“Are you a fan of The Office?” Jillian asked.

“Sure.”

Jillian leaned forward, squinting at Dani’s face. “Wow! You are very exotic-looking. Was your dad a GI?”

“Wha—” Dani’s jaw dropped at the implication of one of the cringier quotes from the show. “Aw, man, am I the Michael Scott in this scenario?”

“I know you didn’t mean anything by it, but it’s considered intrusive.” Jillian nodded. “You could literally ask some of these people about their favorite sexual positions and they wouldn’t bat an eyelash. But direct questions about their species? The height of rudeness. They can throw out hints. And if you guess correctly, they’ll confirm it. But you don’t ask.”

“But direct questions are my primary means of communication!”

“Trust me, I get it. Haven’t you read my handbook?” Jillian asked. “The League was supposed to send copies to all its employees. It’s required reading if you plan on working for the Mystic Bayou Initiative.”

“Well, I was working in Outer Mongolia when the League contracted me to move here, so no, I didn’t read your handbook. They didn’t have wifi in my yurt, so it wasn’t like I could order it on Amazon. And despite the fact that I am a League employee, I haven’t had a lot of experience with shifter culture before. My mother using her lab’s de-contamination airlock as a babysitter? Sure. Naked people dancing in the mud to the music of the wind? Yes, on my twelfth birthday. But not shapeshifters.”

Snorting, Jillian reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a blue-bound soft-covered book entitled, Mystic Bayou: A Whole-Hearted Approach to a Blended Community. “Here. I keep these handy for moments like this.”

Jillian unlocked another desk drawer and handed her a much thinner volume marked TOP SECRET. “And here is the appendix regarding the rift. Please don’t let that get into the wrong hands.”

Dani nodded. “I will do my best.”

“And for future reference, Bael is a dragon shifter.”

“Really? Good for you,” Dani said, raising her brows. She couldn’t imagine calm, collected Bael as an enormous, fire-breathing creature. Then again, she’d only mildly annoyed him. She hadn’t pissed it him off royally.

“And since you’re working with the rift, I feel the need to tell you…” Jillian snapped her finger, and a tall blue flame flickered to life on the end of her thumb.

Dani sat back in her chair, a confused expression on her face. “Jillian, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but what the fuck is going on with your thumb?”

“Exposure to the rift earlier this year turned me into a phoenix. I’m one of those ‘remade magie’ the League is so concerned about. After spending just a few months in this town, I can now do this.”