Excerpt

"I look like a flying giraffe." I scowled at my roommate, Phoebe, in the three-way mirror. "What were you thinking, making me try on this travesty?"

Phoebe, dressed in a miniskirt and tight red T-shirt, rolled her eyes. "You said you'd try on anything. And look at this dress. The cut is gorgeous. It's hugging you in all the right places, girl."

I crossed my arms over my chest and flared my wings in agitation. "I look ridiculous." There was no freaking way I was wearing a formfitting giraffe-print dress on my first official date with Talisen. That was a hell no. "You're just trying to torture me because I wouldn't buy the last dress you decided I needed."

She placed her hands on her hips. "That dress was perfect for you and guaranteed to bring Talisen to his knees."

"It would bring the majority of the male population to their knees. I think there's more material in a toddler's outfit than that scrap of cotton."

"Whatever you say, Wil." She began digging in another rack of dresses. "Try on the hunter-green one next."

"Gladly." I wrinkled my nose at the offending animal print one more time and moved toward the dressing room.

"Hold on." Phoebe trotted over to me, holding yet another crime against fashion.

"Electric yellow with sequins? Have you lost your mind?" I laughed, wondering if she'd been dipping into a dose of Illusions, an illegal vamp-made, psychedelic street drug. They tasted like candy and were often handed out at college parties. Not that Phoebe was in college, but she did spend time at the universities when she was on undercover missions, running down rogue vampires.

"It's perfect for you." She grabbed my arm and leaned in, almost dragging me to my dressing room. "Keep walking," she whispered.

"Phoebe?"

"Shh." With her head bent to mine, she said, "I noticed the blond guy two stores back, but I just caught him taking a picture of you with his phone. He's definitely a tail."

Crap, crap, crap! Was the vampire Asher following me again? Had he found out about my ability to turn vamps into daywalkers? Or worse, about my nephew's existence, who probably had the same skill? A ripple of panic skated through me. I jerked unconsciously, wanting to see who was behind us, but Phoebe's hand tightened on my forearm until I winced.

"Jesus, Wil. Are you an agent of the Void or what? Don't turn around." Technically I was an agent, but only because I could sense vampires. Phoebe was the badass witch who could actually run them down and neutralize them if they were tagged as a danger to society. She shoved the dress into my hands. "Take this and try it on like everything's normal. I'll see about apprehending him. Then we can have some fun interrogating his ass."

"You're just going to take him down right here in front of the shop clerk?" Goddess above, that could get messy. "What if he's a witch? A bystander could get seriously hurt."

She paused outside my dressing room door, her face contorted with mock offense as she shook her head, her hand clutching her heart. "Jeez, you have such little faith. It pains me to say it, but I don't know if we can be friends anymore. But don't worry, he's human."

I shook my head, stifling a laugh. Knowing he was human put me at ease. Phoebs could take him while blindfolded and chained to a wall. All she needed was a little witch power and he'd be no more dangerous than a two-week-old puppy. "Just don't cause a scene like last time when you spelled that poor schmuck into stripping for the entire restaurant."

Her eyes glittered with the memory. "Now that was something to see."

That guy had been sent undercover to evaluate Phoebe's performance as a Void agent. Phoebe was a vampire hunter for the Void branch of the Arcane—the government agency that oversees all supernatural activity. Void agents, such as herself, worked undercover and moved without boundaries. She'd had no way of knowing the guy tailing her was a colleague. When she failed to ditch him, she spiked his drink with an inhibition spell and then flirted with him until he did a rendition of The Full Monty.

"He was… uh, built in all the right places," I said.

Phoebe snickered. "Yes. Yes he was. Too bad he transferred right after that." She shrugged. "Some people are too sensitive." She held the yellow dress out to me. "Get moving while I go take the stalker down. I know he's only a human, but I'm not taking any chances. Someone sent him for a reason."

Her words sobered me. Being human didn't mean he wasn't a threat. Someone probably had sent him. I stared at the offending dress still in her hands. "I'm going, but don't think for a moment I'm putting that on."

"Fine. Just take it into the dressing room to keep up appearances."

I disappeared behind the door and grimaced at my reflection. It really was too bad the giraffe dress didn't come in another print or even a solid color, because Phoebs was right. The cut accentuated curves I hadn't even known existed. I undid the side zipper and was slipping my wings out of the back slits when the dressing room door creaked open.

"This one had better not have sequins or anything that belongs in the zoo." I turned, expecting Phoebe, and let out a gasp as I clutched the dress to my chest, covering myself.

David, my ex, moved with vampire speed and clamped his hand over my mouth. "Shh."