Hawking a Future by Zenina Masters Page B

constructed and some tiny bonsais were planted and flourishing under fanatical attention.
    She heard her own heartbeat in her ears and watched the strangers approaching her.
    A man and a woman came toward her, and they moved with the grace of shifters who spent a lot of time in their beast forms.
    The woman with the long white hair came forward and smiled. “Hayley Hyland, welcome to the Crossroads.”
    Hayley looked around and noted the golden-skinned fey grinning in the background. She had a thousand things she wanted to say, but what came out was, “What the fuck just happened?”
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    The male shifter blinked in surprise. “What do you mean? This is the Crossroads. You are here to meet your mate.”
    Hayley ran a hand over her face. “Damn it. I have to be back at work. I am going to lose my job.”
    The male receded to a small office station and rifled through documents.
    The woman came forward. “Um, this is weird. I am Teal and that’s Tony. We got your details yesterday and were expecting you today. You didn’t agree to come here?”
    Hayley sighed. “I did and I didn’t. I agreed that I wouldn’t mind meeting a fey, but I didn’t agree to get my butt here immediately.”
    Tony called out, “Aha!”
    He came over from a desk and flourished an envelope with a heavy seal on it. “This came with the orders.”
    Hayley took the heavy paper and looked at the seal. It was a fern leaf in silver on a blood-red background. She opened the envelope and read the interior document.
     
    Dear Ms. Hyland,
    Apologies for altering your travel course, but time was of the essence. The best choices for you are already at the Crossroads and recalling them and sending them back would not be easy if we waited until you were ready.
    We understand that this is not in keeping with your plans for the future, but we hope that the compensation of a mate will be fair-enough trade for this deception.
    Your work situation has been ratified. You have been offered a position with the court during litigation sessions as your skills would be highly effective in that duty. Two years of your standard wages have been transferred into your account to compensate for the change of state.
    Thank you for your service to our people, and we hope to speak with you again when you have made your final decision and chosen one of ours for your own.
    Seers Mijak and Lencor
     
    “Well, that does explain it. The fey put me on a detour.” She looked up and smiled at Teal.
    The woman sighed in relief. “So, you are here to meet a fey.”
    Hayley shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
    Tony held up a charm on a leather strand. “This charm will act as payment for anything you want to purchase here. It will also shift with you.”
    As he tied it on her wrist, she smiled. “That won’t be an issue. I don’t shift.”
    His fingers fumbled, and he dropped the small icon before picking it up again. “What?”
    “I don’t shift. My birth parents were unbonded shifters. Neither beast can get enough power up to make the change, so all three of us are stuck in the same body.”
    Teal’s eyes were wide. “I have heard of that but never met an offspring before. It usually doesn’t happen.”
    “I am well aware of that. I have been told that frequently since my sixteenth birthday.” When the charm was in place, she examined it. “What the hell is this?”
    Tony looked at it. “I can’t tell. It normally shows a claw or a paw or an indicator of the beast inside. I can make out wings, but not the wings of anything I can identify.”
    “And the crystal?”
    “It makes you more obvious to the fey. They know that you are willing to consider them.”
    Hayley shrugged. “I am willing to consider anyone that I truly want.”
    Teal chuckled. “Good answer.”
    They walked her through the paperwork, and she signed her consent to abide by any mutual decision to form a bond with a fey or shifter.
    “Teal, who is that man lurking in the