She told me anyway. “You are part human. But the other part of you is something called a Cryptid. There are many kinds, including shapeshifters like Kitani and Cody. And your attacker. But there are also those who look quite human, but have special gifts. They’ve been interbreeding with the residents of this realm for years, and sometimes the talents pop up rather unexpectedly.”
Unexpected was one word for it. “What if I just don’t do it again? I’ve never had anything like this happen before.”
Cara’s expression said it all, but she put it into words, anyway. “Without proper training, it might surface when you least want it to. Anytime you are stressed or experience strong emotion.”
She let me think about that for a moment. When I opened my mouth to reply, she said, “What if you get in a fight with your boyfriend? Or with someone who rear-ends your car?”
I closed it again. “No boyfriend,” I sighed, but that wasn’t the point, really. “So, what? You are going to teach me?”
“Come and stay with me for a while. I can assess your talent and provide training.”
I stared. “For how long?”
“How about we start with a week and take it from there? Just pack a few things. I live in Winnipeg.”
Winnipeg had been my home turf when I’d still remembered just what that was. My mind spun unhelpfully.
“I promise you, Anna, that I have your best interests at heart.”
I met her blue gaze, and my anxiety melted away. “Do you do that consciously?”
“Do what?” she asked, but her eyes twinkled at me.
I sighed. I supposed if things looked hokey, I could bolt. I took a minute to extract an elastic from my pocket and used it to pull my hair back into a ponytail.
Cara watched my attempt to gather both my hair and my thoughts, before following me to the bedroom.
Trix remained unsure about the shifters, but she adored Cara. The diminutive non-human patted my traitorous dog and sat in my corner chair while I shoved clothes into a bag.
I had no idea what I was doing—or what I was packing. I grabbed a fistful of panties from my dresser and threw them in. “Do I really have to go?”
Cara patiently went over it again. “Now that your powers have awakened, I cannot leave you here. You might endanger those around you.”
I stared at her. That put things in a different light from a voluntary withdrawal for training. “You can’t just put things back to the way they were? Wave a magic wand, or something?”
Her lips twitched. “Doesn’t work like that.”
“But I was fine until last night!” I refused to acknowledge the slight edge of hysteria beneath that comment.
She tilted her head to look at me. “Before he attacked you, had anything else happened? Anything strange?”
I gritted my teeth. Strange pretty much described my life over the last two years. “Strange how?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Anything at all?”
I rolled my eyes. “I had a bunch of animals come over to say hi.”
I expected her to scoff, but instead, Cara lowered her brows as though she were puzzled. “What do you mean?”
Yeah. Okay, then.“Right before he attacked, I was sitting by the lake. It was nighttime, but there were fish near the shore, and a bunch of birds. Then three bunnies hopped out around my feet.”
Her fingers stilled in Trix’s fur. “You had your dog with you, and the rabbits came out to see you?”
“Yeah. Trix ignored them, too. It was weird. I took pictures.” I dug out my phone and called them up before handing it to her.
She examined them with interest. “Have you ever attracted animals before?”
I sighed. “They are always around. There is a huge feral cat population here, and I feed them. The birds, too. Doesn’t mean they find me attractive.” But I remembered how the cats sometimes followed me when I ran... I decided not to mention that.
