Page 89 of A Winding Wave of Magic
“What makes sense?”
“Your eyes. The color. Theydolook like a cat’s eyes, you know. Plus, OCD is pretty common in cats.”
He grumbled something unintelligible.
I chuckled. “What’s that?”
“It’s nothalfthe time,” he said more loudly. “I’m not a true shifter who can’t live without changing form every day. Just sometimes. It’s complicated. But I find that assuming that form allows me to go unnoticed by fae in a way I can’t in human form. Caleb Lynch—my father—is extremely powerful, as you might have gathered. I couldn’t risk him seeing my approach.”
“Is he a shifter too?” I thought of the big black raven soaring out to the horizon and shuddered.
Jonathan returned to his chair. “Honestly, I didn’t know he could do that. It would certainly explain how I inherited theability, but he might have also just transmogrified in order to escape. It’s incredibly hard, and most sorcerers can’t do it, but maybe he can.”
“You don’t know for sure?” Jonathan seemed to know everything about everyone.
“He’s a bit of a mystery to me. I never saw him when I was a boy, and when my mother died, I lived in Ireland before I was sent to boarding school. I only saw him once after that, to cut ties, and we haven’t spoken since. He probably didn’t even know it was me who chased him off. He doesn’t know about my other…form.” He turned to look at me again, and his brow creased. “Please believe me. I don’t mean you anything but goodwill and protection, just as I promised Penny. I didn’t know about him until I came here, I swear it.”
I accepted his outstretched hand and immediately felt the anxiety and regret flow through his brief touch. Every word he said was genuine, especially his intent toward me. Much to my dismay, the urge to kiss him flashed once again through my mind. The earnest vulnerability written across his features wasn’t helping things. Who could resist a knight—or a cat—in shining armor?
Jonathan pulled his hand away and shook his head. “It’s not a good idea, Cass.”
My face immediately flushed a deep crimson. “Why can you See what I’m thinking all the time?”
He swallowed. “I don’t—I don’t know, exactly. It’s not a talent I typically possess. Just with you. Maybe you’re doing it unconsciously.”
I blinked. I didn’t know what to think of that. Was it my doing? I had no clue.
I opened my mouth to protest. To apologize. But he held up his hand.
“Don’t. You’ve been through a lot. It’s only natural to crave comfort. But we’ve got to avoid unnecessary distractions. For Penny, at least.”
Without waiting for my answer, he got up and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. The shower turned on, and I curled toward the fire.
He was right, of course. Gran wouldn’t have wanted me to get involved with anyone at a time like this.You’ll never know how strong you are until you’re forced to stand alone, she would say, often when I asked her why she was so against my parents’ marriage.
Fine, then. It was good that Jonathan had better ethics than most men I knew (or had accidentally touched). Now was a time to figure out what to do, and if I had to be strong, I was definitely going to have to do it alone.
By the timeJonathan reemerged from the bathroom in a pair of pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt, I was still wearing the robe, although my hair was slowly starting to dry into thick, messy waves while I watched the last of the dying fire.
“Would you like to borrow some pajamas?”
Jonathan held out a second pair of flannel pants and a white t-shirt like his—both bright and new. I accepted them. All my clothes, other than the wet, scorched ones lying by the hearth, had been torched in the fire. Along with everything else that mattered to me.
I stared at the flannel in my lap. I was literally dependent on this man for everything at the moment. Shelter, food, and clothing.
“We need a plan,” Jonathan said. “First, a temporary ID. Was your driver’s license from Massachusetts or Oregon?”
“Oregon,” I mumbled as I traced a finger down a green stripe in the flannel.
“Well, that makes things easier. We’ll stop at the DMV tomorrow and have it reissued. I have a copy of your birth certificate—it was included in Penny’s personal files.”
“Okay.” I nodded, happy to let him direct things.
“After, we’ll get your papers in order, and I’ll go to Seattle to deliver the car and her part of the estate to Sybil.”
I looked up. “I thought I was supposed to do that.”
Jonathan looked uneasy. “I don’t think you should now. Penny had a number of protection spells set up to protect her and the house, and somehow my father managed his way through them. His next stop would logically be her next of kin. If he can find her.”
