Page 35 of Shifters Awakening

“Oh,” Olivia said. “I guess that makes things a little harder. I wonder…” She darted off toward the door which led to the bathrooms.

“Should I come with you?” I called after her.

“One sec.” She reappeared with a vase and skidded to a stop beside me. “Maybe you still have enough magic in you…” She threw the pottery down at the space between us, and it broke in two. “Grab it.”

“What?”

“Now. Grab the pieces.”

I scooped them up in my hands, and the edges immediately began glowing as though they’d been tossed into a fire. Each half had been intricately decorated in stylized animal figures like the Paleolithic figures at Lascaux in France. She whooped so loudly I dropped them again, shattering them into twice as many.

“What the hell, Olivia.”

“I thought as much,” she crooned, clearly pleased with herself.

“Wanna clue me in?”

“We have relics left over from the first shifter age. When your magic is strongest, right after you shift back into a human, we can use them to categorize shifters fortheir extra abilities, their talents, if they have them. Not all shifters do. We’re unique because we have the relics. It’s part of why Dr. Wise chose to embed with us.”

It was a lot of information to unpack, but I decided to focus on what directly impacted me. “So… I’m not just a shifter-into-all-things?”

She shook her head. “No, you’re a healer too. If you’d had control of your skills, you’d have been able to put it back together good as new. Once you’re better at shifting, we’ll work on healing. It’s all related to how shifting can heal your wounds.”

“Is that why I’m here?” I asked. “To heal?”

“You’re here to help save the clans from evil. Whenever the multimorph emerges, the shifters band together against a threat and share in her strength. Nothing like a common enemy to draw everyone together. Right now, we think the threat is Acheron, a dark mage we haven’t yet beaten.”

“Acheron?”

“For now, that’s our best guess, and you’ll learn more about him as we move forward,” she said. “The specific tasks of the multimorph change from emergence to emergence, but she heals the divides between the clans, and she unites us. If you are the multimorph, what does that mean for you?” She paused. “Well, we must discover that together, as uncomfortable as it may be.”

“Uncomfortable?”

“The different kinds of shifters revert to separate lives and motives in between emergences. There are rules about how alphas can’t challenge each other and shiftersof one clan can’t go into the territories of other shifters without permission. Blah. Blah. Blah. Rules get way looser since you’re the supposed and prophesied multimorph.”

It was a lot to take in, and I stooped to pick up the pieces of the ancient relic once more. They didn’t glow this time.

“When I was out in the woods, I remember the mountain lion clawing me, biting me. I should have had bruises and wounds all over me.”

“When you shifted, those wounds healed, and I’d be willing to bet that’s also why you decided to become a vet. On a subconscious level, you knew what you were, and you chose the profession closest to animals and closest to healing.”

“I just wanted to help animals,” I murmured.

“You did, and you will.”

The fragments chinked against each other as I held them out to her. “How did you get these?”

“Some of our ancestors brought them over when they immigrated up through Natchitoches and New Port Orleans. We have more, but that room is for another day.”

“Should I try to fix them?” Leaving the priceless pot broken made me uncomfortable. “I could try.”

“Not today. You’re worn out. Three shifts in twenty-four hours should have knocked you on your ass, and we must be careful not to overtax you. This can be a dangerous time for newbie shifters.”

My stomach growled. “Well, I’m not out for thecount yet.” I paused a moment, trying to decide whether to ask the question in my mind. Finally, I blurted it out. “Does Logan have a talent?”

“Well, he has the ability to delve.”

“Delve?”

---