Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel #1) - Linsey Hall Page 0,32
that glittered like black diamonds. She swigged back a cup of potion, then put it on the floating table. She grinned and shouted to the other woman, “That’s all you’ve got?”
The blonde woman at the other side laughed. “Oh, just you wait, Coraline.”
A half second later, Coraline grew a brilliant orange beak. Her masquerade mask shifted, and she chucked it off as she squawked loudly. It sounded something like, “Bitch!”
The blonde woman laughed like a loon.
“That’s Mary,” Mac whispered.
Coraline, still sporting her massive beak, picked up one of the small white balls and threw it at Mary’s cup. It landed, and Mary grabbed it and slurped it back.
She shot out of the water, propelled by an unseen force, and landed in the top of one of the palm trees growing from the hardwood floor. She laughed hysterically, then jumped into the pool with an enormous splash, upsetting the beer pong table. The colorful potions in the red cups spilled into the water, sending purple and pink and green streaks bleeding outward.
Coraline’s beak had disappeared, and she shouted. “Hey! No fair! I had some good potions there!”
Mary surfaced, her hair wet. “It’s cool. We’ll set them up again.”
Coraline scowled at her. “You’re ignoring the point.”
Mary was about to respond, but her gaze landed on us. A huge smile lit up her face, and a shiver of unease went through me. It wasn’t an entirely friendly smile, and when I looked at Mac, I realized that she had the same expression.
They were friends, but…
It was kind of a murdery friendship.
Mary waded over and hopped out of the pool. Her swimsuit was ridiculous, bright yellow with sopping yellow feathers and an eye over each breast. She was dressed like a slutty Big Bird, and I choked back a laugh.
“Mac! Have you pranked us?” she asked.
“You better believe it.” Mac grinned. “But we need some help.”
Mary crossed her arms over her chest and raised one eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” She nudged me. “My friend here can read the future and the past through objects. She’ll trade you that for—”
“Nope!” Mary held up a hand. “She’s got to play us in potion pong first, and if she survives, we can negotiate.”
“Survives?” I asked.
Mary nodded. “We don’t do business with just anyone.”
“That’s not true,” Mac said. “You guys have basically no standards.”
“Ha! We have weird standards, not no standards.” She gave me a look up and down. “And I can tell this one is trouble. Her aura screams it. So she’s got to earn an audience.”
“I can do it,” I said. “In the pool?”
“Yeah.” Mary grinned. “In a suit?”
“I don’t have one.”
“You do now.” She waved her hands at me, and my glittery slum queen outfit disappeared, replaced by a bikini that was blue and fluffy.
I was the Cookie Monster.
Fantastic.
I touched the chain around my neck. At least I still had the truth serum.
“Come on.” Mary hopped back in the water.
I looked at Mac.
“Good luck,” she said. “If you can avoid drinking the potions, I would. If not…well, good luck.”
“I’m going to grow a beak, aren’t I?”
“You’ll wish.” She shook her head. “I think this will be a little tougher. Just try to keep your wits about you.”
“Got it.”
I strode toward the pool, watching as Mary and Coraline set up the potion pong table.
Coraline looked me up and down, studying me intensely from behind her pink mask. “I’ve hooked you up with some of my potions to make this fair.”
“Thank you.” I climbed into the water. It sparkled and bubbled against my skin. Colors swirled through it, and every time I walked through a cloud of pink or purple, the water seemed to tingle strangely.
The crowd cheered as I stepped up to the potion pong table.
A brief image of my lonely, lame flat flashed in my mind, along with the memory of how everyone in the London police force thought I was loony.
How the hell had my life changed so much?
Whatever, I was going to enjoy it.
As much as I could, at least. Mary’s smile was making me uneasy. She looked like a cat who was about to play with a mouse…in a way that punctured a few of the mouse’s vital organs.
I looked down at the red plastic cups full of potions. There were fifteen in front of me, all lined up to form a triangle. A ping-pong ball sat nestled against one of the cups, about to roll off the rocking table and into the water. I picked it up.