There was a shrill noise. A train, a ship, a bell? Had to be a dream. Vicky turned over, trying to snuggle deeper into her covers. She couldn’t get comfortable because of the noise. The … the phone was ringing. It was actually ringing. It was no dream. It was a nightmare.

Shit!

It had just turned eleven o’clock, which meant that she had only just gotten to bed an hour ago. What the hell! Who was calling at this time of night?

One guess.

Just one.

It couldn’t be.

Not again.

It had to be. She answered with trepidation. Her heart beating. What now? What had he done now? “Hello.” Her voice sounded normal. Of course it did. It wasn’t like she’d been sleeping for hours, she’d only just gone to bed. “Vicky Kilpatrick speaking.”

"This is Scott Thomas from Summer Suites. One of our guests asked me to give you a call, but quite frankly, I'm inclined to contact law enforcement. That, or the looney bin," he whispered the last.

“I’m Doctor Kilpatrick.” She cringed as she used her title.

“Oh, I see. You’re a doctor. Thank goodness! This is starting to make more sense.”

“What happened?” She tried not to sound short.

Talon might be different. He possibly suffered from delusions, but he was harmless … at least, she was sure he was. It was that, or he was a serious liar. Of the pathological variety.

“He tried to commit suicide.”

Her skin suddenly felt chilled. “What?” Run around naked, saying stupid things, naïve, sure, but kill himself? Suicide? Not that. No way!

“He almost jumped off of his balcony. We have several witnesses. I am the manager on duty. Thankfully, I was able to access his room and talk him off the ledge, so to speak. If he hadn’t come down so easily and been so apologetic, I would have called—”

“I’m very glad you called me instead, Scott. I can be there in twenty minutes. Talon is harmless. I doubt very much he would actually have jumped. He is under my care …” More cringing as she said it, even though it was true. Well, sort of true. “I’m on my way.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” The guy sighed the words. “Please hurry.”

“I will,” she said just before she put down the phone.

Vicky dressed in record time. Careful to obey the road rules, she made it to the hotel in record time as well, following the signboards into the underground parking, after taking a parking ticket. Shoes clicking on the cement, she rushed for the elevator. This was worse than she thought. Maybe Talon did need help.

Just like the last time, the hotel lobby was beautiful. It was huge and opulent with the biggest bunch of flowers she had ever seen on the table at the entrance.

She introduced herself to the reception staff. Her wait wasn’t very long.

“Ms Kilpatrick!” a sweaty man yelled as she approached the desk. He looked so much like the night manager from the hotel from the previous night it was unbelievable. “I’m so glad to see you.” His eyes had a wild, panicked look.

“Yes, where is Talon?”

“Over here.” He pointed across from them. Talon was sitting in one of the royal blue, high-backed chairs. She’d been so fixated on the reception desk that she hadn’t noticed him and the two lady staff members there. Clearly in charge of babysitting him. The two women, as well as the manager, were all dressed in suits in the same color as the sofas and décor.

Talon was wearing one of the outfits she'd picked out for him and the flip-flops. She kept herself from rolling her eyes. "Let's go." There was a whole lot more she wanted to say to him, but it could wait until they were alone. The sooner she got him out of there, the better.

“Um, Ms Kilpatrick, you’re going to need this.” The manager handed her another parking ticket, only this one had a red stamp that said ‘comp’.

“Thank you.” She turned back to Talon.

Instead of pulling his wheelie bag, the one he’d bought earlier today, he picked it up by the handle as he stood up. Carrying the thing like it weighed nothing, he walked to her.

“Goodbye.” The manager sounded delighted to be rid of them. To be rid of Talon, who fell into step next to her as she walked.

She could feel all the staff watching as she pushed the button for the elevator. Pushing it three times in quick succession.

“Thank you for coming,” Talon said.

“Sure, no problem.” She forced a smile, looking up at him. At his chiseled jaw, his full lips, those gorgeous eyes. He looked so normal on the outside. If normal was gorgeous. Six and a half feet of delicious, completely off his rocker, male. Suicide. This was too much for her to deal with.

There was a dinging and the elevator doors finally opened. Thank god! He had better have some seriously good explanations for all this, or she was dropping him off at the nearest psychiatric ward. "What the hell happened?" she asked as the elevator began to move downwards.

“Just getting some air and everyone freaked out. I’m not sure what the problem was.” He shrugged those broad shoulders of his.

“They said you were threatening to jump off the balcony.”

Talon frowned and shook his head. “No, I wasn’t going to jump. I was just perching.”

