good at instilling an air of calm. No doubt he was a real pro at lulling innocent puppies and kittens into a false sense of security before poking them in the rump with vaccine shots.
“I need you to sit up so I can administer the shot into your upper thigh. I promise you won’t feel much more than a fast prick.”
Yeah, likely story. Heaving a sigh, she wiggled onto her side before scooching onto her rear. Eyes widening, she watched him depress the plunger slightly, releasing any air trapped in the chamber.
“Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself, Willa?”
She gaped at Boone blankly before realizing the question was one more tactic designed to distract her from the big bad needle in his hand. “W-what do you want to know?”
Max cleared his throat, drawing her focus to him. “How about what the hell you were doing in your human skin in the middle of the Atlantic?”
Boone sent him an admonishing frown that she barely registered while she blinked at Max. “Huh?”
“I think what Max is trying to ask in his typical gruff fashion is why didn’t you shift? It would have offered you more protection.”
She divided her confused stare between both men. “Shift?”
Max’s hand gestured impatiently. “Into whatever the devil you are.”
The conversation was shuffling further and further away from anything resembling normal. Or comprehendible. “What are you talking about?”
Boone patted her knee. “If you’re worried about exposing your secret, don’t be. We’re shifters too.”
Finally some of the fog began to clear in her brain as the meaning behind the word sank in. Shifters.
Being a witch, she’d been around more than her fair share. Or more specifically, shifter familiars, though she herself didn’t have one. She eyed Boone and Max, doing a double take. Jeez, she probably should have guessed they weren’t entirely human. No mere man looked as scrumdiddlyumptious as these two.
She opened her mouth, intending to ask exactly what type of shifters they were, but stalled short, the unspoken inquiry log jamming in her throat when the rest of Boone’s statement crystallized with glaring clarity. “Wait a minute. You think I’m a shifter?” She smothered a laugh at the absurdity of the notion.
Confusion scrunched the corners of Boone’s eyes. “Aren’t you?”
“Nope. Definitely not.”
Max grunted. “Then explain how the hell you even know what shifters are? Or that we exist?” His tone held a certain provoking quality. Clearly he thought he’d caught her in a lie.
Oh, she was really going to enjoy proving him wrong. “I work for the southern sector of the National Alliance of Witches. I’m surrounded by shifters all the time.”
Surprise flickered over Max’s features. “You’re a witch?”
“Yep.” She smiled serenely. “Must really suck to have your theory blasted to smithereens.”
His eyes narrowed. “You being a witch doesn’t change anything. I’m still tellin’ you, you’re not human.”
Goddess, he was stubborn. “And I’m telling you that I am.”
Max’s eyebrows slashed into a V. “No, you’re not.” His arms crossed over his expansive chest. “It’s impossible.”
The idea that he even questioned her claim, much less countered it, was odd. And kind of annoying. She sat up straighter, mimicking his posture. “Pretty sure it’s not.”
“No, sweetheart, it is.” The endearment sounded ridiculously sexy slipping past Max’s lips, despite it being paired with a dark scowl.
Some foreign feistiness that she didn’t quite understand prodded her to keep sparring with him. “And the reason would be…?”
He hunkered in front of her, his eyes flashing with challenge. “Because, darlin’, last time I checked, humans can’t breathe under water.”
Chapter Three
Max observed the stunned look that fell over Willa’s face and knew with absolute certainty she couldn’t be faking it. He’d done plenty of interrogation in his days, something that’d gifted him with the ability to tell if someone was attempting to pull the wool over his eyes. Which presented a big quandary, since he could only come up with one explanation for her expression.
She hadn’t known she wasn’t human.
Shit. Hefting to his feet, he shot Boone a desperate glance. The unhelpful dickwad returned it with a don’t-look-at-me-this-is-your-fuckup glare.
“What do you mean I was breathing?”
He returned his attention to Willa and noticed how she seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating.
“That isn’t possible,” she whispered, echoing his previous sentiment.
“Maybe Max was confused. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
He glared at Boone, silently delivering his assessment of that remark. There was no mistaking damn bubbles coming out of someone’s mouth. Or the lack of water clogging their lungs. He was about to point