Shifting Crossroads 8 - Ocelot of Trouble Read Online Free Page A

parents?”
    “Not really. They can pop randomly just like shifters do. It could be that his parents were unprepared for his talent and tried to hide it from their guild and his.”
    Mina blinked. She hadn’t thought of that. Sure, it was not uncommon for a shifter family to have a member who did not match the rest of them. Mythical animals popped randomly, and ancestors chipped in their genes now and then to bring an ancient creature back into modern day. Mina’s aunt Reyna was a turtle, as were her cousins. They fit in just fine at the ocelot events. She had never thought of how it would work with magical humans.
    Teebie opened the huge tome, and she slowly turned the pages, looking for something in particular.
    Mina looked at Teal. “What now?”
    “Go about your day. I am sure she will call you if she finds something.”
    Mina got to her feet. “Thank you for your help, Teal, Teebie. Just knowing that it isn’t all me has been a tremendous help.”
    Teebie looked up, winked and said, “The charm will let you know when I find something.”
    Teal reached for another muffin. “I will come and find you if the charm doesn’t get your attention.”
    Mina sighed. She was being dismissed. “All right. I am off to help Lee with inventory. I will see you later. Thanks again.”
    She grabbed a muffin for the road and headed out of the bed and breakfast with a lightening of her heart taking hold and elevating her mood. She was getting help, and with luck, they would find a cure for the disaster that followed her everywhere.
    She could hope.

Chapter Five
     
     
    Robar looked around when he returned to the dining room. “Where did she go?”
    Teebie didn’t look up from the huge book she was flipping through. “She is off to engage in her normal daily activities so that she won’t go nuts while waiting for me to find a cure for her condition.”
    He sighed and sat down, pulling more muffins onto his plate and carefully pouring more coffee. “What is her condition?”
    Teal smiled, “She is under a curse that has an effect on any man who pursues her. They suffer a series of annoying incidences designed to drive them off.”
    Robar sat back and nodded. “That would describe the effect I have experienced. The more I am interested in her, the more violent the shock of whatever happens to distract me.”
    Teebie looked up and nodded. “Good. Do you feel anything else?”
    “There is a feeling of hostility that washes over me. It isn’t from Mina but rather from something or someone near her.”
    The djinn nodded. “That is what I am looking up. I believe that her first boyfriend was an untrained curse master. If he didn’t know what he was doing, he would not have placed an expiration on the curse. I need to find a way around it.”
    Robar smiled. “Good. Whatever you need to effect a cure, I will do it.”
    Teal grinned, “I thought you were here to get out easily with a woman you could dismiss as soon as you were back in the human world?”
    He blushed. “I apologize for my attitude. I underestimated the effect of the Crossroads. None of the women I invited here are suitable mates, and I know that now.”
    Teal pressed her query. “And how do you feel about Mina?”
    “She is definitely attractive to my beast, and my instincts are to get as close to her as I can. I never understood how my parents could have been content with just each other, but after being in the Crossroads, where shifters can be shifters, it makes sense that our instincts guide us.”
    Teebie smiled and kept reading. “The human world confuses shifters. You end up wanting what you see in the media and that is not what your kind needs. Even the families who force matings forget that your inner beast guides you, protects you and supports you. When you seek a mate, you need to offer it a companion for life.”
    He had to ask, “How do you know so much about it?”
    “Ah, my grandmother and my great aunts were shifters. My mother married a