Shapeshifter Mercy Thompson has friends in high places-and in low, dark, scary ones. And in this must-have collection of short stories, you'll meet new faces and catch up with old acquaintances-in all their forms...
Includes the new stories...
"Silver"
"Roses in Winter"
"Redemption"
"Hollow"
…and reader favorites
"Fairy Gifts"
"Gray"
"Seeing Eye"
"Alpha and Omega"
"The Star of David"
"In Red, with Pearls"
"One of the best urban fantasy anthologies I've ever read."-The BiblioSanctum "These intriguing, suspenseful, and occasionally heartwarming stories will thrill and delight fans of Mercy and her friends."-Publishers Weekly
"Shifting Shadows is beautifully compiled, and all of the tales engaged me making this a total win for Briggs' fans. I walked away with a smile and new books in my TBR pile."-Caffeinated Book Reviewer
"Shifting Shadows is everything fans of Patricia Briggs will like...there is no disputing that Ms. Briggs is a superb storyteller."-Fiction Vixen Book Reviews Patricia Briggs is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series and the Alpha and Omega novels. SILVER
Herein is the ill-fated romance between Ariana and Samuel, the first half of the story that continues in Silver Borne. This is also an origin story of sorts, because how he met Ariana is also tied up with the story of the witch, his grandmother, who held Samuel and his father for such a long time. I have to say that if it had not been for the constant requests for this story, I, usually a teller of happier tales, would have left this one alone.
As a historical note-and for those who need to know how old Samuel and Bran are-Christianity came to Wales very early, perhaps as early as the first or second century with the Romans. When exactly the events of this novella took place, neither Samuel nor Bran could tell me. Bran just smiled like a boy without cares-so I knew it hurt him to remember-and said, "We didn't pay attention to time that way. Not then." Samuel told me, "When you get just so old, those first days blur together." I am not a werewolf, but I can, after all this time, tell when Samuel is lying to me.
I do know that the events in this story happen a long, long time before Moon Called.
ONE
Three weeks to the day after I buried my youngest child, and several days after I buried my oldest-a young woman who would never become older-someone knocked at my door.
I rolled off my sleeping mat to my feet but made no move to answer the knock. It was pitch-dark outside, and the only reason anyone knocked at my door in the middle of the night was because someone was ill. All of my knowledge of herb lore and healing had not been able to save my wife or my children. If someone was ill, they were better off without me.
"I can hear you," said my da's voice gruffly. "Let me in."
Another day, before the death of my family, I would have been surprised. It had been a long time since I'd heard my father's voice. But my da, he'd always known when I was in trouble. That insight had outlasted my childhood.
I was beyond caring about anything, expected or unexpected. Being used to doing what he asked, I opened the door and stepped back.
The man standing outside entered quickly, careful not to lose the heat of the evening's fire. The hearth in the center of my home was banked and covered for the night, and I wouldn't fuel it again until the morning. With the door shut, the room was too dark to see because the window openings were also covered against the cold night air.
I did not see how he did it because there was no sound of striking flint, but he lit the tallow candle. He had always kept a candle on the ledge, just inside the door, where one of the rocks that formed the walls of the house stuck out. After he had gone and left the hut to me, I found it practical
