Page 113 of A Light in the Dark
Her exclamation triggered a cacophony of noise from the peacock and the parrots. Unable to help myself, I laughed at the insanity of it all. “You know what? After this, being the mayor is going to seem pretty normal.”
“That’s one way to look at it. When do they go home?”
“I’d assume tomorrow. Why?”
“I’m not sure I want to share a house with a bunch of animals that view me as food,” he confessed.
“Just don’t shift. You’ll be fine.”
THIRTY-FIVE
That’s sneaky. I like it.
Somehow,everyone survived the surprise birthday party for Coraline. The parrots stole the show, especially after demonstrating they had a solid vocabulary, an interest in classical music, and knowledge about their favorite composers. Someone had found some bananas for them, and Coraline issued out rewards of their beloved food whenever they managed to teach someone something new.
The party may as well have been hosted for the birds. The baby bunnies came a close second. Whenever Coraline was left unattended for even a minute, she had them out of their cage, cuddling with her new furry children. Each time Calden took the bunnies away from her, she pouted.
I suspected the man loved making the woman pout at him, as he used the excuse of containing the vicious killer rabbits in their cage, else they might slaughter someone. That Coraline accepted the potential hazards of the vicious killer rabbits would amuse me for a long time to come.
When everyone finally left, cleaning up after themselves as promised, I put some serious thought into sleeping at my table. Joel tended to my roses outside, and I observed him through the window, wondering what he might do if he found me passed out in my kitchen. Before I could put my fledgling plan into motion, he came inside to wash his hands.
“It appears you are finished for today,” he commented while drying off. “I’d ask if you wanted me to help with the cleanup, but the invaders did a pretty good job handling all the chores. They even cleaned the bathrooms. I think the only thing they didn’t touch was the explosion of silk taking over two different rooms upstairs.”
The room with my sewing machine had my first shift silk in it along with the rest of the silk I’d produced before being forced back to human form. My office had Joel’s silk, and it had taken over everything. I would, with a little work, be able to reach my laptops. “The volume is horrifying, Joel. I knew I was pretty bad because of my first shift, but you have crammed an entire room with your silk.”
“Sick luna moths with strong magical capabilities are worth a fortune.”
“I mailed over two hundred pounds of your silk to Yolana. Is sick luna moth silk as good as healthy silk?”
“Usually, there’s no real difference. First shift silk is the special stuff, but it’s mostly special because it’s your first shift silk. I recommend you hire Yolana to spin it into cloth for you. Most luna moth women use their first shift silk for special occasions. If she’s not yet married, she’ll have her wedding dress either made from her partner’s first shift silk or hers, and the groom’s suit will be first shift silk as well.Mine has already been spun into cloth, and it’s magically preserved.”
“White?”
“Half of mine is white, half is black. I produced almost eight hundred pounds of silk. You produced a lot more than I expect from a first shifter, so I think you should have your magical aptitude officially tested. You might have some form of buried ability. And if you’re someone who can work shoring, I pay temporary contractors quite well.”
I considered the man, aware my father had made an excellent point regarding my general inability to indicate that I would like to try to have a relationship beyond friendship. As nothing ventured meant nothing gained, and that I would recover from any heartache that might result, I asked, “But do you pay while naked and sharing my bed?”
He raised a brow at my question. “While that’s not how I normally pay contractors, if you would like some bonuses issued while I’m naked and sharing your bed, I feel that’s something we could discuss—preferably while naked and sharing a bed. I’m honestly not picky if it’s yours or mine.”
“Mine’s here. Yours is not,” I replied, doing my best to remain dignified.
“Unless you have a stash of birth control hidden around here, we’ll have to venture forth. Luna moths are quite careful about sharing the wares, as we have some biological considerations.”
I joined him in raising a brow. “Biological considerations? I mean, beyond the risk of having children.”
“When luna moths neglect to use protection, procreation is a guarantee. The risk level is a hundred percent. Weactually have a special birth control we use, both men and women, because otherwise, we’d have a child every ten months like clockwork. The problem is, both men and women have to be on the birth control for at least three months for it to work. So, we will need to go to the pharmacy for some prevention aids, you will need an appointment with Meri or Lois to get the prescription for your birth control, and you’ll have to go through some education on how we share certain traits with luna moths when we have children. There are no mistakes with luna moths, only guarantees. But in good news, we have an excellent survival rate for the little ones, and luna moth shifters enjoy perfect maternity survival rates. But we have biologically mastered reproduction, and it can be a problem.”
I stared at him with wide eyes. “Are you seriously telling me that luna moths are the fountain of youthanda living, breathing fertility clinic?”
He bowed his head and laughed. “I guess I am. Just be glad my parents haven’t assumed we’re interested in each other yet. If they determined we hadn’t had this discussion, I would be locked in their basement, you would be treated like a princess while getting this talk, and you’d be ruling the entire town within a week.”
“I already rule the entire town, Joel. I’m currently the mayor.”
He let out another laugh. “May I ask how long you’ve been interested?”
“The trip to visit your family definitely did a good job of convincing me I should be convincing you to live here,” I confessed. “Everything else has supported my initial thoughtquite nicely. We could turn your house into a guest house. I like my house, and I have excellent roses.”
“Keeping my house and turning it into a guest house and a place to park our cars is good idea, but I’m afraid I’m going to insist on you getting a car, much like Calden is with Coraline. You need the freedom to come and go as you please, and I need my SUV for work. However, unlike Calden, I’m not going to insist you drive to work. That’s ridiculous.”
