Prologue
Melanie
sat—bordering
on
catatonic—as
her
best
friends
tried
to
comfort
her.
Their
night
had
been
anything
but
ordinary.
What
had
been
planned
as a
birthday
outing
for
her
friend
Peren
quickly
turned
bizarre,
dark
and
deadly.
It
had
been
her
idea
to
drag
Peren
out
and
about—get
her
back
in
the
land
of
the
living
since
she’d
taken
to
locking
herself
away
from
mankind.
Missy,
her
other
close
friend,
agreed
and
the
two
plotted
a
way
to
get
Peren
on a
date.
It
had
taken
some
work
on
their
part
and
after
a
few
phone
calls,
Missy
had
set
up
what
Melanie
had
assumed
was
a
fool-proof
night.
Well,
right
up
until
Peren
bolted
from
the
bar
and
Lukian,
the
man
set
up
to
be
her
blind
date,
went
after
her,
leaving
Missy
and
Melanie
being
shoved
into
an
unmarked
van
by
two
armed
hunks.
Once
Lance
and
Roi,
the
two
hunks,
had
explained
that
Peren
was
in
danger
and
that
they
were
there
to
help,
she’d
calmed
down
a
bit.
Missy,
the
hellcat
that
she
was,
didn’t
let
up
once.
She’d
even
gone
as
far
as
to
smack
Roi
across
the
face
and
then
spend
the
remainder
of
the
evening
arguing
with
him.
Melanie
hadn’t
used
her
head.
No.
She’d
followed
blindly
behind
Lance,
seemingly
unable
to
deny
the
simplest
of
his
requests.
Something
about
him
left
her
feeling
as
if
she
had
no
choice
but
to
comply.
She
also
hadn’t
been
able
to
tear
her
gaze
from
him.
When
he’d
come
onto
her,
rubbing,
petting,
kissing,
it
felt
right
but
wrong
for
reasons
she
couldn’t
name.
Still,
she
gave
in,
letting
him
please
her
multiple
times.
It
wasn’t
until
their
third
time
joining
that
it
happened.
Melanie
shuddered
as
she
sat
in
the
cold
steel
chair.
The
light
in
the
room
was
harsh
and
the
room
itself
had
a
vibe
to
it,
reminding
her
of
integration
rooms
on
television
shows.
“Mel,
guess
what
our
little
buddy
did,”
Missy
said,
folding
her
arms
over
her
chest
and
arching
a
dark
brown
towards
their
friend
Peren.
Still
too
distracted
by
the
night’s
event
to
fully
focus
on
whatever
had
set
Missy
off
this
time,
Melanie
looked
at
Peren.
“What’d
ya’
do?”
“Mel?”
“What’s
wrong,
honey?”
Peren
asked,
concern
lacing
her
voice.
The
feel
of
being
watched
came
over
Melanie
but
she
shrugged
it
off,
doing
her
best
to
concentrate
on
her
friends.
“I
...
I
had
sex
with
Lance
last
night.”
Missy
grunted
and
Peren
shot
her
a
nasty
look.
Melanie
continued
on,
“He
was
just
...
I
mean,
well,
he
wasn’t…oh,
shit,
he
was
hot
and
I
wanted
him.”
Shame
filling
her,
she
glanced
at
Peren.
“I
got
him.
I
got
more
than
just
him.
We
fucked
three
times
before
it
happened.”
She
took
a
keen
interest
in
the
floor,
wanting
to
avoid
her
friends’
stare.
“You
won’t
believe
me
if I
tell
you.”
“No,
sweetie,
it’s
okay.
We’ll
believe
you,
go
ahead,”
Peren
said,
moving
closer.
Melanie
took
her
friend’s
hand
and
held
it
tight.
“You’re
going
to
think
I’m
crazy,
but
I
swear
to
you
...
Lance
changed
during
his
orgasm.”
“Changed?”
Peren
asked,
rubbing
her
thumb
over
the
back
of
Melanie’s
hand.
Missy
snorted
and
rolled
her
eyes.
“Yeah,
psycho-paramilitary
freaks
tend
to
do
that.”
