The Jaguar Prince

Chapter 6

“Thanks for dinner, and letting me drive your car.” She got out, leaving it running, and hoping he would take the hint and leave.

“Can I use your bathroom?” he asked.

Now what was he up to? That was the oldest line in the book. If he thought she would succumb to his charm, he’d better think again. No way was she inviting him into her bed.

She sighed. But he had given her a ride home and bought her supper—sort of. “But then you’ll need to leave,” she told him.

He reached over and shut off the engine, pocketing his keys before getting out of the car. She couldn’t fault him for that. In this neighborhood it probably wasn’t wise to leave a Jag running. Shoot, it might not even be wise to leave one in the driveway. Not that he would be here that long.

She unlocked the front door, flipped on the light, and they went inside. He started toward the bathroom, but turned, placing his hands lightly on her shoulders. Okay, here it was, his move to get her into bed. But he only looked deep into her eyes.

“You have the ability to change form. Your guide is there”—he tapped her chest—“in your heart…and in your soul, waiting for you to acknowledge her. You need her as much as she needs you.”

Funny, she didn’t feel afraid because he was talking crazy again. Maybe because she knew he really believed what he was telling her.

She might as well play along and humor him.

Yeah, sure, who was she kidding? She was beginning to buy into his fantasy…sort of.

She cocked her head to the side. “And exactly how do I change form?”

“You only have to close your eyes and think about your guide. Think about your other form. It will happen if you let it.”

He moved his hands from her shoulders, taking his warmth with him as he walked out of the room.

What if he was right? What if she was part alien? She’d been about eight when she’d first heard the voice inside her. What if it had been her guide? Callie had been scared. She’d told one of the counselors and the next thing she knew, she was sitting in front of a psychiatrist.

Who would want to adopt a kid who heard a voice talking to her? She’d stopped listening, and eventually it went away.

Callie was so confused. Rogar had said to change form, she had to close her eyes and think about her guide. If she did this, and didn’t change, that would prove to him, and her, that she wasn’t part alien.

Before she could chastise herself for being as crazy as Rogar for even thinking she quite possibly could be part alien, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then exhaled. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, and looked at her arms. They still looked like her arms.

Rogar had said she needed to concentrate. She took another deep breath, exhaled, and relaxed her whole body. She pictured fields of green grass waving in the breeze, and could almost feel the wind on her face. Animal guide, are you there? The sun raced across the sky. The moon came out. There was strength in the magical orb in the sky. She could hear people speaking, and knew it was her ancestors who had crossed before her. She felt her body changing.

What was happening? Was she dying? Had Rogar come back and killed her while she wasn’t looking, and she didn’t know she was dead yet?

Ridiculous, she wasn’t dead. At least, she was pretty sure she wasn’t, but she hurt. Her body ached in places she didn’t know she could ache. And burned with an intensity she didn’t know existed.

She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t, and yet, she felt the damp fog surrounding her. Weakness enveloped her, and she slowly sank to the floor and curled into a ball as her heart began to race. The blood rushed through her veins. Her skin stretched, then tightened.

This wasn’t funny. Stop!

No sound came from her.

Oh, God, she couldn’t speak! She couldn’t see!

She whimpered.

As she lay there, everything began to return to normal. She heard a dog barking outside. A car zoomed past. A neighbor called her children to come inside.

For a moment, Callie just lay on the floor, trying to catch her breath, letting the world catch up to her. The pain wasn’t so bad now. At least, she didn’t feel as though her body was going to explode.

Finally, she opened her eyes. Something wasn’t right. She felt different. The room looked the same, only bigger. Why did everything look so big?

Her movements were disjointed as she made her way to the bedroom. Rogar better have some answers, and he’d better have them damned fast. She paused in front of the full-length mirror in the hallway, which was the only place she had space for it.

There was a rabbit in her house. Why was there a white furry rabbit in her house? And where was her reflection? She only saw the damned rabbit.

She had her explanation, Rogar was a vampire! They did exist. He’d probably bitten her that first night and now she was a vampire, too, and that was why she had no reflection. She’d never be able to go into the daylight again. Oh, God, no more Krispy Kremes.

