Melted By The Bear: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (14 page)

I woke up several times during the night after dreaming about him, dreaming about
us
, actually, the two of us naked, with our bodies entwined in that most intimate of embraces. Each time I awoke, I debated going next door to his room to see if he might be awake, too, but each time, I ultimately decided against it. Unlike me, Cormack hadn’t taken about seventeen naps that day, and I knew he had to be beyond exhausted from battling the shadow bears at dawn, and then working all day and into the evening to organize the night’s patrols. I was sure he needed some good, uninterrupted rest. I just wished that I could get some myself so that through oblivion, I could stop thinking about his face, his body, and his touch.

The next day, with Cormack out patrolling the outskirts of town with his men, I took a stroll into town, intending to make a beeline to Abby’s bookstore in order to avoid all the death looks I usually got while out and about. To my surprise, however, once I reached the main street heading through the commercial part of town with all the little shops and businesses, I noticed that I wasn’t receiving nearly as many death looks as I normally did. In fact, out of a dozen people sitting among four white tables outside a cafe, only two older women fixed me with glares. Several young women sitting all together, packed around one of the tiny tables, glanced up with their expressions blank, neutral. One couple, a man and a woman in their late twenties maybe, actually showed me a little friendliness, both of them giving me small, polite, yet genuine-looking smiles. I smiled back, working to act natural in an effort to conceal my shock.

A little further down the road, a young woman stood out on the sidewalk in the sun, watering a tall planter of pale yellow mums in front of a clothing boutique. When she saw me heading her way, she emptied the last of the water in her tiny silver watering can, then looked up at me with a bright, open expression that looked like it at least wanted to become a smile. “Hello.”

I’d never been greeted in town by anyone except by Jane, Natalie, and Abby. Not a single time.

Mildly startled, I smiled, returned the greeting, then came to a stop by the young woman and her planter. “Those are beautiful flowers.”

A creamy pale yellow the shade of butter, they really were.

Now the young woman dropped her reserve and gave me a smile, making her hazel eyes sparkle. “Thanks.”

She told me her name was Amy, and I introduced myself as well. We made small talk for a minute or so, chatting about gardening and the gorgeous, sunny autumn day, and then she said she’d better get back inside the boutique to check on browsing customers.

“You should stop by to say hi again sometime, though. It was really nice meeting you.”

Heart soaring, I realized I’d made another friend in town. I told Amy that it had been really nice meeting her as well, and that I’d definitely be by again. With a friendly wave, I continued on down the street with a little spring in my step.

When I entered the bookstore and saw Abby, who was shelving books up front, I greeted her with a smile. “Well, that was an... unexpectedly pleasant walk through town.”

She smiled in return, raising her light brown eyebrows. “Ah, so maybe the efforts of your public relations team have been working.”

“My ‘public relations team?’”

“Me, Cook, and Jane. We’ve been working overtime pointing out to folks that we all definitely did not come to ‘ruin’ yesterday. Even though some people are being stubborn, believing that it’s still coming, I think we’ve managed to open some people’s eyes. Little Natalie’s even been part of the public relations team, too. Her teacher stopped in here on her lunch hour today, saying that Natalie’s been telling her that you’re the ‘most best’ babysitter ever.”

With my heart light as air, I helped Abby finish shelving a cart full of returned lending library books, then we settled in at the little cafe table at the back of the store for a late lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and pumpkin spice muffins Abby had made that morning.

The night before on the phone, I hadn’t been able to give her
all
the details about everything that had happened with the shadow bears and my new power, so I now did, telling her exactly how everything had played out, from start to fainting finish.

Once she’d asked me a few questions, and once I’d answered, she sat back in her chair, frowning, holding a steaming mug of tea between both hands. “Well, you and Cook may not have been able to figure out what made your new power ‘go’ and ‘stop,’ but I think I have an idea.”

Intensely curious, I leaned forward in my seat, arms folded on the table. “Well, what do you think it was?”

Chewing her lip, appearing to be thinking, she didn’t respond right away. After a few moments, she said, “Well... just based on everything you’ve told me, and how you’ve told me you felt at different times during the whole thing, I think it’s just anger. Anger, or just a general feeling of strong emotion. It just seems like that must be what drives it. On the flip side, as to what stops it, it sounds like your power ‘dried up’ anytime you were scared. Although it could have been that you got scared because your power was weakening, and you felt it, but...” With her honey-brown eyes twinkling, Abby suddenly set her mug on the table. “Only one way to find out. Let’s do some experiments.”

Just a short while later, I was facing a shelf of dusty, tattered books, being told they were shadow bears.

“Really try to picture it in your mind, Aria. They’re ugly, snarling shadow bears, and they want to kidnap you, or worse. Don’t get mad just yet, though. Just tell yourself, ‘I’ve gotta take these suckers out,’ but be a little scared about it, be a little unsure. You’re seeing their teeth and their claws, thinking that you might get bitten or slashed. Now just try to zap ’em, and see what you can do.”

Not too sure about this, and kind of worried about a zap setting the dusty books on fire, I turned to face the empty metal returns cart in the aisle. “I’ll go ahead and try, but maybe on something non-flammable.”

“Oh. Guess that’s probably smart.”

After taking a deep breath, I lifted a hand, palm out, and willed the silvery purple electricity to shoot out, trying to keep in mind what Abby had said. I pictured the cart as a snarling shadow bear, and I imagined myself a little scared, though still determined to zap him. I imagined myself fearful for my life, and told myself that I had to produce a zap or possibly die. But, after several seconds, nothing happened. I took another deep breath and tried again, still imagining and willing and fearing. But still, nothing happened. Not even the thinnest stream of electricity.

I let my hand fall to my side, turning my face to look at Abby. “I don’t think this is going to work. It’s just not happening.”

