important thing is that you’ve always been a shifter and when you shift, you’re still yourself.”
“What other kind of shifter is there?” asked the bear-shifter.
Mel held up a second finger. “Sorcerers who learn the spell to shift shape. They can take multiple forms and they do it by choice. Their shift is determined by whim and is a mirror of their magickal powers. There aren’t very many sorcerers of such power, and I suspect Maeve will target them, if only to try to claim their magick.”
Wynter’s expression had softened a little. “And the third kind?”
“Those who are cursed to shift, like me.” There was a little stir in the company as Mel tapped the string on her wrist. “I was immortal but not a shifter, until I was cursed by the Dark Queen. I have no control over the shift. Mine happens in a specific way at a specific time.” Caleb saw that Theo was listening to Mel with avid interest. “I can’t stop it. I can’t make it happen. It’s imposed upon me.” Mel’s frustration was clear. “Most who are cursed to shift are stuck in that alternate form until the curse is broken. Sometimes they’re silenced, too. It’s a temporary thing, theoretically, but it can feel like it lasts forever.” She fell silent for a moment, then nodded. “The thing is that anyone who is a shifter like me probably hates the Dark Queen and would make a good ally.”
“And other than you, those shifters probably aren’t on her list,” Theo said.
Mel turned and smiled at him as she nodded. “Allies she won’t hunt.”
“They can still get taken out as collateral damage,” Caleb said.
“But as our numbers dwindle, we can use all the help we can get,” Mel said. “And like the mates who have followed Wynter, they’ll be adding to our forces unexpectedly, at least to the Dark Queen. That can’t be a bad thing.”
It was the first positive idea they’d had in a while and the room erupted in chatter as various kinds made suggestions and lists of those cursed creatures and mortals that might prove to be good allies.
Wynter wasn’t going to let it go easily, though. Caleb saw that as she spun to face the Pyr again. “Is it true that one of your kind warned you of the Fae attack last weekend?”
“Alasdair had a nightmare,” Drake confirmed. “At the time, we didn’t know what it meant.”
“But now you have an early warning system,” Wynter said. “Why did he have the nightmare? What’s different about him?” She demanded this of Theo.
“He was trapped in Fae, as well, and also tortured by Maeve. She went through his thoughts and obviously left him sensitive to the presence of the Fae.”
Wynter scoffed. “So, you got out of Fae by becoming her spy,” she said to Theo. “And this Alasdair has the ability to hear them coming so he can warn the rest of you. Sounds like the Pyr have come out of this all right.”
“Hardly,” Theo retorted. Once again, he was shimmering blue around his perimeter and Caleb feared he’d shift shape to fight. Wynter looked as if she was ready to rumble as well, then something completely unexpected happened.
The door to the street opened and it seemed to admit the sun. Golden light flared in the darkened bar, a light so brilliant that it left everyone blinking.
“Sorry I’m late,” one of the Pyr said as he strode into the bar. Caleb remembered that his name was Arach. He had dark hair and silvery eyes and moved with youthful purpose. He waved to his fellow Pyr and a stream of brilliant orange sparks launched from his hand.
The light flew across the bar, burning like a sparkler on the Fourth of July, and dropped toward Wynter. She stepped to one side, but the flame tracked her anyway. It landed on her lips with a sizzle that made her eyes widen, then extinguished. She rubbed her mouth and glared at Arach, clearly understanding the source of the spark.
A golden glow remained, burning between the two of them and driving the dampness out of the bar. Arach stared at Wynter with awe. She looked him up and down, then turned her back on him to continue her argument with Theo.
Obviously, she didn’t realize that she was having a firestorm with a dragon shifter.
Or maybe she did. Caleb wondered whether she was feeling the mating sign of the wolf shifters. He’d never experienced it, but he’d seen the mark appear. It