“Perching? What the hell is perching? It had better not be what I think it is.” The elevator doors opened at basement level. She walked out of the elevator, Talon next to her.

“I was perching on the balcony railing when the manager—”

She stopped dead, putting a hand on the wall for support.

Talon stopped walking as well and went on with his story. “Scott began pounding on my door, begging me not to jump.” He made a face. “I hadn’t planned on jumping. I was just unwinding after a long day. I was sure to keep the pants on. I was sure not to walk around naked. I was minding my own business, enjoying a bit of fresh air. That’s all.”

“Perched up on the balcony railing?” Her voice was a tad shrill. “As in, on the actual balcony railing?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

This was beyond her. This was more than a minor psychological disorder. This was serious. “How many floors up?”

“What do you mean by floors?”

Oh brother. She scrubbed a hand over her face. “What was your room number?”

“802.”

“You were on the eighth floor.” Her blood ran cold. “You could have died if you had fallen. Do you know how high eight floors is?”

More shrugging. It infuriated her. “It wasn’t that high. Not at all.”

"You could have died. If you had fallen, you would have been a splatter on the tarmac. All of your bones pulverized. Your organs soup. Do you understand?"

“No, I told you I’m a shifter.” He scratched his jaw, the sound of his hand catching on the stubble. He looked at her with such intensity. Those strange-colored eyes boring into hers. “Shifters do not die easily.”

“Talon, you need to stop saying things like that. I’ve tried to go along with this. To humor you but this has turned serious. You could have died.” Her voice was high-pitched.

"I would not have died." He really believed that. She could see it in his eyes. He wasn't a pathological liar, he actually believed all of this, and it was liable to get him killed.

Vicky made a noise of frustration and rubbed her face. What was she going to do with him? Talon wasn’t harmless. He was a danger to himself.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Talon asked, drawing her attention back to him. “You don’t believe that I’m a shifter.” He narrowed his eyes, looking less than impressed. In fact, she would go so far as to say that he looked mad.

She inhaled sharply, suddenly feeling tiny and helpless and alone with someone who wasn’t all there. Talon was a good guy but how well did she know him? Vicky took a step back. Talon followed. “You don’t, do you?” he repeated, with more conviction this time. His jaw was tight, his eyes hard and narrowed.

"I like you, Talon. I want to help you … and by helping you, I mean, get you help. I'm not the right person for the job. I'm a psychologist who specializes in relationship counseling, I'm not a psychiatrist and that's what you need."

“Of course you can help me. I told you what I need. We agreed. Why won’t you believe that I’m a shifter?”

“You need real help. You’re not a shifter. You could have died. You could have fallen to your death tonight.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “That would never have happened.”

“Listen to yourself. You were eight stories up. That’s high, you—”

“I can fly,” he blurted. “I shouldn’t have told you that, but I can fly. I would never have fallen, I would have—”

Oh shit! This was worse than she thought. Way worse. If she didn't get Talon help, he might actually hurt himself. "You're a sweet guy. I know that you believe you're a shifter. That you can fly." She needed to handle this carefully. "I like you very much. We need to get you help. Once you talk to the right people, are correctly medicated, things will improve. You'll see."

“I don’t like where this is going.” He clenched his fists. “I don’t need to speak to any people.” He shook his head wildly from side to side, looking agitated. “I’m not sure what medication is but I don’t need it.”

Her throat felt dry. The problem was that he seemed to be stuck in and living this delusion. Telling him it wasn’t true only made it worse. “Okay, calm down.” His eyes seemed darker, more narrowed onto hers. His jaw tighter than ever. “You’re not going to hurt me are you?” She shouldn’t have said that. Talon grit his teeth, his eyes moving to the ceiling.

“Stay calm, okay? I promise you I’ll—”

There was this cracking noise. It was loud and unlike anything she had ever heard. Then a tearing noise as Talon’s clothing ripped off of him.

Ripped.

Ripped right off because Talon was too big. Too many muscles. Too much fur. Fur and feathers. Things that looked like wings. Wings! She screamed. Vicky felt her eyes bug out and her vocal cords sting. That’s how loud she screamed. It was cut short by a hand and a big hard body. A naked body. “Vicky,” that rasping voice, “please be quiet. I would never hurt you. Should never have revealed …” His chest touched her as it expanded with a big breath. Thank god he was back to normal. “Promise me that you won’t scream again?” he whispered.

It was true.

He wasn’t delusional.

Not crazy.

Maybe she was the crazy one. That could be it.

