“That’s what they tell me.” Tad patted my back and then set me away from him. “Damn, sis, Merlin did good on you.”
I frowned. “You saying I was ugly before?”
The men behind us laughed, and Tad shook his head, his hands raised in surrender. “I meant I wouldn’t recognize you. Even your voice is different. But we still look like siblings.”
He was right. His voice was familiar to me, but he had the same shift in coloring that I’d had. Brown hair and eyes had slid into black hair and green eyes. He grinned, showing off a pair of tiny fangs. Oh dear, that wasn’t going to be good. Fear clutched at me, and I fought to keep myself from cringing away from him.
“You’re a vampire?”
“No. A naga. Different species altogether.”
I blinked stupidly up at him. “A what?”
“A snake man. Same as Merlin made you, right, Merlin?”
Merlin nodded, but I thought I caught a twinkle in his eyes. “Of course. You asked for her to be a snake girl like you. That’s what I did.”
Tad patted me on the arm. “Listen, it’s a pretty good deal. I can shift, don’t have to drink blood, and am somewhat long-lived.” He slid an arm over my bare shoulders and tugged me tight to his side. “Thanks, Merlin.”
“You know the deal,” Merlin said. “You owe me.”
I pushed away from Tad. “Wait. Stop.” I turned and pointed a finger at Merlin as my questions tumbled out of my mouth. “You paid for this? How? Where did you get that much money? Why didn’t you come home? Where’s Dahlia?”
Merlin shook his head. “She’s not your friend anymore, Alena. She’s a bloodsucker, and they stick to their own kind. You can’t talk to her.”
“Why not?” That was stupid; what reason could he possibly have for me not talking to her?
The blond vampire leaned back in his chair and put his legs on the round table in front of him. “Because every supernatural group sticks to their own kind. Vamps to vamps, wolves to wolves, witches to witches. There is no crossover. Except here when Merlin has his poker nights.”
The men in the group all nodded in unison. Poker night. I looked closer at the scene in front of me. The chips on the table, the cards, the drinks.
I backed up, bumping into Tad. He put a hand on my shoulder and steered me to the door. “Come on, I’ll explain everything.”
I let him lead me out of the room, through the door, and into the street. The house we stepped out of was tall and narrow, painted a deep red with a black door. The windows were shuttered and nailed closed. On the lawn was a sign: “Merlin for Hire.”
My brother dragged me down the street as Merlin waved from the doorway. “You forgot your welcome package.” From inside the house the men laughed, a rolling sound I knew I shouldn’t have been able to hear from that far away. “Come back when you want it. We can discuss things then.”
“What could I want to discuss with him?” Dang, it was like I couldn’t stop with the questions. And no one was answering me. “Tad, stop, I want to know just what is going on. What did he turn me into? Back there I . . . hissed. Like a snake. Am I a naga thing like you? That’s what I am?”
Tad didn’t slow. He checked the street and dragged me across. I hurried as best as I could in my heels and fluffy skirt, but I’ve got to be honest. Four-inch heels are made for slinking and wiggling hips, not jogging.
He hurried to a big black Harley-Davidson. “We’ve got to go, before the Supe Squad finds us.” He didn’t hand me a helmet, nor did he put one on himself.
“Tad, this isn’t safe. Where are the helmets?”
“We aren’t going to die, Lena. This isn’t as unsafe as you think.” He swung a long leg over the bike and looked back at me.
“But I don’t want to crack my skull open when you tip us over. I remember the ATV incident all too well.”
He frowned at me, brows dropping low over his bright-green eyes. “Lena. We. Will. Be. Fine. Even if there’s a wreck. We aren’t human anymore, we can take a licking and keep on ticking. Get on. We have to go. And the ATV flipping over was not my fault. There was a bump in the trail I didn’t see.”
Lips pursed, I stepped up, put my hands on his shoulders, and swung a leg over. My skirt bunched up between us, which exposed even more of my new long legs. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he kicked the starter stand thingy once. The engine roared to life, and behind us, the sound of a diesel engine revving caught my ear.
Except it wasn’t what I was hearing, it was what I was feeling along my skin, the vibration of sound in the air caressing my skin like an oversized cat purring.
“Shit, they’re on us already,” Tad bit out.
He twisted the throttle and the bike leapt forward. I squeaked and clung tighter to my brother while my skirt flipped and flapped in the wind. My hair pulled out behind me, and I buried my face against his back.
“Tad, not so fast!”
“Don’t hold me so tight!”
I tried to loosen my grip, but fear kept me clinging to him. He took a hard left, and the bike tipped precariously close to the ground. My knee was only inches above the asphalt.
“Stop screaming, you crazy woman!” he shouted at me. I couldn’t help it. This was all happening so fast—in every sense of the word. The wind tore at me. Tiny pellets of water raining down from the sky hit my skin, and I knew they would make the road slick as slug snot.