Alchemy Shift

  Alchemy Shift

  Jenny Schwartz

  A woman, her sword, and the bear-shifter who’ll steal her heart.

  Delphi Cosmatos is an alchemist. She investigates the strange and magical objects that find their way to Collegium headquarters in New York. She has magic—and a big Greek family, all ready to “help” her (they mean, interfere). When Jet Walsh moves in next door with no family except the two young orphaned cousins he’s responsible for, it’s a situation of opposites attracting, especially since Jet is a bear-shifter.

  But Jet can’t pursue a romantic relationship. He’s tracking the rogue mage who tortured and killed his cousins’ mom. Banned spells are being trafficked across the world and the center of the trade is New York.

  Delphi knew her city was dangerous, but now her heart is in danger, too. Jet doesn’t have magic, yet he’s tangling with a powerful, ruthless mage. If she wants to save her man, she’ll need all the help she can get. No! Not from her family. Stashed in the evidence bunker at Collegium headquarters is the legendary sword Excalibur, and Delphi is just the woman to wield it. Maybe.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Note From The Author

  Chapter 1

  Don’t even think about serving those children pizza for dinner five nights in a row! That’s what Delphi Cosmatos said in her mind. In the real world, she ambushed her new neighbor on his front step and thrust a hot casserole dish at him. “I made moussaka. There was extra.” She spun around before he could argue and darted inside her cozy home, leaving him juggling the hot baking dish. She’d held it with a tiny cool spell to protect her fingers, but magic like that wouldn’t work for her bear-were neighbor. Weres were immune to magic.

  Besides, she didn’t feel like protecting his fingers.

  She heard the low rumble of the man’s voice, then the slam of their front door. At least he hadn’t rejected the moussaka. For four nights she’d seen Jonny from the local pizzeria delivering a family-sized box next door. She hadn’t been snooping. She’d been coming home from work and had said “hi” to Jonny. After all, she’d known him since he was in diapers. She also knew that although the pizzas Jonny’s granddad made were great, children needed vegetables—and cuddles and hugs.

  The two waifs next door tugged at her heartstrings. Their clothes were clean and new, but they were too solemn and too skinny. When they ventured out, each holding one of their dad’s hands, they were overly subdued and they tried to hide behind the big man.

  Delphi hadn’t had a lot to do with weres, but she’d expected bear-were cubs to be more confident and curious.

  Jet Walsh saw little Grace’s nose twitching at the delicious aroma of the moussaka and instantly forgave his neighbor her scarcely-hidden disapproval of his child-raising abilities. Heck, he knew he had a lot to learn. Kids had never been on his agenda and now that he was responsible for two of them, he’d discovered what all parents already knew: there weren’t enough hours in the day. At least, tonight, they’d all eat a home-cooked meal. Tomorrow, being Saturday, he’d stock up on groceries, get some sort of schedule organized, and buy a cookbook.

  “Smells good, doesn’t it?” he asked the kids.

  Grace immediately ducked her head and clutched the hem of his jacket. Tony, two years older than his sister, and too small for his seven years, mumbled a “yes”.

  Jet smothered a sigh. He could understand why his attractive neighbor had pegged the two kids as at risk. They were—or they had been. But he was here for them, now. It would take them a while to believe that. Fortunately, he was a bear-were and bears were famous for their patience.

  The front door of the house stuck, and he thumped it with his fist. The door creaked open grudgingly. The house needed a lot of work. He’d bought it for the location. Astoria, only a subway ride to Manhattan, was convenient for his new job, and with the house needing renovation from roof to basement, he’d been able to negotiate down the price to a mortgage he could handle. Just.

  “All right. Coats off. Hands washed.” He slammed the front door shut. “Then we eat.” He strode on into the kitchen that had been renovated in the 1970s and abused ever since, and set the hot casserole on the counter. He washed his hands and turned, belatedly realizing that the kids had followed him rather than head for the bathroom. They were lined up, ready to take their turn at the sink. Their readiness to endure makeshift arrangements tore at his heart and he wondered again if he’d done the right thing in buying the house. He could have gotten a condo that needed no work.

