"I'd love to, but I don't want to drag you into things you've probably seen a million times. I was going to go out to Blarney tomorrow, but I think I'll go back to that wildlife park, what was it called? I want to see the back half of it. Do you think I can do that in the morning, and go to Blarney in the afternoon?"
"Oh, sure. Neither of them is that big. And it's the Shamrock Safari Wildlife Park."
"Do they do a lot of safaris there?" Tara wondered. "Or does riding around in one of those golf carts count as a safari for its purposes?"
"I think it's the golf carts," Declan admitted. "And if you'd like the company, I've an annual pass I can get you in on."
"Oh." Tara's eyes shone. "I don't want to be any trouble."
"It's no trouble at all," Declan promised. "I can think of nothing I'd rather do."
The next morningas he was being chased around—in peacock form, of course—by a shrieking five year old child, Declan thought perhaps therewereother things he would rather do.
He wasn't, to be honest, entirely sure how he'd gotten himself in this position. Finding out who was stealing tail feathers could wait until later, because he certainly hadn't intended to spend any part of Tara's precious time in Ireland as a peacock.
The light was very nice,his peacock informed him haughtily.It would have been a shame to not let our mate admire us in the sunshine.
Declan said,Yes, but—and then was too busy flapping and leaping to a higher vantage point in an attempt to avoid the kidto talk. Peacocks weren't great at flying, at least partially because of the tail, so he bounced his way up to the snack shop roof by way of using a fence post and the top of a vending machine to boost himself. A tail feather drifted down, and he gave a huge shriek of protest that stopped the child in their tracks. Declan said,Tail down, wings up!and for a moment, the bird agreed, making itself big with wingspan and screeching again.
The kid, facing a bird it couldn't reach that was also screaming at it and looking threateningly large, decided they had other places to be. Down below, a smiling Tara bent to pick up his fallen feather, and the peacock sighed happily.Our mate won't let our feathers go to waste.
"Sorry, miss?" A woman in a fabulously styled hat approached Tara. "Would you mind giving me that feather? My name is Colette Saunier," she said as if Tara should recognize the name, and when she didn't, Saunier's mouth pinched a little. "A fashion designer, darling. I'm collecting the feathers for a work I'm doing."
No! It'sourfeather!
Itwastheir feather, but Declan perked up, tilting his head to look at the fashion designer with first one eye, then the other. She seemed likely to be the feather-stealing culprit, although he would never have imagined a skinny forty year old female designer as somebody who would go around breaking peacock tails off.
Tara couldn't possibly have heard the peacock's protest, but she glanced up at Declan where he perched on the roof, then smiled at Colette Saunier. "I can't, sorry. I already promised it to a friend of mine."
Even from above, it was clear that Saunier's pleasant demeanor went cold. "It's one feather."
"It is," Tara agreed cheerfully. "So it shouldn't be hard for you to find another. Good luck."
Saunier put on a brittle smile. "Of course, love. Thanks anyway, ta." She stalked away in a sweep of skirts that reminded Declan of his own fancy tail, although she wore reds and yellows, not blue and green. Once she and the child were both well gone, Declan hopped down to stand at Tara's side again. She put her hand out absently to stroke his neck, and the peacock crooned, leaning into the touch.
"Oh, you are gorgeous," she told him, then blushed. "I mean. Well. You are. In both forms," she added more quietly.
The peacock immediately lifted his tail and began to hop in a circle, showing off. Tara laughed, reaching toward the feathers, though she didn't quite brush them. "Now, stop that. You'll get me in trouble for getting too close to the animals. God, look at her," she added in a mutter. "Stalking the other peacocks. I have the urge to follow her around and get any feathers that fall, first. Which doesn't make sense," she added even more under her breath. "If I'm following her, I can't get to them first." She slid a smile at Declan. "Of course, you could get in the way…"
But we should be BIG first!Declan's peacock said in delight.
Absolutely not,Declan said. It was one thing to run interference. It would be another to shift into a larger form, a talent that only bird shifters had, among shifters in general. Right now he was at the smallest size he could manage, only slightly bigger than the average peacock. The biggest one was some four meters tall at the shoulder—roughly the height of a giraffe—which was, in the parlance of his people,feckin' enormous.While it would definitely make him an intimidating presence between the other peacocks and Ms Saunier, it would also raise far, far more questions than was safe to do.
Fine,the peacock said, and despite every other plan he'd had, Declan McCarthy went to spend the rest of the day not letting a rude clothing designer steal anybody else's tail feathers.
Chapter 5
Tara hadn't really intended to spend most of her Irish vacation at a wildlife park, but she thought she might not actually mind, as long as it meant she got to spend time with Declan McCarthy, Bonafide Irish Hottie. Even if he was a peacock for most of the day, which was incredible and unbelievable and, as it turned out, really funny. As a peacock he had so muchattitude, and it seemed clear that the peacock kind of had a crush on her. Any time he wasn't getting in the way of Colette Snootypants, or whatever her last name was, he was fluffing up his tail and doing what Tara was pretty sure was a mating dance for her. It was utterly charming.
Ms Snootypants was furious, though. Tall, narrow, with black hair tied tightly to her skull in a way that Tara thought was particularly fashion-designery, she tried to bribe some kids into looking for peacock feathers, and when an adult picked one up, the designer actually offered them a hundred dollars for it. Or euros, she guessed, since that was what they used in Ireland. The person took the money, and Snootypants very carefully tucked the feather into an expensive-looking carrying case and treated it as if it was made of gold.
Tara, thoughtfully, went over to crouch next to Declan, who fluffed his tail even more enthusiastically. "So can you shed feathers and re-grow them when you shift?" she whispered. "Because I'm thinking you'd have a profitable cottage industry in selling peacock feathers if you can."
The peacock tilted his head and regarded her with a beady brown eye, turned that look on his exceptionally beautiful tail, and finally looked back at her again with an expression that clearly said"Are you out of your mind? Sacrificethisfor any reason?"
Tara couldn't help a laugh. "I guess it doesn't grow back, then."
The peacock looked a bit guilty, which she hadn't known a bird could do. "Oh, it does grow back?"
