Penumbra (Spook Squad 3)

She nodded. “Mary said I could shapechange. That Josh and I did it often. If I could do it then, I should be able to do it now. It’s just a matter of remembering.”

Gabriel nodded in agreement. “I’ll guide you through the process as best I can. Just remember, if you do change shape, don’t stay in it for too long. Your muscles won’t be used to the stresses of your alternate shape, and I don’t want to see you tumbling off the damn cliff.”

“The sea won’t hurt me,” she said.

“No, but smashing down on the rocks certainly will. So please, just this once, do as I ask.”

A smile teased her lips. “Afraid of getting Illie back as a partner if anything happens to me, huh?”

“Well, you are far more kissable than he is.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Meaning you’ve attempted to kiss Illie? I didn’t know you were inclined that way, Gabriel Stern.”

“There’s a whole lot that you don’t yet know about me,” he said, amusement creasing the corners of his eyes. “That, however, is not one of them.”

Yet. That one word warmed more than anything else he’d said so far. “And thank goodness. I’d hate to think I’d have to keep an eye out for men as well as women competing for your attention. Hell, it took me long enough to even get your attention.”

“You had it from the very beginning,” he said mildly. “Now, are we going to attempt this? Because that storm is getting closer and I’d really rather be sitting beside the fire in that ramshackle, run-down house of yours when it hits.”

So would she. But not yet. Not just yet. Her gaze went to the black clouds sweeping toward them. Their energy tingled through her, as fierce as the sea itself. It was the perfect night for flight. The perfect night to find a part of herself she’d lost long ago.

She took a deep breath, then said, “Right. What do I do?”

“First off, relax. Breathe deep and release the anger, the fear and the tension.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“But you are tense. I can feel it,” he said. “So breathe in deep and, when you exhale, imagine each time you’re casting away a little bit more of that tension.”

She did as he bade and, after a few minutes, a sense of calm fell around her.

“Now,” he said. “Imagine there’s a well deep down in your soul. Imagine it filled with warm and eager light. Feel its welcoming caress surround your fingers, your hands, your arms, as you reach for it. Feel it flush through your entire body.”

Even as he spoke, energy began to pulse through her body. It tingled through her, around her, a force that was both familiar and foreign. As sharp as the storm and the sea, and yet very different in its feel.

“Imagine that light surrounding you, embracing you. Feel it in every fiber, every muscle. Let it become you, and you it.”

The energy surged, encasing her in a pulsating mesh. She felt as if she were teetering on the edge of a precipice, about to step into the unknown. Except it wasn’t unknown, because she’d been here before, and the memories were beginning to surface. In her mind’s eye, she began to see the hawk she was about to become.

“Now,” Gabriel said, voice soft, “imagine the hawk. Welcome her into being.”

She didn’t have to imagine. The hawk was with her, in her. It always had been; all she’d needed to do was remember her. And she did remember. The magic surged through her body, its touch fierce, joyful, as it unmade one shape so that she could become the other.

And then she was soaring up into the dusk, into the electric air, into freedom. And oh, it was glorious. She laughed in sheer delight, the sound the harsh cry of the hawk. Gabriel soon joined her, following her as she wheeled around on the updrafts, his gold and brown plumage glowing in the fading light of day.

It didn’t last long. As he’d warned, her muscles quickly began to tire. Reluctantly, she arrowed down, calling to the shifting energy as she neared the ground, hitting it in human form but a little too fast. She stumbled several steps before she caught her balance.

“So how was your first flight?” Gabriel said.

She spun to face him, her grin so wide it felt like her face would split from the force of it. “Amazing. Magical. I want to do it again, and again and again.”

He laughed and caught her hand, tugging her toward him. “Tomorrow,” he said softly. “If your arms aren’t leaden from this evening’s efforts.”

“You, Gabriel Stern, are a party pooper.” She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. “But even so, I do have this insane desire to kiss you senseless right now.”

“Then by all means, do so,” he said, but his smile gave way to seriousness. “There is, however, one thing you should know before you do.”

She raised an eyebrow, and oddly felt that once again she was standing on the edge of that precipice. This time, however, she was stepping into the unknown—but it was an unknown she didn’t fear. “And that is?”