“Perfect. This is just what we wanted. First experiment down, one to go. Now, for this one,
this
is your time to get mad, and really try to feel it. The bears are circling you and Cook, and you’re getting really pissed off. Look at Cook down there on the ground. She’s never been anything but sweet and nice to everyone, has never been anything but sweet and nice to
you
, and now the shadow bears are going to attack her and kill her. She doesn’t deserve to go out like this. She doesn’t deserve to go out in pain and screaming. This is making you feel enraged. How dare these murderous, hateful bears try to hurt anyone on
your
turf, someone who’s a friend to you. Now, show them how livid you are. Blast them all to hell and teach them a lesson.”

Mentally back in the scene of the day before and getting genuinely angry and upset about how the bears had frightened Cook, I returned my gaze to the metal cart, now picturing it as AntiCormack, extended my palm, and willed a zap to come forth. And it did. Just a brief, crackling burst of thin, pale lavender light, but it did.

Abby gasped, taking a step back. “Wow. That’s... that’s amazing. Now, don’t stop. You’re too pissed off. This shadow bear refuses to go down, and it’s making you frustrated and even angrier. You’re not scared, though. Your anger and determination to help Cook has wiped all trace of fear from your mind. You own these bears, and now you’re about to show them.”

Feeling genuine anger enough to get my heartbeat accelerating, I zapped the metal cart again, aiming at what I imagined to be AntiCormack’s sneering face, expression clear even in bear form. Again, a brief burst of electricity shot from my palm and hit its target.

“Good. This is amazing. Now, just keep going. Get even angrier. See, things could be going really great for you if these damned shadow bears didn’t exist anymore. People in town are warming up to you a little, you’re starting to imagine a real life here in Blackthorn City, and you and Cormack might be able to get a really good thing going together, but these goddamned shadow bears are stopping you. They’re making a lot of people continue to be nervous about the stupid prophecy, and constantly having to be out on patrol to guard against them is taking Cormack away from home a lot, and you know that as long as they exist, you’re never going to be able to have the happiness in life that you want and deserve. You hate AntiCormack and all his bears for what they’re keeping you from experiencing. You just want them all dead, so that they can never hurt and kill anyone in any town in Michiana ever again, and so that you can be happy, and so that everyone can live their lives without fear of attacks and losing loved ones.”

Realizing that what she was saying was all absolutely a thousand percent correct, I continued on zapping, now with both hands, hardly needing any further encouragement. After a short while, the bookshelf was blazing, the silver metal glowing red hot. My zaps had progressively gotten more powerful, some of them crackling with so much bright electricity that I had to squint to protect my eyes somewhat.

“Now I just have to convince Cormack to let me use this power against the shadow bears again.”

“Well, I think all those kids at the front windows might help you plead your case. They seem very impressed.”

Abby grinned, and I looked from her to the plate-glass storefront windows and saw a large group of kids standing with their faces pressed against the glass, eyes wide.

Strolling toward the door, Abby glanced back at me, eyes twinkling. “They’re all here for an after-school story hour program I’m starting today. Bet they never guessed a light show would be included as part of the activities.”

I helped her with the story hour, which only started after about ten minutes of me telling the kids that I couldn’t and wouldn’t do the “lightning trick,” as they called it, in front of them, because it just wasn’t safe. They had to settle for a promise of some of Abby’s pumpkin spice muffins and apple cider at the end of the hour for a consolation prize.

During this snack time, Natalie told me that she and one of her school friends had decided that they wanted to be “singing stars” someday, like some of the singers they’d seen on TV shows and movies filmed in the United Free States, in cities like Chicago and DC.

“A singing star like
you,
Miss Aria. When I told my grandma how super pretty your voice is, she told me all about how you used to be a famous singing star back in your time.”

Back in “my” time. As if I were a hundred years old. The thought made me suppress laughter, tickled for some reason, although I quickly supposed that I actually
was
a hundred years old, in a way. Even though I’d been frozen, kind of suspended in some sort of a strange place between alive and dead, not aging a single day, I was technically
several
hundred years old, considering that I had been born centuries earlier.

I told Natalie that I was flattered to be considered a “singing star,” and I’d be happy to give her and her friend a few voice lessons if they wanted.

This made her leap in the air, squealing, “When do we start? When do we start?”

Wondering exactly where I should give the lessons, I said I wasn’t sure, and Abby suggested that I could just give them right in the bookstore after story hours. This sounded great to me, and I thanked her. Natalie launched herself into the air again, shrieking a
yay
.

That night, I waited up for Cormack to return from the council meeting, eager to hear how he and his advisors and lieutenants had decided to handle the shadow bears, and also eager to tell him that
I
had decided to help, no matter what. Now that I was really getting a handle on my new power,
not
helping wasn’t even an option.

I was also intensely curious to know if Cormack and the council had discussed the prophecy. Specifically, I wanted to know if Cormack had come to any conclusions about whether us sleeping together again would be a good thing, a bad thing, or of no consequence, considering that we’d already shared a bed once, and the whole town hadn’t been destroyed. I couldn’t deny that I wanted to sleep with him again badly, just wanted to be close to him again in that way, and even on a logical level, I didn’t feel like it was something we should avoid at this point. I just hoped he felt the same. Going back to how things had been before we’d slept together, when simply the sight of each other across the dinner table had seemed like torture, wasn’t a place I could stand going back to ever again.

Of course, I figured, if Cormack and I had another argument about me wanting to help take out the shadow bears with my power, we probably wouldn’t be making it into bed that evening even if he didn’t see a need for us to avoid intimacy. I wondered if I should wait to tell him that I was determined to use my power against the shadow bears until
after
a possible trip to bed together.