Snake Charmer Read Online Free

couple upstairs stirring.
    “Time for me to get some exercise.” She winked at Teebie.
    “With a muffin?” The dark blue eyebrows rose.
    “Don’t judge the way I choose to exercise and I won’t critique your inky fingers. Been writing?”
    Teebie looked at her hands and grinned. “You could see the ink against my skin?”
    With a quick flick of her serpent’s tongue, Yvena headed for the door. “I can taste it.”
    Outside, she ate the muffin and headed for the meadow containing the large rock that Teal had pointed out the day before. Her inner snake loved the idea of a hot rock.
    With care, she licked every bit of honey from her fingers and folded the napkin neatly, tucking it into her bra for later disposal. Sighing as she started a slow jog, Yvena tried to get a handle on what she was really doing here.
    In the harsh light of day, she wasn’t truly looking for a mate. She was looking for a hiding place.
    Her kind could be vicious when backed into a corner, but no one had let her defend herself. They had used subterfuge and brute force to hold her, and it had ripped away the one thing that she always had before that moment. She had felt safe.
    She never felt safe anymore. It was the legacy of being stolen and tortured.
    Yvena found a large rock out in the sun, warming under the delicate rays. It was cool to the touch but warming rapidly. With care and determination, she removed her clothing and forced herself to shift out in the open.
    Slithering onto the rock, she picked the highest spot available and curled up in a neat coil. It took nerve to be out where anyone could see her, but she forced herself into the spot and held her position.
    If nerve would help her regain her confidence in just being herself, her inner beast might recover enough to take over now and then, but her cobra had been hiding inside her since she had been pinned. Her human had had to take over while in her serpent form, and it hadn’t been comfortable. The delineation between a shifter’s species was what kept them sane. The animal took care of animal things, and the human took care of the rest. Being forced to do both had shaken her faith in herself.
    She couldn’t rescue her beast from torture and couldn’t shift back to human. She had the worst of all worlds, two bodies and only one faulty set of instincts.
    Yvena remained on the warming rock as long as she could before she shifted back and got dressed. She was in the wrong place once again. She had no business being at the Crossroads. She needed to get home and find her centre.
    It was time to talk to Teal.
     
    The swan with the ivory hair smiled politely. “But you just got here.”
    Yvena sipped at the tea and tried not to make a face. Tea was not her favourite beverage. Lemonade and coffee were her preferred daytime consumables.
    “I know I just got here and one night dancing with strangers was all I needed to know that I am in the wrong place once again. I am still too damaged to seek out a mate. It is not fair to the man I would meet or the children I would have. I need to go home.”
    Teal twisted her lips. “It is highly unusual and you will not be able to return. Why don’t you sleep on it, and if you still want to leave tomorrow, Tony and I will send you home.”
    Yvena sighed in relief. “Thank you. It will make my time here a lot more enjoyable.”
    “You have enjoyed your stay so far?”
    “One day has taught me a lot about myself and how I relate to strangers. The current conclusion that I have drawn is that I would not be fair to myself or my partner to come to them in this state. I will return home and deal with my issues before I go and seek out a mate. I will succeed or fail on my own.”
    Teal smiled, “Then you have made up your mind. Good. The survivors were allowed leeway when it comes to arrivals and departures. Our society has never had a situation like this. Dozens of representatives of species were taken and abused for sale to human magic users. For