Squirrel Circus

Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1Gideon Everett flicked the light switch for the twentieth time and snarled. Stomping in behind the bar, he grabbed his phone off the counter. Adara Queen was to perform in a couple of hours, and the patrons would skin him alive if he couldn’t get the electricity on before then.

It wasn’t a fuse, and it wasn’t the entire building, but it was the serving area, the kitchen, and, of course, the stage. Since it wasn’t a real blackout, he suspected a wire had been damaged somewhere.

He looked up at the crisscross of wires. The metal beams created a maze against the dark ceiling. He didn’t know s**t about the electricity in this place. He could do simple things. He wasn’t a complete imbecile, but this…He needed a professional for this, but despite having called several electricians, no one had been willing to help on short notice.

Scrolling on the phone yet again, he tried to find the number of someone local, someone he might be able to persuade. Best if they were a shifter, so he could growl at them, but he couldn’t tell from the listings who were turning furry and who wasn’t.

“What’s got your panties in a wad?”

Fucking vampires. Gideon tried to hide his surprise as Adara Queen leaned against the bar. She hadn’t been Queen when they’d been in school. But Adara Anderson didn’t have the same ring to it.

“Adara.” He nodded in greeting. If they hadn’t known each other from childhood, she never would’ve played here tonight. She filled big arenas these days. Though tonight was meant to be a small affair, only her and her guitar, not the entire band. For fun, she’d said.

“That’s all the greeting I get?” She had her hurt look down pat.

He heaved a sigh, rounded the bar, and engulfed her in a hug. He didn’t mean to, but he sniffed her hair. There was something there, a scent he wanted more of, but it was hidden underneath the scent of hair products and detergent.

Vampires didn’t have a smell of their own, which was why most shifters were uncomfortable around them. Predatory shifters relied more on their nose than their eyes, and vampires were scent voids. Who knew how non-predatory shifters worked? They were the universe’s biggest mistake.

As he let go of her, the scent wafted toward him again, and without thinking, he bent down and sniffed at her collarbone and down toward her cleavage.

“Hey!” She shoved him with more strength than necessary, and he took an involuntary step backward. “Last I checked, you weren’t interested in t**s. Mine or anyone else’s.”

“No.” He shook his head as if in a daze. “It’s the scent.”

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “The scent?”

“You smell of…” What did she smell of? Something that made him want to rub against her, lick her—and he did not lick women. He wanted to taste, to touch, to keep it for himself. He shook his head again, trying to rid it of the haze.

“I smell?” Her voice filled the room, and she sniffed at her armpit.

“No! Or…there is a scent on you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“One in particular?” She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “No.”

“But you spent the night with someone.” Though she didn’t smell of s*x. “Or…you’re living with someone?”

“Oh.” She grinned. “Could it be Jyran? I hugged him before I left.”

A hug. Could it be something as simple as a hug? “Who’s Jyran?”

“A friend. He’s been traveling with me for…eh, it’s years now. We’re sharing a house now when we’re not on the road.”

Gideon nodded. It could explain the scent, but it didn’t explain his reaction to it.

“Why is it so dark?” She looked around, effectively changing the subject.

“Something wrong with the electricity. I’ve called every electrician I can find, but no luck.” He rubbed his neck. The bar was his pride and joy, but after he’d paid his staff and paid the bills, there wasn’t much left. Having Adara perform, even if it was only a small thing, would bring in some much-needed cash. He did not want to cancel.

She frowned. “Any idea what’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “I suspect the rats have been nibbling at the cables.” He gestured at the metal beams in the ceiling.

“You have rats?” She twisted her face in distaste. “I believed you big, bad shifters would scare them off.”

Gideon grunted. He didn’t think cat shifters had any rat problems, but they were wolves here. Maybe he should hire a cat. There was no love between the species, but he could respect a cat.

“Want me to ask Jyran to have a look?”

“He’s a cat?” He didn’t smell like a cat, though Gideon suspected the scent was mixed up with everything else on Adara.

“No.” The way she said it had Gideon narrowing his eyes.

“What is he?”

“If I call Jyran, you have to promise not to harm him in any way.”

Unease curled in his gut. “What. Is. He?” Gideon was a strong wolf. There were few things he feared. A bear maybe. Though he didn’t fear bears. They were moody bastards, but they didn’t want to eat him. Tigers and lions, but they were rare. He’d never met a tiger shifter, and the lions he’d come across, he could count on one hand.

She glared. “Squirrel.”

Gideon stared at her for several seconds, then he laughed. “What?”

“He’s a squirrel shifter.” Her eyes flashed with anger, and he did his best to tone down his laugh.

“A squirrel shifter? Are there any left? I thought they were extinct.”

“There are a few, but they tend to stay away from the supernatural community.” She raised her eyebrows in a way only cartoons should be able to do, with one higher than the other and yet crooked somehow.

“But you’ve adopted one?” He snickered. A few decades ago, both shifters and humans had killed as many squirrels as they could, both the shifters and the normal kind. Invasive rats.

She watched him for so long, she killed his joy.

“You’re serious?” He made an effort to keep his face blank. “You’ve befriended a squirrel? And you didn’t stop there. He’s living with you?” He shook his head. She lived with a f*****g rat. “Aren’t you afraid he’s going to eat your nuts?”

