Chapter Seven

The room’s ambient lighting radiated a peaceful glow, yet the silence made him well aware he was alone in Seth’s condo.

Kianso flipped the switch on the wall that controlled the automatic window shades and rolled them up. He had learned this evening that Julian Ellingham owned the penthouse suite. The builders had considered everyone’s comfort in the design of the condos, hence the tinted windows. It was a nice touch. He could get used to this place.

He stood at the window gazing out into the night. The moon hung low in the cloudless western sky, a fat crescent of the last quarter bright and clear. Jupiter shone near it. Spiritual energy swirled around him, filling every crevice and pressing against him, suffocating him. The shaman connection was automatic and something he had to struggle to ignore. He tensed and fisted his hands.

He’d opened the door tonight to that mystical pathway. Darn it, for eight years he’d managed to keep it locked shut. Now, because of his feeling for Sasha, he’d ventured onto the path of healer again. He worried if the love he felt was true, or a false reading…like he’d had with his family.

Turning from the window, Kianso kicked back in the plush leather recliner and finally closed his eyes. He’d stayed up all night, projecting a panther protection on Sasha. Through the spirit animal, he’d guarded her in her sleep. And while he was miserable on one level because he’d given in to his shamanic calling, the part of him joined to Sasha felt damn fine. He liked watching over her.

But seeing her in bird form wasn’t nearly as engaging as when she was in her human form. Still, he could feel in his bones that it was his duty now to watch over her. The witch who had cast the spell on her had done so maliciously, and his law experience told him that vicious people rarely stopped with a single act of violence. Sometimes they carried a huge grudge forever, letting out their anger on others here and there for as long as they lived.

That thought prompted others: What if the witches couldn’t solve her problem? Was it possible they couldn’t reverse the spell? That she would have to live in this limbo forever? That he would only get to be with her three hours of every day?

TU Kai, he swore, reverting to a Hawaiian expletive.

He got up and walked over to Seth’s well-stocked bar and poured himself a glass of bourbon. He took a nervous sip, then shook his head resolutely.

No. The witches would find a remedy. They had to.

He took another drink, trying not to worry about Sasha. Like every other case he’d ever represented, this wasn’t something he would give up on. She would be free once more.

* * *

Usually the nights passed quickly for Sasha. She’d sleep through the night when nothing bothered her, and it didn’t matter if she was cat or bird or human. Her dreams were all similar in nature, showing her a time when she was free of the curse.

But tonight, an odd manifestation of dreams kept the peace at bay. She tossed restlessly. Her thoughts turned repeatedly to the shaman and his thoughtfulness in wanting to help her. When he’d introduced himself, his lingering handshake and easy manner had melted her tension away instantly. No stuffy pretense with this guy. His shoulders and chest were broad, as if he’d been swimming his entire life, and even though he had a tall, muscular frame, he moved with a laid-back grace.

She recalled his kind, golden eyes and handsome smile. A hint of a dimple nudged one of his cheeks. She had longed to place her palm there and ease his face closer to hers.

She jerked awake, and the feeling that she was being watched by someone washed over her. She glanced around, her instincts on high alert. Someone was in the room.

She shifted in the nest she’d created from a soft scarf. The silk rubbed against her feathers as she strained, leaning forward to see across the room better. There, on the other side of the space, a large black panther lounged in the bright moonlight. His yellow-green eyes angled up to stare at her.

Her breath caught, and for a moment, she wondered if she was still dreaming. She rose and stretched, and then flew across the room to a large, sturdy vase on a table. The cat tracked her movements with its eyes but didn’t budge. She dropped down and hopped cautiously across the floor, closer to the panther, and stopped a foot or so from its big paws. Her senses were going haywire because what she saw and what she felt conflicted. On one hand, the animal didn’t seem real. On the other, her brain warned her to be careful. And then, the strangest thing happened: the cat faded away like a hot breath on a cold day.

Sasha’s heart raced, uncertainty getting the best of her, as she moved over to the spot where the panther had been seconds earlier. Nothing. It had completely vanished.

Maybe it had been part of her dream state? A real panther can’t just disappear like that. She couldn’t help the hard laugh that bubbled out of her at the irony—she could disappear like that now, shifting from human to bird in the blink of an eye. She sighed. This was crazy. But whatever the panther was, it felt like a friend watching over her. Perhaps her lack of fear could be attributed to her own cat-shifting nature—like recognizing like.

She trotted back to her nest and snuggled into the scarf once more, returning to her thoughts of Kianso. Some unknown force kept calling her to him, telling her that was where she belonged.

