Dance of the Moons

Chapter 13

            “Okay, I get it,” I interrupted, looking around again. “Just don’t…say anything,” I added quietly.

            “It’s not that serious, is it?  To be with a Shifter, I mean.”

            I gave my cousin a steady look. “It’s very serious, Shay.  It’s against witch law.  Not to mention my mother would kill me if she knew I was even thinking about a Shifter like this.”

            Shay frowned. “But we have the Peace Pact with the werewolves.  Doesn’t this mean we can interact with them, and stuff?”

            “Interact, yes.  Romance, no.  Not that I want to romance with anyone,” I added.

            Shay shot me a disbelieving look. “Yeah right you don’t,” he grumbled.

            I glared at him.  He winked at me and turned away.

            “Is it really against witch law?” Kaelyn asked me quietly.

            I nodded. “Shay should have known that.  The law doesn’t pertain to him, because he’s a Dormant, but he should still know it.  No one ever thinks about it being a law because it just never happens.  Witches and Shifters don’t mingle.”

            “What happens if you break the law?” She asked me slowly.

            I sighed. “It’s like any law.  You’re punished.”

            Kaelyn crossed her arms and frowned. “And I thought Shifters had stupid laws.”

            I shrugged. “That’s politics for you.”

            We let the subject drop, and I was glad.  I wasn’t too comfortable talking about this law.  It was old, mostly ignored and forgotten because it just never happened.  Shifters and witches rarely spoke to each other, never mind fall in love.  As for procreation, I didn’t think it was possible between the two species; our magics were too polar.

            I stared at my painted nails, the tips beginning to chip after only two days.  I had spent a lot of time avoiding thinking about David.  It was too confusing.  One moment I saw him smiling and teasing me, the next I could only feel his nails digging into my head.  I couldn’t figure out what my own feelings were toward him—did I fear him or did I feel guilty?  and why did I want to see him so badly?—and it was too tiring to try.  So I gave up, and figured I would deal with that later.

            Kaelyn told me David was fine. She wouldn’t tell me anything else though.  Said I had to ask him myself.  Part of me really wanted to know; the other part was afraid to ask.

            The afternoon passed in the same manner as it always did.  People came and went in a steady Wednesday afternoon flow.  It wasn’t heavy, and there were short periods when there were no customers at the counter and the three of them just joked behind the counter.  It was light, easy.  Every the bell jingled I looked up at the incomer, anticipating it being a certain werewolf and my pulse jumped.  Every time I turned away, disappointed and confused by my own disappointment.

            Finally, it was time to close.  I was tired, and confused with myself, and just really glad to be going home.  I sent Kaelyn and Shay in the back, to close up the kitchen and office while I tidied up behind the counter and took the money out of the register.

            I heard the bell jingle. “We’re closed,” I said, not bothering to look up from the cash register.

            Something slid across the  counter.  A white envelope, covered by a hand with two long, faint scab marks across the top of it.