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"Gotchya, puddy tat."
I squirmed, but he held fast and carried me at arm's length to the porch, where he unceremoniously dumped me in the water. Iris slammed the door so I couldn't get into the house again. Resigned, I huffed and patiently waited. I was already wet; I might as wel let her give me the bath. The scent of tomato juice cocktail broke through the smel filtering into my nostrils, and I took a cautious lick of the water.
Not bad, not bad.
Iris began to scrub me with the juice, and I hated to admit it, but it felt good. I detested the smel of skunk--it was making me nauseated--and if Iris thought that a bath in V8 would help, then I'd let her bathe me. I even relented enough to let her scrub my tummy. She took off my col ar, and I suddenly felt naked. After al , that col ar contained my clothing. When I changed back, if it wasn't on me, my clothes wouldn't be either.
After about ten minutes Iris motioned to Roz, and they moved to the side, leaving Vanzir to hold me in the tub.
"Puddy tat like her bath? Puddy happy?" he crooned.
Good for you I know you're just teasing, I thought. Or you'd be dead by now. Vanzir was our slave, and if we chose, he'd die. Enslaving him had been the only way to keep from kil ing him when he defected to us in the first place, and there was no undoing the deed. He was ours. Forever.
I settled for chomping on his thumb. He raised his eyebrows, but that David Bowie-Ziggy Stardust platinum shag barely moved. I wondered how much gel he used to get it to stay in place.
Iris and Roz came back, and she lifted me out of the bath and dipped me in a bucket of warm, clear water to rinse off the tomato juice.
"Uh-oh," she said.
That didn't sound good.
"Oh Mama." Roz let out a snort. "She's not going to like that at al . I wonder if . . . wil it translate over?"
What? Will what translate over? What the hell was going on?
"Delilah, honey, I think you better shift back now. Vanzir, would you fetch a towel? She's not going to want those clothes, I guarantee you that. What a pity--your beautiful gown. You'l have to replace it."
My gown! Oh no! I hadn't even thought about that, but Iris was right; the skunk had ruined my most elegant evening dress. My only evening dress.
She sat me down, and I sniffed the air. Hey--what the hel ? I stil smel ed like skunk! Letting out a huff, I shook my head, and water flew everywhere. Iris jumped back.
"I know you're not happy, but please--mind your manners. I would prefer to smel as little like skunk as possible. Now, here's the towel. Boys, be nice and quit teasing her."
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'