“I don’t have or need any nuts. And I took for granted you’d appreciate a guy who liked nuts, my bad.”

He gave her a wicked grin. “I do. But I don’t do rats.”

“Coming from a dog.” Her words were dripping with disgust, and he huffed.

“Seriously, Adara. You have a squirrel living with you. Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of Jyran?” The disbelief had him chuckling again.

“No, of course not. Who’s afraid of a squirrel?” They were prey. Small and powerless. “I meant of someone coming to your place to kill him. You could be hurt in the crossfire.”

If looks could kill, Gideon had been in a bloody puddle on the floor.

“Why would anyone want to kill Jyran?”

“Because he’s a rat. Or maybe they’re in the mood for some…” What was the recipe he’d seen the other week? “Barbecued Smoked Squirrel Sandwich. It’s easier to come and grab him at your place than go hunting for a real one.”

“A real? First off, few know he’s a squirrel shifter. You couldn’t tell from his scent, and you have a good nose. Second, if anyone would dare come near him, I’ll kill them.”

“You’re his bodyguard?” Gideon shouldn’t snicker, but he pictured a furry little guy hiding behind Adara whenever they were outside.

“I’m his friend. f**k, when did you turn into an asshole?”

Gideon straightened. He’d always been an asshole, but he could tell Adara was angry for real. This squirrel guy meant something to her. “I won’t hurt him, but if he gnaws through any of my wires, he’ll have to pay for the damage.”

“Squirrel. Cute, fluffy, climbs trees, collects nuts and seeds, nesting. Oh, God, the nesting.” She threw her hands in the air, but it was done in a fond way. “If I have to pick up another freaking pillow from the floor, I might drench it in blood.” She shrugged. “Though he tones down the cushion obsession while we’re on the road. And he never, on the road or not, eats wires.”

“A rat is a rat. I don’t care if his tail is fluffy or not.” Though now he was curious. What did a squirrel shifter look like in human form? He was a wolf. He was big and tall, fast and strong. Most humans gave him a wide berth, though some suicidal fuckers tried to provoke him. When on a hunt, he was patient and could chase his prey for miles. In human form, he might be a little testy, the feeling of being trapped in his skin, of not being able to use his strengths as they were meant to be used sometimes annoyed him, and he was known to snarl at more than one patron.

But what was a squirrel like? Unorganized. Running in circles. Big front teeth. Stupid. They had to be stupid, considering the size of their brain.

“If I call him, you have to promise to behave.”

Gideon gave her his most innocent look. “I always behave.”

“Not a word about squirrel sandwiches, of squirrel hunts, or rats, or hunting season, nut-licking or d**k size.”

“d**k size?” Interesting.

She glared. “He’s a small animal. It doesn’t mean he’s small in human form.”

Gideon widened his eyes. “He’s a big guy?” His mind painted him as a small, femmy man. Though why he would be femmy, Gideon didn’t know. Because squirrels, for all their rat similarities, were cute?

“No, but…proportional.”

If he hadn’t known better, he’d have called attention to the light flush climbing Adara’s cheeks.

* * * *

Jyran Pechman tugged at his suit jacket, then he fiddled with his tie, only to move on to straighten his vest. The dark blue fabric normally made him feel better, but he was jittery today. He hated going into shifter bars, but at least they weren’t open for business yet.

Adara needed him.

An old friend of hers owned the fur bar, and she wanted to play there. Jyran couldn’t understand why. She drew audiences of thousands upon thousands. Why play in a seedy shifter bar?

It was her choice. He didn’t care what she did. He loved her, but he didn’t care about music, and traveling wasn’t his thing. All he wanted was a safe place, somewhere to call home, somewhere he could rest. Adara was the closest he’d ever come to safety, so he clung to her, but he held no love for the life of a musician.

With a deep breath, he pushed the door to The Howling Moon—creative name. He snorted. He hated wolves. He hated bears, cats, and all the other predators too, but most of all, he hated wolves. They lived in packs, which meant he didn’t only have to escape one enemy, he had to outsmart a bunch of them.

If they were in a forest, it was fine. As long as he stayed alert, he could always stay safe in the trees, but in a bar? Wolves in human form. He gritted his teeth.

Adara had promised he’d be safe. If she was wrong, he’d haunt her for the rest of her life. He’d make it his life mission—death mission?—to lure spiders into her bed. She hated spiders.

His heart beat harder than he wanted to acknowledge as he pushed the door open. f**k. The dark made him freeze. He had crappy night vision, another thing to his disadvantage. Most shifters saw well in the dark. Adara had no problem navigating in the dark. Vampires had excellent sight no matter what lighting they were in, which was annoying since she never turned on any lamps.

The scent. He pulled in a breath. It smelled of wolves, of other shifters too, but there was mostly wolves. But that wasn’t what had fire licking at his core. A shuddering breath left him. He had to get closer, had to find the source. Mate. Could it be his mate?

Joy and need fought for room in his chest. Home. He’d found his home, his future. Safety. The word swished through his mind like a promise. His muscles wanted to unclench. Finally. Finally, he’d be able to have a place where he belonged, where he would be cherished and loved.

He rushed forward and ran straight into a table. “Crap.”