"Magical disappearance and transference of mass!" Elliott said gleefully. "It's a good theory, isn't it?"
Dr. Kelly no longer had her head on the desk. She'd sat up to watch the two of them, her gaze popping back and forth like she'd been given front row tickets to… Aoife didn't do sports, and her analogy fell apart before she got to the end. Front row tickets to something that bounced back and forth a lot. Tennis, she guessed. Maybe basketball.
Aoife threw her hands upward. "Okay, but whataboutyour clothes?"
"Those just come with us," Elliott said. "Anything right up against our skin, except other people and living things basically just comes with us. It's not a mass thing."
"Of course it isn't." Aoife wheeled toward Dr. Kelly, rotating on her heel. "And you know about this. Are you a—a shifter?"
Dr. Kelly gave Elliott a positively dire look before sighing toward Aoife. "As a matter of fact, yes, I am, which is not information I intended to share with you and hope you'll keep to yourself."
"Well,obviously," Aoife said, offended. "But how—what—why?!?"
She did not, in truth, feel she was expressing herself very clearly, but the two shifters—the two shifters!—in the roomlooked rather like she'd said exactly what she meant to. Dr. Kelly sighed again. "There's been a shifter population as long as there have been true humans. Maybe longer, I don't know. There are different heritages, different histories, but…we've been here a long time, Aoife. And we're very cautious about telling anyone, so we have to be creative in ways to keep ourselves safe. The wildlife park is one of our temporary sanctuaries."
"Was that what it wasbuiltfor?" Aoife demanded.
In Dr. Kelly's defense, she looked startled. "No, the park is considerably older than its sanctuary status. It's only been used as a waypoint since I took over, because…well, because I was aware of the need."
"Who else knows? I mean, here? Who else who works here knows?"
Dr. Kelly held her breath a moment, then exhaled. "I won't be telling you that, because the fewer people you feel comfortable talking to about it, the less risk there is of our exposure. I'm sorry. It's not really about you. It's a survival tactic."
"But…!" Aoife spluttered, then stomped a foot and turned to Elliott again, as if expecting he would somehow back her up.
Which was ridiculous. She'd only met him about twelve seconds ago. Strangers, especially strangers with important secrets, didn't just go around supporting random wildlife park employees in their desire to know stuff about their secret lives.
Elliott, his gaze dark and delicious on hers, said, "She's safe," to Dr. Kelly in such a low crooning voice that Aoife felt her skin tingle with it. The tingle settled in more deeply, too, tightening and heating places that had no business being tight and hot at work. She tried very hard not to blush, and was pretty sure she failed.
Dr. Kelly, inexplicably, said, "Oh, you havegotto be kidding me."
"No," Elliott said in that same, almost sing-song warm voice. "No, I'm not. You can trust Aoife with anything, Maureen.Ican trust her witheverything, so you can too."
"What," Aoife said in what she was sure was a nice measured tone, and not an ear-splitting shriek, "are you twoonabout?"
"You're," Elliott began, and Dr. Kelly, with great haste and volume, said, "a trustworthy employee, Aoife."
Elliott turned a startled look on the director, whose eyes were feverishly bright as Aoife, too, gawked at her. "A trustworthy employee," Kelly repeated at volume. "And occasionally, when we meet people, we just know that they're trustworthy!"
It sounded for all the world like she was speaking in capitalized words, and talking to Elliott at least as much as she was to Aoife. We Just Know They're Trustworthy!
Aoife, in cautious protest, said, "But you didn't tell me until just now…? Did I—" Offense flew through her and she put her arms akimbo. "Wait a minute, are you suggesting you didn't used to think I was trustworthy? What've I done to deserve that, I ask ye!"
Kelly looked like her eyes would explode at Elliott, as if whatever was going on was entirely his fault. Well, he was the one who'd turned into a lion, so Aoife supposed hewasat fault. On the other hand, Kelly could have explained things at any point in their conversation before Elliott arrived, so Aoife didn't know what to make of it.
Elliott, almost as cautiously as Aoife had spoken, said, "We don't all always sense the same trustworthiness about people as each other?"
Dr. Kelly gave a huge, dramatic, pointed nod of agreement while Aoife pulled her gaze back to Elliott, who was being large and apologetic and extremely attractive, which turned out to be a deadly combination for Aoife. She could think of all kinds ofthings that she might enjoy having him plead for, with those huge dark eyes of his.
She was almost certain that was not where her thoughts were supposed to be going. It took her a moment to recollect herself, and when she did, she said, "'We don't all always sense the same trustworthiness about people as each other' is a terrible mess of a sentence."
"Well, but you knew what I meant, right?" he asked hopefully. "The people I instinctively trust aren't necessarily the same ones Dr. Kelly would, but if I can trust you, she knows she can?"
Since that was more or less what Aoife had understood him to mean, she nodded.
"Please," Elliott said, and Aoife was increasingly certain she had a long, long list of things she'd like to have him saypleaseabout. "Please, can I take you out to breakfast and explain this all a little better?"
To Aoife's dismay, before she could speak, Dr. Kelly said a firm, "No. Aoife's got a fundraising tour group to meet in nine minutes."
