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Chelsey left early the next morning. Even with our high-shifter metabolism, we were both a little hungover. I didn’t know how humans did it, and their hangovers were probably ten times worse. Ugh.
I was too queasy to eat breakfast. That would probably bite me in the ass later, but the extra few hours in bed did wonders for me. Being hungry later was a small price to pay.
We were supposed to do some kind of question-and-answer session. From the way Von made it sound in his video message, it would probably be questions from the fans sent in via email or social media. Great. An afternoon answering questions from horny housewives about which alpha I wanted to fuck, or douchebags who thought they should have been picked as cast members and were bitter. It would be just like the last time we did this. Though, I had to admit that answering dumb questions was much safer than risking my life out in the jungle or the ocean.
After finally dragging myself from bed, I took a shower and brushed my teeth. Feeling like a real person again, I dressed, letting the air dry my body.
As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, a loudtap-tapat the window startled me. I wrapped my arms across my naked body, covering myself. I relaxed when I realized what it was. A magnificently colored parrot sat on the sill, another message tied to its leg. It tapped the glass again with its beak.
I rushed over to open the window, desperate to see what Zoe had sent. After opening it a crack, I checked for cameras. Once I was as sure as I could be that no one was watching, I let the parrot in. It sat on my table while I rushed back into the bathroom for my robe. When I came out, it politely held its leg out for me to untie the message. Whoever that eagle shifter was, he was a great trainer.
I unrolled the note and began reading:
Bestie, it’s me, your favorite fae. Anyway, I hope things are good there. Crew said I was good to give you a little more info on Haven. We can’t go into too much detail on the off-chance my little rainbow buddy there gets compromised. If stuff goes sideways, we don’t want the showrunners knowing more than they already do. I’ll give you all I can other than the location—that’s still super-duper secret.
There are a few dozen beings living here at Haven. Most are various types of shifters, but there’s a little bit of everything. We do our best to stay hidden from the producers and staff of the show. Crew says they come out every few weeks to look for us but always give up fairly soon, which means our hiding place is really good. Let’s keep it that way!
He says that he’s pretty sure they think our numbers are super small. Like less than a dozen beings. They’d shit themselves if they knew how many were actually here. Other than the showrunners, we also have to stay hidden from the creatures in the jungle. But the main thing that scares us is Simon Shingleman.
I stopped reading the letter for a moment. Simon Shingleman? Why did that ring a bell? Had I come across that name during work? Something tickled at the back of my mind, almost within reach, but when I focused on it, the memory slipped away again. Huffing, I sighed and went back to the note:
He’s a psycho. From everything I’ve heard, he’s some kind of magical scientist and a madman. There’s a lab somewhere deep within Bloodstone Island, but Crew hasn’t found it yet. One of the fae who lives here says he does some pretty shady experiments. He’s a monster. He kidnaps creatures and beings to experiment on them. The word around Haven is that he uses them to create these awful weapons, potions, and other stuff. Crew and the others are certain he has outside help or funding of some sort, but they haven’t found any good evidence to support that. All they know is that the few times he’s managed to capture someone from Haven, they get tortured for information and then either die or turn feral. We have no clue how he does it, but he turns shifters feral. It’s probably one of the weapons he’s developed.
Skimming back, I read that section again. Heart hammering, I put two and two together. This Simon guy had turned Leif feral. It was the only thing that made sense. This piece of shit had drugged him or given him a potion and made him feral. If that was true, though, then maybe Simon could also reverse it.
We have a team watching the mansion from a safe distance. Crew and his second-in-command are ready to use magic to create a convincing death for the cameras. All we need from you is the name of the target and when the next challenge is. The challenge has to be outside the magic barriers, though. Mr. Feather Pants was busy, so send that info back with my newest friend, Mr. Rainbow Sprinkle Butt, and we’ll be as ready as we can.
Love you! Hope to see you soon.
P.S. This one won’t catch fire. Write back.
I glanced at the parrot. “Mr. Rainbow Sprinkle Butt?”
If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn the bird rolled its eyes in disgust.
Suddenly, a knock sounded on my door, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Miss Durst? It’s time for the Q&A session,” a woman’s voice called through the door.
“Oh, shit,” I hissed, looking over my shoulder.
“Oh, shit,” the bird mimicked.
“Be out in, uh, five minutes,” I called back.
“Miss, we really need to go now. We’ll be late.”
I didn’t bother responding to that. I dug around in the desk drawer for a pen, then wrote a quick reply on the back of the note.
You’re takingMika Sheen. There’s a challenge this afternoon in the jungle.He’ll be ready to go.
The asshole witch pounded on my door again, calling for me. My fingers shook with excitement as I rerolled the paper, tied it to the bird’s leg, opened the window, and sent him off. The woman was still calling for me, but I waited until Mr. Rainbow Sprinkle Butt was out of sight before rushing back to my closet and throwing on an outfit.
By the time I finally made it to the door of my room, I looked like a hot mess—no makeup, my hair still wet. But at least I wasn’t naked anymore.
“Hey, sorry,” I said, pulling the door open.
The witch in the hall gave me a onceover and frowned. “Um, you’re ready?”
“Yeah.” I tried to make my voice sound indignant, but it came out as embarrassed.
