Page 8 of Shifters in the Night

Lia’s position with New Ground sounded like a made-up title, but logistics were pretty important when one was trying to coordinate permits, materials, employees, their schedules, and making all of those things work together without offending or inconveniencing the locals (too much). Her job was a giant mental chessboard where she was constantly shifting strategies, moving pieces, viewing the game from all angles – all while making it look effortless because that tended to intimidate the hell out of people. Moving those pieces was where her “reading skills” came in handy. If you could predict how people would react, you could control outcomes. Her buildings were always completed on time and with all parties getting what they wanted – or at least convinced that they were, and that was all that mattered.

Normally, Lia spent her first days in a new location meeting with city managers, safety inspectors and other officials to get the final paperwork she needed to break ground. But in Mystic Bayou, those approvals rested with one man, Mayor Zed Berend. He’d seemed perfectly nice on the video conferences, if a little unconventional. Between the vintage rock t-shirts and thick dark beard, he looked more like a bouncer in a biker bar than a public official, but he was polite, read the material she sent and asked good questions.

Lia walked into the parish hall, a strange multi-purpose building that seemed to house all of the local municipal services. Color-coded lines on the floor led to the five departments, which were all contained in one room, Revenue, Public Works, Schools and Social Services, and Everything Else. So really, it was just lines leading to different desks, all manned by people who looked very busy. In fact, Lia could see what she swore were extra limbs extending from the back of a woman sitting at the “Everything Else” desk. The extra arms appeared to be reaching for various items on the desk, but when Lia shook her head to focus, they faded. The woman smiled brightly. “Hi, how can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m here to speak to Mayor Berend? I have an appointment,” Lia said.

“His office is right in there.” The lady pointed to the end of the room … with just one perfectly average arm, which Lia found just a little disappointing.

Obviously, this woman was some sort of supernatural being, but since it was rude to ask about it, Lia would restrain herself. She supposed the challenge of living in Mystic Bayou would be knowing that almost everyone was some sort of magie, but not asking directly. She appreciated that Jon had given her that little tidbit of etiquette before she’d met any locals face-to-face.

One would think she would be used to not asking those sorts of questions. She’d worked with Victor for nearly seven years and while he was a shifter, he never told her about his species or talents. It had always been obvious that Victor was some sort of predatory shifter. Even without her special gifts, she could see it in the way he moved, the way he constantly seemed to be looking at people like he was sizing them up for strengths and weaknesses. But he’d never discussed his other form with her. She figured eventually he would get comfortable enough to do so, but that never happened, and she figured he had his reasons. Everybody handled their second nature differently.

Lia thought maybe Victor was a lion shifter, because the corporate logo was a blue lion tearing its claws across a giant green circle, exposing the earth underneath. Any time she suggested updating it, Victor insisted the image was too personal to him to stray from it … so that had to mean something, right?

She should have known better than to step into a room while distracted. As soon as Lia entered the doorway, a booming voice seemed to fill the entire space. “Hi there!”

Zed Berend stood towering over Lia as he bounded around the desk. The video conferences had given her no hint of exactly how enormous this man was. Her prey brain seemed to go blank and scream “RUN!” at the same time. She shrank back against the door frame with a squeak. But, as with Jon the strange merman, Lia didn’t sense any hostility from Zed – just lavender lines of friendly warmth and hope. Well, there was some apprehension there too, a streak of pale yellow over his shoulders, but it seemed to have to do more with her than anything else.

Hmm. Interesting.

Being able to read people was a vital skill when those people made a sport of hunting you. Early hinds’ survival depended on being able to read the reactions of others, whether it was anger or curiosity or greed. Over time, hinds had developed the ability to see feelings in most people. Sometimes, when that subject was particularly expressive, hinds could even see hints of their intentions. While it may have sounded like a passive skill, it made hinds the real killers in the business world. When you could see what someone wanted and find a way to give it to them, you could negotiate almost anything with anyone. It was why her family had managed to move quietly, though successfully, through the financial scene since setting foot in America in the early 1800s. It was why her father had held a position with corporations all across America, brokering deals with surgical precision for decades. It was why Lia had been able to secure a far-above-the-national-average salary right out of college, even in the 1990s with the glass ceiling hovering heavily over her head.

And the mayor? Zed was also some sort of predatory shifter. Lia could tell just by the way her brain was shrieking at her like a car alarm. Every instinct was telling her to bolt out of the room and run back to her stale, but safe, trailer and hide under the bed. But when she ignored the shrieking and looked deeper, Zed practically radiated positive feelings. This man wanted a good working relationship with her. He wanted what was best for his town. He didn’t want to simply avoid problems. He wanted a better life for the people he loved.

