34. Lucy

B usiness was booming and Mom wasn't doing great. She was having trouble catching her breath and while she wasn't coughing up more blood, she was still doing it. I was scared to death and trying not to show it. She kept trying to come and work and I kept telling her she couldn't. She approved of what I was doing with the tavern. I was pretty sure she was bored.

The girls were brilliant. I didn't have many girlfriends. I couldn't tell them I was Lucy, but I was having fun with them. We paid them well, so they were motivated to help out. They knew Mom was sick, and I was hoping to hire someone to work in the kitchen who could possibly cure her. I also let them put a hat out while they were singing so they could busk. If someone wanted to toss them a coin, they could.

They were getting all kinds of fans from all over Nestran and so was the Whispering Raven because we had quality shit. There was just one last thing that needed to fall into place and that happened in the morning.

Athan and Tarja walked into the tavern with a blond man with bright-green eyes. He was dressed like he was from Guttertown, but I knew he was Theran. He could pass for human but because they had given me a hint about Basselt, I was pretty sure he'd finally decided to give us a try. He was older, probably around Mom's age or a few years older than her.

"Hi!" I said, marching over and sticking my hand out. "I'm Lance."

Basselt just cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Okay, Lance, " he drawled, taking my hand. "If you'll have me, I'll take the job. You can clearly keep secrets."

Basselt gave me a knowing look. He knew. He knew I was a girl. How the actual fuck? He didn't want to know anything about the job. It was my hidden vagina that did it for him.

"How?"

Because seriously, how? No one had figured it out. Ollie only managed because I bled through my pants. There was no way. Basselt just tapped his nose.

"Extra senses."

"Do I stink?"

"No, but I don't think you want me to answer anything else in front of Tarja and Athan."

Nope. No, I didn't. Fucking Hell. The Theran could just scent I wasn't male. That was a neat trick. It was also dangerous.

"Now that Basselt is here and is agreeing to help, we want to get him around your mom," Athan said.

"I don't know what secret he scented out, but the shifters don't just use their nose for that. They can scent sickness, too. Basselt should be able to give us a better diagnosis for Caitrin and let us know where to go from here."

"Seriously?"

Basselt bowed his head.

"I'm not a healer. My wife was, but I picked up on some of it. If it's an infection, I know what that smells like. Is your mother going to be okay with this?"

That was a thing about Mom. Even if she wasn't okay with something, she'd pretend like she was until she got me alone. She'd be fine with Basselt even if he wasn't here to help her and she'd be totally okay with him working in the tavern.

"She'll be okay. Come up."

They all followed me upstairs. Mom was napping on the couch, so I gently woke her. She groaned and started coughing.

"It's an infection," Basselt said. "She's got some nasty fluid in her lungs. I can smell it from here."

"Excuse me, but I do not stink," Mom snapped.

"Mom, Basselt is Theran. He was banished for something that wasn't his fault. He's going to be working in the kitchen and he's got an idea how to cure you. His wife was a healer. He's not saying you stink. He's got extra senses we don't have."

"Hrpmh. I suppose he can look at me."

Was Mom…into Basselt? I might not get to be Lucy much, but I'd played in the brothel as a kid. Mom and Basselt were looking at each other like they were into each other. Mom would have been considered off limits by Guttertown men because of my father. They knew if he ever wanted to come back, they'd have to give her up. Basselt would need that explained to him if he wanted to proceed.

"I can do it from here. Your lungs have nasty fluid in them. It's what's causing all of this. I told Athan and Tarja I know the remedy, but I can't make it yet. The plant I need grows near here, but it's not ready to be harvested yet. You just make a tea with it and some ginger and honey. Drink it for a few days and it'll clear it right up. But the plant isn't ready right now. Can you hold on?"

"I'm not going to die yet."

"Is there something you can give her that will help in the meantime?" I asked.

"Nothing that Athan and Tarja aren't already doing. There's a lot of overlap between what my people do and what the humans do. Their treatment is excellent. Back in the Theran village, they'd already have the plant dried and stored for when it's in its dormant season, but I'm not welcome there."

