Page 61 of Minnie

“It’s like he’s trying to make our jobs more difficult,” Liam mutters, one hand on his weapon, eyes scanning the room.

“Tell me about it,” another cop mutters.

Amber giggles and nudges my shoulder. “Isn’t it a terrible villain name?”

She glances at Zoe and me for backup, but those of us who can see the mate bond are too distracted to pay attention to Dr. Ashok’s terrible nickname.

Amber giggles and says “ready, set, ash” in a peppy, cheerleading voice.

Xavi clears his throat. “Is it true that you’ve been experimenting on animals?”

Ash Reddy clears his throat. He seems like he’s about to answer, and then recites a line he’s obviously memorized. “My goal is to better the lives of vampire-kind by creating a more ethical food source.”

Xavi raises his hand again, politely waiting until Ash Reddy points at him. “Is it true that you’re causing pain and suffering to your so-called food source, the adorable fuzzies we see on the screen?”

This time, Ash Reddy runs his hands through his hair. His lips move, but no sound comes out. It kind of looks like he’s counting to ten under his breath. Then, he says, “I’ve engineered fuzzies to be a willing food source.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” someone from the audience calls out.

“It means that they enjoy getting bit.”

Which is my cue.

“You’ve got this,” Amber whispers, holding up the magic dampener. “Ready?”

I nod.

Zoe fixed me up with a hair straightener and some real makeup in the library bathroom when we first arrived, so I won’t look like a complete mess without my spells. And no one will notice if my nails are unmanicured when I give my speech.

Amber clips the necklace shut and all the spells, including my ability to see the mating bond, disappear.

I jump to my feet. “Fuzzies do not enjoy getting bit,” I shout. “Getting bit hurts. It’s traumatizing. You’re causing fuzzies to suffer.”

“Actually, you’re wrong about that,” he says smugly.

Outrage courses through me. How dare he spread his lie and encourage the kind, caring vampires of Silver Springs to bite fuzzies?

But he isn’t done. “I’ve been performing brain scans, and they’ve revealed something fascinating about fuzzies. The pleasure centers in their brains light up like fireworks when a vampire bites them. My neurological work is indubitable proof that they absolutely love it.”

The way he says indubitable makes me want to punch him in his smug, fancy vocab loving face.

“Fascinating…” Roman, who works at the aquarium, pushes his glasses up his nose. I know for a fact that he’s a vampire, just like his outgoing twin, Levi, who’s a regular at Jewels Cafe—so the glasses must be for show. “Can you tell us more about your neurological work?”

That gets Ash Reddy going, and he launches into a bunch of science speak that goes way over my head. As if he thinks he’ll be able to confuse the sweet, caring vampires of Silver Springs into biting fuzzies. Well, I’ll show him.

“He’s making it all up,” I shout, my heart pounding in my ears so loud I’m sure the entire vampire population of Silver Springs can hear it, and probably the rest of the supernatural community, too. “I can talk to animals, and I know for a fact that everything you’re saying is a lie.”

Violet the elder spins around in her seat. “Since when can you talk to animals?”

“Why are we even listening to her? She’s a bitch and a liar,” Rose, who runs Club Vee with her vampire mates, shouts. And I deserve it for the horrible things I’ve said to her, all because of Formula M.

“Zoe, you need to speak,” Rylie Storm, a biker who adores animals, shouts. She holds her ‘Free the Fuzzies’ sign higher. “Tell everyone about Snow.”

More voices join in until everyone’s talking all at once. My chest starts to hurt and I realize that I’ve forgotten to breathe. And unlike the monster currently spouting lies, I need to.

I take a giant breath, then another, and another. I can’t seem to suck enough air as the vampire in question manages to regain control of the room and continues to spout lies.

I need to tell him he’s a fraud—that I’ve heard the truth, straight from the source—but I can’t even get enough air to speak.