There was no cure, no way around the disease once you had it. Unless you made the choice that both Tad and I had, and you were willing to be turned into one of the monsters. That wasn’t common knowledge, though. Most humans didn’t even realize there was a possible cure—if you called being made a Super Duper a cure. Really we’d just traded one disease for another. I shivered at the direction of my thoughts.
Only a few short weeks ago I’d been human, or so I thought, and then I’d contracted the Aegrus virus. I’d learned that the only people who could actually contract the virus were those who had a little bit of supernatural blood in their genetics. Enough to make them susceptible but not enough to help them survive the virus. Which meant there was something hiding in my family tree. The virus had me on death’s doorstep in no time, and the only way to save myself was to make a deal with the devil. A deal that involved turning me into what Dahlia, my roommate at the hospital, called a Super Duper.
Long story short, I’d done it to live, and I ended up with more than I’d bargained for. Now I was like . . . a super Super Duper. As in supersize. As in superpowerful. I brushed a strand of long dark hair out of my face, exasperation flowing through me once more at the thought of what Merlin had made me. A Drakaina, of all things, a woman siren who could shift into a giant, venomous snake at will. That’s what I got for being prideful and subverting God’s will. At least, that’s what my mother and the Firstamentalists would say. My jaw tightened as irritation flowed through me.
“We aren’t infectious,” I said under my breath as I clutched my paperwork harder. I mean, I wasn’t coughing, I didn’t have a fever—two signs a Super Duper had the virus. Tad grunted and glanced at me, jet-black hair falling over his eyes, giving me just a flash of green before he turned away again.
“You don’t know that for sure, and worse, neither do they. I mean, I didn’t know I had it when I infected you. If they find out—”
“They won’t,” I snapped, my nerves already strung as tight as they’d ever been. Like frosting a giant wedding cake while the bridezilla leaned over my shoulder. And yes, that had happened. Okay, this was worse than that, but it was close. “I just have to get them to sign the divorce papers. Once it’s done, then everything is legal and they can’t reverse things. They can’t deny me my rights then.” I drew in a breath and tried to push the fear and anxiety out of my belly. That was what I was hoping for anyway. Sure, it was a bit sneaky, but I didn’t have much of a choice as far as I could see. Once the signatures were on the paper, it would be a done deal. Again, I was hoping, but hope was all I had left.
“They’ll throw us back behind the Wall, and that’s if we’re lucky,” Tad grumbled, bringing my attention back to him. I let out a sigh and shook my head.
“Who exactly is going to do that? The Supe Squad is in shambles and can barely lace up their boots, even with orders. And with Oberfluffel missing, there is no one to give said orders. The human police aren’t really interested in dealing with Super Dupers unless they absolutely have to.”
Tad pulled a face as if he’d swallowed a lemon. “Oberfall is not missing. He’s on hiatus, according to Dahlia.”
I grinned at him and took advantage of his mention of Dahlia to change the conversation. “Pillow talk again?”
His face flushed bright red and he looked away. “I’m just saying he isn’t missing. Don’t make more of it than you have to.”
“I’d have thought you’d be happy he’s gone,” I said.
My brother tugged at the edges of his hoodie. “Smithy is in charge while he is away. Oberfall is a dick, but Smithy is a complete hard-ass. He can’t be reasoned with. When it comes to being straitlaced, he’s as straight as they come. Problem is, the rest of the SDMP don’t see him as the leader yet; he has to prove to them that he’s worth following. Until that happens, they’ll be all over the map.”
I shifted my arms as my paperwork slid. “My point is the Supe Squad isn’t doing anything. They shut down, and with Remo and his vampires taking out the chip-monitoring machine, you and I are probably safer here than on the north side of the Wall.”
When you lived on the north side of the Wall, you were surgically implanted with a chip that allowed the local police to keep all Super Dupers under their thumbs. Said chips also had the ability to shock their recipients, furthering that ability to keep them in line. With the machine that monitored and controlled those chips no longer functioning, it meant the Super Dupers could just about do as they pleased. I wasn’t fully certain that was a good thing.
A man walking close to us in a dark-blue suit and a bright-red tie paused and glanced at me, his eyes worried.
“Wall Street,” I lied. “We were talking about Wall Street.”
His eyes swept me up and down, and a slow grin spread across his face. “Are you one of the new secretaries? I am in the market for one since my last secretary quit.”
“Oh.” I glanced down at the papers in my arms and the short black skirt I wore. “No, I’m here to finalize my divorce.”
“Really?” The man in the suit perked up even more and held out his hand. “Name is Bradley Froat, lawyer, specializing in divorce. I could help you be free of your husband in no time at all. I could open you up to move on to . . . other things.” He winked at me and made a not-so-subtle kissing motion with his lips.
I glanced at his hand and took a step back, thoroughly disgusted. Did he really think that his attempt at smooth talk and a kissy face was a turn-on? “Well, I’d say it was nice to meet you, Mr. Froat, but that would be a lie.”
“You aren’t even going to shake my hand? Didn’t your mother tell you it isn’t polite to walk away when someone else is talking?” He raised both eyebrows at me, as if I’d insulted him. Well, okay, I had, but that wasn’t the point. He’d started this.
I pinched my lips together, irritation sharp and zinging through my blood. The old Alena would have apologized and begged forgiveness. Probably would have given him a coupon for her bakery.
Not anymore.
“Three things, Mr. Froat: one, I am going to be late if I don’t hurry; two, my mother is the last person you should bring up in conversation with me; and three, I am not the nice girl you think I am, so don’t irritate me, and don’t make kissy faces at me.” I turned away from him. “May I also point out you’re as big a jerk as my brother for not even offering to help a lady who has her arms full of papers before you try and make a move on her.”
“Hey,” Tad barked, “you’d say no if I did ask.”
I rolled my eyes. “And this is why you were single for so long, and why if you aren’t careful, Dahlia will dump you. You have to ask, even if you know I’m going to say no. Give me the option.”
I hurried toward the courthouse, already putting Mr. Froat and his rude come-on from my mind. Tad, though, wasn’t moving on so easily.
“You are still the nice girl, Alena, even I know that,” he said softly.
“I’m not.” Too much had happened in the last couple of weeks for me to believe I was a nice girl anymore.