  But a house, this house, felt right.

  He watched Grace soap her hands and peek at him for approval. Her dark blonde hair would need a cut soon. It was falling over her blue eyes. “Good girl.”

  She glanced away from him with a tiny, shy smile and concentrated on rinsing her hands.

  While she dried them and Tony washed his, Jet got out plates and cutlery and set the table.

  “This is good,” Tony said a few minutes later, scraping his plate.

  It was. “Would you like some more?” Jet asked. Their neighbor had been generous.

  “Yes. Please.”

  The kids were trying so hard to be good that Jet had to dust off his own rusty manners. “You’re welcome. We’ll have to thank our neighbor when we take back the clean dish.”

  Tony nodded, his mouth full. “I could draw her a picture?”

  Of all the things his new life had brought him, the color pencils and clean paper seemed the most important to the boy.

  “I think she’d like that,” Jet said. And it was the sort of thing a parent would encourage a kid to do. Normal life.

  “Me,” Grace said.

  Brother and sister looked so little alike, but their bond was intense. Tony, with his straight black hair and serious expression, resembled his late father, a panda-were. Grace looked more like their mom. Her dark blonde hair would lighten if she spent enough time in the sun. Her father…well, that space was blank on her birth certificate, and if their mom had known, she’d taken that secret to the grave. Along with others even more deadly.

  Jet finished his second serving of the excellent moussaka. “Both of you can draw our neighbor a thank you picture.”

  Dinner over, he rolled up the sleeves of his white business shirt and did the dishes, while the kids settled in front of the television with pencils and paper. He washed the casserole dish and thought of its owner. The woman seemed to live alone in the house next door, although she had plenty of visitors. Her family and friends were loud and laughed a lot. Her house was how he imagined his could be one day. It was a solid 1920s build that looked both snug and warm. Their neighbor even had herbs growing in its tiny backyard. He’d peered over the fence and seen them. His backyard was growing weeds and abandoned bike parts from a previous resident.

  And the woman, herself. He surprised himself with his low rumble of approval. She was what he liked in a woman: tall and curvy, her pretty face framed by curly black hair, and she moved with energy. She’d been a bit shy shoving the moussaka at him and he didn’t think she was usually shy.

  Had she feared he’d mistake the casserole for her making a move on him?

  Single woman courts new neighbor?

  He frowned. Like I’d be that stupid. And it would be stupid to imagine that she was interested in him or that he was free to pursue his attraction to her. He had responsibilities now that a few short weeks ago he’d never dreamed of. He’d probably make a heck of
a mess learning how to handle them, too.

  How did a single man, more accustomed to criminal investigations and justice in wild regions than to civilian life, learn to be an instant father?

  He stared at Tony and Grace, black and blonde heads bent over their drawings.

  A man learned as best he could, and maybe, it was okay to be a bit scared.

  Jet rinsed the dirty dishwater from the sink and his hands, and picked up a tea towel to dry the casserole dish.

  At any rate, his neighbor needn’t worry that he’d misinterpret her kindness. He knew he wasn’t a catch. Their houses sitting side by side showed that truth to the world. His was a wreck. He’d had to rip out the old dishwasher from his kitchen and dump it in the backyard because it was growing things! A bacteriologist might have liked it, but Jet’s stomach had revolted at the stench. The dishwasher couldn’t stay in the same house as children.

  It all came back to Tony and Grace. The kids were the reason he couldn’t afford a romantic relationship. They had to be his priority.

  His pretty neighbor had her life together. He was stuck building a new one.

  “Uncle Jet?” Tony stood in the doorway to the kitchen. The boy clutched a sheet of paper, his sister standing behind him. “Do you think she’ll like it?”

