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  “Thank you, Lolly.” Mel smiled at her.

  Lolly patted her on the shoulder and then headed back to the kitchen.

  “Okay, I have to ask, why do shifters always touch you?”

  She snorted. “I am pretty sure that that wasn’t your original question, but it is because of my frequency. My magic sets out a hum that makes shifters want to come in closer. It also works for fey, but it repels mages. Neat, huh?”

  She waggled her eyebrows and took a sip of the lemonade. It was tart, sweet, and cooling.

  “Now, why have you put dibs on doing work for me?” She set the lemonade back on the table and reached for the next glass.

  “At first, you appeared rather gormless. I wanted to make sure that you had what you needed, and as I ran the General Store, I was in the position to make sure you had it. The more I saw you, the more I wanted to make sure that no one else did.”

  She watched as he took a sip from the same glass of lemonade she had, and she swallowed.

  “Now, Melwiss, why haven’t you opened any of the nine notifications from the Mage Guild?” He set the lemonade down between them.

  “How do you know how many I have gotten?”

  He grimaced. “It isn’t time for my answer.”

  She sighed. “I don’t want to read any assessments or a threat to recall me, so I am not looking.”

  Andy shook his head. “Read it. I can wait.”

  “Isn’t it my turn for a question?”

  He grinned. “Yes. Now, I have answered you, open the letter.”

  “That wasn’t a question.”

  “Fine, what is the content of that letter with three seals that your hand is worrying at?” He winked.

  Melwiss frowned and sipped at the raspberry lemonade before cracking the seals. She could see Andy taking the glass when she had finished with her sampling and enjoying a sip from the same spot. There was a shiver down her spine at the public intimacy.

  She shook her head and opened the parchment. The magical script waved and twisted as she pressed her fingers to the page. The words firmed and settled, and she read the document.

  Her astonishment turned to mortification when she realized that he was aware of the contents.

  “You already know what it says.”

  “Probably, but confirm it for me.”

  She went through the final pages, and it was all there. She was being given dispensation to find a mate at the Crossroads. There were some classifications, but in general, as long as she picked a man who would be complementary to her magic, the guild would be all for it.

  She folded the paperwork up and looked at him calmly. “This tells me that I can pick a mate of my choosing from anyone suitable at the Crossroads.”

  He sat back in his chair and smirked. “You don’t say.”

  “How did you know?”

  Andy rubbed his hands together, but Lolly appeared with a tray full of small snacks. She explained the contents of the plates and bowls and then left them to snack.

  Andy leaned forward and took a few pieces of the appetizers, juggling them to disperse the heat. “I had a conversation with Kenzi, and she told me about the change to your status.”

  She frowned when she realized she had just wasted a question.

  “Why do you seem so irritated by the situation?”

  Mel sighed and picked one of the cheese sticks apart. “I have been told by the guild that I was going to be on my own for my entire life. While they appreciated my magic, it was too volatile for anyone to mix with. My question to you is why are you even vaguely interested in mating with a woman who isn’t a shifter?”

  He paused and cocked his head. “There is just something about you that draws me. You hit every one of my instincts in a way that no other woman ever has. I don’t think it possible for me to look elsewhere. My attention has been fixed since you arrived.”

  “Good for you. I have just been told that I should be looking.” She blushed. She had been looking and sighing and staring and waiting. It was a little weird to have her little cage taken away suddenly.

  He laughed and offered her one of the carrot sticks. “May I court you?”

  She blinked. “Is that what you are doing?”

  “You need to answer me first.”

  Mel wrinkled her nose. “I suppose you can. What does that entail?”

  He paused. “Huh, I suppose that you meet my beast and we get to know each other better.”

  “I have met your beast. I sat on him once... possibly twice.” She couldn’t help it, the memory made her laugh.

  “You didn’t sit on me hard. It was my fault for sitting next to your deck while I was building it.”

  She sighed and slumped her shoulders. “This isn’t a good deal for you, you know. I get a fashion consultant and a handy man, what is in it for you?”

  “My question. Why don’t you think I know what I am getting into?”

  She blinked and thought about it. Andy had found her wandering on the hills, wading in the sea, and sitting hip-deep in the lake. Each time he had carefully gotten her on her feet and coaxed her back to her house. In the morning, she had woken to find a hot cup of tea waiting for her, and everything had been back to normal.

  “It... you have only seen a portion of it. It can get much worse.”

  He set the tea down. “If it does, I want to be there to help you through it. I have seen the magic rise and twist in you; there has to be a benefit to sharing the load.”

  “Sharing?” Mel felt a burning shock running through her. Sharing. A binding. They would be balanced, and he would get half of her, and she would get half of him.

  “Sharing. I won’t pursue this unless you are willing to consider a full partnership. I don’t want to watch you buckle under the weight of your talent when I can help you.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that. She turned her attention to working through the food on the table. Eating was an excellent distraction, and around the world, few folk would interrupt her.

