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She took the large beach towel from Vanzir, who was grinning ear to ear by now. Oh, he was going to get his. Iris held one end while Roz held the other.
She stared pointedly at both of them until they averted their eyes. Normal y I wouldn't give a damn, but right now I was in a pissy mood, and the Talon-haltija knew it.
I shifted back slowly, because I was in no mood for any nasty muscle spasms, and the slower I shifted, the easier it went. As I stood up, feeling rank, I wrapped the towel around me. Iris's gaze traveled up to my face.
"Oh my stars," she whispered, her eyes wide. "I had no idea that was going to happen."
"What? What's going on? If somebody doesn't tel me soon, I'm turning back into a cat and going on a shredding binge."
"Hey, Red," Vanzir said, once again ruffling my hair. Only this time he had to reach up to do it.
Red?
"No. . . . no . . . you don't mean what I think you mean, do you?" I took off for the bathroom, the smel of skunk with a side of tomato fol owing me.
As I flipped on the light and stared in the mirror, I let out a groan. My beautiful golden hair was now rife with bril iant highlights. I looked like Ronald McDonald, only tiger-striped. The tomato juice had dyed the lighter parts of my hair, and now I was a patchwork of pink, rust, and burnt orange. And none of it looked good.
"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck me."
Iris peeked around the corner. "I'm so sorry, Delilah. I had no idea tomato juice would do that. And it didn't take care of the smel , either."
"I reek, and my hair looks like a dye bomb went off in it!"
I dropped to the edge of the tub. I loved my hair. It wasn't fancy, it wasn't anything super special, but it was mine. Now I looked like I was doing a bad Lil'
Kim impersonation.
"Wel , hop in the shower; maybe you can scrub some of the skunk scent off. Meanwhile, I'l see what I can find out. I've never had to deal with this before-
-no one I've ever known got skunked. Not that I remember." She headed out of the bathroom, muttering to herself.
I grimaced, then looked at myself in the mirror again. I'd always loved the combination of my emerald eyes and golden hair, but now I looked like I'd gone punk. Bad. Very bad. Splotches of pink to orange dappled the gold, and even where it hadn't, my natural color had become brassy. And not only my hair up top had decided to turn calico, but everywhere on my body. Eyebrows, razor stubble on my legs, and . . . oh yah, I had a burning bush, al right. For the first time in my life, I foresaw begging Camil e to teach me how to go Brazilian.
"Crap. One more thing to deal with." But right now, I needed to focus on getting the stench off me.
"Here we go," Iris said, coming back with a basin fil ed with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a box of baking soda, and some dish soap. "Fil the bathtub."
Mutely, I did as she ordered, backing off as she poured a cup of the baking soda into the churning water. Then she added the quart of peroxide and about a quarter cup of dish soap. I stared at the briny bath and gingerly stepped in when she gave me a little shove.
Far from a nice, fresh, minty bubble bath, which I'd wil ingly take, this felt more like she was scrubbing off the last seven years of skin. By the time we finished washing me and my hair, I was bright pink from the vigorous use of the loofah. As I rinsed off under the shower spray, I could stil smel the skunk, but at least it was muted. A little.
"Oh, dear," she said, looking up at me.
>The plume of fur was so pretty and tempting that I forgot my manners and pounced.
The creature swung around, turning its butt toward me.
Oh shit! Skunk!
Just as I remembered what it was, it took aim, shook its ass, and a wide spray came shooting toward me. I yowled and bounded away, but not before getting drenched by the foul-smel ing perfume. At least it managed to miss my eyes, but I didn't wait around for the skunk to get in a second shot. I hightailed it back toward the mansion.
As I reached the steps, I slowed, sneezing violently. What the hel was I supposed to do? If I ran in there as a cat, I'd stink up the joint. If I ran in as myself, it would be worse, because I'd be bigger, hence, giving off more of the odor. I paced nervously in front of the steps, wanting the nasty scent gone. Now.
Luck was with me. Vanzir was standing there, watching me. As I stared at him, eyes wide and praying he wouldn't start laughing, he slipped back through the door. A moment later, he reappeared, Iris and Bruce in tow. Iris glanced around, her nose wrinkling, and I let out a plaintive yowl.
"Oh good heavens!" Iris shoved her flute of champagne into Bruce's hand and came racing down the stairs, a look of horror on her face. She stopped just out of reach. "You poor thing. Oh dear, how are we going to get you home?"
Just then, Rozurial slipped outside. He looked at Vanzir, then Bruce, who was stil holding the champagne, and then down at Iris and me.
