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Micah put his hands on my shoulders. “It happens when your beast controls you, at first. The first few full moons will be almost complete blackouts, until you can begin to access the memories, and that will take work.”

Reece had leaned back across the seat, half-reclining, and started to undo his belt.

This close I could see, or thought I saw what was wrong with the hair on his chest and stomach. I tried to move forward, but Micah held me, hands tightening on my shoulders. I stretched out my hand and could brush fingertips over Reece’s stomach. The light touch of my fingers over his skin made him stop fussing with his belt, made him look at me.

It wasn’t hair. “Feathers,” I said, softly, “like the down on a baby chicken, so soft.” I wanted to run my hands over the surprising texture of it, to roll my body across the feathers and the heat of his skin. I could hear his heart in his chest pounding, and when I looked up, I met his gaze. His pulse was in his neck, like a trapped thing, and I could taste his fear. That one touch of my hand, the soft, dreamy quality of my voice had frightened him.

Micah’s arms wrapped around my neck and shoulders and drew me in against his body with his legs on either side of me. He leaned over me, his face pressed to mine, and said, “Ssshhh, Anita, ssshhh.” But it was more than a soothing voice. I could feel his beast calling to mine, as if he’d rolled his hand through my body, but so much larger. And that touch made my body tighten, grow wet. It brought my own pulse into my throat.

“What did you do?” I sounded breathless.

“The hunger can be turned to sex,” Micah said.

“I wasn’t going to feed,” I said.

“Your skin went hot. Our bodies spike a temperature just before we change, like a human before a seizure.”

I turned, still held in his arms, half-pinned between his knees. “You thought I was going to change?”

“It usually takes weeks, or at least the first full moon, for the first shape change. But you seem to be gaining problems faster than normal. If you changed for the first time here, I don’t think either Rafael or I would be able to keep you from tearing Reece up.”

“The first change is very violent,” Rafael said, “and even the backseat of a limo doesn’t have much room to hide or to run in.”

Reece looked at me from only inches away, held in Micah’s arms, his body, and I knew that it wasn’t romantic. He was holding on in case the sex as distraction didn’t work. “She’s been Nimir-Ra for over a year,” Reece said.

“But still human, until recently,” Rafael said.

Reece stared at me for a second or two, then said, “Very well, I have a birthmark in the shape of a swan. My family knew from my birth what I was meant to be.”

“I’ve heard of such things,” Micah said, “but I thought it was legend.”

Reece shook his head. “It’s very true.” He sat back in his seat, tucking his undershirt down in front.

“Kaspar had feathers instead of hair on his head,” I said.

“I’m told that if I live long enough that gradually that will happen to me.” There was something in his voice that said he wasn’t looking forward to the prospect.

“You don’t sound happy,” I said.

He frowned at me, rebuttoning his shirt. “You were human once, Ms. Blake, I’ve never been human. I was born a swan king. I was raised to take my place as their king from my earliest memories. You have no idea what that’s like. I insisted on going to college, on getting a degree, but I may never get to use it, because going from place to place caring for the other swans keeps me very busy.”

I stayed in the circle of Micah’s body, but the tension was draining away. “I saw my first soul when I was ten, and my first ghost earlier than that, Reece. At thirteen I accidentally raised my dog that had died. I’ve never been human, Reece, trust me on that.”

“You sound bitter about it,” he said.

I nodded. “Oh, yeah.”

“You must both accept who and what you are, or you will make yourselves miserable,” Rafael said.

We both looked at him, and I don’t think either look was friendly. “Give me a week or two