Change of Heart

go," I snapped at Crane.
    "Did he give us permission to go?" He looked confused as he gazed around the table. "'Cause if he did, I missed it."
    "I doubt he cares one way or another," I muttered under my breath as I stood up. "And unmated reahs don't need permission to do anything."
    Crane sighed deeply and looked up at me. "Can I finish eating?"
    I looked over at Eva. "Ma'am, would you mind making us a plate to go?"
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "You might not need permission to leave his tribe," Mikhail told me, "but you do need permission to leave his home."
    I nodded. "Fine. Would you please go make him aware that we're leaving while I make a call?"
    "Who do you need to call?"
    "Someone needs to pick up me and Crane."
    "No, Jin. Yuri and I brought you both here. We'll take you back."
    "But we're leaving now," I said, smacking Crane's shoulder to get him to stand up, "and I don't want to take you guys away from the party."
    "Jin, I doubt that there's still going to be a—"
    "Should I call someone or not?" I asked, all my attention on him.
    "No." He sighed deeply, rising from his seat. "Give me a moment to find Logan."
    I nodded before I walked to the sink with my plate.
    "Jin?"
    I turned and looked at Delphine.
    "Can I have one dance with Crane before you guys leave?"
    I really just wanted to go.
    "Please."
    My eyes flicked to Crane, and I realized all his attention was on her. He liked her. She liked him. Crap. "Sure."
    The way he bolted up out of his seat made everyone smile.
    They liked him, but that had been inevitable. Everyone did.
    Crane and Delphine disappeared hand in hand through the kitchen door after he threw his parka at me.
    "Hey."
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    Yuri was smiling at me.
    "Why don't you go upstairs and wait for Crane? There's a really nice sitting room that's quiet."
    I squinted at him. "Do I look like I need a quiet room or something?"
    "Kind of," he said softly. "And I can sort of feel it... like you need everything to just stop."
    I let out a deep breath. "Are you always so perceptive?"
    "No," he said flatly. "Never, actually. I think it's just you."
    "Why don't I take you up there?" Eva said as she reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "Give Delphine and Crane a little bit of time together. She seems quite smitten."
    My second mistake of a very long night was having gone to Logan Church's home in the first place. The first had been smiling at his sheseru. Would my third now be to let Logan's very sweet mother have her way?
    "I'd love to see the room," I said to her, surrendering. "A little quiet would be great."
    There were two ways out of the kitchen. One door led to the hall and then upstairs to the second floor, and the other, the one Logan had disappeared through, led back out to the living room and then on to the great room where the party was raging. The crowd, from what Eva explained, was supposed to be drinking and dancing all night, and there was a hunt scheduled for midnight in the moonlight. This was the feast to celebrate the mating of a semel; the debauchery and reveling had to be of bacchanal proportion.
    "You don't like a party?" I teased Eva as I followed her up the huge mahogany staircase.
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "They seldom end well," she sighed.
    I had to agree.
    "Here we go, darling."
    It was a small room with polished wooden floors, one wall lined with books, a fireplace, a big thick rug in front of it, and overstuffed furniture that looked soft and comfortable. I felt all the tension run out of me just looking at it.
    "Why don't you relax here in front of the fire, and I'll bring you up some chamomile tea?"
    "You don't have to do that," I told her, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.
    She shook her head. "I want to. I would love to take care of you just a little."
    "Thank you."
    "I'm going to pack up food for you and Crane to take."
    I grabbed her and hugged her tight. The gasp before she clutched me back made me smile.
    "Oh, Jin, why does such a small gesture touch you so deeply?" she asked, more to herself than to me. "Who hurt you, angel?"
    When I let her go, she put her hand on my cheek, staring up into my eyes. "I've never seen such dark gray eyes before.
    They're just beautiful."
    Her own green eyes were like pale pieces of jade. "You're not so bad, yourself."
    "Go sit down," she said gently, her hand slipping from my cheek as she walked to the door. "I'll be right back."
    I watched the door close behind