“He
changed
how?”
Peren
asked.
Melanie
debated
on
ending
the
discussion
then
and
there.
It
was
bad
enough
she
was
sure
she’d
lost
her
mind
seeing
the
impossible,
but
to
share
her
insanity
with
her
friends
was
another
matter.
Peren
gave
her
hand
a
gentle
tug,
reassuring
her.
Melanie
nodded
more
to
herself
than
anyone
else.
“His
mouth
widened
and
then
his
shoulders
moved
up
...
hair,
dark
black
hair
just
sort
of
appeared
all
over
him,
and
the
worst
part
was
his
teeth
...
they
were
huge
...
he
looked
like,”
she
gasped,
“he
looked
like
he
was
going
tear
me
apart
after
he
fucked
me.”
“Oh,
this
is
ridiculous!”
Missy
stood
quickly,
tipping
her
chair
over.
“He
obviously
slipped
you
something
in
your
drink
at
the
club
and
you
were
hallucinating.”
Melanie
wiped
the
tears
from
her
cheeks,
embarrassed
and
humiliated
by
what
she’d
said—what
she’d
done.
“Hallucinating?
Yeah,
maybe,
but
it
felt
...
it
felt
so
real.”
It
was
real.
Inside
she
knew,
but
she
didn’t
voice
it
aloud.
There
was
no
point.
No
one
believed
her.
Missy
gave
a
rather
dramatic
wave
with
her
hand
while
she
huffed.
“Well,
you
don’t
have
a
mark
on
you
and
since
you’re
sitting
here
telling
us
this,
he
couldn’t
have
eaten
you.”
“Yeah,
yeah,
you’re
right,”
Melanie
said,
knowing
to
just
play
along
rather
than
make
any
more
waves.
“When
I
got
up
this
morning
he
was
lying
next
to
me
in
the
bed,
normal.
I
...
yeah,
it
must
have
been
something
in
my
drink.”
Peren
held
her
tight.
“Yes,
you
were
tired,
and
had
too
much
to
drink.
Lance
didn’t
slip
you
a
thing.
You
were
half
in
the
bag
when
we
got
to
the
club,
and
you’ve
been
running
on
empty
with
finals
lately.
I’m
guessing
that
the
stress
of
all
that,
combined
with
alcohol,
left
you
a
little
off.”
Melanie
didn’t
believe
Peren
was
as
sure
as
she
presented
herself
to
be.
In
fact,
Melanie’s
powers,
the
ones
she
kept
hidden
from
her
friends,
told
her
that
Peren
was
as
worried
about
Melanie’s
revelation
as
she
was.
Maybe
more.
She
waited
until
Peren
glanced
away
to
close
her
eyes
and
try
to
calm
her
nerves.
Someone’s
rage
swept
over
her
and
for
a
split
second
she
could
have
sworn
she
heard
the
auburn-haired
man’s
voice—the
one
who
had
driven
the
van
away
after
Lance
told
her
to
get
in.
The
one
whose
emerald
eyes
locked
on
her
in
the
review
mirror
and
rarely
left.
The
one
who
made
her
feel
uncomfortable
but
not
in a
bad
way.
What
had
Lance
called
him?
Green.
That’s
right.
Green.
Melanie
stared
around
the
white
room.
She,
Missy
and
Peren
were
the
only
ones
in
it.
Still,
she
couldn’t
shake
the
feeling
she
was
being
watched.
Her
gaze
flickered
to
the
mirror,
running
the
full
length
of
the
left-hand
wall.
Drawing
upon
her
power,
she
let
the
tiniest
bit
out
and
watched
in
awe
as
Green
lunged
at a
man
she
didn’t
recognize.
Green
paused
and
looked
in
her
direction,
as
if
he
felt
her
gaze
on
him.
Melanie
stiffened
and
dropped
her
power
quickly.
Peren
wrapped
her
arms
around
her
and
gave
her
a
gentle
squeeze.
“It’s
okay,
Mel.”
“Thanks,”
she
said,
holding
tight,
still
thinking
about
Green
when
she
should
be
thinking
about
Lance.
