I stopped at the door. There wasn’t a lock or a handle. I didn’t bother pushing or pulling the door. It simply opened, allowing us through.

I poked my head in. “Shah?” I asked like an imbecile.

The building was about the size of a barn. The only light trickling in was from the rust-eaten holes in the tin roof. The floor was nothing more than dirt with bugs crawling along it in search of food. The blood soaking my skin attracted them and I had to kick a few away.

At the center was a large mass the size of a small SUV perched on its bumper. A plastic tarp covered it entirely, but it did little to diminish the white light emitting from its base.

I glanced at my sisters. Shayna shrugged. “Might as well pull it, Ceel. Voilà and all that good stuff, you know?”

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I didn’t fear it. I yanked off the tarp and the room exploded with light, blinding me. Spots danced in my vision before I finally made out what was in front of me.

Shah hummed, but he seemed more like a shimmering diamond than a crystal. If I had any doubts that it was him, the small “x” etched into one of the facets cleared that right up.

Taran looked from the door to Shah, and then back to the door. “Shit. How the hell are we going to get him out of here?”

For some reason, I laughed. “I don’t know. Emme, can you lift him?”

She wasn’t able to answer me. Shah exploded, the force throwing me backward and blinding me in a wash of white.

Chapter 14

The white noise of the airplane filled my ears. I blinked my eyes open to stare at the cabin’s ceiling. I yawned and stretched. Wow. That was one heck of a nap.

Emme and Shayna poked their faces into my line of vision. Taran and Agnes were next. Fear and worry riddled my sisters’ features. Agnes adjusted her tiny librarian glasses, appearing more annoyed than anything.

I grinned. Damn. I felt good. My smile only seemed to freak them out more. “Oh shit,” Taran said. She looked at Agnes. “Now what?”

Agnes shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Taran narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, you don’t freaking know?” She pointed at me. “Fix her.”

Agnes met her stare. “What’s your problem? Do you think I’m happy about this? The master and the grandmaster wanted Shah. All you had to do was get it.” She waved her hands irritably in my direction. “Instead, now we have all this.”

“She got you Shah!” Taran yelled at her.

“And now it seems Shah has her,” Agnes snapped back. She glanced at me and shrugged before walking away. “Hopefully we can wrench it out of her without killing her.”

“You bitch!” Taran said, launching herself at Agnes. Shayna and Emme held her back as she continued to struggle.

I didn’t understand why everyone was so upset. I felt fan-freaking-tastic. I smiled again at my sisters, but that only widened their eyes further. “Dude, she’s like, sparkly.”

“What?” I asked.

Emme sat beside me. She reached out to touch me but then thought better of it and pulled her hand back. “Celia,” she said carefully. “What Shayna is trying to say is that, you’re different.”

“Aren’t we all?” I giggled, but my ears filled with the sound of tinkling bells.

Emme opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to work through her reasoning. “Celia, Shah attached himself to you somehow,” she finally said. “We don’t know how to get him out.”

“Hmm” was my response.

Emme gave up then and allowed Shayna to move closer. “Ceel. You don’t get it. You’re like, totally different,” Shayna said. “Um. We’re not sure what happened, but Shah like, burst into light and shot into you. Next thing we knew he was gone, and you were like, totally naked and shiny.”

“Shiny?” She nodded. I laughed. “Like glass?” She nodded again, albeit more stiffly.

“You’ve been asleep for almost a day,” she said. “We got you back to the vamps and they immediately flew you out of Malaysia. The wolves tried to reach us, but we left before they did. Somehow, though, they managed to secure a faster plane. They just landed in Tahoe and are waiting for us. Misha’s there, too. We should touch down in another hour.”

“Misha’s there? Oh, how’d he like Europe?”

No one seemed to like my question and blinked back at me like I’d gone nuts. But I wasn’t nuts. I felt F-I-N-E, fine. Oh so fine. I tried to lift my arms. That’s when I realized my entire body was restrained in leather straps.

I didn’t like the feel, and I especially didn’t like the blanket covering me. So I extended my claws and ripped myself free. My sisters backed away as I stretched and poofed out my silky hair. I paused and stared at my perfectly round and perky breasts shimmering back at me.

Shimmering? That was new. I glanced up at my sisters and pointed at my girls. “Is this what you meant by shiny?” I asked them.

“Son of a bitch,” Taran muttered.

Emme backed away and motioned me toward the bathroom door that had a full-length mirror secured to the back. She opened the door carefully, revealing the mirror. “This may come as a bit of a shock,” she said.

I shrugged and strutted forward, feeling sexy. God, it was good to be alive. I spun, loving how the air felt against my naked body, only to freeze when I caught my reflection.

My entire body had lost any trace of color. The sparkles from the crush of diamonds encasing my form were the only things keeping me from being completely translucent. I ran my hands over my arms, breasts, and hair. Silky softness greeted me, but I was no longer the same. My hair, my eyes, my body, everything glimmered.

“Oh my God,” I gasped.

Shayna approached me with her hands out. “Ceel, you’re going to be all right—”

“I’m gor-geous!” I squealed and spun to stare at my round, smackable ass.

Everyone quieted, leaving me to flounce in front of the mirror. My porn-star big hair flew around me in perfect delectable waves. “Aric loves when my hair gets all messy during sex,” I admitted. “Did I ever tell you that?” I asked when all they did was gape at me.

Taran slowly shook her head. “I can honestly say you’ve never mentioned that before.”

Emme covered her mouth. “What’s wrong with her?”