Backstage at the Freak Show (Harem of Freaks #7) - Crystal Ash Page 0,5

specified.”

I hesitated before asking my next question. “Any unusual or mythical shifters?”

“You mean like dragons?”

“Yeah, just curious.”

Mel’s eyes slid over to me, but I kept my gaze trained on Jeanie as she scrolled through the list.

“I don’t think so. A lot of these look pretty standard. Lion, wolf, bear, an arctic fox, a few elk, eagles. Oh, an elephant! And uh,” Jeanie frowned. “What’s a cassowary?”

“A flightless bird from Australia,” Lara said. “Mean motherfuckers. Hopefully they behave.”

“Oh, we’re pretty well prepared for scuffles,” Mel laughed. “The security team’s been hand-picked by Connor and you know how he gets. Short of a bunch of dragons torching the place, I think we’ll all make it out alive.”

“Interesting choice of words on your wedding day,” Jeanie snorted.

Mel shrugged. “Making shifters feel like they’re included and belong somewhere is important to me. I’m not naive enough to think that everyone will get along swimmingly, but I want them to see this wedding as bridging the gap between humans and shifters. If they go home after enjoying a party with humans in the mix, I’ve done what I wanted.”

We small-talked and speculated more about the guest list as we each took turns getting our makeup done. As I sat in the chair, I was dying to tell Mel about what I saw. She had the same Sight ability, and would know where I was coming from. Our abilities weren’t a secret to her sister or most shifters, but I itched for a private conversation with my fellow shaman all the same.

But this was her wedding. She would be surrounded by loved ones constantly, as she should be. All I could do was hope the gigantic, mysterious shifter on his way here wouldn’t pose a threat. And if he did, that the security team would be ready for him.

A headache flashed across my forehead as I zoned out in the makeup chair. Shit, right now? I thought, trying not to move my head.

Here was where my Sight ability was different. These headaches marked when I would see events that had not yet come to pass.

In my head I saw Mel smiling in her wedding dress, tears glittering in her eyes as her four men looked at her like she was the only woman in existence. Looking past them and at the rows of wedding guests sitting in attendance, one man stood out.

Even while sitting, he was shoulders taller than most people. Standing, he had to be at least 6-foot-seven. A broad, muscular body strained under his suit. He gazed straight at me with one brown eye and one pale grey eye, black eyebrows quirked as if amused. His clean-shaven face carried a bemused smirk on full lips, a straight nose and strong jaws. Black hair pulled back into a tight topknot completed his look.

The flash of his face was gone in an instant but still left me breathless, as all my future visions did. My heart drummed like I just sprinted up a flight of stairs as the echo of the headache slowly faded away.

“Mir, you okay?” Mel’s large brown eyes focused on me, wide and concerned.

“Yeah,” I flashed her a strained smile. “Just shaman things, you know.”

She frowned, glancing up to Lana and Jeanie. “Hey girls, can I get five minutes with Miriam?”

“Mel, you don’t have to—”

“Yes, I do or I’m going to worry about you all day.” She ushered Lara and her sister out of the room before spinning the makeup chair to make me face her. “What did you see?”

I blew out a long breath, knowing she wouldn’t let up until she knew. “I saw through a shifter early this morning, nothing like I’d ever seen before. That was why I asked about the guest list.”

“And just now?”

“I saw, I think it was him. A few hours from now at the ceremony. Just sitting there and smirking at me.” I wrung my hands in my lap. “He seemed excited about the wedding but I watched through him while he killed a human on his way here.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “For what?”

“Nothing. Just for being in his way. But,” I grabbed her arms, “I told Colt and he’s telling the security team.”

She nodded, her expression thoughtful. “Now that you’ve seen him in human form, maybe tell security what he looks like. We don’t have many humans involved with the wedding, but can’t be too careful.”

“Connor,” I breathed. Mel hired almost all shifters in the wedding, from the catering to the photographer. Her fiance Connor was