Oh, great, the rabbit crapped in her floor. Black pellets were on her clean floor.

“You’ve changed form,” Rogar said from her bedroom doorway at the end of the hall.

He was still talking crazy. Why didn’t he just admit she was a vampire and now would be doomed to live forever? Never to know if her makeup was on straight because she had no reflection.

She thought about that for a moment. If she lived forever, she was bound to get the animal keeper job. But then, she couldn’t go into the light of day. It might be kind of difficult to work only at night.

Rogar came toward her. Good, because she was about to lay into him. He would regret ever turning her. Bleh, she was not about to drink blood to stay alive.

He stooped and picked up the rabbit, except she knew he was picking her up.

“I know things are confusing right now, but it will all get easier in time.”

What the hell was he talking about?

“You make a cute rabbit,” he said.

Rabbit? Rabbit! She’d shifted into a freakin’ rabbit? That was her guide? Hey guide, I don’t want to be a rabbit. If I’m going to be anything, I want to be a sexy animal. Rabbits were anything but sexy.

Oh, this was fantastic. Didn’t jaguars eat rabbits? Rogar had probably wanted her to change form so he could have a late-night snack.

She didn’t want to be a rabbit. She wanted to be Callie again.

“To change back, you only need to think about who you were before the change,” he said as if he sensed her thoughts.

Okay, she could do this because she damned well didn’t want to stay a friggin’ bunny. What would that accomplish? That she could be the life of the party leading the bunny hop? That she could have hundreds of baby bunnies? That sex would be really quick—wham, bam, thank you ma’am? Actually, that pretty well summed up her sex life now.

Nope, she was changing back ASAP. She willed her eyes, the rabbit’s eyes, to close. She thought about driving the Jaguar home and feeling the wind on her face, working at the zoo, how Mrs. Winkle would flip out if she realized Callie not only had a rabbit in the house, but a two-hundred-pound sleek muscled black jaguar.

I want to be Callie again, she thought to herself. I want to be Callie. I want to be Callie.

The fog once again rolled in and she began to change.

Everything went black.

Callie stretched her limbs. Her body ached. A burning sensation slammed her gut. She arched her back, moaning. There was pain, but not severe enough that she couldn’t stand it.

She didn’t hear the voices this time. Only soothing words coming from Rogar as he helped her to return.

God, she was so tired. As though she’d just run a ten-mile marathon.

“Callie?” Rogar whispered close to her ear.

She realized he was sitting on her bed, and she was on his lap. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. A myriad of emotions washed over her. “You weren’t lying. I’m part Symtarian.” She hiccupped.

“No, I wasn’t lying to you.”

“But I don’t want to be a bunny rabbit. I want to be something exotic.”

She could feel the rumble of laughter in his chest.

“It’s not funny. And I didn’t hear any kind of guide talking to me, either.”

“Callie, you surprise and mystify me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He sighed. “I remember the first time I took another form. It terrified me.”

“Yeah, well, it scared the crap out of me.” She frowned. Literally, actually. That was so embarrassing. Rabbit pellets on her floor. “I still didn’t hear my guide.”

“It’s because you haven’t found each other yet. Sometimes it takes awhile for you to connect.”

“Then I’m not a bunny?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“When you take the form of your guide, then you will have a more solid connection with body, mind, and spirit.”

Good, she was glad she probably wouldn’t be a bunny. It seemed rather demeaning. Not that she had anything against bunny rabbits. They were cute and cuddly—when they weren’t dropping pellets all over the floor.

She sighed. “Shapeshifting hurts.”

“Are you in pain?”

She shook her head. “Not anymore.”

Callie could hear Rogar’s heart beat through his shirt. It soothed away her fears. The warmth from the heat of his body enveloped her in a warm cocoon. It was cozy. She snuggled closer, feeling safe and protected for the first time in her life.

It scared the hell out of her.

A cool draft of air brushed over her from the bedroom window that she always left cracked open just a bit. Her eyebrows drew together as she realized something else.

“I’m naked, aren’t I?”

“Quite naked.”