“How about you just act like adults?” I proposed. “What do you think?” I took another gulp of my NST. “There is, of course, the other option – you can piss off.” Rowan spluttered, apparently unused to anyone speaking to him that way. I looked at him sympathetically as he tried stuttering a comeback that made no sense. “Ah, is your battery running out?”

“Everything okay?” asked Jared as he returned to his seat.

Unsurprisingly, the three cheeky sods forced smiles and nodded at him.

But Jared wasn’t dumb. What did they say to you?

Most likely exactly what you’re thinking they said. There’s no point reproaching them. I’m not going to win them over unless I’m prepared to do some kind of power-demonstration. No way am I proving myself to three toffee-nosed twats.

Toffee-nosed? he repeated, amused.

In other words, they’re snobs.

After a three course meal and a lot of NSTs, most of the guests were up and dancing – even the three whiners, unbelievably. What inspired Damien to take the microphone and do a rendition of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’, I wasn’t sure. But it had been a hell of a laugh watching him do the artist’s signature moves. My laugh kind of died when Magda got up and sang Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’, staring at Jared the entire time. Did she have no shame?

Jared, however, didn’t look at her even once. Oh he was well aware that the song was for his benefit, but he was playing dumb and focusing totally on me. Maybe a big reason for that was he could sense the homicidal urges I was having.

Obviously having guessed her game, the squad had gathered around my table supportively; joking around to distract me. So when Magda approached, she had a hard time trying to make any sly comments over the noise they were making. But the bitch was persistent, and that persistence finally paid off.

I had to grit my teeth when I heard, “Jared, do you remember the time when you and I made love to that song?”

The feel of both mine and Jared’s anger shooting through my system almost had me throwing a fireball at her. But then Denny, who was standing in front of her, did the sweetest thing. He farted at her.

Now, having anyone fart at you would be bad. But as Denny was able – as one of his animal-mimic abilities – to release anal musk like a skunk…well, that was a bad moment for Magda. She nearly fell to her knees as the stench hit her. Her coughs and balks were drowned out by the laughs coming from me, Jared, and the guys. It was hard for me to stomach the smell, but the satisfaction I got from watching that bitch nearly pass out from a musky fart just purely diluted it. Even her consort looked like he wanted to laugh as he teleported her away − most likely because he disliked the attention she gave Jared and kind of thought of it as karma.

“Denny, I will love you forever for doing that,” I told him.

A beaming smile took over his baby-face. “I wasn’t about to let her get away with that remark.”

“It’s my turn next time,” declared Chico. At my quizzical frown, he huffed. “She can’t do shit like that to our Coach and think she’ll get away with it. That’s not how things work around here. Next time she tries something, she’ll find a dart in her ass. I might even ask Reuben to strengthen my gift before I do it. That way, she won’t just pass out, she’ll croak.” He said it all so casually, as if we were simply discussing the weather.

Aw. “You lot are the best.” At Jared’s growl, I quickly added, “Of course you’re the best of them all.” He snorted.

“How about a dance, Coach?” asked Max, his lips twitching. He’d said it purely to rile Jared. It worked.

“Not a f**king chance, Slaphead.” Jared possessively placed his hand on my thigh. Of course his reaction absolutely delighted Max, who instantly went into a fit of laughter. Feeling protective of Jared, I decided that a little crack of the whip to Max’s earlobe would be fun. I sucked the energy around me into my palms, and…and nothing. So I tried again. Nothing. Nothing f**king happened.

Sensing my confusion and anxiety, Jared turned to me. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Again I tried to manipulate the energy, but again it didn’t work. So I tried shaping the energy into a ball instead…but still nothing. I was feeding on the energy in the same way that I always did, but I couldn’t do anything with it. “Shit.”

“What, what is it?”

“Something’s really wrong. My gift isn’t—” And then a burst of energy shot out of my palms, sending me and my chair flying backwards with the impact. Crashing into the wall behind me, I bounced out of my seat and fell on my hands and knees on the deck.

Jared was there in an instant. “What the f**k was that?”

