On the other side of the table, her friend stared at her incredulously. “So is that why you were outside in the hallway crying? Because Trevor is hurt worse than he let on?”
Jenna shook her head. “No, thank goodness it’s nothing like that. I got a look at his injuries last night when we slept together, and as impossible asit is to believe, they really were nothing more than scratches.”
Madeleine seemed ready to ask another question, but then her eyes sharpened suddenly. “Wait a second. You looked at his injuries while you were sleeping together? Is that sleeping together orsleepingtogether?”
“Is there a difference?” Jenna asked, arching a brow.
“You know damn well there is,” Madeleine said, leaning across the kitchen table to pin her with a look. “Did you have sex with Trevor or not? And is that why you’re all upset? Did he say something to you this morning about it? Oh, crap! Is he married? Is that thealarmingthing you learned this morning?”
Jenna almost spit out her now tepid cocoa at that. How the heck had her friend gone so far off the rails in such an amazingly short period of time?
And people call me crazy.
She set down her mug and held up her hand. “Okay, just stop. Yes, Trevor and I made love last night. And before you ask, yes, it was amazing. No, he didn’t say anything to me this morning that was alarming. And no, he’s not married.”
“Then what the heck is going on?” Madeleine groaned, setting her mug down, but only so she could throw her hands in the air. “Because I’m at my wit’s end here.”
“Trevor has fangs!” Jenna practically shouted, the words coming out so fast they were nearly incomprehensible. She ran both hands through her hair. “I was supposed to meet up with Trevor, my brother, and their friends at a club across town this morning,” she said, her voice much lower now. “We were meeting with a person who might have information on another way to get into the sewer tunnels so we can go back down there to look for Hannah. But the moment I stepped inside, I heard fighting. I knew without a doubt that it was Trevor and my dumbass brother going at it again.”
“Fangs?” Madeleine whispered, eyes wide but still sort of dubious.
She nodded. “When I saw them, they were throwing each other around the room like rag dolls. I thought they were trying to kill each other.”
“Oh my gosh!”
“Then I saw the fangs. Connor’s first, then Trevor’s. Both of their eyes were glowing this vivid yellow gold and they had…”
“They had what?” Madeleine prompted when Jenna sputtered to a stop. “What else did you see?”
“Claws.” Jenna took a deep breath. “Trevor and my brother both had claws. They were long, at least an inch, and sharp looking as hell. Connor must have used his on Trevor a few times because there was blood everywhere. Hale and Mike—their teammates—were trying to separate them, but it wasn’t working too well.”
Madeleine continued to sit there, blinking her eyes slowly, like a deer in the headlights. Finally, her friend shook her head. “Um…what did they say? After they saw you standing there, I mean.”
That was probably an intelligent question, given the situation. Unfortunately, Jenna didn’t have an answer for her.
“I have no idea,” she said softly. “The moment I saw…what I saw…I turned and ran as fast as I could. I don’t remember much after that. I sort of got lost in the sauce, you know? The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the floor crying, and you were helping me up.”
Madeleine was quiet for a long time. “So the guy you slept with last night has claws and fangs like a ghoul. Do you think maybe getting scratched by the creatures means that Trevor and your brother are turning into ghouls?”
She lowered her voice as she spoke, looking left and right, like she thought there might be someone around to overhear. In her own kitchen.
Jenna allowed herself to seriously entertain the possibility that Trevor and Connor had somehow been infected by the earlier ghoul attack. But it didn’t take long to dismiss the idea.
“I don’t think so,” she murmured. “From the way Hale and Mike were dealing with the situation like it wasn’t that big of a deal, I get the feeling they weren’t shocked by the claws and fangs. I don’tknow why, but I think both Trevor and my brother are different. I think they’re some other kind of supernatural creature.”
Madeleine’s eyes widened even more. “You had sex with a monster?”
Jenna sagged back in her chair, letting out a long, tired sigh. “I tell you an incredible story straight out of a Hollywood horror movie, and the first thing you jump on is the fact that I slept with a guy who has claws and fangs? That’s the important part you glean from my entire confession? And I never said Trevor’s a monster.” But shehadthought it, she was ashamed to admit. “He might have fangs, claws, glowing eyes—and apparently, supernatural strength—but that doesn’t make him a monster. It just makes him different.”
Madeleine stared at her for a bit, probably trying to figure out if she was being serious or not. “Okay, I thought I was onto something, but you don’t seem torn up over the fact that you slept with a guy who’sdifferent. Which brings me back to my previous question. Why were you crying on my doorstep?”
Jenna flushed, more than a little embarrassed about that. “I wasn’t crying on your doorstep,” she corrected. “It was mine.”
“Oh, that does make all the difference, I suppose,” her friend said dryly. “Come on, I’m serious, Jenna. You were obviously upset by what you saw this morning, but if you’re not bothered by himbeing some kind of supernatural, and you’re not upset about sleeping with him, then I’m a little baffled about what’s bothering you.”
“Honestly, I guess I am, too.” Jenna said softly, realizing she wasn’t sure what had gotten her so spun up. “I mean, sure, I freaked when I saw the claws and fangs, but I think that’s to be expected. Now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t think I genuinely care that Trevor and my brother are different. And I’m certainly not upset that I decided to sleep with Trevor. Like I said, it was amazing.”
Across from her, it was obvious that Madeleine was trying to understand what was going on with her. But she didn’t push the issue. Instead, she sat there quietly, waiting patiently for Jenna to work through it on her own.
