Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)(67)

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?”

Ernie frowned. “You’re right, someone like Tad who loves you as much as he does wouldn’t be able to just be charmed. I mean, even look at Beth; he used one of my arrows on her because that’s how much it took to turn her against you.”

The answer came to me slowly. “Tad has been letting Dahlia feed off him; she said it would make him more vulnerable to suggestions, so they had to be careful. That other vampires could use it against him.”

Yaya nodded. “And the other vampires are?”

“Santos and his gang.” I slapped a hand over my eyes, seeing the chessboard more clearly than ever, and it was weighted for Theseus. On his side he had Santos and his gang, both Beth and Sandy, and now Tad, which meant Dahlia would be with him too. If nothing else, to protect him. “Yaya, I have a terrible feeling about today. I feel like death is stalking us.”