Damn hindsight.
As I stared into the sky, a silvery speck caught my eye. It shone in the moonlight, but appeared different to the stars surrounding it. It wasn’t twinkling, but itdidappear to be moving. Towards me, if I wasn’t mistaken.
Despite not being able to shift, I trusted my enhanced shifter eyesight, and as a flying creature myself, I recognized the sight of another entity in flight.
It was still little more than a moving speck in the distance, but my stomach twisted with anticipation. This late at night —or early in the morning, depending on one’s perspective—it was odd to come across anything other than our town’s security patrolling the area. Our large flying shifters were also all accounted for, with Sage and Eric in their homes and Brandt too pregnant to enjoy shifting at all.
I doubted it was Brandt’s unicorn mate, Micah, either. He was currently out of town and traveling by airplane, necessitated by the amount of luggage he required to take with him for his work as a freelance makeup artist. Unless it was an emergency, it wouldn’t be him.
Frowning, I wondered whether the unknown…thing…was going to fly over our town or land here. As I followed its approach, the flickering of its motion sharpened into focus; the beating of silvery wings now obvious to my narrowed gaze, though I still couldn’t determine the rest of the creature’s form.
I didn’t think it was a dragon. It seemed too small for that, and too narrow besides. A bird the size of a small vehicle seemed an absurd idea, but then so had the concept of unicorns before we had learned about their existence.
Hmm.
Squinting, I wondered if I was imagining the long legs seemingly striding through the air, propelled by glossy, near-chrome wings.
Another unicorn?
Was it the power of suggestion, considering I had only just thought of Micah and his endangered brethren, or was I actually watching a winged horse approach?
Should I alert someone?
It wasn’t as though I would be much defense against another shifter if they had nefarious intentions. Not with my inability to shift into my much more impressive form.
But…no. A single incoming creature wouldn’t pose too much of a threat, would it? Besides, calling in the cavalry now would lead to questions I wasn’t ready to answer. Questions about why I was out in the fields on my own, and about why I didn’t feel equipped to handle one measly newcomer.
I sat on my slightly elevated patch of grass and waited, my gaze not leaving the incoming being. The closer it neared, the more detail I took in.
It was definitely another unicorn.
Where Micah was gold, this one was silver, but seemingly just as impressive. Its flank was so sleek in the moonlight that it looked almost like liquid chrome, its flowing mane such a light shade of gray that it was almost white. It looked larger than Micah’s form, strong and powerful and determined in its approach, but not at all hurried. Shiny silver wings beat a steady rhythm, petering out into a glide when it was almost directly overhead.
The magnificent creature circled almost lazily as it drifted down for a landing. Feeling equal parts enraptured by its beauty and irrationally jealous of its ability to fly, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. It landed with grace, trotting to a stop a hundred yards away from where I sat.
Pushing to my feet, I caught his scent on the breeze and my lips curled upwards in recognition.
“Sergio,” I greeted, already walking towards him. He dropped a satchel to the ground and shifted into his human form, bending to rifle through the bag’s contents while I made my way to him.
“It’s a surprise to see you out here so late, Dexter,” he said, his voice as calming and mellow as I remembered it.With gray hair and twinkling blue eyes, the shaman in front of me was my personal definition of a silver fox.
“It’s a surprise to see you back here at all.”
I made no secret of the way I eyed him as he pulled clothes from his bag, enjoying his build and handsome features far too much to offer him any modicum of privacy. He was much older than I was, anyway, and therefore likely used to being naked around other shifters. Most of us were, given that we had to undress in order to change forms, and shifting to run with one’s pack was an ingrained experience.
Sergio shrugged and stepped into a pair of form-fitting jeans, bypassing underwear entirely. He arched a thick, salt and pepper eyebrow at me as he tucked his flaccid, though impressive, cock away and did up his fly and the button at his waist.
“You are as incorrigible as ever, I see,” he observed mildly.
“I have to get my kicks in somehow. This place is dreadfully boring.Especiallysince you left.”
Reaching for a plain white t-shirt, he pulled it over his sexily mussed hair and settled it over his shoulders. It hugged him in all the right places. I was distracted by the sight for a moment, until he snorted. “I left because there was no need for me here once you could replicate the spellcasting. Surely you don’t find The Magic boring.”
I did, actually, but I wasn’t silly enough to tell him so. Not when his entire life centered around The Magic. Capital letters and all.
Instead, I shrugged and lifted his bag for him, nearly staggering under the surprising weight. I caught the amused twitch of his lips and rolled my eyes. “I see you’ve brought your library with you.”
“I did locate some texts which I thought Eric and Brandt might find interesting, yes.”