  Jet set aside the casserole dish and tea towel. He looked at the picture of a stick figure woman standing outside a house, stars and flowers filling any and all empty spaces on the page. It seemed Tony saw the same dream of happiness next door that he did. “I think she’ll love it.”

  Tony smiled, the gap in his teeth showing.

  Jet smiled back as he crouched down and accepted Grace’s offering. Scribbles suggested an attempt at a house and a much clearer attempt at drawing a cat. Did Grace want a kitten? Jet bit back a sigh. He couldn’t take on a pet as well as the kids, not right now. “Is that a cat?”

  “That’s Mousey.” Grace spoke so little that every word she said was important.

  Jet glanced at Tony.

  The boy avoided his eyes, kicking at the edge of the living room’s fraying carpet. “She calls all cats Mousey.”

  Jet had no idea what to say, so he stood. “Coats on. I’ll return her dish to the nice lady next door, and you can give her your thank you pictures.” He didn’t bother with a jacket himself. The fall air was crisp, but not freezing; not for a bear-were born and bred in Maine.

  “Hi, Mom.” Delphi opened the front door. The family all had keys to her house, but they liked using the crazy doorbell she’d installed for Halloween, which was only a fortnight away. It woowoo’d like a scary ghost.

  “Moussaka?” CeeCee, or police captain Cynthia Cosmatos, inhaled appreciatively as she moved inside and Delphi closed the door.

  “Would you like some?”

  “No, your nan will have dinner waiting.” CeeCee’s mom and dad lived with her and Delphi’s dad in the two-family house Delphi had grown up in, just down the street. Nan had raised Delphi and her brother and sister while their parents worked—their dad was a lawyer, a public defender—and while her own husband was away at sea. Pops was retired now, and Delphi and her siblings had homes of their own, but her parents and grandparents saw no reason to change a set up that worked for them.

  CeeCee looked tired, but it was a Friday night, the end of a long week. “I wanted to check that you remember you’re babysitting Lori and Steve.”

  As if Delphi would forget her little niece and nephew! Something her mom knew since Delphi loved kids. But Delphi also understood that when her police captain mom fussed about the care arrangements for the kids in the clan, then a bad crime involving children had happened that week. So Delphi smiled and hugged CeeCee. “I’m all set. We’ll put up the Halloween decorations.”

  Her niece and nephew were six-year-old twins, the perfect age to enjoy Halloween, and Delphi had Saturday planned. Her sister-in-law, Veronica, would drop the twins off in the morning on her way to a community engagement course. Veronica was a teacher, a good one, and she liked to keep her skills sharp. Will, Delphi’s brother, was a police sergeant and working the weekend, so Delphi had stepped up for child-minding duty.

  In the Cosmatos clan, everyone helped. It was how she’d gotten all the work done on her house. It had been in an even worse state than the rundown house next door.

  It was as if her thoughts summoned her new neighbor. Her scary doorbell wailed and Delphi opened the front door to find him there with his little girl hiding behind him and the boy bravely standing his ground.

  “Oh dear.” Delphi instantly crouched to be at the children’s height. “You weren’t expecting the bell, were you? It’s a special ghost bell for Halloween. Would you like to press it again and make the ghost howl?”

  The boy regarded her for a long moment. Those dark brown eyes were serious and solemn, as if he was used to judging people—and often finding them disappointing. He stared from her to the doorbell. Then he shifted the piece of paper he held to his other hand, reached out and pressed the bell, which wailed. A small grin revealed a gap in his teeth. “You have a ghost bell.”

  “I do.” Delphi smiled back. “Ring it, again.” With children, familiarity dulled panic.

  The boy pressed the bell again, and this time, his sister watched.

  “Your turn,” Delphi coaxed.

  The little girl instantly hid behind the man.

  “Maybe some other time.” Delphi straightened up.

  Her neighbor loomed on her step. “Your dish. Thank you for the moussaka. It was a welcome change from pizza.”

  “I drew you a picture to say thank you.” The boy thrust the sheet of paper at her.