Her heart was going nuts. Vicky worked hard at trying to keep her breathing at least halfway to normal. She nodded. Talon let her go, stepping away. He cocked his head in the direction of the elevator. There was also a door that she assumed led to a staircase. “Someone is coming,” he whispered, picking up the fragments that were left of his clothing. “They must have heard you scream.”

“Shit,” she whispered back. “I can’t … I … follow me.” Within a few seconds, they were at her car. She unlocked the door. “Get in and stay down low.”

Talon nodded.

Vicky was just turning back when a security guard rounded the corner. Her heart was pounding. Her throat had never felt this dry before. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

He had his flashlight out and nodded in her direction. “Evening.” He looked at her like she was a suspect. Eyes narrowing. Hand clenching on the light.

“Good evening.” She forced herself to breathe more slowly. To look outwardly calm. Even if her mind was rushing a mile a minute with a hundred and one questions, all of which would start with ‘what the hell was that?’ Or just plain, ‘what the hell …?’

“Everything okay?” He looked at her strangely.

“Yes, fine. Why?” She tried not to allow her smile to widen more. There was a fine line between happy, relaxed and friendly, and the kind of smile that said you were losing your ever-loving-mind. Which she was. She really was. Feathers. Feathers like on a bird. Don’t think about that right now. Don’t do it.

“I thought I heard a scream just now.” He frowned. “I could have sworn …” He rubbed his chin.

“I didn’t hear anything.” She looked around them, keeping her back to the car, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see a very naked Talon hunkered down inside it. Hard to miss all the muscle, all the bronzed skin. He was really big, even as a human. Huge. Shifter big. Oh shit! Holy freaking cow! How could this be happening?

“That’s weird. I was sure I heard …” He pulled in a breath. Looking at her for a while.

Vicky worked on staying outwardly calm. She focused on her breathing. Low and easy.

The guard sighed. “I guess I was wrong. You have a good evening.”

“You too.” Vicky pretended to be digging in her purse for something. Acting like she wasn’t interested in the security guard. She watched, out of the corner of her eye as he slowly made his way down the line of intermittent cars, shining his flashlight into the darker corners. Still not convinced that all was well. Clever guy. There was a shifter lying in the back of her car. All was not well. Not!

A shifter.

She clapped a hand over her mouth. Talon was a shifter. He wasn’t weird or crazy or any of the other things she thought he was. Different, hell yeah, otherwise pretty normal, for a shifter.

Shit!

Don’t freak out!

She was breathing rapidly through her nose. It was fine. No problem at all. Vicky could handle this just fine.

She almost jumped out of her skin when a light tapping caught her attention. She looked over at Talon, who gestured for her to get in the car. He was dressing; his bag open on the seat next to him. The guy might be from the mountains and capable of turning into something ‒ no idea what, she only knew it could fly … he could fly ‒ but at least he was learning. She watched as he wrestled with a pair of jeans. Trying to get them onto his long legs in the back of the cramped car.

Vicky sucked in a breath. She had this. She climbed into the vehicle and with shaking hands, she pushed the key into the ignition. “Get down until we are out of the parking lot. You’re still half-naked.” She turned back to Talon.

He stopped fidgeting with the snaps on his jeans and did as she asked. Then Vicky reversed and drove out of the undercover parking area, using the comp ticket to open the gate.

“You really are a shifter,” she finally said. There was a quiver to her voice.

“Yes.”

“W-what kind of shifter? You have wings. Those were wings.” She still sounded a bit panicked but that couldn’t be helped.

“Yes. Maybe we should talk about this when we get back to your place.”

Vicky glanced in the rearview mirror. Talon gestured behind them. “You just missed the turn-off.”

“Oh crap!” Vicky put on her blinker and turned off onto a side street.

“You concentrate on driving, we’ll talk when we get to your place,” he repeated.

“Okay, but then you’re spilling some serious beans. I want the whole story. I need to know everything. All of it.”

Talon didn’t say anything. He just stared straight ahead. Those yellow-tinged irises solemn in the dark seat behind her. She did as he had recommended and concentrated on maintaining the speed limit when all she wanted to do was put her foot flat. She concentrated on stopping at the red lights when all she wanted to do was to run them. She needed to get home and hear all he had to say.

Finally … finally, in what felt like an age, she pulled into her parking space and they climbed the stairs to the first floor, quickly walking to her apartment. Talon carried his bag. Tattered clothes and broken flip-flops in the other hand.

As soon as the door closed behind them, she said. "Out with it. Who are you? What are you? Why are you here?" Then she realized how that had come out. Like an interrogation. When the truth was that he had been nothing but honest with her from the start. "I'm sorry." She puffed out her cheeks and let air slowly filter out of her mouth. "This has been a lot to take in. I should have believed you. I guess the signs, the clues were there. It's just so unreal." She hooked some hair behind her ear.

