Hawking a Future (8 page)

He laughed. “I will consider it. I do have to say that the image was powerful enough that fifty more names went on the roster. You are admired deeply and your current pregnancy only adds to your beauty.”

Hayley knew he was being nice, but Brightscar had the look of a man who had killed casually at some point in his lifetime. She couldn’t imagine the woman who would be an ideal match for him, but that woman would have to be exceptional on a lot of levels.

When he admired her pregnancy, and it was a frequent occurrence, it sent her human impulses scurrying for self-defence while her fey self, preened. She now had a collection of impulses in her mind that didn’t belong to the human psyche that she had been raised with.

“I hope to get a portrait done with the baby when it arrives, and I am just hoping that it will not be confiscated as well.” She made a face. “Maybe Tovin can ask the artist to make a print.”

Brightscar inclined his head. “I will file my own request that you get a copy of the image.”

She laughed. “Thanks. What is on the roster today?”

“Forcible seduction. He has kept her bound to him since she was legal in the human world, and now, she has been found. The spell is broken, and we need to find the truth of both parties. You can see magic and see lies. That is our duty this afternoon.”

Hayley straightened her shoulders and nodded. “Ready when you are.”

Others of her kind escorted in the shifter, and Brightscar remained quiet while Hayley coaxed out every detail.

The woman was a coyote with exotically beautiful features. Golden skin, silky black hair, high cheekbones and dark-gold eyes.

Hayley gathered the story of a young woman who had bumped into a fey at a fair and helped him navigate the midway. It was the last thing she remembered until a week ago.

Hayley watched her as she lied about never coming out of the spell. There was affection between the two, but he had gone about it all wrong. Her family of coyotes was not especially kind, and the comfortable life offered by the elf had been welcome. She had been safe and had been willing to pay for it with her body.

Hayley rubbed her forehead when Mirabell left the room.

“This is a mess.”

“Let’s hear his version.”

Hayley tucked her hair back over her ears, and she paced with her bump preceding her. Her questions were asked and answered, and to her surprise, he was very frank about taking the woman for his own.

“I thought she was human.”

Hayley blinked in surprise. “The contact shock didn’t give that away?”

“Not until we were intimate. When her eyes changed colour, I realised what she was.”

Brightscar took over the questions, and Hayley watched closely.

He had used the seduction honed by his people over eons and the magic had held her as his companion for six years.

She wrinkled her nose at the conflict. The initial seduction had been magically induced, but shifters developed resistance to fey magic very quickly. Some shifters were even simply irritated by it and didn’t even initially react. His big lie had been ignoring the contact sparks.

The scribe was in the corner, frantically recording the deposition.

When he left, Hayley turned to Brightscar. “He noticed the contact spark right away, but didn’t want to give her up.”

“Was she upset with him?”

Hayley rolled her eyes. “No. She was initially under his spell, but it wore off right away. The big problem will be her family. The coyote have pack ties that will insist on restitution or the return of their female. I do not believe she wants to go back to them, but council law says she has to.”

Brightscar nodded. “Leave it with me. I will see if enrolling them in the Crossroads is possible. If they come out as a mated pair, they were destined. If not, he will be on his own and held responsible for the initial magically forced seduction.”

Hayley nodded. It had been the hardest thing to deal with. She had to leave work at work. She had to determine the truth and then leave. Fortunately, she had Tovin to go home to, and he had her when his rescues showed him a side to his people he despised.

Hayley walked through the door, and Tovin took one look at her face before he rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her.

She cried and sniffled against his shoulder as the rioting mood added to her day’s tension. “I hate knowing some of what I have learned.”

“As do I. You have me, I have you, and together, we can make the world better, one person at a time.”

He slid his hand between them and whispered, “And so will she.”

Amyra Arrowheart was born at a healthy ten pounds. Her parents admired her pointy ears and the tiny button of her nose. It was the delicate and perfect rosebud of her lips that made her mother smile.

“She has that same cupid’s bow that you do, Tovin.”

Tovin was still sweating and nursing the hand that she had crushed, but holding his daughter with care. “I think her eyes are shaped like yours, though they are coloured like mine.”

“Yes, they are. Now that the midwife is done with me, hand her over.” The sheets were clean; Hayley was sore, but tidy.

He sighed, but did as she ordered.

She watched as he pulled a shifter’s trick and changed his hand to a feathered wingtip before returning it to his normal digits.

She held little Amyra and cooed at her.

“Can I let in the family? They are waiting outside.” The midwife smiled.

Hayley was shocked. “They already have children and grandchildren.”

Tovin smiled. “And this little one makes four, and she will have cousins to play with and grandparents to dote on her. Let them start now.”

Hayley cuddled her daughter against her. “Let them in.”

Tovin sat with his arm around them both, and their family came in pronouncing Amyra to be beautiful and Hayley to be glowing. There was truth in every face and Hayley believed them.

And so we conclude the beginning of Hayley’s new life. Her family is going to come up in future books along with her half-sisters and brother.

Roar of Magic
is going to take us through the world of a woman who lives to take care of animals and a man who lives for his art.

Thanks for reading,

Zenina Masters

http://www.zeninamasters.com

[email protected]

Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.