Page 31 of Shifting Tides

Shea

A full day had passed before I could get back to the subway where I’d last seen Arya disappear. I’d heard nothing from her. Not that I really expected to. I mean, she was in a super-secret school for shifters, and her first day had to have been stressful.

The Find My Friends app worked, but the results left me a little confused. The dot disappeared somewhere over Lake Michigan. Or, more likely, under. That was part of the reason it had taken me so long. I’d needled Gram for any kind of magic or spells until she started asking questions.

When the questioning became too heated and ultimately led to the same stubborn wall, I retreated to the anger I kept bottled up—the anger born of magic unspent, of a lifetime of knowing that what I was capable of was well out of reach.

The magic I’d possessed since the day I’d sparked with life could never be accessed, not to its full potential. Not without being taught—which Gram was loathe to do—and not without the grimoire my family had lost.

And so we fought. We fought about the lost magic. We fought about my desire to start a new grimoire. And I’d blamed her,like always, for refusing to tell me about how the grimoire was lost in the first place, or how we were involved in the shifter world today, or how she performed the more skilled spells.

It was an awful fight. They always got just a bit ugly. Guilt still gnawed at my insides for starting the thing. But she’d stopped prying and scolding, and for now, my interest in the school was safe. Because telling Gram was out of the question. She’d just tell me no, like all the other times before.

Why she was so hell-bent on keeping me from the supernatural world, I had no idea. I just knew I belonged at that school, and I wasn’t going to let her stop me. Magic or not, I’d be better off at a place where I could learn about the mystical creatures of this world than twiddling my fingers over stupid things like calculus and English essays no one cared about.

I glanced around the street to see if anyone was looking, then partially lifted the flap on my bag and peered inside. The vial was there and safe. I lowered the flap but let my fingers slip below it to linger over the smooth glass.

Gram would kill me if she knew I’d raided her potions cabinet. But I needed to prove to the shifters that I was one of them, at least in some form. Fingers crossed, I hoped this would do the trick.

I took a deep breath and headed down the stairway that led to the subway. I had my money ready—in my pocket, not my bag, so I wouldn’t accidentally flash the precious object—and a quick glance around told me I didn’t have to worry about the scrutiny of that guard who’d caught me jumping the turnstile. Just as well. I wasn’t planning to do anything stupid this time.

At least, not until I got to the school.

Ticket in hand, I made it through to the green train, waiting at the same terminal Arya had disappeared through. Theoverhead display said it would be a few minutes before the next train arrived.

I looked around at the other passengers milling about the platform, shuffling on and off cars. I wondered if any of them were shifters. If Caesar had brought Arya this way, it was likely that other students would take this route.

But I didn’t sense anything. Not like I had with Arya. That girl gave off some serious shifter vibes. I was surprised I hadn’t realized it before. But then again, I didn’t have enough experience with shifters or my magic to know what to look for.

The train came to a quick stop, the doors sliding open. A flood of passengers got off, and when they thinned, I merged with the crowd looking to get on. The doors hissed closed again, and I looked around, finally deciding on a handrail for stability as the train sped away.

I turned on my phone and watched the GPS move over the map. I wasn’t even close to where I’d last seen Arya’s phone disappear. I sighed and patted my bag again, looking at the seats and scanning the faces around me for any supernatural hints.

Would I get a feeling that I was looking at a shifter? I’d thought that was the reason I’d been drawn to Arya, not realizing my own magic was speaking to me, but now I wasn’t so sure. And it wasn’t like my Spidey senses were tingling at the moment.

The next stop thinned out the crowd around me, and I grabbed a vacant seat. I couldn’t help but notice the guy barreling toward my car, barely squeezing through the closing doors as the muffled voice on the intercom announced our departure.

He sighed as he looked around, then plopped into the seat next to me. He huffed and puffed, then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

I smirked. “Just made it, huh?”

The guy looked up and smiled, sporting an adorable pair of dimples. “Yeah. Didn’t want to wait the fifteen minutes for the next one, you know?”

I nodded.

“I’m Max,” he said, holding out his hand.

I accepted and gave a firm shake. “Shea.”

He wasn’t exactly stacked, but he had a nice cut to his physique, the sleeves of his plain white t-shirt hugging the bulge of his biceps. I wondered if that was the result of diligence or pure male hormones.

He leaned back in his seat, his legs extending into the aisle. “You take the ‘L’ often?”

“Not really. Why? You the ‘L’ police?” I asked, lowering my voice to a mocking tone, complete with air quotes.

Max laughed. “Nah. I’m just on and off these things all day, and I’m pretty good with faces. I would’ve remembered yours.”

I blushed, pursing my lips. “Is that so?”

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