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all aliens are green and have antennae?”
    Why did she suddenly feel as though she’d stereotyped a whole race of…of people? That was ridiculous. “Tell me why I should believe you.”
    He fingered a chip, then looked at her, his expression serious. “Because it’s who you are. A part of yourself that you have denied far too long.” He sat straighter. “We are a race capable of shapeshifting. Our animal guides are separate, yet we are one.”
    “Shapeshifting?” Wow, for just a second, she had sort of, only sort of, started to believe him. That should warn her away from any more alcohol for the rest of her life. His stories were getting more ridiculous by the minute. “You mean, you can take on an animal form?”
    “As can you. My animal guide is the hawk.”
    “The one in the woods?”
    “Correct.”
    She leaned closer.
    He did the same.
    “Bullshit,” she whispered.
    “Bullshit?”
    “It means I don’t believe you.”
    His eyes sparked with anger. She quickly moved back. Calling the guy a liar probably wasn’t a good idea. The guy was mental, after all.
    “You would deny your animal guide the right to be free?”
    Why did she suddenly feel guilty? Why was she even having this conversation? She picked up her hotdog and took a humongous bite. Better that her mouth was full so she wouldn’t tell Kristor just how crazy she thought he was. If she angered him too much, there was no telling what he would do.
    “Has your guide never tried to get you to shift?”
    “Into what?” she asked around the half of a hotdog that she was still trying to chew.
    “You tell me.”
    A hawk, remember? Shintara’s voice echoed through her mind.
    “A hawk?” she said before she thought better about feeding Kristor’s fantasy that he was a shapeshifting alien.
    “A hawk.” He nodded. “That is why I’m drawn to you.”
    “You’re drawn to me?”
    “As you are to me.”
    Before she got into a repetition of “am not, are, too”, she said, “I was only talking out loud. Besides, I’m afraid of flying, so even if I could change into a hawk, I wouldn’t.”
    “Ahh, so that has been the problem.”
    “There’s no ahh, about it. I still think you’re crazy.”
    “Concentrate on an animal. Your guide will help you to shift. It doesn’t have to be anything that flies in the beginning.”
    “Yeah, right.”
    “Are you afraid to find out for sure?”
    She came to her feet. “I’m not scared of anything.” With a toss of her ponytail, she took her plate and carried it to the trash can. And she certainly wasn’t going to concentrate on an animal. The idea was ridiculous.
    Are you so sure about that? Shintara spoke up.
    “Yes, I’m absolutely positive. I’m not part alien.”
    “Maybe you should go easy on the beer,” her father said as he came up beside her.
    She opened her mouth to tell him her buzz was already wearing off, but changed her mind. “You’re right, Dad.” She held up the Coke she hadn’t quite finished. “Already switched over.”
    “Good girl.”
    Not much later, she kissed her mom good night, and got Neil to drive her home. Someone would drop her car off tomorrow. No biggie.
    But once she was back at her house, she couldn’t help wondering if some of what Kristor had told her just might be true. Did aliens actually exist? She didn’t know why they couldn’t.
    Maybe that’s what scared her the most.

Chapter 7
    “M s. Miller is bringing Sukie in this morning,” Jeanie said, hanging up the phone.
    “Sukie?” Ria studied Jeanie to see if maybe she’d gotten her holidays confused and thought this was April Fool’s Day.
    Jeanie was a cute little redhead who’d been working for Ria a couple of years, and right now, she wore a serious expression. No, she didn’t mix up the holidays. Teasing? Her lips didn’t twitch, not even once.
    She was telling the truth.
    “You’re not lying.” Ria’s bones dissolved into mush and she sank into the nearest chair.
    Sukie was what