“I expected as much,” Sylvie said with way too casual an air. “I’m not sure there’s been a single tall, hot, muscular guy who’s passed through Girdwood Springs whohasn’tbeen a shifter at this point.”
His pegasus bridled.
What kind of anticlimax is this? Who would not be awestruck by our very presence?!
Ethan sighed, and made a half-hearted attempt to placate it.At least she said we were, uh, hot?
The pegasus only calmed a little at that – which Ethan supposed he could understand, given that she’d specifically been complimenting his human form.
“Oh, but –” Sylvie looked worried all of a sudden. “Eula, I think we have some explaining to do.”
“Oh, about shifters?” Eula laughed. “That’s ancient news, darlin’. Ol’ Eula here dated a shifter back in the ’80s. You think I didn’t notice all the hunks wandering around town, with mysterious events happening in their wake? I can spot one a mile off.”
The room fell very, very silent at that revelation… but then, Chloe laughed.
“Sure, why not,” she said. “That’s actually the least surprising thing I’ve heard in the past twenty-four hours.”
“What kind of shifter are you?” Henry asked.
The hellhound dares ask us a question!the pegasus bellowed, tossing its head.
“I’m a pegasus shifter,” he replied, barely biting back a mutteredUnfortunately.
“How interesting,” Eula murmured.
“Oh, neat,” Sylvie said, sipping her tea. “My husband Gale is a unicorn shifter – I’m sure the two of you must have a lot in common. I should introduce you later.”
We have nothing in common with that flightless horse!his pegasus screeched, looking dangerously close to rolling around on the ground in its rage.How dare she malign us!
“I would like nothing better,” Ethan said smoothly. If nothing else, it was always good to make new contacts – and Gale was obviously a relatively major player here, given that he was clearly the reason why all the food in Girdwood Springs tasted so good and the town was teeming with plant life.
Unicorns were renowned in the shifter world for their skill with plants, able to coax even those plants on the brink of deathback to flourishing life, and to grow fruits and vegetables more delicious than anyone else could even dream of. If Gale was supplying the town with ingredients and helping the plants in the town to grow, then that explained a lot.
“Now that we’ve got all that out the way,” he continued before his pegasus could interrupt again, “let’s get down to business.”
He turned to Eula. “You can see and hear Curtis, but Henry and Sylvie can’t. Is that correct?”
All three of them nodded. Henry and Sylvie looked awkwardly in the direction of what was, to them, an empty chair with a cup of tea sitting in front of it.
Steam rose lazily from the tea, and Curtis moved his arm back and forth through it. While the steam didn’t fully disperse in the way that it normally would if a living person waved their arm through it, it did wobble in its course just enough to be noticeable, and Sylvie and Henry’s eyes widened.
“Uh, hi, Curtis,” Sylvie said, and Curtis beamed.
~Pleased to meet you, Miss Sylvie,~he said.
“Hang on one sec,” Eula said, standing and moving to the mantlepiece over what had once clearly been a fireplace, but was now a radiator. After a quick inspection, she lifted a large, framed photo from it. “Here.”
She held the obviously extremely aged, sepia-toned photo out in front of her, and everyone leaned in to look. Beside him, Chloe gasped. Even Curtis made a small sound of astonishment.
Because in the middle of the picture, undoubtedly, was Curtis. Even with the poor quality of the photo, it was undeniable.
He was even wearing the same outfit as he was wearing now, though his build seemed more solid. His face was set in the neutral expression typical of old photos, where the exposure time required people to remain still for long periods of time,and a similarly stony-faced woman stood beside him. In front of them stood four solemn children.
Ethan stole a glance at Curtis, who looked like he would be on the verge of tears, were he capable of doing so. He reached out one ghostly hand to touch the picture, his fingers passing through the frame.
Ethan looked away briefly, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment. Even his pegasus showed a shocking amount of restraint, refraining from commenting.
~I remember them now,~Curtis said, a waver in his voice.~I had forgotten them, or at least anything beyond a basic knowledge of them.~He trembled ever so slightly.~How did I ever forget?~
