Read Online WereWoman by Piers Anthony - Free Book Online Page B

older than I, probably by five or six years, but Witches were as ageless as they wanted to be.
    Then she stirred. Her eyes opened. “Hello, beloved,” she said. The mole disappeared.
    â€œHello, beloved,” I echoed, and kissed her.
    No more was needed. We got up, showered together, and dressed. She served a nice breakfast whose details I hardly noticed, being too absorbed in loving her.
    Somewhere along the way it occurred to me that she might not really have been asleep. She might have been trying to reassure me about her natural appearance, putting on just enough of a blemish to be persuasive. Did it matter? I realized that it didn’t. She was what she was, and I loved her regardless. How much was natural and how much magical I couldn’t be sure, but I was committed. For the nonce, I thought with a mental smile. She was a creature of the present, as her name suggested.
    Her car took us to my office. Syd was already there. “Did you have a good night?” she asked brightly.
    â€œIt was divine,” Nonce answered. “He’s a great lover.”
    That saved me from having to answer on that score. Syd of course wasn’t fooled; she knew that the experienced Witch held amateur me in thrall. She didn’t object, which meant she had checked out the Witch and found her sufficient. “She gave me a grief-null spell. We got suspects,” I said. “Witch and Vamp.”
    â€œAnd we know who the Were suspects are,” Syd said. “Beginning with me.”
    â€œI know you didn’t do it,” I said quickly. “You were here in the office with me when it happened.
    â€œI could have hired someone to do it.”
    I spread my hands. “I’m a suspect too.”
    â€œNot any more,” Nonce said.
    Syd glanced at her. “So it was more than idle fancy that motivated you to get into his mind.”
    â€œConsiderably more,” Nonce agreed. “We have cleared each other.”
    â€œClear me,” Syd said to me.
    â€œThere’s no need.”
    â€œThere is need. You have not read my mind since the murder. Bear and I could have had a falling out.”
    I nodded regretfully. She had evidently gotten her grief under control overnight, and was now focused on vengeance. Nonce and I sat down to watch.
    Syd pulled the shutters on the front window and door, then doffed her clothes. She made her hissing Name and started shifting. I read her mind the moment she invoked her power: she was innocent and hurting. She truly loved Bear.
    â€œThat’s something,” the Witch murmured. “I’ve never seen a Were shift before.”
    â€œWe’re in this together,” Syd said. “We have to trust each other.”
    Soon she was the complete serpent. “She has dog doors to the office and storage closet,” I said. “Actually round holes, concealed by curtains. So if she forgets the key, she can still get in and out.”
    â€œNice touch.”
    I got up and talked to the huge snake. I lifted her mid section and she coiled around my body, including my neck. “She’s not smart in this form, but she knows me,” I said. “We trust each other. And she is innocent.”
    â€œI never doubted.”
    Syd slid off me and changed slowly back to human form. Nonce helped her dress. “A necessary formality,” the Witch said.
    â€œNow we have an appointment to meet the Were Chief,” Syd said as she tucked herself together.
    We rode in Nonce’s nice car to the nondescript suburban house where Jim the Were Chief lived. All Supes tried to be anonymous except to other Supes. He was a tiger: a huge man, small tiger, committed and sharp.
    â€œYou know Phil and me,” Syd said as we shook hands. “This is Nonce Witch. She hired Phil to investigate the murder of her Warlock cousin. She and Phil have become an item.”
    â€œWitches can be fun,” Jim agreed. “When they want to