The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

child.
    Nassar dived down. His huge talons skidded on the balcony and he tumbled into the room beyond. Feathers swirled. He staggered up. “Leave us.”
    People fled past her. In a moment the room was empty.
    Grace hugged herself. Up there, in the evening sky, the cold air had chilled her so thoroughly, even her bones felt iced over. Her teeth still chattered. She stepped to the double doors and shut them, blocking off the balcony and the draught with it.
    The large rectangular room was simply but elegantly furnished: a table with some chairs, a wide bed with a gauzy blue canopy, a bookcase, some old, solidly built chairs before the fireplace. A couple of electric table lamps radiated soft yellow light. An oriental silk rug covered the floor.
    Nassar slumped in front of the fireplace. Bright orange flames threw highlights on his feathers, making them almost golden in the front. His feathers seemed shorter. His jaws no longer protruded quite as much.
    Grace crossed the carpet and stood before the fire, soaking in the warmth. It all seemed so dreamlike. Unreal.
    “This will be your room for the next couple of days,” he said.
    “You have no idea how strange this is to me,” she murmured.
    His smart eyes studied her. “Tell me about it?”
    “In my world people don’t turn into . . . into this.” She indicated him with her hand. His feathers definitely were shorter now. He’d shrunk a little. “People don’t fly unless they have a glider or some sort of metal contraption with an engine designed to help them. Nobody tries to murder someone through magic. Nobody has mysterious castles masquerading as empty fields.”
    A careful knock interrupted her.
    “It’s your room,” Nassar murmured.
    “Come in,” she called.
    A man entered, pushing a small trolley with a teakettle, two cups, a dish of sugar, a ewer of cream and a platter with assorted cookies. As he passed her, she saw a short sword in a sheath at his waist. “Your sister suggested tea, sir.”
    “Very thoughtful of her.”
    The man left the trolley, smiled at Grace, and departed.
    Grace poured two cups of tea.
    “I suppose in your world people don’t drink tea either?” he asked.
    “We drink tea,” she said with a sigh. “We just don’t always have servants armed with swords to bring it. Cream?”
    “Sugar and lemon, please.” Nassar had returned to his normal size. The feathers were mere fur now, and his face was bare and completely human.
    “What’s happening with your feathers?”
    “I’m consuming them to replenish some of my energy. Transformations such as this are difficult even for me.” He sank into a chair, took a cup from her with furry fingers, and sipped from it. “Perfect. Thank you.”
    “I live to serve.”
    His lips curved into a familiar half-smile. “Somehow I deeply doubt it.”
    Grace sank into the other chair and sipped shockingly hot tea, liberally whitened by cream. Liquid heat flowed through her. His magic brushed her again, but she had flown over miles bathed in it and she accepted his touch without protest. She was so very tired. “This is a dream. I’ll wake up, and all of this will be gone. And I’ll go back to my quiet little job.”
    “What is it you do?”
    Grace shrugged. He knew, of course. His clan had been keeping tabs on her family for years. When you own something, you want to pay attention to its maintenance. He probably knew what size of underwear she wore and how she preferred her steak. “Why don’t you tell me?”
    “You’re a headhunter. You find jobs for others. Do you like it?”
    “Yes. It’s boring at times and stressful, but I get to help people.”
    “You didn’t know about your family’s debt, did you?” he asked.
    “No.” She refilled her cup.
    “When did you find out?”
    “Three days ago.”
    “Was it sudden?”
    “Yes,” she admitted. “I always knew about magic. I was born able to feel it. At first I was told I was a very sensitive child, and then, once I was old enough to realize I needed to keep it to myself, more complicated explanations followed. I live in a world of very small magics. I can sense if I’ll miss the bus. In school, I could usually foretell my grade on tests, but I could never predict anything else accurately. If I concentrate very hard, I can scare animals. A dog once tried to chase me, and I was frightened and sent it running.”
    She drank again. “Small things, mostly useless. I thought that all magic users were like me. Working