Page 222 of Shifting Hearts 1
The room fell quiet.
She looked just like Morgan when she was angry. Not just the eyes, but everything.
It punched a hole straight through my chest.
NATASHA
(Earlier)
I felt ridiculous,standing under the running water, fully dressed, like that would somehow delay everything.
Mel was here. I wasn’t ready to face her, not yet, maybe not ever.
She’d meet me tonight. At the mixer.
How the hell was I supposed to survive that?
I stripped off the soaked clothes, got dressed, dried my hair, and went through the motions of pretending I belonged in this world again.
At six-fifteen, we walked to the house.
The moment we neared the door, I heard it.
Voices. A sharp and heated conversation. The rhythm and bite of Mahur.
Jason’s voice.
My stomach tightened.
The other voice was younger. Ryan, maybe?
I stayed by the door, out of view. One foot inside the mansion, the other ready to bolt.
Em slipped into the house, like this wasn’t the most dangerous thing we’d ever done.
They were arguing.
Ryan dated a human? Jason was furious.
Ryan reminded his father that he too locked on a human once.
Mel had been human too? It didn’t sound right.
I watched from the shadows. The human woman looked overwhelmed. Her kids clung to her legs, wide-eyed and silent.
One of the girls caught my stare. I winked. She smiled shyly and buried her face against her mother’s coat.
The woman met my gaze. I held her eyes and gave a soft smile. Not threatening. Reassuring. I knew how it felt to be in the wrong room at the wrong time.
Em cut through the tension like she owned the place. Put Jason in his place and warned him to behave, or she’d walk out.
Mel swept in with grace, wrapping the human woman in a warm hug, herding her and the children deeper into the house. She caught my breath. Her resemblance to Leigh was uncanning and I missed them.
A few seconds later, Jason, my Jason, stormed past. His energy was a live wire in the air.
Paul stepped beside me, quiet, watchful.
“You okay?” he asked.