“Let’s go and sit down. Do you want one of your warm drinks? They normally calm you down.”

“I’m fine.” She walked a little further down the hall. “Unless you want something?” Vicky glanced back.

Talon shook his head. “I should not have done that.” He clenched his jaw. “Shifted like that. I was desperate.”

“I should have believed you. I …” She shook her head, sinking into the sofa and pulling her legs under her. “I’ve heard of wolf shifters … of other non-humans, like vampires. I never thought I would ever actually meet one. I’ve never heard of one like you either. You have feathers? Did I really see that? You said you could fly.”

He sat down across from her. Leaning his elbows onto his thighs and running a hand over his head. “I was never permitted to reveal that. To reveal my true identity. I …” He looked her in the eyes. She saw fear there. That and an edge of panic. It seemed that she was not the only one who was spooked by what he had done. What she had forced him to do.

“I’m sorry.” She felt terrible, awful. This was all her fault. “I should have believed you. I promise I won’t tell a soul.” Her heart beat a little faster. “It’s not like you need to kill me now or something, do you? Or maybe you have one of those devices that can erase a person’s memory.”

Talon choked out a laugh. He was really cute when he smiled, even cuter when he laughed. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. “No, nothing like that. I told you I would never harm you and I meant it. I doubt anyone would believe you if you were to tell them about me. I don’t blame you for not believing me, it is far-fetched.” He shrugged.

“Yeah, I reckon you would be right about no-one believing me. What are you? I mean, I know you’re a shifter but what kind of shifter.”

“I am one of The Feral.”

She waited a good ten seconds but when nothing more was forthcoming, she leaned forward. “What exactly is the … a Feral? Feral as in … untamed …” She tried to think of the meaning of the word. “Um … as in wild? Like Oliver.” Her voice was animated. “No wonder he likes you so much.”

“A Feral is me, and yes, that’s why Olly and I get along.”

That didn’t help at all. “Okay … I noticed you had both fur and feathers, is that right? It happened so quickly.”

He nodded.

“I know there are wolf shifters. There are rumors of bears as well. I thought that was just rubbish ‒ is it true?”

“Yes, that is correct. There are bears and even panthers.”

“Oh!” News to her! She believed him one hundred percent this time. How could she not? “What animal are you then? None of those have feathers, do they?”

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“I already saw you.”

“Not really, I only partially shifted. I did it to prove a point. I needed you to believe me. You wanted me to talk to … someone and to take medication. I could see that you were going to do something, something bad.”

She grimaced when she thought back to the things she had said to him, the things she had thought about him. Vicky licked her lips. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. I … was going to have you committed. Locked up," she added when he frowned.

“I understand why you had a tough time believing me. You don’t know me.”

But I want to know you. Where had that come from? This was nuts! Freaking insane! “I’m glad you understand.”

“I am not just one creature but an amalgamation of several.”

“Oh.” She nodded, probably a little too quickly, with too much force, so she made herself stop. “I see. Which animals?”

“I’m part feline. Lion to be exact.”

She had seen golden fur when he had partially shifted. That long sweeping … tail? Could it have been? “Okay, well that explains why Oliver likes you so much. He’s kind of feral too. At least he used to be.” She laughed.

Talon’s eyes stayed on her. “He wants to trust you, but his instincts are holding him back. Oliver likes you very much.”

Her heart beat faster and her eyes welled with tears. “He does?”

Talon nodded. “Definitely.” He remained serious. “He is still mostly feral and yes, although he is a base creature, we have an understanding of sorts.” He didn’t say anything more after that.

It was like getting water from stone. Vicky cleared her throat. “Go on.” She waved her hands to urge him to do as she had asked.

“And I am also part bird.”

She made a noise of agreement. “Yep, okay, that explains the feathers.”

"There is talk of the Phoenix being an ancient ancestor, but," he shrugged, "who knows if that is true."

“Okay, interesting.” More overzealous nodding and again, she forced herself to stop moving. Forced herself to shut her mouth when what she really wanted to do was ask him a ton of questions.

"I'm not convinced about the whole Phoenix connection. The elders swear it. We are essentially half-lion and half-eagle."

“Of course! Your eyes, their coloring and … I don’t know, just the way you stare at things with such intensity. It’s very eagle-like. As well as some of your movements. The whole perching thing. Oh flip!” Her eyes felt wide. Vicky clapped a hand over her mouth. “No wonder the thought of eating eggs grosses you out. It’s because you’re half-bird.” She shook her head.

