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“Madison, how bad is this going to get while we wait?” I asked. “You know her strategies, her usual plans. What are we looking at in terms of damages?”
Madison set her teacup down. “The queen likes big and flashy. Turning a few shifters at a time is probably fun for her, but she’s far more likely to go after a large group or an important target. She’ll want to make a splash.”
I balled my hands into fists and my body tensed. That didn’t make me feel any better. She could already be on her way to doing something dramatic.
We were wasting so much time.
“Has anyone heard from the twins lately?” They were supposed to be keeping an eye on the palace and we’d eliminated phone calls by having one of them stop by every eight hours or so.
Madison stood. “I’ll go check on them.”
“Oh, no you won’t,” David said. “We need you alive. And if the queen spots you, we lose our chance.”
“She won’t see me,” Madison said. “I was literally trained to live in the shadows.”
“Training while you were brainwashed,” David said.
Shelly set down her cup and stood, the chair groaning as she slid it behind her. She walked over to Madison and moved her hands so they were hovering a few inches away from the human’s face.
Madison’s features melted away before my eyes. Her face filled out more, making her cheeks fuller, her nose plumper, her jawline softer.
Shelly continued to move her hands, over Madison’s hair, then down to her shoulders. When she was finished, Madison was a red head with green eyes and freckles.
She didn’t look anything like the assassin who had come after us time and again. I blinked a few times, then closed my open mouth. “That was amazing.”
“Can you do me next?” David teased. “I’ve always wondered what I’d look like with curly hair.”
I elbowed him.
He laughed. “You’re right, I’m perfect the way I am.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re perfectly conceited.”
Shelly passed a small hand mirror to Madison. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she looked at her new reflection. “This is crazy.”
“It’s temporary,” Shelly assured her as she took the mirror away. “But nobody will mistake you for you.”
“My own parents wouldn’t recognize me,” Madison said. “Not that they’re alive to test the theory.”
I walked over to her and set my hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to win. And then you can feel safe going home again.”
I couldn’t imagine being in her position. Away from her family for years but afraid to go back to them. It was another reason to eliminate the queen from power. It wasn’t right to take control of someone’s life.
“I’m going with you,” Shelly announced.
“To the palace?” I asked.
“Of course.” She picked up the helmet I’d been using to ride with Xander. “He’s got my car, I’ll borrow his bike. Now, where’d you park it?”
Once I got over my initial shock of Shelly driving a motorcycle, I explained where we’d left it. “Please be safe,” I added.
“I’ve got an assassin with me,” Shelly said.
“After seeing the magic you can wield, I almost wonder if we could just charge the queen with you as our weapon,” David said.
“That’s a hell of a compliment,” Shelly said. “But I make it a rule to never go head to head with vampire royalty. Things get messy fast and I’m not a fan. But I’ve come this far with the rest of you, so I’ll keep helping. But when it comes time to storm the castle, I’m out.”
“Fair enough,” David said.
We watched the two of them leave through the same pink glow as Xander and Elias.
The house felt quiet now, empty. It was almost too crowded before, but I’d come to find that familiar.
David crossed the room so he was next to me and he set his hand on my lower back, his fingers toying with the ends of my tee shirt. Slowly, his fingers brushed the bare skin on my back. “All alone. How ever will we keep busy?”
I grinned at his over the top sarcasm. It was clear what he wanted to do to keep busy and from the tingle spreading low in my belly, I didn’t have any objections.
