Page 57 of Shifters in the Night

“Aw, hell, don’t get all mushy with me. You haven’t seen your office yet,” Zed said, cringing. “It’s not what you’re used to.”

“I don’t care! I’ll take it!” she cried.

“This is not the negotiation standard I’ve come to expect from you,” Zed told her, making her laugh.

“I’ll work on it.”

16

LIA

Lia’s new office was the smallest, dingiest and noisiest workspace Lia had ever occupied. She was working from a desk jammed into an empty supply closet in the parish hall. She didn’t have her own phone line. She barely had internet. And she absolutely loved it.

The noise and bustle and what felt like constant ringing of the phone outside her door were a little disorienting at first. But Lia was amazed at how quickly she tuned it out and was able to relax and get things done. She supposed it came from trusting the people around her. Instead of being isolated with Victor and Jeff, she was surrounded by people who didn’t just demand things of her. They checked in on her, poking their heads through the closet door to see if she needed anything, how her work was coming along, if she just wanted to talk about her day. There were very few friendly “How’s your day going?” conversations at New Ground.

The last of her former employer’s vehicles rolled out of town a few days before. Jeff had been taken by League authorities to an undisclosed location. Mystic Bayou didn’t have the facilities to keep him long-term. Victor left town the morning of his final meeting with Lia, leaving the team to pack up the site.

It was strange, watching the remaining New Ground employees leave without her. For so long, the sight of that caravan leaving a town had represented accomplishment, completion, moving on to the next challenge. Now it just represented the end of her working relationship with Victor. And while she knew that it was the right thing for her, it still felt unfinished, like she was leaving an unsigned deal on the table, an adversary on her chessboard. Somehow, she didn’t think that Victor was going to take this defeat lying down. Then again, she wasn’t dealing with him alone. She had Sonja and Jillian and Zed and even Alex to back her up. She had a feeling someday in the future, she would need them.

Andy had come to her with a list of people from New Ground who liked Mystic Bayou enough to quit Victor’s company and stay permanently – himself included. All of them were solid employees and Sonja was sure she could find them work with the construction companies arriving in town. Lia was looking forward to having Andy, Eddie, and the others as her long-term neighbors.

While the New Ground project still sat unfinished, Lia was making solid strides toward more buildings in Mystic Bayou. Two more apartment complexes were expected to break ground in the next two months and a chain hotel was purchasing a lot at the end of Main Street. She’d secured funding for the tourism center and was advertising for bids. And she’d managed to prevent an obnoxious chain coffee store from purchasing a house near the gas station, based on zoning laws. Zed was very pleased that progress was coming to Mystic Bayou, but in a controlled manner. Dr. Bremmer was not pleased, but eventually, enough League employees and locals told him that he didn’t speak for them that he put his petition away and dropped the matter. (There was also rumor Siobhan threatened not to serve him pie.)

Her contentment at work could, she supposed, stem from being so happy at home. She was almost sad to leave Bayard’s quiet little house so soon, but Jon’s place was home. Every morning, she woke up in Jon’s arms, to the sound of the ocean and his soft snores. She’d never felt so centered in her whole life.

For now, she was searching through her little house on the water, throwing last-minute items in the few boxes she needed to move. Her new laptop pinged from the kitchen counter, announcing a new email. She’d had to travel to the nearest ten-stoplight town the previous week to purchase it from a big box store.

She crossed the room and tapped at her keyboard to find an email from her father. “Hey sweetheart, Peter’s in! Here’s the final numbers for the unfinished complex and I attached the paperwork for the appropriate signatures. I pushed for everything you asked for, plus a little more. You’re welcome. Mom said she wants to see this town you’re ‘giving everything up for’ but I think we both know that will only last until she realizes there are no four-star hotels in Mystic Bayou. Maybe I should ask Peter to build one. Call me once you stop screaming, ‘Don’t you dare!’ – Love, Dad.”

She snorted. It would take Peter building a mini-palace here in town for her mother to come visit for any amount of time. But that was a problem she’d deal with in some far-off someday. Moving was today’s problem.

For a fleeting moment, she felt a little guilty, using her father’s connections to fund what was essentially a pet project. But technically, it was for the town’s gain and using Peter’s money in this way would do something good for people who needed it. And it was a considerably more positive use of the money than a water park or something. Karmically, it was a step forward for all of them.

“You almost ready?” Jon asked, kissing her neck as she closed out her email. She turned, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. As predicted, he’d fully recovered from the concussion. He held her close and let her see the tendrils of rose pink adoration curl around them.

“I am,” she murmured into his chest. “I’m ready for my life with you to start.”

“I’d say we’ve already got a pretty good start on it,” he told her. She felt something drop around her neck as he played with her hair. “But this can be our official anniversary, if you like.”

She glanced down to find a delicate silver chain draped against her collarbone, threaded through three perfectly round gray stones. “Your pelt?”

“It’s a gesture,” he told her. I’m showing you how much I trust you and love you and want you in my life. For my life to be complete, it has to have you in it.”

“Sonja’s necklace only has one stone,” she noted, holding the three stones he’d had strung for her between her fingers.

He shrugged “Well, I have to outdo my brother at something.”

“I love you,” she said, laughing against his mouth.

He kissed her and she felt that adoration all the way down to her toes. “I love you, too.”

Outside, she heard the crunch of tires on the gravel. Several pick-ups were rumbling along on her drive and she could see hand-trucks and bubble wrap piled in the beds. Eva’s truck brought up the rear of the parade, pulling her Airstream. Sonja, Bael, Eva, and Will all piled out of their own vehicles, waving.

“We’re here to help you move!” Zed called.

“At this point, so many of us have cohabitated, we’ve got it down to a science,” Bael said, unfurling a roll of bubble wrap with a flourish.

“But I don’t have any furniture to move. It all belongs to the house, remember?” she told Bael. “I have like three boxes and some suitcases.”

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