Page 7 of Vampire's Vixen

Cara left, promising to follow my advice. I wasn’t sure how I felt. I didn’t like cheaters, but it sounded like her boyfriend had conned her into a relationship. Should she have left after she found out he was married? Absolutely. But love made people do funny things, and not always ha-ha funny. I stared at the charm, then cautiously slid it back into the plastic bag and tucked it behind the counter.

As I cleansed the space to prepare for my next reading, I got a text from Crystal.

hey, come over. i made caramel blondies and you’ll love them. how’s it going?

I needed more coffee before the next reading, so I grabbed my wallet and darted next door. Crystal usually gave me free coffee, but I always offered to pay. It was ten before eleven when I peeked through the doors of the Mocha Express. Karina was wiping down the counter, and though the shop was busy as usual, there wasn’t a line. I looked around for Crystal and was about to ask Karina where she was when Crystal popped out from the back.

“Hey, you made it!”

“I’ve got ten minutes,” I said. “I need a double caramel latte, and I want one of your brownies.”

“How’s your morning been so far?” she asked.

“I can’t talk about it here, but…it was a doozy.” I pulled out a ten from my wallet. Crystal started to wave it away, but I said, “No, let Karina handle it. Keep the change,” I added to the younger woman.

“So,” Crystal said. “Nightshade contacted me today. She’s set a time for my quest. I admit, I’m a little nervous after how dragged out you looked.”

“I wish I could tell you what happened to me. After you go through your quest, I’ll be able to. But…I guess I can say this. I was scared, but Reese was nearby. What happened to me was extremely magical. Now, I wouldn’t change a thing that happened. I think.” I smiled at her. “You’ll do fine. When do you go out?”

“Saturday night.”

“Then Astra and I’ll wait for you. Come over to our house afterward and we’ll make sure you’re fed and have a warm bed to fall into.” I glanced at my phone. “I’ve got to get back,” I said, as Karina handed me my latte and the bag with the brownie in it. “Love you!” I blew her a kiss and hurried out the door.

“Love you, too,” Crystal said.

I hurried back to my shop. While my next reading wasn’t due for another forty-five minutes, I wanted some time to write up a couple ads for my page on the TouchLine website. I’d finally bit the bullet and started a business page. Of course, with algorithms being what they were, I knew better than to expect a deluge of business. You had to pay to play these days.

As I pulled a notepad to me—I loved old-fashioned pen and paper—and began to jot down ideas, the bells on my door chimed. I glanced up to see the mailman.

Terry was an older man, around sixty, who worked for the post office. He was pleasant enough, and he always had a smile for me. But today, he silently handed me the mail and turned away.

“Terry, are you all right?” Something was off, I could sense it.

He paused, but he still faced the door. After a moment, he said, “Yeah, I suppose.”

“Terry, I’ve seen you almost every day for the past month, and you always have a cheerful ‘Good morning’ for me. I’m just a little worried.”

He paused again, then said, “My husband is sick. He’s in the hospital. We didn’t even know anything was wrong until he started getting nasty bouts of coughing. Turns out, he has lung cancer. He smoked for years before we met, and even though he stopped, it seems to have taken its toll on him.” He looked so bereft that I steered him over to a chair.

“Sit down. Talk to me.”

As he set his mailbag on the floor and sat down, I brought him a bottle of sparkling water.

“Here, drink this.” Worried, I handed him the bottle. Something was seriously wrong.

He took a long sip, then leaned back. “He went in for a checkup a week ago. He has stage four lung cancer. Directly related to the thirty years he spent smoking up a storm.”

My heart went out to him. Terry was a sweet guy. “I’m so sorry. If you need to talk, I’m here to listen,” I said, not wanting to pry, and yet realizing he might need to talk over things. I had no idea what kind of a support system—how many friends, or family members—he had, but I wanted him to feel like somebody cared.

“Thanks,” he said. “I’m a bear shifter. I wasn’t exactly expelled when I came out, but I finally resigned from the Clan. It was made abundantly obvious they didn’t want me around, influencing the young. You know, even the wolf shifter Packs are coming into the modern age. Slowly, but they are changing. Bear shifters are some of the oldest shifter groups and you’d think we’d learn how to adapt, given we’ve existed since…well…the days of the cave bears. But I suppose that we’re so grounded in the past, it’s hard to let go.”

“We do have to adapt,” I said. “Do you need anything?”

He shrugged, then deflated. “Honestly, I’m doing my best to be there for Lin. He doesn’t have long, and I want to spend as much time with him as possible. I used up all my paid leave already, taking him to doctor appointments, staying home with him when chemo made him so terribly sick—chemo’s rough on shifters, especially bear shifters. Since I’m the breadwinner, and we need my insurance…it’s just been difficult. I don’t like asking for help but…”

I nodded, jotting down some notes. “Let me see what I can do, Terry. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do whatever I can. Give me your number, please.”

After a moment, Terry gave me his information, and I detected a faint sliver of hope in his eyes. “Thank you, and whatever happens, may the gods bless you for your kindness.”

---