Amber (Jewels Cafe #1) [Published]

Chapter 1

Amber

I glance out the window to make sure the coast is clear. Yes, there are wards in place throughout Silver Springs to protect humans from seeing magic. Problem is, I don't want any supes seeing what I'm about to do either. Last thing I need is for one of them to tell my best friend, Julian, that I like to parade around as a guy in my spare time. Which I don't. I swear!

The cobblestone sidewalk in front of Jewels Cafe is predictably empty. When we first opened, Julian and I had a bunch of happy customers and one really grumpy werewolf. Since then, foot traffic outside has been almost nonexistent. It's been terrible for business, but right now, it comes in pretty handy.

I take a few deep breaths to clear my head, summon my chameleon magic, and shift into a dude. Or, more specifically, the giant bouncer dude from Vee, the club just down the street.

My body instantly feels heavy. My stomach roils. And my dress magically re-forms around my giant pecs. It barely reaches my large, manly thighs, and I consider trying to lengthen it—or transform it into the bouncer's black jeans and t-shirt—but it's not like I'm trying to win some sort of fashion award.

I peek outside the cafe again and make sure no one's watching. Then, I lean over the tall counter and reach around the fancy new coffee machine to make myself another cappuccino.

Okay, yeah, I know. I should have just walked around the counter like a normal person. I could have even transformed into a bird shifter and flown over it. But instead, I had to shift into a dude?

Truth is, this is faster, and I haven't really mastered flying. Last time I tried, I crashed into a building. I was mostly fine, but I won't take the risk in our brand-new cafe. Not when we can't afford to replace anything right now.

I look around and my thin bouncer lips break into a smile. I love this place. I love our state-of-the-art coffee maker that makes a mean cappuccino. I love the gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows that surround our cafe and open out to the cobblestone paths outside. And I especially love our Jewels Cafe mugs, each with a different colored jewel in the center: sapphire blue, ruby red, emerald green, and others, including my favorite, the yellowish-orange amber. My namesake.

The coffee machine sputters to a stop, and I grab my mug and lumber across the cafe. The bouncer's junk, which apparently materialized sans underwear—thank you, wonky magic—slaps against my inner thighs. I cringe, which is enough of a distraction to make my chameleon magic falter.

Within seconds, I feel myself shifting back to my twenty-one-year-old female self. Which would be a huge relief if my amber Jewels Cafe mug wasn't about to slip from my rapidly shrinking fingers.

Beads of perspiration form on my upper lip. My armpits grow damp. I fight to hold on to my magic with everything I am, but it's a losing battle.

This wouldn't be the first time I'd broken something mid-transformation, just never anything this important. And I can't bear the thought of destroying any part of our little cafe. As though breaking this mug might somehow be the beginning of the end for this place.

For a split second, my chameleon magic holds. I even manage to position my mug above the table right before I lose control.

My hand shrinks back to its normal size, and the mug slips. It crashes down with a bang, and cappuccino foam splashes everywhere. Luckily, my laptop's just out of reach, and the mug's still in one piece.

Once I've cleaned up the mess—by shifting back into the bouncer, of course... had to grab the towel from behind the counter somehow—I settle in front of my laptop. I borrowed a marketing eBook from the library, hoping to find something in it to save Jewels Cafe. So far, though, nothing has worked.