Hawking a Future Read Free

would have to wait and work out its own shit.”
    He blinked and opened and closed his mouth.
    She nodded toward the opening door. “Let’s get me checked in, and then, you can ask more questions.”
    He nodded and headed up the steps to where her hostess was standing with a wide smile and an open door as well as the bluest skin Hayley had ever seen.
    “Welcome to the Open Heart. I am your hostess, Teebie.”
    “I am Hayley Hyland. Pleased to meet you.”
    “I have your room ready on the third floor. Come this way.” Teebie snapped her fingers and the bags disappeared out of Tovin’s hand.
    Teebie nodded to Tovin. “I can take it from here.”
    He looked like he wanted to argue, but she arched a brow at him and he reluctantly removed Hayley’s hand from his arm. He kept it for a moment and bowed over it, lifting it to his lips. “It has been delightful to meet you, Hayley.”
    She nodded. “And you as well, Tovin. Goodbye.”
    Teebie sighed. “She isn’t going behind enemy lines. Go and arm wrestle with those idiots in the bar or something. When she is settled, I will send her out to play.”
    Tovin grinned and released Hayley’s hand. “Oh goody. I will wait on the steps...maybe in the drawing room.”
    Teebie chuckled and beckoned to Hayley. “This way.”
    The elf was gone in a flicker of light and shadow.
    Hayley mounted the steps and followed her hostess.
    Teebie explained. “Tovin isn’t a bad sort. He just gets fixated on a romantic target and disoriented when it is taken from him. It is a strange habit for someone of his age, but he is cute, so he gets by with the ladies who are there to soothe him through his moments of loss.”
    Hayley chuckled. “And you are telling me way too much.”
    Teebie paused at the landing. “You are right. I don’t know why I am telling you this.”
    Grinning, she patted the woman on the shoulder as she passed her. “That happens around me. I always end up with more information than I need.”
    “How?”
    Hayley shrugged. “I have no idea. It just happens.”
    They headed up to the third floor, and Hayley smiled at the size of her room. It was as large as her apartment without any space needed for a kitchen or living room. The bed was king sized in a four-poster, and the carpet and walls were thick.
    “Nice.”
    Teebie chuckled. “There is something different about you. You aren’t quite what I am used to in a shifter.”
    “Well, I wasn’t consulted on my appearance here. The fey seers redirected my transport home. They probably cost me my job as well, the assholes.” She had a thought. “Why aren’t all fey the same colours?”
    “Why aren’t all humans or all shifters? We are the colours needed to make the most out of our environments. The seers are underground fey. They lived in Underhill and did not need the light of the sun or moon to keep them healthy. They consumed the energy of the world itself, and as such, they did not need the defences of the fey who lived in woods, rivers and deserts.”
    Hayley went to her bags and began looking for something more comfortable than her current work slacks and blouse.
    “Right. That makes sense. So, Tovin and his kind would be forest related?”
    “Yes. Just as I am designed to blend into the shadows of the desert and the blue of the sky over sand dunes.”
    Hayley nodded and pulled out a comfortable shirt and jeans. “I am just going to get changed.”
    “Understood. Do you want a tour of the Crossroads?” Teebie cocked her head.
    “Tovin has already offered, and I think he will be a most jovial and informative companion.” She grinned and went into the bathroom, leaving the door open and whisking off her clothing.
    “Why are you different?”
    Hayley waited until she had pulled her shirt into place. “Unbonded parents. I am a shifter bastard. I have always had access to the talents of my beasts, but not the ability to shift. The emotional disclosure is something that always amuses me when it happens,