“Yeah, our females …” He swallowed, thickly, looking away. “Our species are born from eggs.”

“No, get out!” She realized how silly she sounded, but please. Eggs? Feathers? A tail?

“I am serious. You do believe me …”

“Yes! I believe you, it’s just so unreal … but I believe you, I swear.”

Talon huffed out a breath. “Our females began dying. One after the other. It happened after they became with egg. We called the illness clutch sickness.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Despite our attempts to find a cure and to save them, they all died.”

“Every single one?”

“There are a few elderly females left and a couple of infertile females who were not affected. Other than that, all, save for one female, died.”

“Why one? What happened to her?”

“She has chosen to remain alone and therefore was not affected by the clutch sickness.”

Shit! How awful. She opened her mouth and closed it again. “I don’t know what to say. Anything I think of seems inadequate. I can’t imagine.”

“The other shifter species and even the vampires are successfully mating and breeding with humans. We would like an opportunity to do the same.”

“That’s why you’re here.”

He nodded.

“Not you though?” Why had she asked that? What the hell was wrong with her? Here he was, trusting her with something so important and she was asking stupid questions.

“No,” Talon shook his head. “Not me.” It may have been her imagination, but he looked sad about that. Nah! He looked perfectly fine. She was reading into things that weren’t there. “I am merely here to learn and to pass on the information. It is imperative that I remain impassive.”

“Of course, otherwise you might get side-tracked.” Lots of hot, sweaty sex might do that to a person. Saying hot, sweaty sex, even in her mind, made her think of hot, sweaty sex. Not just any hot, sweaty sex but hot, sweaty sex with Talon. She wanted to ask him why not him, but realized it was best if she left that well alone.

It was nuts how attractive he looked right now. He had always been attractive, but at the same time, she had thought that he was not quite all there. The elevator not going quite up to the top floor. The light being on but nobody being home. Or a pathological liar. This would affect how a person saw another person. It tended to detract from the package. Don’t think about his package.

Don’t. Do. It.

Her eyes drifted down. Talon was wearing his pussy magnet shirt and a pair of light blue jeans she’d picked out for him. Those jeans fit him to perfection. Thick thighs. His feet were bare. He wasn’t wearing underwear. He couldn’t be, considering how quickly he had dressed on her backseat.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I only just found out that griffins exist,” she mumbled, stumbling over her words. “That griffins are actually shifters. That you’re not entirely human.” She needed to shut up. She tried and failed. “I know you kept telling me that, but it’s different seeing it. The whole shift thing. You were so big and muscular. So …” Sexy. Was it crazy that she found the whole thing a turn on? She was not just perverted but sick too. Talon was still her client. She had this rule about not sleeping with clients.

What was she saying? She had no such rule. She’d always been with Jeff. Ever since she could remember, it had always been him. Since she wasn’t into cheating, there had been no need for a rule. After she’d had her heart ripped out of her chest a year ago, she’d sworn off men and certainly hadn’t needed a rule before now.

Before now.

Oh boy!

“Griffin?” He narrowed his eyes. “I am not a griffin. I am one of The Feral.” He breathed out through his nose and leaned back in the chair. His shirt pulled tight across his chest and the sleeves on his arms looked like they might rip at any second. Those gorgeous eyes narrowed in on hers.

Okay. Rule time.

No sex with a client.

Okay.

Good.

Done.

Rule in place.

She cleared her throat. "Griffins are creatures of myth," she smiled. "Not anymore though. It turns out that you're very real. A griffin ‒ it's what we humans call you. Half-lion and half-eagle. I couldn't remember the term earlier."

"A Griffin," he said the word, seeming to roll it off his tongue. "It does not matter. Our species is dying. We have had very little …" He huffed out a breath. "Make that, we have had no contact with humans. We have always kept to ourselves. It has been years since we have mingled with potential mates of any kind. If we are to survive, we need to adapt. We tried to reach out on our own and …” He pushed out another heavy breath. “It was not successful. Will you help me? Will you help my people?”

“Thank you for being honest, for showing me who you are.” She only wished she had seen him shift fully. “You can trust me. Yes, I’ll help you.”

Talon reached out. He took her hand. His skin was incredibly warm, his fingers calloused. “Thank you.” Then he let her go, pulling away. There was a look of confusion on his face.

“You okay?”

He nodded. “Yes, just tired. It’s been a long day.”

The funny thing was that he didn’t look tired. “Of course, you must be exhausted. I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket.”