Page 24 of Raven's Instinct
“Do you need to come in and warm up?” Kendra asked in concern. “There’s not a lot of space, but…”
“No,” Alan insisted. “I’ll shift and fly around to warm up. I don’t have night vision like an owl, but I’d like to make sure there’s no one around.” After his glorious, far-too-loud speech about magic, he really should make sure that there weren’t any inadvertent witnesses.
Kendra looked like she might protest, then nodded. “Good night, then.”
Alan waited until she went into the van and shut the door behind her before vaulting into the sky.
16
KENDRA
Kendra considered herself an independent woman with an abundance of common sense and no need for a man. She was tough and autonomous. She scoffed at wilting women and laughed at the idea of finding security anywhere but within herself.
But when Alan blurted that he would protect her, she could feel some of her walls crumble and give way. It would be so nice to let someone take care of her for once, to putherfirst.
She could do that with Alan, she feared. She could stop being constantly wound up and on edge and let herself relax. She could trust him. Instinct was a hum of contentment and encouragement. Or maybe that was just her own longing, muddying the issue. Kendra couldn’t trust herself to know the difference.
Amy was all but asleep in her high chair when Kendra came in. Most of the sandwich had been eaten or demolished past recognition. Kendra cleaned off her fingers and face with a wipe which she used afterwards to clean the tray. Once they’d brushed their teeth together, she changed Amy into a fresh diaper and pajamas and climbed up into the bed with her. She wasn’tcompletely surprised to hear the quiet scratch of claws on the roof of her van, and she went to sleep feeling safe and grateful.
When she woke up again, after a night of surprisingly deep sleep, there was dawn light coloring the windows. Alan’s car was gone, but the white raven carving was still on the counter and it gave a comfortable little tingle when she tucked it into her pocket. It feltrightthere.
Amy was cheerful on the drive in, singing and babbling. Kendra was sourly sure she was going to be a morning person and resented that more than a bit.
Alan met them at the gate at Tiny Paws and tossed the little girl in the air to shrieks of glee. They didn’t speak a word about the night before, but Kendra wondered how much sleep he’d gotten. He certainly looked as bright-eyed and handsome as ever, which was very unfair. She also had a weird feeling looking at him, as if she was seeing herself through his eyes...and liked what she saw.
It was very disorienting, like she had a double-image of emotions over her own, but she left before she could make things awkward with the handoff and the sensation seemed considerably less strong as she drove away.
Her four-legged clients (and one depressed chicken) were all well behaved as she made the rounds of her appointments. She caught herself appraising the farmers she worked with, wondering what they would make of her ability to shift. Would they fear her? Hate her? Fire her? Pay three million dollars to upgrade their children?
Every so often, she would slip a hand into a pocket and touch the raven resting there, comforted by its warmth and weight, and the bizarre emotional feedback seemed to settle. She’d have to ask Alan more about this charm. If he’d made it, was he also magic?
She told herself firmly that she didn’t need a hot magical guy mucking up her life. She was on a solid path towards everything she’d ever wanted and the last thing she needed was to be derailed by a hot body and long, silky hair.
Other than the uncanny layer of emotions that didn’t seem to be hers, instinct didn’t give her any warnings through the day, and everything seemed entirely mundane.
17
ALAN
Alan didn’t bother trying to sneak into the gravel pit on his second visit, two nights later.
Kendra’s van was already tucked along the edge of the gravel pad and leveled. It sounded like a generator was running. The sky was still light, and there was no sign of Ferdinand. (Alan vowed to get a real name out of him that night so he could stop calling him that, even if it wasn’t meant disrespectfully.) Two chairs were already set up, a whiteboard leaning across the arms of one of them. There was a fire ring built of rocks, and a fire was laid out but not lit.
Alan drove right up, got out, and knocked on her door.
“Come in!” Kendra called, and Alan opened the door to a wave of warmth and laughter.
He climbed three steps up into the interior. There was a cross-stitched sign just inside that said, “Home Sweet Rita.” The van, apparently named Rita, was mostly full of counters and cabinets, looking much more like a vet’s mobile clinic than a home. Everything was stainless steel and linoleum. It was tall enough for Alan to stand up in with room to spare. There were half a dozen wire-fronted kennels, but most of them appeared to be full of duffel bags and clear plastic boxes. There were twoseats against the back of the cab, and one of them had a high-chair tray screwed to the wall next to it. All of the cabinets below counters had child locks.
The space in the back of the van was divided by a closet that Alan suspected was a tiny bathroom. There was an equally tiny kitchenette next to it, with a sink, a little fridge, and a microwave up high. In the back, double doors had big windows, and there was a surgical table with a scissor lift that looked large enough for a large dog or a small sheep. The ceiling was hung with specialized-looking equipment, including oxygen tubing, cameras with radiation warning labels, and industrial-strength hooks. One small, backless shop stool was bungee-corded to the wall in the back by the table.
It was brilliantly lit, and industrial, with just a few sparse touches of home, like the sweatshirt spread out to dry on the counter, and two toothbrushes in a cup bolted by the sink. There was a bed above the cab of the van, with barely enough clearance to sit upright in. There was a military net stretched over the opening.
Amy was standing on the floor, human, but flapping her arms as if she were still an owlet. “Oo! Oo! Oo!” she was saying happily as she jumped in place.
“You live here?” Alan had been expecting more of a camper set-up, with couches and comforts.
Kendra immediately went wary. “Why wouldn’t I? I own this outright, don’t pay any rent, and can save everything I earn for gas, day care, and a down payment on a house. No landlord yanking my lease out from under me, and if my neighbors suck, I can camp somewhere else.” This was clearly a tender point for her.