  The plates emptied all too soon, and she was stuck trying to think of what to say to Andy.

  The blueberry drink made her eyebrows raise. The mix of juices was delightful, and she couldn’t put her finger on the identity of all the players. It was a definite winner.

  The moment that she set the glass down, he asked her another question.

  “So, where have you travelled?”

  “Um, pretty much everywhere. Where have you travelled?”

  He quirked his lips, “A few family homes in the human world, but I have spent most of my life here at the Crossroads.”

  “Oh.” She blinked. “Do you like living here?”

  “My turn. Where is your favourite place to visit?”

  She grinned. “Home. I love holidays and time with my parents and Morwiss.”

  “What is your least favourite?”

  Mel sighed. “My turn, do you like living here?”

  Andy smiled. “Yes. The people who come through are all seeking some kind of happiness that they couldn’t find anywhere else, and they leave with a glow that can’t be quantified. It is beautiful to be part of that process.”

  Mel blinked. “Huh. I guess it is. I just thought of it as a chance to do what I was designed to do.”

  Lolly removed the remains of their appetizers and returned with a selection of micro-burgers.

  Mel clapped happily. “I love sliders! They leave plenty of room for everything else.”

  Lolly nodded happily, “That is why they are going to be the core of the menu. Did you want anything with them?”

  Mel made a face. “A salad if you have one? I just got a letter from my sister and that way I could say that I had a salad for lunch.”

  Lolly was still laughing when she entered the kitchen.

  Andy shook his head. “You do need to eat better.”

  Mel shrugged. “Occupational hazard.”

  “What is the deal
with the carnival food?” Andy squirted some ketchup on his slider, and he took a large bite.

  “Ah, a side effect of the binding spells. The mix of magic acts like acid on my nervous system, and the grease and fat slow it down. Sugar works in a pinch, but it gets a little painful if I go vegetarian or vegan.” She pulled two of the sliders to her and bit into the left one with the bacon peeking out.

  “Pain?”

  “Yup, but my turn. How big is your family?”

  He paused and counted on his fingers. “I have four siblings here at the Crossroads, two in the human world, and twenty odd cousins, aunts and uncles here at the Crossroads. My parents are in the human realm. That is where the rest of their family is. My immediate relations within two generations measure in the hundreds.”

  “Damn.”

  “Yeah, it can be overwhelming. How large is your family?”

  “Well, my sister and my parents are my main familial contact. My grandparents have passed on, and each of my parents was an only child. So, we are kind of a dead end.”

  The concept seemed to boggle his mind. “Really?”

  “Really. The guild was looking into arranging a mate for me when my talent popped up. After that, there was no family that wanted wild magic in their mix.”

  “That kind of thing is highly desirable in shifter families.” He smiled.

  “Even if the children can’t shift?”

  “That doesn’t matter. The chance of magic is something that we all aim for. Since shifters can’t generally use magic, it is a little humbling to consider that a child of a mage and shifter union could be born to use magic.”

  “What if they are boring humans?”

  “There is nothing boring about humans. Children are children; it isn’t what they can do that makes you love them, it is that they are yours.” Andy took the last swallow of the blueberry drink.

  “That is a healthy attitude.”

  “I have a big family. We don’t all need to be beavers as long as some still are.”

  Somewhere along the line, they had lost the thread of questioning, but their conversation continued for hours while Mel waited for the question that never came.

  Chapter Five

  “So, what has inspired your fashion choices?” Andy walked her back to her home.

  She held out her arms and observed her sleeves. “It was my sister’s idea. It is a reminder that my magic splices folks together, but the whole still needs to wrap around me. It is sort of my brand, and Morwiss keeps me supplied with clothing that represents what I do.”

  “That does explain it. So, what was your first binding?”

  Her mind locked up. This was the question she had been dreading.

  Her parents were yelling, and her mama was slamming books and chairs around. Morwiss was crying and curled up next to Melwiss on her small bed.

  The words flew so fast between them that Mel wasn’t sure what they meant, but her parents were saying that they were too different for them to stay together anymore.

  The magic started to flow out of her, tickling and tingling as it moved into the study where her parents were fighting. She gave her mama part of her papa’s magic and gave her papa part of her mama’s magic and made it stick.

  They stopped fighting and hugged each other right away.

  Morwiss told Mel to stop what she was doing, but it was done. Her parents were bound together, and she could continue playing with the dolly she had just gotten for her second birthday.

  “Um, I fused two flowers together and gave them to my mom. She called my dad, and I ended up facing the guild. That went a little weird when I predicted a sudden death that didn’t happen, and then, my education started.” She winced. “That was probably more than you wanted to know.”

  “I am eager to learn whatever I can about you... but you left out the actual first time, didn’t you?”

  She sighed. “Yup. Some things could hurt people if I let them out. This is one of those things.”

  “What was that about the sudden death?”

  “Ah, that is an offshoot of my magic. I can see impending death. It is more of a degradation of the life magic that is visible because of my sensitivities.”

