I scooped up the final venom cupcakes, undid my seat belt, and stumbled out of the car. My clothes were still damp, my hair was a mess, and I could feel the alcohol on my breath, hot and uncomfortable.
I hurried up the steps to Merlin’s house. He’d fixed the door I’d kicked in and replaced it with one made of steel. I had a feeling it wouldn’t stop me if I really wanted in. I rapped my knuckles on the door twice.
“Who is it?” came a muffled reply.
“Alena. I want to talk. I want to apologize.”
The door opened and Merlin stood there, wearing nothing but a pair of black silk pajama pants. His hair was slicked back as always, and his eyes roved over me slowly.
What was it with all these shirtless dudes? I mean, if I was going to see anyone shirtless, I wanted it to be Remo. Not Merlin. Not Smithy (no matter how nice he might have looked).
“You came to apologize at five in the morning?”
“I don’t sleep much when I have someone trying to kill me.”
He snorted and made a motion with one hand for me to come in. I stepped through the doorway, surprised to see that the main room was empty. Every time I’d gone to see him, there had been a gaggle of Super Dupers playing poker or hanging out with him.
“Why are you really here, Alena?”
I stopped next to the table and set the cupcake down. “I heard a rumor you were going to work for my husband as a lawyer tomorrow; I guess that’s today, now,” I said. “I’m hoping that’s wrong. That you wouldn’t . . .”
He smiled at me. “He’s paying me very well, Alena. You understand it’s not personal.”
I clenched my hands, fighting the urge to reach over and strangle him. “I would think you’d want me to win. To gain rights back for all Super Dupers.”
He laughed and slid into a chair. “You don’t understand, and I don’t expect you to. You still see everything as black and white. Most of the world does. Us against them, but the truth is, Alena, they need us to be dangerous. They and we both need them to be prey. I want the Wall down, but other than that, I don’t want things to change. Fear works in my favor, you see.” He pulled the lid off the cupcake container and swiped a finger through the icing.
I held my breath as he popped his finger in his mouth.
“I see.” I turned my back and headed for the door.
“What, no threats? Not even going to try and beg?”
I kept walking. “No. What’s the point? You’ve made up your mind, and I’ve made up mine.”
His laughter followed me out the door. “You are going to lose everything tomorrow, Alena. Or I should say today. If you’d behaved yourself, I would have helped you. But you just had to go and be difficult. You must get that from your mother’s side.”
I spun at the door, gripping the edge of the new steel. “If I had behaved myself, I’d be dead.”
He winked. “Exactly, and then I could have made you into something else.”
With a flex of muscles, I ripped the steel door from the hinges and flung it across the room. As if I’d been doing it all my life. He ducked, the door missed him, and I turned away.
“Next time, I’m going to defend myself, and then we’ll see who is stronger,” he snarled at me.
I pointed a finger at him, my confidence soaring. Maybe it was the leftover nectar, but I didn’t think so. “Bring it. I’m not the doormat you think I am.”
I walked down the steps and away from the Granada. House number thirteen wasn’t that far away. Yaya had the car rolling next to me, though, in a matter of seconds. “Didn’t go as planned, did it?”
“What made you think that? The flying steel door or Merlin threatening me as I left?”
“Well, both.” She laughed, though there wasn’t a single mean note in it. “What are you going to do now?”
“Sleep and get ready for my hearing.”
“You’re still going to go?”
I gave her a smile as I walked. “He was already eating the cupcake before I left. I’m hoping both him and Roger are so sick they don’t show up. If nothing else, that will buy me time.”
She slapped her hand on the steering wheel, laughing. “Good. I hope he pukes his guts out, the jerk.”
I reached the house at the same time Yaya pulled in. She hustled me inside. “Go get cleaned up. I’ll make us breakfast, and then you can sleep for a bit.”
I tried to argue, but she was firm and she was Yaya. “No, you need your strength.”
I slogged upstairs, showered, and dressed in sweatpants and a loose T-shirt before heading back down. The smell of bacon and eggs and pancakes filled the air. A classic Yaya breakfast.
I stepped into the kitchen and froze. “Tad, how are you eating?”
My brother sat with a full plate in front of him and a fork partway to his mouth. “I puked until I was empty, and then I was all done. Now I’m hungry.”
I did a quick count of the hours. “Oh no, it might not be long enough!” I shot a look at Yaya, who waved at me with a spatula to sit down.
“You don’t know that; he’s a Supe, it might be harder on a human,” Yaya said.
Ernie sat beside me as he poured straight corn syrup over a stack of four pancakes. “Probably the Supes burn through the venom faster. Roger won’t show today.”
Tad stopped chewing. “What do you mean, venom?”
I grimaced. “It was an accident. I put some of my venom in the icing. It was only meant for—”
“Wait!” Tad stood up. “You really did poison us? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Tad, it wasn’t like that, I didn’t mean for any—”
“You could have warned me.” He slammed the fork down and stalked out of the kitchen.
I stood and hurried after him. “Tad, I didn’t know! I only made it for Merlin, and I got mixed up when I was icing the cupcakes for the family.”
“I don’t know who you are anymore. You know Aunt Janice had to go to the hospital?” He glared at me, and I rolled my eyes.
“Tad, she’s not even human.”
He shook his head. “Neither are you.”
“I know.”
“Maybe Beth is right. Maybe you aren’t the person you were before you were turned.” He stepped out the door and slammed it behind him. I stared, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Yaya came up behind me and slipped her arms around my waist. “It’s not his fault. Theseus is behind this, I’m sure of it.”
I shrugged out of her hold. “Maybe you’d better go too. Maybe he’s right and I’m not the Alena you remember.” I sniffed and headed for the stairs. Yaya grabbed my hand, spun me around, and smacked my face with her other hand.
I clamped a hand over my burning cheek. “What did I do? I was trying to keep you safe!”
“You can stop the pity party right now. You know that Theseus is trying to separate you from your friends. They are what made it possible for you to defeat Achilles.”
I slowly nodded, her words sinking in. “Ernie, is he really that strong in compulsion? I mean, I know you said he could charm . . . but my own brother?”