Lia practically melted from her frozen state. This sweet, sweet man was a rare jewel. She adored working with people who cared about their communities. She vowed to herself that she would make this process as painless and fruitful as possible for Zed and all of his staff.

“Mr. Mayor.” Lia smiled warmly and extended her hand into his huge hand. “Lia Doe, I’m with New Ground Construction.”

“Aw, none of that Mr. Mayor business. I only make people call me that when they tick me off. Just call me ‘Zed.’” He grinned a wide, sharp smile, then pumped her hand up and down with a force that might have knocked her back into the wall if she hadn’t braced herself. Immediately, he seemed to realize that he was showing a little too much enthusiasm and gentled his movements. “Of course, we’ve been waiting for your outfit to roll into town. Have a seat. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? Pie?”

She cleared her throat. “No, thanks. I wanted to touch base with you, now that I’ve arrived. If you have any concerns, I’m the person you contact. Mr. Bannister is a very busy man.”

“I know how that goes,” he said, smirking. “Also, I’ve been meaning to ask. You’re a deer and your last name is Doe? How does that work? Aren’t you worried someone will think you’re a missing person or something?”

Lia giggled, charmed by the mayor’s casual friendliness. These things were much more pleasant when meetings weren’t filled with pointless tension. “We didn’t have a last name when my ancestors hitched a ride here with a minor royal from what would eventually become Alsace-Lorraine. And my great-great-great-grandfather had a very strange sense of humor.”

“I know how that goes. Well, we’re certainly happy to have you here. I’m sure you’ve kept up with the news. Somehow, Mystic Bayou has found itself on the nose cone of a plane heading into a shit-storm, if you’ll pardon my language. And we’re just not ready for what’s coming. We don’t have the infrastructure, the housing, the stores, anything to support a population boom like this. People want to park tour buses on Main Street! We’ve never had tourists here! We don’t know what we’re doing!” said Zed.

Zed cleared his throat, as if he regretted letting his frustration – bright ochre spirals – get the better of him. “Your apartment building is the first step towards alleviating some of those issues. We haven’t secured contracts for anything else we need yet. And while we’re looking forward to getting started, we should probably sit down now and talk about these plans of yours.”

He jerked his head back towards his desk. She could see the blueprints for the apartment complex spread out on the surface, next to a plaque that read, “The Oakendesk.” The plans had only been “finalized” the previous week and shipped overnight to Zed’s office. Of course, the use of the word “finalized” was laughable, because the architects would tweak them at least a dozen times before construction was complete.

“Of course, what about them?” she asked as Zed motioned for her to sit down in the chair near the Oakendesk.

“Well, for one thing,” he said, and she could tell that he was trying to keep his tone kind. “Is there a reason Mr. Bannister’s lawyers are making inquiries about purchasing the property surrounding your construction zone?”

Lia blinked at him, at a rare “loss for words” moment. Victor never actually purchased real estate in the towns where they built. And if he did, shouldn’t that sort of interest be filtered through her? She was supposed to be the one he trusted to interact with the locals. And now, she was staring at Zed, without speaking, and it was starting to feel awkward.

“Not that he’s mentioned to me, but I’m sure it’s just a concern about easements, traffic, that sort of thing,” she assured him with a confidence that she truly did not feel. “I’ll ask him about it and get back to you as soon as I can.”

Zed nodded. “I’d appreciate it. But you and your boss should understand, the property owners have no interest in selling. They don’t want to be rude about it, but they mentioned that the language used on the phone was, um, insistent.”

Lia set her jaw. All she needed was Victor souring her relationships with the locals before she could even start her job. It was like he thought she needed an extra level of challenge or something, for fun. “I will take care of it.”

He smiled warmly at her. “I appreciate it. So, down to the details you came here to discuss – your paperwork and applications are in order, but I don’t think you’ve taken into account that you’re building on the main road through town. It’s the only road through town, if we’re gonna speak plain about it. And it’s going to cause some pretty serious traffic issues, to have a bunch of bulldozers–”

A soft knock on the door sounded and a tall man in a bespoke navy suit poked his head in the door. He was the sort of handsome Lia’s mother would have called “Ivy League issue” – smart clothes, carefully styled sandy hair, classical features. He smiled at her, showing teeth that obviously had seen the benefit of intense orthodontia. “Sorry to interrupt, Zed. I meant to be here earlier, but–”

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