offered their help. But as the alpha, you'll make the final decision, of course."
"Like I'm going to just kick you out on your ownagain," Sofia scoffed. "Of course we'll help. You'll probably have a jaguar army ready to go tomorrow if you want one. In fact, I think some of the cousins are practicing their moves right now."
As if to punctuate her words, there was a clatter and a snarl from somewhere below. Gio rose from his camp chair, holding the coffee cup, and went to look over the edge of the roof.
Max's family hacienda was built as a series of terraces on the hillside. Just below their rooftop was a large open courtyard, graced by some fruit trees and an arched entryway leading to stone steps going down to another terrace. Two jaguars appeared to be going at each other in a pitched battle, but by now Gio knew enough to see that neither was actually drawing blood. They rolled around, smacking into and overturning a large pot, spilling soil and flowers across the cobblestones. A variety of overturned items spoke of similar collisions; there were knocked-over chairs, a fallen patio table, and a wheelbarrow.
A door opened below and one of Max's aunts emerged, shaking a long wooden spoon at the fighters. They shifted back to two sheepish, bruised and naked young men.
Gio smiled to himself as he drew back from the edge. This place did make him think of his homeland, with its large, close-knit families.
The smile faded from his lips at the thought of what he was going to be taking them into.
"It will be very dangerous," he said, turning back to Max and Sofia, who were talking quietly by the fire.
"We know," Sofia said. "We're not unused to danger ourselves."
"I'm not criticizing your courage or skill. But Max can tell you what we're up against. These people aren't shifters, but they know about them and therefore will be prepared. And they have formidable magic."
Sofia's dark brows went up. "Magic?"
"Gio, show her," Max said.
Gio had been afraid of this, but Max was right; even though the results were unpredictable, he couldn't avoid shifting in this situation. He would have to do it later to stonewalk anyway. He set down his coffee cup, and went to an open patch of the roof, concentrated, and shifted.
He was shocked at the result. With absolutely no pain and no struggle, he flowed from one form to the other. The stone lion had always felt like an ill-fitting suit that he had to force himself into. Now, abruptly, it fit him like a glove.
He was fully aware of the cool breeze caressing his stone body, the adobe rooftop under his paws. When he raised his head and scented the air, it was full of fresh smells that he could never have decoded in his human body.
Gio took a cautious step, exploring the newfound power and wonder of his lion body. It responded with the lightest of grace. It was no different from taking a step in his normal human form.
He turned his head, twitching an ear. Sofia was staring at him, her mouth rounded. Max merely looked pleased and proud.