After some time of restlessness, she flew to the window and looked out. The sky was already brightening with the rising sun. Caroline would be up and getting ready to head to the shop. Today was Sunday, so the store wouldn’t be open, but she still had to tend to the animals. There was no day off for that.

Besides, it gave Sasha the opportunity to seek out Kianso. Because if she had to endure this dreadful form, at least she could pursue the connection she felt with him.

She winged through the house to find Caroline. She was at the kitchen sink, filling the coffee pot with water. “Morning,” Sasha said.

“Hey there,” Caroline replied.

“I thought I’d let you know, I’m hanging with Kianso today.”

Caroline glanced over her shoulder. “You like him, don’t you?”

“Yes. I like him a lot.”

* * *

The layout of the condo underscored its functionality. The bedrooms were located on the northwest side of the building, and the kitchen and nook were on the east, which meant he could watch the sun rise over the tree line while drinking his coffee. The scene was picturesque in its own way, but it was a far cry from his home in Hawaii where the sun sprang up from the ocean. He missed that. He missed a lot of things.

While he sipped his coffee, the day grew brighter. The sun glistened through the trees, catching the morning dew. A bird settled on the top of the flagpole in front of the building. With its unmistakable green color, he felt certain it was Sasha. She turned her head left and right, seeming to be looking for something.

Could she have come to him? He set his mug aside. There was one way to find out. He exited through the front door.

Downstairs, the valet eyed him as he walked out onto the drive in his robe. “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?” the man asked.

“No. I thought I saw something of interest out the window…a bird.” Kianso glanced toward the top of the flagpole, but the bird was gone. He perused the rest of the area.

“There are many birds around here,” the valet said.

“This one is of particular interest to me.”

As he shuffled back toward the entrance, a chirp made him turn his head. The green Quaker parrot had perched on the bench. She chirped again.

“Hey, there.” He held out his arm for her to come to him. She immediately winged over and landed on the back of his extended hand.

“Oh good. You found it,” the valet said.

“Yes.” He brushed the crook of his index finger over her head and down the back of her neck. She leaned into his touch. He proceeded through the entry doors, heading back to the suite.

When they were back inside the condo, he went to the kitchen and fixed himself another cup of coffee. “Are you thirsty? Do you want something to drink?”

“Water, please,” she said in her shrill bird voice.

He set a cup of water on the table, and she moved over to it. Then he sliced a sweet roll down the middle and placed one half on a napkin before her.

“Thank you.”

He sat and ate his half of the sweet roll while she pecked at hers. “Finished?” he asked when she seemed to have had enough.

“Yes.”

He cleared the table and cleaned up. Then he kicked back in the leather recliner with his laptop. She flew over and perched on his shoulder. “I’m doing some research on spells,” he told her.

“I’ve done some.”

He tried to interpret the key words she’d spoken. He’d noticed that at times she conserved her speech. “You’ve done some research already?”

She bobbed her head.

He paused, tightening his jaw.

Let go of the old and renew yourself, his sister’s voice whispered to him. He glanced around, trying to find her. But she didn’t seem to take a form.

Did you hear me?

He balled his fist over the keyboard, frustrated. He didn’t want to keep reverting to shamanism as he had with the panther the night before.

But Sasha needed answers, and the spirit guides could have solutions. He sighed. “I’m going to ask my spirit animals. Perhaps they know of a way to rid you of this spell.”

It couldn’t hurt to check, he guessed. He closed his eyes and called on them to share new forms of guidance.

As he mentally prepared himself to enter a trance, he spoke to Sasha. “I’m going to access my dream state—” He paused, wondering what she’d think of this. “Don’t be alarmed if I’m unresponsive for a bit. My kind have been doing this since the beginning of time. Evidence can be found in rock art and cave art since the Ice Age.”

Listen to the spirits of your ancestors, his sister said. Heed the advice of the angelic forces.

Even though that’s exactly what he was contemplating, he fought against Jen’s advice. “I haven’t called upon my guides in a long time. I gave it up after my parents’ and sister’s deaths,” he admitted, the pain of their loss still searing his insides.

The Quaker nuzzled his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

They both jumped as a hawk materialized on the coffee table in front of them. “Life doesn’t always go the way you expect it. You have to accept change. Accept the life you are guided to live,” the hawk said in his sister’s feminine voice.

Sasha trotted along his arm to his hand, seeming to be intently looking at the hawk, as though she also could see it.

So what do you want to do? his sister asked him pointedly, her hawk wings braced tightly to her sides.