Teagan’s gasp nearly made him stop midchange, but she stepped closer to the forming bird, her eyes wide with shock and wonder. Her entire face lit up. He stayed firmly in her mind.
While you are shifting, it will feel strange to you, but you must keep only the image that you want to be in your head the entire time.
“What will happen if I mess up?”
Even in the owl’s body, he heard the trepidation in her voice. I will be with you and can guide you back. Keep your mind in mine. Focus on the image of the owl. Study my form before you attempt it. Have no fears, Teagan, I will not allow anything to happen to you.
Teagan took a deep breath and walked around the owl. It was a powerful creature. Intelligent and, she could see, fierce, just as Andre had described it. Its facial disc was prominent and mostly a grayish color. There was a rim around the disc that had beautiful, pearl-like spots in light and dark. The head was round and the tail, with its wedge-shaped tip, was long.
She wanted to make the change. She had watched him do it. Andre, going from his tall, broad-shouldered, thick-chested frame to that of an owl had been unbelievable. She’d seen it with her own eyes and still couldn’t believe it. To think she might be able to do that was . . . well . . . extraordinary.
She licked her suddenly dry lips. She had to do this. It might be more thrilling than climbing a V13, which was crazy difficult but utterly mind-consuming and absolutely satisfying.
“Shifting starts in the mind,” she murmured softly. Determined. She could do this. Andre had brought her into his world because he’d been too afraid to allow her to remain in hers. She didn’t have to worry that he would ever want her to do anything he considered dangerous to her. That gave her confidence. He gave her confidence, because in spite of everything, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Andre would never let anything happen to her.
She took another deep breath, held the image of the owl in her mind and willed her body to shift. The moment she felt the pull on her skin she startled, but she felt Andre there with her. He was warm and strong in her mind. Steady. Calm. So calm, as if this was an everyday event, not the monumental phenomenon it truly was.
His calm spread to her. Her heart followed the steady beat of his. Her lungs followed his. She held the image firmly. Held to the command, willing her body to cooperate.
When it happened she was so shocked the female owl nearly fell over. She hadn’t really believed it was possible for her. Andre, yes. He could do anything. She wouldn’t be surprised if he moved a mountain. But for her to shift. To feel her body changing. Reforming. The sheer exhilaration was alarming because it meant she was already accepting there were good—no—great things about being in Andre’s world.
I did it, Andre! Look, I really did it. This is the most amazing thing in the entire world. The best. Well, she hedged. That’s not strictly the truth because kissing you is the best. Umm. Okay, that’s almost the best. Making love with you is the ultimate, but this really, really ranks right up there. But not as good. Just cool. Maybe cooler.
She felt his laughter. Right there in her mind even though she was an owl. She was an owl! She wished her sisters were around. Not Grandma Trixie, because she’d stake her with that vampire-hunting kit she bought off the Internet, but she was fairly certain her sisters would think it was cool that she was an owl.
Um. Andre. Can we go to church? Because Grandma Trixie is big on church. If I melt or go up in smoke inside a church, she isn’t going to be happy with me. I’m already in danger of being staked by her.
The male owl shook his head as if she was being crazy, but it was all the truth. The church question is absolutely legit. Have you been inside a church, like ever, since you’ve been this way?
I was born this way. Spread your wings, csitri. Get used to moving in the owl’s body. And no, I do not go to church, but Ivory and Razvan and Mikhail and Raven do. I know both couples very well. Neither has ever gone up in smoke in a church, although all four of them could easily become smoke if they wished.
She flapped her wings like a wild bird, very enthusiastically. It was totally awesome. Can I become smoke? She could scare the pants off her nephews with shifting. How cool would that be?
I think you should try flying first. Smoke is more complicated. Take a few hops. You will have to land. And, Teagan, I know this feels amazing to you, but you have to stay in control. Stay close to me at all times. There are vampires close by. We do not want them to know we are anywhere close. I believe they are still nursing their wounds, and gathering strength, but they must feed, and that means they will come out each rising to do so.
Do they know you killed their friend? She continued to flap her wings and hop around on her taloned feet. So cool. The best—except for kissing and sex with Andre, of course.
Vampires do not have friends. In the old days, if they met one another, they fought to the death to keep territory. Now a master vampire will find fledglings, those who have just turned, and he uses them as his pawns.
She couldn’t help but notice the contempt in his voice. He had such a sense of what was honorable in battle that he found the practice appalling. She opened her beak in a semblance of a smile.
The vampire will have connected all of his pawns. They all are aware I defeated the undead in battle. He did not return to his master with a victim to feed from.
She went still. She stopped hopping around and folded her wings. Are you telling me that he would have taken me back to his master so his master could feed off of me?
Each of the pawns will be sent out to bring back a victim for their master. He was wounded far worse than the others in our battle. Had they not come to his rescue, I would have killed him.