  A cool wind was blowing and Delphi wore only a t-shirt and jeans. She was cold, but wouldn’t show it for the world. Coaxing these children into friendliness would take time and they’d be alert for any rebuff. She admired the picture. “Is this me?” The boy had extravagantly drawn curly black hair on the woman in the picture.

  “Yes.”

  A small hand poked out from behind the big man’s leg, waving a second sheet of paper.

  “Thank you,” Delphi said, accepting it. “And this is lovely, too.”

  “It’s Mousey.” Such a quiet voice, barely a whisper.

  “A very pretty cat.” Delphi was adept at deciphering children’s scrawls. She’d babysat through high school.

  A cute face peeked at her, a smile just starting.

  “Sorry to interrupt, but I should be going.” CeeCee edged past.

  The children retreated completely behind the man.

  He seemed as startled as Delphi and CeeCee by their reaction, then he sighed even as he nodded politely to CeeCee.

  She returned the abbreviated greeting, looking thoughtful.

  Delphi was thoughtful, too. The children hadn’t simply reacted to the appearance of a new person. They’d flinched from CeeCee’s police uniform.

  As CeeCee got in her car and drove on home, the man introduced himself.

  “I’m Jet Walsh. These are my young cousins, Tony and Grace Dillon. We’re a new family.”

  A new family. So much meaning packed into those quiet words.

  “Delphi Cosmatos.” She held out her hand and had it engulfed in his larger hand, in a firm yet gentle clasp. Handshake complete, she had a most disconcerting impulse to leave her hand in his.

  Up close and not scowling, he was an attractive guy. Not handsome. His mouth was too big and his nose a fraction crooked, but his brown hair was neatly cut and his hazel eyes were startlingly clear, and he was tall and wide. Burly. His bear form would be massive.

  Delphi had never seen a were in their animal form. She had to admit that since identifying her neighbor’s hidden identity, she’d been curious.

  The casserole dish she held began slipping since she’d tucked it under one arm to accept the children’s drawings. Reluctantly, she released her neighbor’s hand to rescue the dish.

  He put a hand on each child’s head and urged them to stand thei
r ground as he stepped back carefully, leaving them front and center. “Say goodnight to Miss Cosmatos.”

  “Delphi is fine,” she said hastily. She didn’t want to interfere with his efforts to instill courtesy in the children, but the other kids in the neighborhood all called her Delphi or Aunt Delphi.

  A brusque nod accepted the correction. The boy and girl simply mumbled “goodnight”.

  “Good night. Sweet dreams.” She resisted the temptation to watch them walk down her short path to the sidewalk and up their own uneven path. Instead, she went inside and returned the casserole dish to the kitchen.

  A new family. There had been a plea for understanding in that simple explanation, even if Jet Walsh probably wouldn’t acknowledge that fact. He seemed a proud man, but also one who wanted her to know he was doing his best.

  How long had they been a family? And how had he come to be guardian to his cousins? Were there no closer family members? Was he looking after the kids alone? Was he single?

  Guiltily, Delphi made herself a coffee. She had trouble sleeping and had promised herself no coffee after dinner. Really, it should be no coffee after lunch, but a woman had to have some vices. She inhaled the rich, stimulating aroma as she carried the cup upstairs to her favorite room in the house. She called it her sitting room. It was adjacent to the master bedroom at the front of the house and she’d furnished it with low bookshelves, a comfortable sofa and a supremely comfy recliner. That was the chair she sat in, swiveling it around so that she stared out at the street.

  She opened her senses to the energy of New York. She was a mage without a specialty, which meant her magic was general. She could do a little bit of everything and nothing spectacular. That suited Delphi. She had the most magic of anyone in her family, but within the Collegium—the international organization for which she worked, a magical version of the United Nations headquartered in New York—she was considered average. As a generalist, she’d had the choice of training to be a Collegium guardian or an alchemist. She’d chosen to be an alchemist.