That was not human.

I went back to my chair and sat down. I smoothed the skirt over my legs and then pulled my hair across my shoulder, running my fingers through it over and over. The door behind me opened, and the man who'd stood in the middle of the trio stepped into the room.

He reminded me a bit of Smithy. They had the same pale-blue eyes and hard edge to their jaws. Though Smithy was a bit leaner than this one, their builds were close enough that I wondered if they were related. They were both big, strapping men who could probably bench-press three hundred pounds without breaking a sweat.

"My name is Captain Oberfall," he barked out as he strode around to the other chair. He yanked it out from the table and sat down across from me. Placing his hands on the table, he leaned forward. "We can do this hard or easy."

"My name is Alena," I said. "Why did you chase us?"

"How new are you?"

I frowned, feigning innocence. "I don't know what you mean."

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Merlin turned you. When did he do it?"

From the window came a laugh. "Merlin loves the dumb ones, doesn't he? She's too stupid to even understand a basic question."

I had to force myself not to react to the other man's comment. "Umm. I guess not long. A few days maybe, I'm not sure."

That much was the truth.

"A few days, then. When did you wake up?"

I blinked several times. What harm could it do to tell him the truth? "A few hours ago."

His eyebrows jumped. "Goblin p.i.s.s, that is new. Okay. Here's the rundown. I am in charge of this town, do you understand? n.o.body s.h.i.+ts, eats, sleeps, or f.u.c.ks that I don't know about it. You got that?"

"Why would you want to know if someone p.o.o.ps? That's disgusting." I crinkled my nose up and leaned back.

He glared at me. "You will stay to your own kind. There will be no fraternizing with other species. You will be situated with a tracking device that will be implanted into one of your major organs while you are under anesthetic. You will not cross the Wall."

"Lots of don'ts." I made myself sit still when all I wanted was to jump up and run out of the tiny room that held the overbearing Oberfall. "What am I supposed to do here?"

"What did you do before?"

"I was a baker."

He grinned. "Good. We don't have any bakeries, and I'd kill for a donut. You and I are going to be friends. Understand? You will do what I say, and I will make sure you stay safe. It's a harsh world, Alena. And this is the harshest place for a delicate flower like you. Now." He pulled a folder out from behind him and slapped it on the table. "I want all your information in here."

He flipped the folder open and pushed several sheets across to me along with a pen. I took the pen and filled everything out. Name. Age. Previous residence. Occupation. Blood type.

I paused at the "Married"/"Single" boxes. "I was married."

"Not anymore. Unless he got turned too?" Oberfall asked.

I shook my head, but my pen hovered over the "Single" box. I moved it to the "Married" box and checked it. Oberfall shook his head. "Firstamentalist?"

"I was," I whispered.

From the window came a low groan. "a.s.sholes, all of them. Think they're right, won't conform. Won't change. My family was turned in by a local group of them." A pause. "Usually end up offing themselves in the first six months. They claim it isn't suicide, since they were already dead to the world."

Someone laughed from the other room. "Bet she doesn't last even that long. Shame. I'd like to see what she's got under that frilly skirt."

I swallowed hard. "I'm not going to kill myself." I stared at the next question and was fully stumped, so I left it blank.

Oberfall raised his eyebrows. "Good to know."

I pushed the sheets back at him. "That's everything I know."

He glanced over the papers, shuffling through them. "You didn't fill this out. What is your designation? What species are you?"

I didn't hesitate. "I don't know."

He snorted. "You can't not know. What are you?"

I shrugged and leaned back in my chair. "I really don't know. Merlin said I was a special snowflake."

Oberfall growled, low and deep, and as he leaned forward I got a whiff of pine forest and deep snow.

Gray fur, howling at the moon, pack family.

Wolf.

The image flickered through my mind, and I swallowed hard. "Maybe a psychic?"

"That's not a supernatural designation," he snapped. "And a maybe psychic? No more games. What. Are. You?"

"I'm not playing games. This isn't tiddlywinks, you know. My brother is a naga. That's what he said I was going to be." I pushed back from the table and stood up. He leapt to his feet, his hand going to a gun at his waist.

"I have every right to shoot you where you stand if you don't give me the answers I want. You aren't a naga. You don't smell like one."

Oh dear, this was not going well at all. Not that I'd really expected it to.

I lifted my hands slowly above my head, fear cascading down my spine. A funny tingle started in my toes and crept up my legs. "I really don't know what I am, then. I told Merlin I didn't want to be a vampire, werewolf, or witch. I wanted to be something else. Something different and as human as possible." The words poured out of me, and his trigger finger eased.

"Something special. But you aren't a naga."

I nodded.

A loud thump reverberated through the room, stopping the conversation in its tracks. Oberfall ran for the door. It opened and he leapt out, shouting, "Get the UV guns."

UV guns? Did he mean ultraviolet? I stood and stared at the now-open door. I should stay put. That was the good-girl thing to do, to conform and do what I was told.

And get a tracking device shoved in my liver. Maybe not.

