Butting In Read Online Free

here, Riox?”
    He grinned. “Drak asked me to help him with the power he needed to shape the magic here. I took leave from my daily activities, and here I am.”
    “So, you are visiting your brother?”
    “I am. Once he gets a few more guests, I will be able to leave.”
    “Why do you have to wait?”
    “Drak does not do well on his own. I don’t want to abandon him here without him having something to do.”
    “What do you do in the human world?”
    He chuckled. “I run a tech company. It is all very boring.”
    “It sounds interesting to me, but I am just a farm girl.” She smirked.
    They walked toward the shifter meadow. She lifted her head, and the sweet scent of clover came to her again.
    “What are you smelling?” Riox was smiling at her.
    “Sweet clover. There is nothing that makes my beast happier.” Her inner goat was bounding around in the grasses once again. It made Gera grin.
    “Is it actually another mind inside your own?”
    Gera looked up at him. “You don’t know?”
    “No. Drak was tapped by the fey council and sent here to become a hotelier. We didn’t know anything other than he was going to be meeting with a lot of shifters.”
    “Well, that explains the first stupid move.”
    “What?” He tugged her into the shadow of the trees and sat next to her on a fallen log.
    “His glamour or his enchantment. Our beasts know we are supposed to feel a fey contact when we meet him, and when there is nothing, we get frustrated and distrustful.”
    Riox stared at her. “You are kidding.”
    “We are humans who access the souls and instincts of the animal kingdom. When something doesn’t feel like we know it should, it freaks us out and we avoid it.”
    He got to his feet. “I have to tell Drak.”
    She waved at him. “Go ahead. I can give him the full lecture when I get back.”
    Riox lifted her hand to his lips, and he kissed it. A moment later, he was gone and she was left staring at the spot where his lips had had contact with her. Her skin was tingling in a pulse that slowly spread across her entire hand and started to work up her arm.
    She flexed her hand and stared at it. With what she was feeling, she should have been able to see something. The creeping warm prickle of power moved to her elbow, and thankfully, it faded. Gera exhaled in relief. She had no idea what that was or what would have happened if it would have reached her torso. Frankly, she was terrified to find out.
    Gera brushed at her skirt and got to her feet, walking out of the shadows and back toward the Axion. Sunset would be here soon, and she needed to get into one of her evening looks to head for the Crossed Star. She also might put on some makeup if she could steel her nerves. Lip gloss was fine, but it was the eyeliner that needed a steady hand.
    When she stepped into the lobby, Drak and Riox were yelling at each other. She had to admire the soundproofing. She hadn’t heard anything from outside.
    Riox looked at Gera and pointed at his brother. “Tell him.”
    “What? That the spell that keeps the fey magic from interacting with shifter magic creeps out all the shifters? It makes us think you are deceptive before we even speak to you.”
    Drak’s shocked features were still lovely, but when he took a deep breath and a halo of light moved from his head down to his feet, he went from pretty to stunning. This was what fey were supposed to look like.
    Gera grinned. “Much better.”
    She headed up the stairs to her room and closed the door. The building itself rippled around her, and fey magic asserted itself. This was going to be interesting.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    Gera brushed her hair and twisted it up, leaving a cascade of strands teasing her neck. The purple dress showed the rhinestones of her bra to advantage.
    She slipped on the heels and watched her posture and demeanour change. The slight flick of mascara and eyeliner made her eyes look huge. Her lips gleamed under the tiniest bit of lip gloss.
    The