Page 25 of Violet

Could the paperback be spelled, too? Could that be the reason Liam and Cash suddenly showed up?

I watch Violet flip a page and shake my head at the absurdity of the idea. It’s a book, not a latte, and I’m not named after a jewel. Even if Amber had her witchy mate, Julian, cast a mating spell on it, the spell wouldn’t work on me. Plus, why the Chameleon would she give me a spelled book, anyway? She doesn’t know I’m her sister... and who’d ever want the eighty-year-old town librarian to find her mates?

I snort at the absurdity of it and turn back to my phone and my secret addiction: prank videos. Nole got me hooked on them ages ago, and it’s definitely the next best thing to being able to pull pranks myself.

I don’t look up from my phone until someone knocks on the door.

My heart nearly stops, and next to me, Violet freezes. Moving as one, we jump into action, going through the steps we rehearsed so many times. I shift into Violet. She drops the paperback onto the couch... and then just stands there with her eyes closed.

“Shift!” I hiss.

“I can’t!” she whispers back, eyes wild. “I’m trying, but I can’t...”

“I can.” Because luckily, she’d shifted into a skunk briefly last week. “You open the door.”

Violet nods and shuffles across the floor while I shift into her skunk and skitter under the couch. Her footsteps echo across the silent apartment, and whoever is on the other side of the door knocks again. Loudly. Impatiently.

“Who is it?” Violet asks.

“Liam.” There’s a pause. “Can we talk?”

My heart skips a beat. Then the lock clicks. The door squeaks open, and two sets of footsteps echo while their owners stop inside. Why two?

Did Liam bring someone with him? Bert? Betty? One of them?

I crawl on my belly across the floor, making sure to stay under the couch and not make any noise. I make it to the edge, just far enough to make out two booted, distinctly male feet. Not Betty then, though Liam probably told her the truth, and now she hates me.

Violet closes the door and the lock clicks shut. Then, one of the booted feet spins around and all hell breaks loose.

“Who the hell are you?” Liam shouts, and I realize my mistake. Just like I could tell the difference between the real troll and my sister shifting into the troll, Liam can tell the difference between Violet and me shifted into Violet.

I scramble to think of what to do when Violet utters the one word that makes my heart break. “Mate?”

Oh, hell no!

Jealousy courses through me. The thought of Violet with my Liam—of anyone with my Liam—makes me see red. Forget that I just met the guy this morning, and we haven’t said two words to each other. None of that matters, because he’s mine.

Before I can think better of it, I streak from under the couch. Which is when I realize my mistake: Violet isn’t looking at Liam, she’s looking at Bert. And Liam is looking at me.

“Violet?” he demands. His menacing frown disappears, and his eyes soften.

He looks even taller from my skunk vantage point and so broad-shouldered he’s built like a tree. A tree I’d very much like to scale. His giant hands—one obviously bruised, knuckles bloodied—are bunched into fists. And his plump, kissable lips are parted in surprise.

“What’s going on here?” he demands, sounding very much like the officer that he is.

Violet glances at him, then follows his line of sight, and sees me. Skunk me out in the open, instead of hiding under the couch like I was supposed to. Shit!

What do I do? What do I do?!?!

There’s only one thing to do: shift. Into Violet.

Liam’s eyes widen. So do Bert’s.

“We’re twins, dear,” I say the first thing that comes to mind. Five points. Then I gesture toward Violet with my chin. “That’s my sister... Birdie.”

I haven’t a clue where I get that name from, but the guys seem to buy it.

“Birdie,” Bert turns to her, staring at her in awe. “Promise to spend eternity with me.”