"What'd you do?" Mom asked.

"Didn't watch an eight-year-old prince close enough. He shifted and tried to see the Festival of Lights. He got murdered by humans. It's my biggest regret in life."

"I raised an eight-year-old. You can be right on top of them and they'll still sneak off and get into trouble. You didn't kill him. Humans did. Forgive yourself, even if the Theran can't."

Basselt bowed his head.

"Logically, I know that, but I had one job. They take banishment seriously. I'll never be forgiven or welcomed back by them. The Theran heir died in my care."

"Then, welcome to Guttertown. We're a town of misfits. I doubt they'd even care that you're Theran."

"The Theran would care that I'm here, so it's best we keep that as much a secret as Lance's."

Mom narrowed her eyes at Basselt and I could tell the momma bear was about to come out. She would drag herself out of bed coughing up blood to beat the shit out of this man if she thought he would expose me to my father.

"Super nose," I said. "He let me know that he knew without exposing me to Athan and Tarja. We can trust him."

Basselt just shrugged.

"I figure he has his reasons. It's not my business."

That was kind of nice. He knew I was pretending to be a man because he could scent I was female and Basselt didn't give the slightest fuck why. He didn't assume everyone knew, but were just humoring me. Basselt basically just subtly let me know that he knew, and that it meant he could trust me. I appreciated it.

"You will protect that secret with your life," Mom snarled.

"He's just a kid. I'm not letting another one get hurt under my watch."

I was twenty, but okay.

"Let me show you the kitchen and give you a walk-through of how we run things. We have a new drink and I'll have to teach you how to make the base. There's no drinking in the kitchen. You can drink all you want when you aren't working, but not when we need you functioning. Is that going to be a problem?"

Basselt smirked at me. It was the first time I'd seen him smile since he came in. If he was amused because he knew I was a girl and was bossing him around, he was going to have a serious problem working here. I needed him to realize Mom was the owner of this tavern until she officially signed it over to Ollie and me, so no matter which way he sliced it, he'd be taking orders from a woman.

"You're talking to the former bodyguard of the Theran heir. You don't have to lecture me about staying sober at work. It was part of my training before I got on the job. I would take working in your kitchen as seriously as I did protecting my charge. I wouldn't mess up like I did before."

I waited until we were alone in the kitchen. I didn't know the first thing about shifter culture, but I knew how things were outside of Guttertown. I got that his smirk was because I was lecturing him not to drink in the kitchen when he'd literally been a bodyguard to a prince. Thing was, I didn't know how long he'd been banished and that had to change him. I had every right to bring it up.

"Listen, I'm not trying to sound like an ignorant human who knows absolutely nothing about your culture, but are you going to have a problem working for me now that you know the truth? Because my mom is actually the owner, so you'd have to answer to both of us."

Basselt let out a belly laugh.

"I'm not laughing at you, I promise. I'm just thinking what a fierce Theran you'd make. To answer your question, we aren't like humans at all in that respect. The animal you shift into is more important than what's in your pants and there's an entire process that I find a little stupid for assigning that animal. We can shift into anything we want within our element until our tenth birthday. The king or queen chooses the animal we'll be stuck with for the rest of our lives and it's generally associated with what job you'll have.

"So, we've got women who are fierce warriors and men who clean and tend to people's houses. The last two generations seem to be all men, but if the firstborn is a girl, she'll rule her tribe and take a consort. Our god and creator is a woman. We pray and light incense for her return every day. I know it's not the same among humans and I find that very stupid because a woman can lead an army just as well as a man can, but trust me, I have no problem working under two strong women, even if everyone thinks you're a man."

I owed it to him since he knew my dirty secrets. I explained everything with the Guttertown Argent kids and what would happen to me if I eventually needed my father for anything and he found out I was a woman. Basselt just looked at me sadly.

"If I could force nature to hurry up, I would."

So would I. Mom's life and my freedom depended on it.