“Good!” Vincent exclaimed. “Better!”
My eyes flew open, and my jaw dropped when I saw the dispersed particles had coalesced into a forty-foot swirling sphere of purple light in the center of the clearing. The sphere pulsed with power, sending out tiny tentacles of light which separated from the whole. I focused, trying to direct my thoughts into the center of the sphere. It almost instantly shrank in size by half, becoming even brighter. The entire sky lit with purple light beams around us.
I felt a strong tug on my mane and looked down into the smiling face of my lover. Vincent’s long, brown hair sparkled with reflected violet light as he beamed up at me. His fangs were still long, still deadly, and still hot as hell in his grinning face. He reached up and rubbed the palm of his hand over my forehead, then slid his hand up and scratched behind my ear.
“Good job, love.”
I tossed my head, and Vincent chuckled before turning toward the ball of light still hovering off the ground and twirling in the center of the clearing. I narrowed my eyes and focused harder, feeling the strain of what I was doing only a little. I watched in wonder as the sphere reduced in circumference again, shrinking to the size of a basketball and if possible, growing even more incandescent. We both watched the ball twirl as it hovered until I finally let out a long breath and ceased my focus, instantly dousing the clearing in blackness as the sphere vanished.
In a flash, I changed back into my human form, standing in front of Vincent, desperately wanting conversation with him. I was as naked as the day I was born, and he blinked at me, losing just a little of his grin. He reached out and put both hands on my shoulders.
“Your shift is incredibly fast. I don’t know if you know that. It’s really fun to watch,” Vincent said.
I smiled back, reaching up and circling his wrists, drawing them down to his sides as I stepped so close our bodies touched. I watched his nostrils flare, and the pupils in his topaz eyes dilate as I let go of his arms and wrapped him up in my long arms instead.
“Since I only found out about paranormal beings two weeks ago, it’s kind of hard to know how fast a normal shift is. I’ve only witnessed the werewolves and apart from Floyd whose change was quick, the other wolves looked pained as they transformed.”
Vincent leaned in and kissed me softly before pulling back. “Floyd is the alpha. That’s why he transformed so quickly. He’s also the only one in his pack who can change into the huge half-man half-beast form you witnessed out there.”
I frowned, nodding as I dropped my arms. “I have a ton of questions, but I have to get dressed and eat first.”
It was getting chilly out here and I really didn’t want to turn into a unicorn popsicle. I looked around for my clothes, spotting them ten feet away. I walked over and started climbing into them as Vincent followed. He watched me dress and then sit on a rock to pull on my socks and boots for the mile hike back to his house where we’d already decided to pick up my truck and drive into town. I was starving and aside from a shelf full of ketchup in Vincent’s fridge, he was a little light on food in the pantry. I’d checked out his stores of food and already decided that I’d be going into Sid’s store to stock up his pantry. My place was full of foodstuffs, but Vincent had next to nothing that appealed to a hungry unicorn.
“You know, there’s an all-night diner in Stockton if you don’t mind the drive,” Vincent remarked.
“I’m not sure about ending up at the saloon since it’s owned by Floyd. I have a feeling it’ll be safer to go eat at the diner since it’s the only place open at this time of night. Not only that, I have to be at work early. Sally is still bugging me about Buck Walters’ murder.”
“Does she think you simply dropped it?”
I frowned. “No, not exactly, but it’s been like an unspoken standoff between us since that night. I’m getting the feeling that she knows I’m supernatural, but she won’t say anything. At the same time, I can’t exactly ask her if she is, and I think it’s going to be the only way to explain what happened out there since we both know it was Floyd and his pack that killed Walters.”
Vincent shrugged. “Look at it this way. If she is supernatural, she already knows wolves did it since she’d no doubt be able to smell their scent. You should just talk to her.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, it’s something you’ll have to deal with so you might as well get it over with. Just ask her what she is,” Vincent said.
My stomach growled loudly, and I frowned when Vincent chuckled. “What time does the diner in Prosper Woods close? The one I passed on the way into town… Todd’s Hash House?”
Vincent shrugged. “I have no idea.” He smiled just enough to show the tips of his razor-sharp fangs. “And I don’t know if you realized this, but I just moved into this town. Besides, solid food isn’t my thing.”
“But you can tolerate some.” We’d eaten the delicious stew he’d made when we’d first met. Since then, I’d eaten in
