Read Indirect Lines: Halle Shifters, Book 5 for Free Online Page B

around. He was the spitting image of their mother, dark haired and blue-eyed, with a swagger that was all his own. “Hey, squirt, how’s it going?”
    Tiffany hugged Heather hard once Keith let her go. She kept her dark hair short, and her blue-green eyes were a perfect blend of both their parents. “Just now. Alex picked us up at the airport.”
    Bunny was grinning so wide Heather was surprised his head didn’t split in half. “It was hard keeping it a secret from you. I thought for sure Tabby was going to blab.”
    Tiffany held her at arm’s length and looked her up and down. “Damn, girl, you look good.”
    Keith tapped her on top of her head. “And what’s this about tattoos? Aren’t you too young for that?”
    Heather rolled her eyes and pulled away from her siblings. “I’m a big girl now, Keith. I’ve even gotten my own tattoo.” She turned around to show off her two-tailed kitsune tattoo. It was one of two that she had, but this one signified her new life, one where she wasn’t afraid of large men like her mate. The little red fox had sprouted wings and was ready to fly. Her fox was high up on her right shoulder. She hoped someday to put her mate on her left.
    The other one, the one she couldn’t show them without taking off her shirt, was a beautifully detailed Victorian birdcage, and inside that cage was a blue and green bird, its head bowed and its eyes closed. Outside the birdcage was a palette of bright colors, a paint brush and an easel with a halfway-finished portrait of the bird and cage, but the bird in the painting was lively and happy, unlike the one in the cage. It filled the space between her shoulder blades and continued halfway down her back. It had been immensely painful, as the needles kept striking her spine, and utterly worth it.
    It represented her family’s desire to see her go to school for bookkeeping, when all she wanted to do was be an artist. Until she’d met Cyn, she’d never have had the courage to stand up to her parents and demand that she be allowed to apprentice at the tattoo shop, but when she explained it was a way to make a living at something she loved, they’d bowed to her persuasions. It helped when the Cynful girls agreed to watch over her while she was there, making it a family business Heather was entering. Without the connection of mates, marking the Cynful women family, they might never have agreed. “I’m even working there as an apprentice tattoo artist.”
    Keith scowled. “What happened to bookkeeping?”
    Heather gagged. “Ugh. No thank you. Numbers make my eyes bleed.”
    Tiffany popped Keith in the back of the head as they followed Bunny into the dining room of the house they’d rented. “She never wanted to do that. She’s always wanted to be an artist.”
    Heather nodded. “Cyn told me to try for art school, but honestly, I like what I’m doing now. And the shop is amaze-balls!” She bounced toward a seat, knowing her parents would probably bring in drinks and snacks for Tiffany and Keith. “You’ll like Cyn, Glory and Tabby. They’re awesome. And family. And, like, the best thing to ever happen to me, other than Barney.”
    Keith sat across from her while Tiffany sat next to her. It was clear where the interrogation was going to come from. “I’m not sure about Cyn, but Glory and Tabby are family.”
    Mom entered the room with a huge pitcher of iced tea and a stack of glasses. “So is Julian. I told you about this, remember?”
    Behind her, their father had a platter of sandwiches. “He saved Chloe’s life and almost lost his own. He’s bound to her and is her mentor, and your Aunt Laura adopted him into the clan. So that makes Cyn and Julian family.”
    Keith shrugged. “I still need to meet him.”
    “That’s fine, but you’ll treat him with the respect he deserves or you’ll hear it from me.” Mom put the pitcher down and began passing out glasses.
    “I’m more interested in finding out more about this mate of