I hurried to the door and peeked out. The Supe Squad dressed themselves in hard black body armor with red slashes on the arms, but they weren't the only ones wearing armor in the hall anymore. They had been joined by an influx of new additions. The new guys, or girls, it was hard to tell, had their own kind of covering. Four of them ran by me, chasing two SDMP members. I jerked back with a gasp. The ones swarming the station wore full-on coverage, from the top of their heads down to their toes, a strange s.h.i.+mmering black material that looked like it would hold out every st.i.tch of light. Even their faces were covered, giving them an eerie ghostlike quality. All of which could only mean one thing.

Vampires.

Two ran by me, barely sparing me a glance. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew I could use it to my advantage. With my back to the wall I slid down the hallway to the next interrogation door. I opened it and peered in. Tad sat in a chair, strapped down to it, his head resting on his chest. Stepping into the room, I shut the door behind me, then groaned. I was an idiot. One quick twist of the doork.n.o.b told me all I needed to know.

I'd just locked us in. But at least we were together.

"Tad. Wake up." I hurried to his side and crouched next to him.

He groaned and lifted his face. In the short time we'd been there he'd been roughed up bad. His face was swollen. He had cuts and growing bruises on both cheeks. I gasped and put my hands on his face. "Why would they do this to you?"

"They didn't like my answers. Can you untie me?"

I slid a hand over the zap straps. Pulling on them would only cut up his wrists, or maybe even cut his hands off. The chair was wooden, though.

I put a hand on either side of the chair and pushed with all I had in me.

It exploded out from under Tad, who tumbled to the floor. "s.h.i.+t, sis. Ease up."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push so hard."

"No, it's all good." He rolled to the side and slid his feet back through the loop his hands made. He brought the zap strap to his mouth and on one fang cut through it. "They really should invest in handcuffs."

"I'm glad they didn't," I said.

He took the lead and I let him. "The door?"

"Locked. Sorry."

"Stop saying that."

"Sorry," I whispered.

The sound of gunfire rippled through the air, and I backed away from the door.

Tad looked at the door and then to the window. "New plan. Break the mirror."

"You mean window," I corrected.

"No, I mean the two-way mirror."

How had I been able to see through a two-way mirror? Only another question that made me wonder just what I was.

Merlin, what did you do to me?

Tad picked up the biggest piece of the chair, which happened to be the seat, and walked to the mirror. With a yell, he slammed it into the big surface, shattering it. The gla.s.s exploded, sending shards everywhere in a spray. The ones that landed at my feet blinked up at me as perfect mirrors. Dang, it had been a mirror. But I'd been able to see right through it. I frowned, trying to figure it out.

"Lena, time to go." Tad held a hand out to me. He was on the other side of the mirror, leaning back into the room for me. I took his hand, and he helped me up and over the shattered pieces.

The room we stood in wasn't much bigger than the interrogation room, only this one had more stuff. Weapons of all sorts. Knives, guns, and a few of the type of dart thing that had taken Tad out. He grabbed a bag hanging on the wall and stuffed it until it overflowed with weapons. I just stood there, unable to make myself touch anything.

"Come on." Tad slid the bag over his head and held out a hand to me again. I took it, and he tugged me along, out the door, into a new hallway. We ran, twisting and turning as we searched for a way out. I struggled to keep track of where we were, and then suddenly we were outside the building, in a back alley.

"Take your shoes off, you can't run in them."

With a sigh, I did as he asked, knowing he was right. For my first heels, they were pretty nice, though, and I didn't want to leave them behind. I hooked my fingers through the ankle straps, dangling them from a hand. Maybe I could find somewhere else to wear them.

We ran down the alley as the sun set, sending the world into a dusky twilight of pale purple. It was only then I realized it was January and I wasn't freezing even though I wore next to nothing. Tad was dressed in jeans and a thick hoodie under a leather jacket. Why wasn't I cold?

We were the same kind of creature . . . weren't we?

CHAPTER 6.

We stopped at the front edge of the SDMP building, peering out into the street. Tad pointed at the three Hummers in the street. "Vamp wheels. The local mob boss, Remo, and his gang."

"Stay away from vamps, right? That's the deal?" I stood beside him, staring at the array of big trucks.

"You better believe it."

Except I saw someone I knew sitting in the driver's seat. I knew her from the pictures we'd shared. Red hair and a vibrant smile I knew even with teeth. She was stunning. I couldn't help but wave.

"Dahlia!"

Her eyes shot to me and she frowned. Of course. "She doesn't recognize me," I said, hurt more than I'd thought I would be.

Tad yanked my hand down. "Don't be waving at her. We don't need that kind of-s.h.i.+t."

I looked away from him to see Dahlia running at us with a wide grin on her face. "Alena!"

I met her partway, catching her in a hug. "Dahlia, you're okay."

"How did you recognize me?" she asked as she held me at arm's length.

"Your smile." I grinned at her.

"d.a.m.n, you look good, girl. I can't believe you did it, but I'm so happy you did!"

I laughed, a light sweet feeling tugging at my heart for the first time in weeks. Happiness seemed a foreign emotion.

"Me too. I think. How did you recognize me?"

She grinned. "You look exactly as I saw you in the hospital. Gorgeous."

And then she kissed me. Heat flushed along my skin, and I pulled away. "Dahlia."

"Oh, get over it. I swing both ways and you are freaking stunning. I had to at least get a kiss in before-"