Page 1 of Claws and Feathers

CHAPTER ONE

It was May in The Crow.

Well, it was May everywhere. But May in The Crow was something special. Cooper McAllister had firsthand knowledge of this fact, considering he’d spent his whole life surviving the long, brutal winters of Crow’s Peak – a small, dreary town in northern Wisconsin. May was a reprieve. It was a temporary pardon from the icy chill that lingered in the air for far too many months. It was a sigh of relief.

For Cooper, it was a brief sigh. It came and went quicker than his epic mistake of a marriage to Maya Lowry. It lasted just long enough for Cooper to forget that his entire life was one seemingly eternal winter.

Saturday night was also supposed to be a reprieve. A day off. A goddamn break. Instead, Cooper was slinging bourbon and beer at his father’s bar because Henry had decided to call in sick. He wasn’t sick, though. No – he was out on the lake with Cooper’s ex-wife.

Idiot.

Cooper filled the cold glass with tap beer and set it down in front of a withered-looking man he had never seen before. Cooper recognized most of the patrons that stumbled in and out of his father’s bar. The Crow Bar was the place to be on a Saturday night, after all. It was a prime location for social gatherings, drunken shenanigans, and DUIs that Cooper was well-accustomed to handing out. More importantly, it was his father’s pride and joy, and theonlyreason Cooper had agreed to play bartender for the evening.

“How did Dad manage to twist your arm?”

Cooper hadn’t noticed his sister slide up beside him. She was reaching under the counter for clean glasses, a pitying smile tugging at her lips. He scowled. “He reminded me that I’d have the pleasure of working with you all night, sis.”

Kate McAllister rolled her chestnut eyes at him. “Charmingandan impeccable liar. Remind me how you’re still single?”

“It could have something to do with the fact that I’ve given almost every female in this town some kind of ticket or traffic violation,” Cooper shrugged.

“A few arrests, even,” Kate added in jest.

“The cop thing sounded a lot sexier in my head seven years ago.”

She chuckled as she whipped up two Lemon Drops, tucking a wisp of amber hair behind her ear. Her eyes drifted across the room and landed on two females chatting at a high-top table. “What about Daphne’s friend? She’s new in town. She doesn’t know how incorrigible you are yet.”

“Incorrigible?” Cooper’s brow arched with amusement, then he followed her gaze. Daphne Vaughn was moving her hands in an animated fashion as the blonde across from her listened with a half-hearted smile. Said blonde glanced up at him, and Cooper quickly averted his eyes. “If she’s anything like Daphne, I’ll pass.”

“She doesn’t look quite as…” Kate cocked her head, planting her hands on her slender waist. “Vapid.”

“I’m enjoying the newfound vocabulary, Dickinson.” Cooper grinned at his sister, then returned his attention to the not-vapid blonde. She was dunking a partially eaten French fry into her ketchup cup. There was a distance in her eyes – a disconnect. Cooper recognized that look. He saw it every time he looked in a mirror. Shaking his head, he wiped down the counter with a clean rag and collected the empty glasses that were accumulating.

Cooper watched as she left the counter and carried the drinks over to Daphne’s table. The two women clinked their glasses together with a smile. The smile did not quite reach the blonde’s eyes, and Cooper idly wondered if she’d simply had a bad day or if she’d had a bad life. Maybe she’d seen things. Awful, gruesome things. Things of nightmares. He wondered what kind of secrets were hiding behind her haunted, blue eyes.

“Another.”

The Withered Man startled Cooper by slamming his depleted glass of beer onto the counter. He sat hunched over on his arms, eyeing Cooper for another round. Cooper obliged.

“Looks like rain,” the man bristled, his hardened eyes pinned at the front window.

Cooper followed the man’s gaze as he set a second beer down in front of him. Then Cooper shifted his sights when he noticed Daphne and her mysterious friend rise from their seats. They sauntered over to the opposite end of the bar and perched themselves on two vacant stools. Cooper decided to approach. He was marginally intrigued by Daphne’s new friend, but mostly, his father was paying him to do so.

“Another round, ladies?” Cooper asked, leaning forward on his hands.

The friend locked eyes with him. She swept her ash blonde hair over to one side as she twirled the shot glass between her fingers. She was about to speak when Daphne interrupted.

“Two more Lemon Drops. Service was shit over there,” Daphne said, raising one of her micro-bladed eyebrows. “Short staffed or just Kate being Kate?”

Cooper prickled at the insult toward his sister. A snarky jab was on the tip of his tongue, but he decided to stay neutral. “Henry called in.”

Daphne smiled knowingly. “That rascal.”

Cooper dismissed the innuendo and concocted another round of Lemon Drops. He glanced up at the friend, who had yet to speak. “Passing through?”

Thunder cracked in the distance, making her flinch. She blinked at him, then shifted her gaze. “Um… no, actually. I just moved here a week ago.”

Cooper paused to regard her before sliding the shots across the counter. “I’m Cooper,” he introduced.

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