“Well, fourteen does sound a little excessive.” Hayley grinned at her.
“Oh, he really wants four. It’s just more fun to pretend that I don’t know that. He can be very inventive when he’s trying to get his own way.” Connie bit her lip. “I do want kids, I think. It’s just…my mom passed away when I was little, and my dad isn’t exactly the best parental role model. I’m so scared that I might turn out to be a terrible mother.”
“I’m still terrified that I’m a terrible mother,” Hayley said ruefully. “You aren’t alone in that. And I think you’d be a great mom. Chase will make a great dad, too. Danny likes both of you a lot.”
“He’s such a sweet kid.” Connie sighed. “If I could be certain that mine would turn out half as well, I wouldn’t be nearly so worried. Rose,” she turned to the woman tending the bar, who was cleaning glasses nearby, “what do you think?”
Hayley was a little startled by this unexpected appeal to the pub owner…but then Rose glanced up, and she understood. Even half-concealed behind the feathery carnival mask, Rose had the kindest, wisest face she’d ever seen. She could only have been in her mid-forties, but she possessed a sort of deep, unhurried calm that made her seem ageless. In a strange way, she reminded Hayley of Ash—the same sense of hidden power, tightly leashed.
“I think that you should never let fear stand in the way of your heart’s desire,” Rose said to Connie…but her eyes flicked briefly to Hayley. She had an odd sense that Rose was aiming the statement at her, just as much as Connie.
“That’s the problem, I don’t know if it is my heart’s desire.” Connie looked hopefully across the bar at Rose. “Can you tell for me, Rose? I mean, you can see mate bonds, after all. Can you see other sorts of things in people’s hearts too? Like, how maternal someone is?”
Rose laughed. “I can see some things, true, but not that. But I don’t need special powers to know that you’re going to make a fine mother. You have enough love in your heart to nurture an entire brood of children.” She dropped her voice a little. “Your own mother made sure of that.”
Connie blinked rapidly, as if having to fight to hold back sudden tears. “Thanks, Rose,” she whispered. “That…that means a lot.”
“You can see mate bonds?” Hayley said to Rose, partly to give Connie a chance to recover her composure, but mainly just out of interest. “Really?”
Rose nodded in assent, her hands still busy cleaning glasses. “It’s one of the reasons shifters come here. I can instantly tell if I’ve met someone’s mate before, even if they’ve never met. I’ve matched up more than a few of my customers by now.”
“I wish you’d find your mate, Rose,” Virginia said. “It doesn’t seem fair that you’re still alone, when you’ve helped so many of us.”
“Ah, well. Just fate, I suppose.” Rose smiled, a little sadly. “I travelled the world when I was younger, searching, but never found him. Maybe he’ll walk through my door one of these days.”
Hayley bit back the question on the tip of her tongue, unsure whether it would be rude to ask what Rose’s animal was. She didn’t yet know enough about shifter ways to have a firm grasp on their unspoken rules of etiquette.
She had learned enough, though, to know that a shifter’s power came from their inner beast. Griff’s perceptiveness came from his eagle, while his innate ability to command came from his lion. But what on earth could give Rose the sort of power that she had?
Rose glanced at her sidelong, a teasing smile tugging at her lips. “I can feel your curiosity from here. Go on. Guess.”
From Virginia and Connie’s grins, they already knew. Hayley narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the bartender. Rose might look soft and round, but the elegance in the way she held herself would have made a prima ballerina green with envy. Even just polishing glasses, there was a breathtaking grace to every movement of her delicate hands.
Something strong, but not dangerous. Not a predator. Something calm and graceful. And…something that symbolizes devotion? Something that mates for life, and pines away if that love is lost…
The graceful curve of Rose’s neck and the long, shimmering black feathers on her mask gave her away. “You’re a swan!”
“Not many get that right. You’ve got good eyes.” Rose tilted her head a little, her expression enigmatic behind her mask. “Sharp eyes are a good match to an eagle. But you need courage if you’re going to match a lion. Especially when his own courage falters.”
“Griff, falter?” Hayley wasn’t sure whether to laugh or take offence at the idea. “I don’t think Griff’s ever been afraid of anything in his entire life.”
“Up until recently, I’d have agreed with you.” Rose looked at something over Hayley’s shoulder. “But not anymore. You might want to ask him about that.”
“Hayley.” She spun round at Griff’s voice, right behind her. He was looking grim. “We’ve got a potential problem. Reiner’s here.”
“Reiner? Here?” Hayley couldn’t imagine Reiner voluntarily coming to a Halloween party. He’d always looked down his nose at the holiday, calling it a ‘vulgar American perversion of ancient traditions.’ “Why?”
“I don’t know, but we have to try to head him off.” Griff took her hand, helping her down from the bar stool. “There are too many people who know me here.”
She gasped as she realized the danger. “Someone could let your secret slip.”
Connie cocked her head to one side, lips moving soundlessly for a moment. “Chase is improvising a very, very long joke outside,” she said, and Hayley realized that she’d been communicating telepathically with her mate. “But he says to hurry, because Reiner doesn’t look like he’s going to wait for the punchline.”
Virginia’s expression went a little unfocussed as well. A moment later, Dai’s tall form cut through the crowd toward them.
“Virginia says you might need some backup,” the dragon shifter said to Griff. In his Anglo-Saxon warrior costume, he looked more than ready to step onto a battlefield.
“No fighting on my premises, boys,” Rose said warningly. “All shifters are welcome, as long as they behave themselves. I won’t have anyone acting like this is their personal territory. Not even Alpha Team.”