Part 3 (1/2)
Wanda straightened the bow on her collar. It needed straightening after that crazy circus sideshow of superhuman strength and inhuman twist of tendons. ”You did.”
”And he's a vampire, too?” She wiggled a finger over her shoulder at Sam, quelling the squeak in her voice by clearing her throat.
”As is your alleged sister,” Marty said, rolling her head on her shoulders to work out the obvious kinks one would surely encounter when their bones crunched so they could change shape and take on their werewolf forms. ”I'm the only full werewolf. Like we explained, Casey, who's not here tonight but will join us as soon as she can, is a demon, and Wanda's what we lovingly call a halfsie.”
”Half vampire, half werewolf, BTW,” Sam offered in a smugly in-the-know way. ”I'm learning the lingo. You know, so I'll fit in with the clan.”
Suck-a.s.s.
Phoebe tried to focus on all the information she'd been given after they'd each shown her their unique, paranormal abilities. The contents of which included all the gory deets on each woman's accidental turn into a paranormal species, and their quest with OOPS to help others like them who had nowhere else to go when a crisis of this magnitude occurred.
She still wasn't quite sure she understood the entirety of their situations or how they'd fallen in love with the men who'd created their personal paranormal dramas, but she did get that it was real. She'd seen the reality of it. She wouldn't waste time denying what they'd shown her or even believing that her eyes were playing tricks on her.
That was all well and good.
But if it was real for her remained to be seen. There was no proof other than their word she'd soon be drinking blood and mind reading. ”So let me be clear. You help people at this place called OOPS who've suffered a paranormal crisis, and all of you were accidents, including me and Sam?” Which left Sam where? In the cross-dressing paranormal slot?
Wanda slid into the chair near Phoebe and placed a rea.s.suring hand on her arm. ”We know firsthand what you're going through. As to Sam, he's suspect right now. It's clear he's vampire, but we have little information on how or why he got this way. We don't know what exactly happened to him, Phoebe. Sam's memories of what happened before he woke up with us are fleeting at this point. Like we told you, he was just dumped on our doorstep and he was unconscious. But we're all in for helping him figure it out. And naturally, we'll help you, too.”
How s.h.i.+ny. Phoebe's head swiveled on her neck when she turned to face Nina. ”Wait a minute. It's because of you and your outrageous reaction to my claim that I can't ever go out in daylight again?” Or dine at Bergdorf Goodman's or wear a cute bikini on the boardwalk at the Jersey Sh.o.r.e, or breathe, or feel her heartbeat quicken when she found the perfect outfit for a client.
Ah, but there was compensation. Soon she'd be able to read minds and fly.
Mucho bada.s.sery.
”Technically, it's because of me and my incisors,” Sam offered, grinning a grin so delicious it actually made Phoebe s.h.i.+ver-sort of. ”But I'm okay with you laying blame squarely on Nina. At this fragile point, I feel she can probably better handle your wrath than I can right now.”
Nina rolled her beautiful eyes. ”Oh, lay off the drama-queen bulls.h.i.+t. You can too go out. You just have to wear SPF gotrillion and two. But you'll probably be too tired to go out in daylight anyway. Vampires sleep during the day. All day, and we don't get out of our coffins till sunset. So I hope you're down with a good h.o.a.rders marathon on late-night TV.”
Phoebe blanched while her fingers tightened into a tension-filled fist. ”You sleep in a coffin?”
Nina's smile was sly. She was clearly enjoying toying with her, and Phoebe'd stepped right into her trap. ”And before you ask, because you look like the kind of chick who'd be thrilled right down to her stupid-a.s.s pedicure about it. No. You won't sparkle in the sunlight.”
”Oh, d.a.m.n,” Phoebe mocked. ”And here I was all set to throw away my metallic body glitter and run off to join Team Edward.”
Instead of taking Nina down a peg, Phoebe's smart remark appeared to only fuel her fire. ”Well, it's like I told Fancy Sam here. You won't sparkle, but you will f.u.c.king fry.”
Her slight panic began to take a dangerous turn toward full-on freak-out. ”Fry?”
”Snap, crackle, pop,” Sam quipped on a grin, planting his hands on his incredibly muscular thighs.
For the first time, Phoebe visibly cringed.
But Nina was paying little mind to anything but getting rid of her. ”So I guess you need some time to absorb this, huh, Phoebes? Why don't you go do that s.h.i.+t in your own crib? You can give us a little jing-a-ling when you're all settled and past the oh-f.u.c.k-I-can't-see-my-reflection-anymore stage.”
She couldn't see her reflection anymore? That wasn't just some ridiculous made-up Hollywood movie ploy?
Wanda jumped up and swatted Nina's shoulder, shooting her a sour look of disapproval. ”She'll do no such thing. You know what the turn and subsequent adjustment to it is like. She needs round-the-clock support, as does our Sam.”
Sam leaned into Phoebe again with a conspiratorial wink. ”Nina cried when she found out she was a vampire. I heard Wanda say so. If she cried, I think you should rethink your pending departure.”
