minutes Keira had the healing energy she needed. Getting to her feet, she shrugged into her robe then sauntered to the house. She glanced at the old carriage clock on the fireplace mantel. Good, she had time for a shower, which she took in five minutes. After towel drying her hair, she pulled it back into a ponytail then looped it up into a haphazard chignon at the nape of her neck. She’d thought several times about cutting it, but every time a feeling of dread had stolen over her. She sensed that having long hair was something that had been very important to her human host, so she’d left it long. But damn if it wasn’t a pain in the arse to care for.
She debated wearing jeans and a simple T-shirt, but decided that, as good as she felt now, she wanted looser clothing. Instead, she donned a thin strapped sundress in bold turquoise and slid her feet into bright orange sandals. She slipped her gold cuff watch over her wrist and gathered up her purse, making sure her cell phone and other essentials were in it, and headed back out again.
She guided her car south on 101 then went east on State Route 60. After she went through the small town of Apache Junction she started north on Apache Trail. In the blackness of the desert, her headlights were the only illumination until she reached a tiny mom-and-pop diner just before the boundary of the Lost Dutchman State Park. She pulled into a parking space and shut off the engine.
From the outside, the diner looked like it was caught in a time warp with its sleek metal design and neon signage. When she entered the restaurant a bell above the door jangled, making her smile. It was such a cheery sound. She paused and looked around, deciding that the place was as fifties on the inside as it was on the outside. The floor was black and white square tiles, and there were red stools at the counter. The rest of the modest restaurant contained booths with red seat cushions. She liked it.
“Sit anywhere you want to, hon,” a middle-aged woman in a worn blue-and-white-striped uniform told her from behind the counter.
“I’m meeting someone.” She spotted her companion in a booth at the very back of the diner. “There he is,” she said with a soft smile at the waitress. She walked back and slid onto the bench opposite Caladh MacLoch, a senior member of the Council of Preternaturals.
“You’re late,” he muttered. He folded the newspaper he’d been reading and set it to one side. His white shirt was crisply pressed, as if he’d just picked it up from the cleaners. Lifting a spray bottle, he spritzed his face with water. Caladh was a selkie—a seal shapeshifter—and hated being in the desert. His term on the regional council wouldn’t be up for several more years, so he’d learned to adapt as best he could. He’d told her more than once that someday he hoped to finally make it to San Diego, where he was sure he’d live a long and fulfilled life.
“Sorry. You couldn’t have picked something closer to home?” She pushed the silverware lying on a paper napkin to one side and leaned her elbows on the table, which was set for two and already had a small bowl of creamer containers sitting in the middle. “You already ordered?” she asked Caladh.
He gave a nod. “My stomach has been reminding me for a few hours now that we went long in today’s council session. I missed dinner.”
The waitress approached, and Keira leaned back and gave her another smile. The woman returned it. “You know what you want, hon?”
“I’ll take a coffee, black.” Keira leaned over to read Caladh’s menu upside down. There wasn’t a huge selection to choose from, mostly burgers, breakfast dishes, and dessert. Looking back at the waitress, she asked, “How’s the peach pie?”
“Best pie this side of the Superstitions,” came the reply.
“Coffee and a slice of peach pie, then.”
“Ice cream with that?”
“Oh, of course.”
The woman smiled. “You got it.”
Keira waited until the waitress was gone before she asked, “Why on Earth did you pick way out here to meet? I like it, but it’s like a pimple on God’s arse. It’s to hell and back again to get out here.”
“I think you exaggerate.” Caladh’s grin showed off his small, bright white teeth. “I believe the drive is worth it. The landscape around here is