Roar of Magic (3 page)

She wondered if it was a trap. She walked carefully under the steak, testing the ground. It was solid, and an examination of the rope that the steak was attached to showed that it was a simple string with no other attachment.

Lee watched her from the shadows but didn’t interfere.

To Anessa’s surprise, she was just an inch away from the steak when she went up on her hind legs and swiped with her paw. She did it again, hopping and using both paws to grip the meat, with her claws extended. The steak came down with her body weight on the string.

Her first tracked meal tasted delicious. Lee moved toward her, and Anessa growled at her, keeping her meal to herself.

Lee swatted at her, and Anessa’s beast fought for what was hers.

* * * *

Ystine held Amelia and watched the two females limping out of the woods. Neither was subject to the other, which was good to see. The pride needed all the alpha females it could get.

“Do you see your mommy and your Aunt Anessa? She is going to become part of our family, Amelia. She doesn’t have a family of her own, so we need to be extra friendly and love her.” Ystine tickled the newest pride member aside from Anessa.

Amelia looked at her mother in feline form and reached out, her small hands opening and closing to take hold of the fur.

“I think we will go and see if the ladies are all right. They look a little the worse for wear.”

Ystine looked down, and the baby was still reaching for her mother. It was good enough for her.

* * * *

Anessa flopped on her side and looked over at Lee. The other feline was lying as well, panting gently.

The fight had been tremendous, but it had proven a point. Anessa’s beast was surprisingly strong and very determined not to be pushed aside by another female.

Ystine came in with Amelia and set her down next to her mother.

The baby kissed her mama’s face, and Lee rubbed her head against her little one.

Anessa watched Amelia turn her head, and then, the baby scrambled over toward her on hands and knees. Anessa licked the side of the baby’s face, and she giggled. When the baby grabbed her tail and pulled at it, Anessa sighed and got up. She lifted Amelia by the back of her little outfit and carefully returned her to her mother.

When Amelia was back with Lee, Anessa returned to human form.

Ystine handed her a robe. “You will be sore for a few hours, but your wounds are healed.”

Lee shifted and put her own robe on. “Well, you give as good as you get, so that is comforting.”

She scooped up her baby, took a seat and exposed her breast to feed her.

Anessa took the glass of water that Ystine extended. “So, that was a test?”

Lee grinned, winced and nodded. “It was a test to see if you could hunt and what you would do with your kill. I admire that you looked for traps. It was well done of you. Most of the time, our intellect dims when we get hungry in our beast forms.”

“So the fight was planned?”

“I didn’t plan to fight to a draw. Your beast has some moves on her.”

Anessa snorted.

“No, really. I fight dirty and still didn’t manage to get the upper hand.”

Ystine chortled. “You didn’t pull out your tiger, so you weren’t fighting that dirty. At least, she has instincts and is willing to use them.”

Lee chuckled and rocked back and forth slightly while Amelia fed.

With her second day of shifting under her belt, Anessa felt marginally better about losing her position at the zoo. At least she had gotten up close and personal with a big cat.

* * * *

Day three was speed drills across the gardens and running an agility course. Lee remained human, and Amelia cheered her on with high-pitched shrieks.

After her third hour in her four-footed body was over, she noted a shadowy figure standing on the hill near the house.

The wind blew, and she knew what she was sensing. There was an elf on that hill.

Anessa crouched and bounded toward the man on the hill. She reached him, and he disappeared. She knew his scent and circled the area looking for more traces of him. Leroc had been watching her, and she couldn’t find where he had gone.

Ystine came up to her and asked, “What are you sensing, Anessa?”

She shifted back to human. “There was a man here. An elf and he was watching me.”

“Leroc Alberthswitch. He was the one who contacted us in regards to you. I imagine he wanted to know what kind of big cat you are.” Ystine was completely calm that an elf had intruded on her territory.

“Right. So, you knew he would be here?” Anessa didn’t wait for an answer. She stroked her hand through the grass where Leroc had been standing and rubbed the fine powder left behind through her fingers. Her instincts told her not to inhale.

She got up and headed down into the lower garden while Ystine followed her. Anessa got her bag and scraped the powder off her fingers and into an envelope.

Ystine cocked her head. “What is that?”

“Residue. He leaves it where he transports. I have seen it once before. I want to take it and find out what it is.”

A noise snapped her head around. Two men were at the top of the staircase and on their way into the garden.

Amelia shrieked with delight, and her little arms and legs were running toward them with Lee holding her in the air. The younger of the two men laughed, his dark hair falling over one eye. Lee walked over to greet them, and he swept both her and her daughter into an embrace that was just this side of decent.

Ystine kissed her husband with more restraint, but the affection was still there.

Lee smiled and made the introductions. “Anessa, this is my husband, James, and this is the Master Alpha, Norman Exeter. If we could find your family ties, you would be under his responsibility, as it stands, you can become a full member of the pride if you wish to, but you have to apply to the pride.”

Anessa nodded to both men who were amused for some reason. “Pleased to meet you. I still have some more circuits to run.”

She turned and shifted, running through the course until she had completed the circuits.

When she was done, she trotted over to the cabana and got dressed. She headed back to the veranda where the gathering was having a snack. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and smiled. “Thank you for the training session, Lee. What else do I need to know?”

Lee blinked. “Um, that is it. Your instincts are sound, you can control your shift under duress and shift on the fly. You are physically trained to be a competent lioness.”

Anessa reached out and let Amelia take two fingers in her little hand. “Nice meeting you, little miss.”

Ystine frowned. “Don’t you wish to know about the pride and how to join?”

Anessa inclined her head politely. “I have never been one to join something just because I should. I don’t feel drawn to the idea and that is enough for me. Even my beast is indifferent to the idea. Please excuse me, but if I don’t get to the bus station on time, it will be a four-hour wait for my next one.”