  “Did the person die?”

  “No, but I told her she was dying, and she went for help.”

  “So, because you told her she was dying, she didn’t.”

  “Right. I was only five, so I only knew that my sister’s rabbit had looked the same right before it died.”

  “Hard lesson.”

  “Yes, the guild elder was never the same.” She laughed. “She was nicer, but she wasn’t the same.”

  “Ah, right. So, what do you think about my attempting to court you?”

  “I think that I am willing to try. I know you have to manage the dress shop on most days and work on ordering for the General Store and a dozen other things around the Crossroads. I have no idea when you will have any time for me.”

  He chuckled. “You will just have to find another project for me to put together. Your happiness with your home is high on the priority list.”

  She grinned. “Finish the bookshelf, and I will think of something else. You might hate me, but I have one or two items in mind.”

  “I look forward to the challenge.” They walked up her steps, and he held her door open for her.

  Without another word, he headed upstairs, and she returned to her desk to open the stacks of the correspondence from the guild. There was a wad of sealed letters that all contained the same document she had just read, she was being given free rein to pick a mate.

  She looked up at her ceiling as if she could see him through the wood, but the smile that crept over her face was very anticipatory. She had the chance to chase him, and he wasn’t running. Maybe he would teach her how to swim when this was all said and done.

  The tingle of a mated couple who needed a binding got her out of her filing. She rubbed her head and focused on the energies that were clashing and colliding.

  “Right. I had better gear up for that.” She slipped on a pair of boots and wandered through the Isthmus to the food stand, getting a funnel cake and a toffee apple.

  She took down the cake in a few minutes and kept gnawing on the apple until she found the couple she was looking for.

  Frank, the otter, was holding the hand of a lovely water nymph with a wicked gleam in her dark eyes. “Mel! I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

  She chuckled. “Uh huh. Were you two wanting to be balanced?”

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “Just a feeling.” She put the apple stick in the crook of her thumb and extended her hands to the giggling lovers.

  Myella was the nymph, and her ancient power glowed bright and strong. Frank’s energies flared hot and pulsed. Mel’s job was to find the moment that they synched and use that as a door.

  “Myella, do you agree to balance with Frank? Equal for as long as you both shall live?”

  The woman giggled. “I do.”

  “Frank, do you agree to balance with Myella and keep it in your pants if she isn’t around?”

  “I do.”

  “Excellent. Let’s begin.” Mel opened her body to contain their power, and the rush of energy from both sides was a bit much as it always was. She assessed them all, divided the energy equally and sent the two halves back to the initial donors.

  The nymph had a bit more time magic clinging to her than Mel could distribute, so she wrapped what she could around the couple and stowed the rest to deal with it later.

  When everyone settled, she slowly released their hands and watched them stare into each other’s eyes. “You are going to want to have sex immediately, but if you choose not to, don’t wait more than forty-eight hours. At that point, it is going to get all consuming.”

  She gave the lecture, but they weren’t listening. They were on their way to being naked right there on the beach. Mel looked them over, shrugged
, and put her toffee apple back in her mouth.

  As a general state, nudity didn’t bother her. She was completely immune to the charms of any of the physical specimens she had seen at the Crossroads. Well, she was immune to all but one. For some strange reason, seeing Andy with his shirt off sent her heart into a full gallop.

  Mel shook off the thoughts of Andy as she headed to the snack stand. Her legs were weak, and there was a streak of heat along her nerves that was a pale echo of what it should be. The lunch at the new café was definitely worthy of a repeat, strictly for the insulation factor.

  The roaring in her ears precluded her normal chatter while she waited for her food box, the worried looks that she was being given were seen from a distance. In the blink of an eye, Mel’s vision was blurry.

  Damn, the nymph had been older than Mel had guessed. Temporal magic was wrapping around her and trying to make itself at home.

  She was nearly blind by the time she got her snacks and staggered home. Her toffee apple was long gone, and her own magic was desperately fighting to keep the temporal magic in check.

  She clutched the hot cardboard box as she put one foot in front of the other and tried to get home. Time magic was annoying, but so many of the fey had it that she knew what was happening. A fraction of the years that the nymph had lived were trying to start again in Mel’s body, and her magic was fighting back. She was a normal, mortal, human, and she was going to stay that way.

  * * * *

  Andy looked up from his purchase orders when the blue flames flared into being in his office. “Lucy? What is it?”

  “She doesn’t look good. She did a balancing, and when she came by the stall, she had that unfocused look on her face. She didn’t walk home; she was headed for the water.”

  Andy bolted to his feet. “Are you watching her?”

  “I can see the trail, but I can’t follow.”

  He sighed and nodded. “Right. I will be there in a minute.”

  Andy left the back room of the General Store and headed for the portal to the Isthmus across the street. The proximity was convenient, but the idea that Melwiss was wandering around in a stupor made him wish that it were faster than the flash of light.