Nina gave Sam a hard nudge to his shoulder. ”For the last time, there was no f.u.c.king crying, but I'll make you cry if you make one more crack.”
Sam's hands flew up in white-flag fas.h.i.+on. ”You da man.”
Wanda shot a stern finger in Nina's direction and pointed at a chair for her to sit in. ”Okay, so here's where we're at. Clearly, you're both tougher than any of us. You've skipped several of the stages involved in accepting your new fate. I guess that means we move right along to teaching you both how to cope with the way of the vampire, and unfortunately, that means Nina's your most knowledgeable guide. But I promise we won't leave you alone with her.”
Phoebe looked down at her wrist.w.a.tch and shook her head in the negative while she rose to leave. ”Do you have some kind of paperwork we can read? Maybe a brochure or a book of vampire etiquette? Because I have an early-morning meeting with a client I can't miss. Which means I need to go home and get a couple of hours sleep. I don't have time to attend the Vampire Academy for Noobs tonight.”
”f.u.c.k,” Nina muttered, letting her head fall to her folded arms on the table in purposely evident disgust.
Phoebe's eyes flashed. ”f.u.c.k what?”
Wanda came to stand beside her, placing her arm around Phoebe's shoulder, the smile on her face warm and sympathetic. ”I think what our most outspoken OOPS member means is, you're not exactly in the place we thought you were. This lifestyle you'll be forced to embrace isn't like adjusting to a new pair of shoes, Phoebe. It's so much more than that.”
Nina shoved away from the table, letting her chair rock on two legs. ”And cue the whine. d.a.m.n it, Wanda. I was so down with Sammy. He took this s.h.i.+t like some kinda champ. Now we'll be here all night while she p.i.s.ses and moans until she pa.s.ses out. We should have just left well enough the f.u.c.k alone.”
Marty planted her hands on her hips and glared at Nina. ”No truer words, Gladiator. But you created at least half of this problem, and the h.e.l.l you're not going to help solve it. Whether she's really your relation or not. What would you have done if Greg had just left you to your own devices, nitwit? You'd be ashes. That's what. Now not another word out of you. You'll see this through to the end like a good vampire or I'll see your end.”
Phoebe stared at Wanda head-on, her senses suddenly and inexplicably on fire. The struggle to maintain not just her cool but her ability to think of anything else but going home became a force to contend with.
She needed out and she needed out now. ”I understand exactly what you're saying. I heard everything you said. I'm a vampire. I can't eat food anymore. I have to drink blood. I have no organs. I'm dead on the inside. But if I'm super-duper lucky, I'll fly just like my big sister, Nina, someday. I get it, and now I have to go home.” Rather abruptly, she was overwhelmed, and when that occurred, she needed s.p.a.ce.
Wanda's pink dappled cheeks puffed outward then deflated. ”We've got trouble, ladies.”
Nina was the first to rise, blocking Phoebe's path to the wide double doors with reluctant feet. ”You can't go home, Phoebe.”
Phoebe c.o.c.ked her head, crossing her arms over her chest. ”Look. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm you only more cutting-edge fas.h.i.+on, less ghetto back-alley goth. Oh, and far less likely to use the word f.u.c.k. I'm not afraid of you like Sam over here. So if you thought you could stop me from leaving, rethink. Now move. Please. Or things could become very chaotic for you.”
Sam's indignant grunt floated to her ears. The sc.r.a.pe of his shredded nylons rasping as he crossed his legs make Phoebe shudder. His expression was affronted. ”I'm not afraid of her. I'm leery. There's a difference. A big one, thank you very much.”
Nina cracked her jaw, and to any bystander, it was clear she was fighting to keep her rage in check, but it was clearest to Phoebe, who understood the struggle to maintain her quick temper and sharp tongue on a daily basis. That Nina had the nerve to claim they weren't related was like declaring Prada made hot dogs. But the proof of her legitimacy would have to wait for another day.
Like one where she didn't feel like she was on fire.
Nina's eyes flashed an emotion Phoebe recognized as sympathy, but she quickly let her thick eyelashes flutter to her cheeks in order to hide it. ”Seriously, our differences and your crazy claim aside, cupcake, you can't go home-not without us. s.h.i.+t's about to go down that you don't know how to deal with, and you'll need help. Our help. My help.”
Phoebe's eyebrow rose to a new height of condescending even as her stomach revolted and her legs shook. ”I said I'm going home.”
Nina scrunched up her face, blocking her path. ”Yeah. And I said you're not.”
Sam rose to his feet now, too, putting a hand on Phoebe's shoulder to keep her from moving. A hand that created a mult.i.tude of reactions. Irritation, a strange s.e.xy slither of pleasure, and more irritation. ”It's in your best interest to listen to Nina. I know you don't like it, but you don't seem to be getting the big picture here. Now stay put until you do.”
Whether it was Sam's demand that she remain or Nina's glare, she couldn't have said. The only thing Phoebe was capable of thinking about was how much she wanted to slug first Sam, then Nina and the word home.
Home. Home. Home.