She turned to the guys. “It was nice meeting you, James, Norman.” She inclined her head and left.

She heard a hiss, and Lee’s husband caught up with her.

“Call me Jim. James sounds so formal. I will give you a lift to the bus station.”

She blinked. “Oh, all right. Thank you.”

His car was practical and a charming shade of blue with a baby seat in the back.

After a few minutes driving, he asked her, “So, you don’t wish to be a member of the pride?”

She shook her head. “No. I have never been a joiner. I appreciate what Lee has taught me, but I am content to use it on my own.”

“Did she discuss going into heat?” He was very blunt.

“Uh, no. If you mean my personal cycle, I kind of have a handle on that already.”

“No, your beast will have its own cycle, and it will make itself known with a dramatic increase in libido and that will erode your ability to make proper decisions. That is what the pride is handy for; they help weed out unsuitable men and protect you during that time.”

“I can take care of myself.”

He glanced at her, reached into his pocket and handed her a card. “This is the number of a transporter who can send you to the Crossroads. If you don’t want to go to the pride, you will have to find someone, and the Crossroads is an excellent place to find a match. Those who work there will make sure you are safe and that no one takes advantage.”

She took the heavy cream card and nodded. “Thank you. How much does it cost?”

“I will make some calls. Amelia likes you, and she doesn’t like most strangers. You will have a fully paid stay for six days. After that, you are on your own bill.”

She cocked her head. “Why are you offering me this?”

“Because you don’t have anyone and that was the situation Lee was in when I met her. She had someone who was willing to send her to the Crossroads on the off chance she could find someone, and she found me. It was the best day of my life, and I would never wish for anything different. If you can make that change to someone else’s life, I consider it a worthy investment.”

She blinked and a tear crept down her cheek. “I will keep it in mind.”

“Good. Google the signs of heat in a lioness. Check yourself every few days. If you woke up after a lifetime dormancy, heat is not too far behind.”

Anessa nodded and kept her hands in her lap for the rest of the way to the bus station. The entire way home on the bus, she stared at the card with the number on it. No name, just a number. Her instincts told her that that number was going to be very important.

To Evan’s relief, she returned to the shop the next day. Everything went back to her normal rhythm, but she now had much more time in her afternoons.

Unable simply to give up, she had put herself on the bottom of the volunteer roster. Eventually, she would make her way back to the big cats, if she had patience.

Anessa bought a spell-testing kit from the shop and took it home on her first day back. She carefully followed the directions and tapped the dust into the sample area of the kit. With her safety goggles on, she put a drop of the diagnostic potion on the sample.

There was a bright flash and a puff of smoke. Coughing, she quickly slipped the identifier slip onto the smear of ash. It turned a strange combination of goldenrod and silver.

The spell key was a foldout piece of paper that expanded to fill her coffee table. The goldenrod meant it was a fey spell, and the silver...

She looked through all the tiny squares of colour and finally found the speck of silver. “Sleep?”

Anessa cleaned up the kit and samples, burning it all in a bowl. Having her superintendent digging through her stuff would be awkward if he found the kit. It looked like a drug kit if you didn’t look closely at the directions.

Wondering what kind of sleep spell it was, she finished her bookkeeping and looked at the list of her clients. They were all doing well enough now to hire actual accountants to work on their books. Some were even doing exceptionally well. Perhaps it was time to let them go.

She wanted to travel; she wanted to be somewhere else and out of a city. It was a new impulse, but she had enough money to start over and buy a small house elsewhere. She could find something to do for a living outside the city, she always did.

Just like that, she decided to jump. All her clients’ books were up to date for the month, so it was the perfect time to hand them off.

It wasn’t a pleasant evening, but she told them that she was in desperate need of a vacation and that she didn’t know if she was coming back. She recommended local accountants and promised to return all outstanding receipts the following day so that their records could be kept together.

The moment she finished her calls, she felt lighter. With a happy sigh, she made up the envelopes with the receipts and a CD copy of the current accounts. The stack of envelopes was ready to take with her in the morning and her life was markedly simpler already.

It was a good feeling when she headed to bed and one less thing was hanging over her.

With all of her books handed off to their respective businesses, she did an inventory of the shop. There was a bit of shrinkage on the fur, but she thought that Evan might just be parcelling out too much without measuring.

It was either that or he was handing it over to friends and not recording it. That had happened before.

She made note of it and then went on to housekeeping. She swept up a large amount of fine dust, and she paused. Kneeling, she touched the dust and rubbed it through her fingers. She knew that texture. Leroc had been here.

She gathered the dust in the dustpan and dumped it out the front door to disperse it through the air.

A familiar presence was behind her. She put the broom and dustpan down, turning toward him. “Good afternoon, Leroc.”

He inclined his head. “Good afternoon, Anessa. I see you have completed your training.”

“I have. I have access to her and as much control as she would let me have. And by she, I mean my beast.”

“A lioness. A large, lovely lioness. Well done.”

She chuckled and started to wipe the counter. “It was not a choice.”

“Well, you inhabit her very naturally.”

She smiled. “I cannot think that you are here just to compliment me on my agility-course work.”

“I am not. I would like to invite you to the Crossroads.”

She blinked at the words out of his mouth. “The Crossroads?”

“Yes. I have been told that my match is going to be there, and so, I would like you to make your way so that the seers’ prediction will come true.” He smiled slightly.

The thought was bright and tempting, but she said, “I don’t know about that. I mean, we spark when we touch.”

“That would be mitigated by the spells they have access to.”

“Mitigated?”

“They call it balancing. Half my magic to you and half of yours to me.” His smile was coaxing. “All who saw you from that point on would think you an elf.”