Page 29 of Rise of the Melody
“Hamilton,” Shani said with a grin. “I’ve actually never seen it, but I have the soundtrack memorized.”
Chrys groaned. “Oh, gods, she spent two months straight rapping at the top of her lungs about revolution.”
She sipped her iced drink. “I sounded incredible.”
Chrys flew forward coughing and Nora’s eyes widened as she slowly shook her head behind Shani’s back.
Everyone laughed, but I smiled at Shani and said, “Don’t worry, I did the same thing.”
“Yes, girl. Work!” She snapped her fingers and held out her fist, which I bumped with mine. Her light brown eyes popped against the black of her hair.
Teague jumped up and grabbed a chair from the nearby table and pulled it over for me. That’s when I noticed his bottom half was in orange waders. Chrystamos, too.
“Do you work on the water?” I asked, sitting and scooting up to the small table.
“Yeah,” he answered. “Me and Chrys. We just finished for the day.”
My eyes went big. “Youjustfinished? But it’s so early.”
Teague nodded and Chrystamos explained. “We work the morning shift in the summer, four AM to nine AM. We haul in the crab and lobster pots.”
“Awesome.” I took a sip of my yummy drink and looked around at everyone. They were all staring at me. “So…”
“Teague says you’re a city girl,” Shani said. “This town must feel so boring.”
“I like it,” I admitted. “It’s cute.” That word again.
Nora took her large mug in both hands, a frothy latte, and brought it to her lips, then said, “That’s a massive cuff. Beautiful, though. You don’t want to feel your power?”
“No, it’s not that.” I touched it, feeling self-conscious. “I guess I’m still kind of learning.”
It was the wrong thing to say because all their eyes narrowed on me like I’d said something unbelievable. They’d clearly been learning since the day they were born.
Shani shook her head. “What do you mean?”
“Um.” I absently played with a long strand of hair. May as well be honest about what I could. “My aunt didn’t tell me what I was until just recently. I’ve always worn one of these.”
“Oh, shite,” Nora whispered.
Oh, poo was right. I practically choked on the next lies. “After my parents disappeared and we moved away….” I cleared my throat. “My aunt Lorna kept a cuff on me so I wouldn’t accidentally use magic at the public school. And now we’re practicing my nix stuff, but yeah.” I held up the cuff. “We know there were rumors about my mom, so we figured the cuff might make everyone feel more comfortable here. Even though the rumors aren’t true.”
“Of course not,” Teague said. “Stevens is sober now, but he was a drunk back then. Everyone knows that.”
They all stared at me. I felt so, so dumb. And bad for lying.
“Lorna, your aunt,” Teague said. “I’ve heard she’s a powerful healer and potion maker. She’ll be able to teach you a lot.”
“She will,” I said in a fake-bright voice. “That’s one of the reasons we came here for a visit. So I could learn away from the city.”
They all nodded, but their expressions showed they were still trying to process my weird life.
Yeah, me too.
“Tell me about you guys,” I said, throwing the attention off myself. “I know about you two.” I nodded at Chrys and Teague, who both leaned back precariously far in their chairs.
Shani raised her hand. “I guess if you know about my brother Chrys then you kind of know about me. Egyptian mom. Greek dad. They met at a mystic gathering in Bali and we lived in Greece until they divorced. Then Mom met Harish Patel, an Indian healer. He’s been the town veterinarian here for…ages. We moved here and we’ve been here for six years.”
I nodded. “Are you a shifter too?” The question felt bizarre coming out of my mouth—shifters!
