Firefighter Unicorn (Fire & Rescue Shifters 6)

“I can teach you that. But I can’t teach anyone else what you already know. You have the experience of what it’s like to grow up outcast from shifter society. And who better than a wyvern to mentor surly, defensive teens who’ve been taught to think of themselves as monsters?” Lady Hereford leaned forward, touching the back of Ivy’s hand. “Think about it, won’t you?”

Ivy’s heart beat faster as she began to imagine the possibilities. Not a job done at night, solitary and invisible, but a real career helping people. Helping people like herself.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll need to talk it over with Hugh, though.”

“Of course,” said Lady Hereford. “You are mates, after all.”

Ivy noticed the way her voice dropped a little on the word ‘mates.’ A slight sadness passed across Lady Hereford’s usually serene face, but Ivy didn’t think it was anything to do with her and Hugh.

“So where’s the Earl?” she asked, guessing at the real reason for Lady Hereford’s sudden melancholy. “I thought you were both going to come down for Christmas.”

“Oh, he’s here, upstairs in the private room,” Lady Hereford reassured her. “I’m sure he’d be delighted if you went up to share a drink with him later. But…well, tonight is a party for shifters and their families. He escorted me here, but felt it best to stay away from the festivities himself.”

Ivy couldn’t blame the Earl for that. The loss of his unicorn was old, but it was still deeply disconcerting for any shifter to see that grotesque scar in his soul. And perhaps it was also difficult for the Earl to be around people who still had their own animals.

“Uh…is it going to be hard for him to be around Hugh tomorrow?” Ivy asked, belatedly realizing that this might be a more fraught family Christmas than she’d thought.

“No,” Lady Hereford said, without hesitation. “It meant more to him than you can imagine—certainly more than he’ll ever say—that Hugh invited us both. Thank you for finally telling Hugh the truth about his father, by the way.”

Ivy shrugged. “It just didn’t feel right to keep that secret from him anymore. I’m glad that he and Hugh might finally be able to mend some fences. But are you sure it doesn’t upset him that Hugh’s got his unicorn back, when he doesn’t himself?”

Lady Hereford shook her head firmly. “He’s overjoyed that Hugh regained his animal. You don’t need to worry about that.”

Despite Hugh’s mother’s words, there was a crease in her brow that spoke of some hidden concern. But if it wasn’t about her husband…what could it be?

A flash of insight came to her. “Is it hard for you to be around Hugh now?”

Lady Hereford dropped her gaze, toying with her wineglass. “I am happy for him, of course. But now that we know a true mate’s love can restore a unicorn…well. I have to think about what that means for me and my husband.”

Ivy sucked in her breath. She’s assumed that Hugh’s parents would finally be able to be together fully, as husband and wife, now that Hugh was no longer sensitive to sexual activity. But it seemed her own happiness had only made his parents’ situation worse.

“The Earl doesn’t want to leave you, does he?” she asked, dismayed and guilty.

“Oh, no.” Lady Hereford smiled sadly. “His honor would never allow it. He would never abandon me, nor even breathe a word of his true feelings. But I know how much your animals mean to you shifters. I know how he still walks the house in the small hours of the morning, unconsciously searching for something he lost long ago. I love him too much to allow him to live in such pain. I think you understand.”

Ivy did. Her heart bled to think of Hugh’s kind mother being in a similar impossible position.

“Are you sure you aren’t his true mate?” she asked. “I mean, you could be, right? Maybe he just wouldn’t know, not being a shifter anymore.”

Lady Hereford’s slim shoulders rose and fell in a sigh. “I cannot cling to that false hope. We were…intimate, before Hugh was born. And his unicorn never came back. No. I am not his true mate.”

A slight cough made them both look round. Rose, who was serving drinks behind the bar, had drifted nearer during the conversation. The middle-aged pub owner regarded them both thoughtfully as she pulled a pint of beer.

“Pardon me,” Rose said, “but I couldn’t help overhearing. I can assure you, your husband very much is your true mate.”

Lady Hereford’s expression iced over a little, as if she was suspecting some sort of scam. “May I ask how you are so certain?”

“I’m a swan shifter,” Rose said, deftly sliding the full pint down the bar. “I can sense mate bonds.”

The crease between Lady Hereford’s eyebrows deepened. “Your kind are renowned for always being able to find their true mates. I know that swans go on a quest when they reach adulthood, with their inner animal leading them unerringly to their other half. But as far as I am aware, swans can only sense the location of their own true mate, not other people’s.”

An old sadness shadowed Rose’s calm eyes. “I’m not like other swans. When I was younger, I could sense my true mate calling to me. I even set off on my quest to find him. But one day, in the middle of my journey, I woke

up and couldn’t feel him anymore. Perhaps my mate died before I could meet him. Anyway, for some reason losing my own heart’s desire made me sensitive to other people’s hearts. So now I help other people find their mates. And I am absolutely certain that your mate is right upstairs at this very minute.”

A bright hope kindled in Lady Hereford’s face…and swiftly died. “But in that case, I should have brought back his unicorn on our wedding day.”

“But you weren’t truly open to each other then!” Ivy exclaimed, remembering her first ever conversation with the Earl. “Because he never told you about his unicorn, not until Hugh’s powers started developing. Even though he loved you, he was holding back, not trusting you fully with his secrets. You didn’t even know there was something you could be doing. But now you do!”