“Once, when I was a kid, before…” I pressed my lips together. “Isaac and his brother, Theo, hitched a ride with one of Aunt Dot’s renters into town. I caught them at the edge of the park and begged to go. They hated when I tagged along, so I should have been suspicious when they welcomed me into the car.”

Graeson moved his hand a fraction, and I sucked in air between my teeth.

“Once we got to town, they dared me to borrow magic from the guy. I was five, and I didn’t know what he was when I took his blood.” But those two had known exactly what was about to happen. “It made me faster, my senses keener, and…” I put it out there. “I sprouted this muscular bald tail—like a possum’s—as long as my arm. It popped out inside my jeans and hurt so badly being cramped up in there I stripped right on the street. I was so freaked out by it that I couldn’t shift back. Then they started to panic, because they knew they were going to get in big trouble, so they ditched me. I had to walk home in my panties, because the elastic allowed me to tuck the waistband under the base of the tail.”

It had been the first of many such walks of shame.

The corners of Graeson’s eyes creased, and I knew he wanted to laugh. I guess in hindsight it was kind of… No. It still wasn’t funny to me.

“I’m no doctor, but here’s my two cents.” He grabbed a tube of antibiotic ointment, squirted a generous amount on his fingertips and smoothed it gently over the scratches. “It’s safe to say you absorbed some of my healing ability. You’re healing almost as fast as I do. You should be as good as new by morning at this rate.”

I risked a glance, expecting gaping flesh despite his diagnosis, but he was right. A pissed-off house cat could do the amount of damage I saw. “That’s amazing.” I flexed my still furry hands. “This—not so much.”

“Do you need to reset?” He kept it casual as he finished up and wiped his hands clean. “Is that something you want to do alone? Or would you like me to stay?”

At first I didn’t know how to answer. He knew better than most why using my reset gutted me. Shifting to my other form jarred me back into Lori’s skin, ripping open a different kind of wound as I went.

I surprised myself by saying, “I wouldn’t say no to company.” I fisted my hands in my lap. “I just… Could you give me a few minutes? Alone?”