His hands should be cold from his dive into Arctic waters but Zander’s touch held heat that tingled across the links of her Collar. Fires ran all the way down inside her, stirring something to life.
“Isn’t it true?” Rae asked, trying to pretend she wasn’t melting. “The Fae made Shifters to fight battles for them.”
“Sure, but Goddess magic runs strong in the Fae. If the Goddess decided to let them ‘dink’ with genetics, as you call it, she made sure we were made to be the best of her creatures.”
Rae backed a step. “Please don’t tell me you’re a Goddess fanatic. Burning offerings every full moon, chanting over talismans, believing that every single thing you think was planted in your head by the Goddess?”
Zander gave her a look of amazement. “What the hell kind of people do you live with, Little Wolf? First of all, there’s nothing wrong with burning offerings every full moon. It’s respectful. Second, the talismans are to impress the humans, and third, the Goddess gave us free will to think what we want.”
“There’s a contingent of Goddess fanatics in our Shiftertown,” Rae said darkly. “My father leaves them alone as long as they don’t harass others, but they’re growing in popularity. Shifters are afraid of the Fae, and the Goddess fanatics are promising they have a solution, even if it’s only more chanting in circles.”
Zander looked troubled. “Eoin’s letting this happen? Hmm. Probably smart of him, I guess—if he suppressed Goddess worship, that would backfire on him.” He rubbed the towel over his hair, the beads in it clinking softly. “Understand why I live alone now? What a pain in the ass.”
“Shifters aren’t meant to be alone.” Rae watched him squeeze water from each braid, liquid dribbling to the clean floor. “I didn’t learn that by living in a Shiftertown. It’s the truth. We hang on to family and keep near our extended clans. Well, most Shifters do. I don’t know what my clan is—no one ever found out who my parents were,” she finished wistfully.
“But you were lucky, Little Wolf.” Zander sounded sympathetic. “You were welcomed into Eoin’s clan. He has a lot of affection for you—I saw that.”
Rae nodded, softening at the mention of her father and his kindness. “He’s taken good care of me. But no Lupine wants to mate-claim me, in case it turns out I’m from his clan, too closely related. That means if I want to mate, I have to take a Feline. Or a bear.” She gave Zander a dubious glance.
Zander burst out laughing. “The look on your face when you said that . . .” He laughed for a while then let it die away. “If you don’t have a choice, Little Wolf, better get over it and accept a Feline mate.”
“Huh. Felines and bears aren’t exactly falling all over themselves to mate-claim me either,” Rae said, tasting bitterness. “Shifters don’t like people they know nothing about. And now that I’m a Guardian . . .”
“They’re avoiding you like the plague. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Zander did sound sorry for her. Like he understood—the first person to ever since the fateful day of the Choosing.
“Everyone needs the Guardian.” Rae folded her arms and leaned against the table. “They go on about how wonderful it is to have one, how sacred is the sword, how the Goddess touches her own. But a Guardian walks near them and they all but run away.”
Rae had seen that happen to Daragh, and now it was happening to her. Daragh had taken it in his stride—nothing seemed to faze him. But then, Daragh had been a male and had been Chosen long before they’d been rounded up into Shiftertowns.
Rae had received everything from outright hostility—rants to Eoin that Rae had to be sent out of Shiftertown for everyone’s sake—to Shifters crossing the road when they saw her coming.
“They don’t want to be reminded of their own mortality,” Zander said, pulling the blanket closer around him. “We’re not vampires—we don’t live forever. Hell, even vampires don’t live forever—at least not the ones I’ve met. The same kind of thing happens to me. Shifters want to be healed but whenever a Shifter sees me coming, they know whoever I’m there for is a long way gone and might not make it even with my help. When I can’t save them, they blame me and run me off.” He let out a breath. “That doesn’t bug me so much as not being able to heal the Shifter. But I can’t save everyone.”
The note of grief in his voice was raw. Zander had an incredible gift, so Eoin had told her. The fact that he’d lost people in spite of that gift obviously hurt him deeply.
Rae wanted to comfort him. She didn’t know how Zander would take it if she tried to touch him or hug him, to soothe him in the Shifter way. Her brothers, when they were cubs, hadn’t always wanted her touch. Not because they didn’t like her, but when they were at their most distressed they wanted their true family, their pride and clan.
It had stung to watch her brothers seek each other and Eoin, not her, but Rae had come to understand. There was magic in family bonds that Rae didn’t share. So, she’d learned how to comfort by distracting them.
“Wait,” Rae said, deciding to go with distraction. “You’ve met vampires?”
Zander absently rubbed his hair with the towel. “Sure. One was a good guy. The other, kind of a bastard.”
“Vampires are real? You mean that seriously.”
“Yep. They aren’t Fae made, not High-Fae made anyway. They don’t have Goddess magic. They’re the creations of ancient demons, beings defeated by the High Fae a long time ago. We were made as the Fae’s battle beasts—you could say the vampires were the demons’ battle beasts. Vamps propagate like we do—you know, sex and offspring—so they stuck around even when their masters died off. Except it’s much harder for vampires to survive in this world. They need to feed on human blood, while Shifters just need burgers and beer.”
Rae stared at him in surprise. “Are you making this up?”
“Nope.” He gave her a fleeting grin. “I really have met vamps, two of them, each when they tried to take a chomp out of me. I hang out alone, so I’m a good target. I might be big, but to a strong vampire, that’s nothing. Surprised the hell out of them when I turned out to be Shifter.”