“That was a tank of energy needing an outlet.” An outlet that I hadn’t been able to give it. Oh those f**king brothers had a lot to answer for.

Well this was fun. Although the conversation centred round me, not one person was addressing me. Jared, Antonio, Luther, Sebastian, Wes, Lena, and Evan were all pacing around my living area while I sat quietly on the sofa. Even the normally composed Antonio seemed unable to sit down. I could see panic on each and every face. It was the same panic that I was feeling.

Lena sighed. “For someone to have changed her to the extent that it is interfering with her gift, they must have changed her at a fundamental level.”

“What level?” Jared was pale even for him. The incident had sent his protectiveness into overdrive, and he looked on the verge of snapping.

“It would be the same as for me to alter a human’s internal system so that they can no longer digest their food. Sam can feed on the energy around her, but she cannot shape or control it. Much like a human would vomit in the case of being unable to digest their food, Sam had an abrupt release of the energy that she had absorbed.”

“Isn’t that what happens when a Feeder first develops their power?” Evan asked me.

“Yes,” I replied. “Because we don’t even realise we’re absorbing energy, and when we do, we can’t control it.”

“So, what, she’s digressing?” Jared asked Lena.

She exhaled heavily. “I truly have no idea, though it would appear so.”

I finally asked her the question that was taunting me. “Will I lose my gift?”

Her expression was sympathetic. “Possibly.”

Silence hit the room, and I felt as though I’d been dealt a blow to the chest as the breath practically whooshed out of me. My gift wasn’t simply an ability to me. It was part of who I was. The truth was that I’d be kind of lost without it; it would feel like losing a part of myself.

Knowing that, Jared came and squeezed my shoulder. “How about your ability to Merge? Has that been affected?”

I exhaled heavily. “Let’s find out.” Standing, I placed my hand on Jared’s chest and attempted to meld into him. Nothing. Well f**k a duck. Half-sighing, half-growling, I slumped back down onto the sofa.

“Has there been anything else happening to you that is out of the norm?” asked Antonio, his tone sensitive.

“Pain,” I told him, swallowing hard. “There was this awful, unbearable pain…but I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream, couldn’t do anything. Jared didn’t even sense it through our connection.”

The look on Antonio’s face told me that that wasn’t good at all. “I would say, then, that Lena is right. What’s happening to you is happening on such a fundamental level that it can interfere with almost anything; your gifts, your body, and even your connection to Jared.”

“Will it stop the Binding from working?” Jared’s voice was low.

“No,” Antonio assured him. “Nothing could do that.”

Lena nodded in agreement. “It is likely that whatever is happening will be over before the ceremony anyway.”

Jared, who was far from placated by the answers he’d been given, scrubbed a hand over his face. “There has to be someone who can help. Someone who can undo what’s happening, or who can at least tell us what’s happening.”

“The only people who can help with that are the vampires responsible,” Lena told him. “Had Sam been human or an animal, I could have aided her in some way. But my gift, though strong, is not that powerful. Technically, this particular gift should not be as strong as to have any effect on a vampire.”

A thought came to me. “What if we had Reuben enhance your gift, make it stronger, would that do any good?”

She cocked her head as she considered it. “I cannot say for sure. It’s worth a try, I suppose.”

Jared’s enthusiasm and hope was almost visible. “I’ll go get him.” Then he was gone.

Evan turned to me, sighing. “Hard seeing him like that, isn’t it? Jared’s usually so self-assured and at ease.” I nodded. “He’s scared of losing you.”

“I don’t think I’m dying, Evan, I really don’t.”

“I don’t either. But if this situation was the other way around, if Jared was in pain and losing control of his gifts, would you take any chances? Would you allow yourself the luxury of trusting that he’ll live?”

No, I wouldn’t. “In other words, you want me to not give him a hard time about the overprotectiveness.” Evan’s smile was sheepish. I sighed. “Fine.”

We all smiled as Jared returned with good ole Reub.

“Ah, Reuben,” drawled Antonio. “Good of you to come.”

My squad member nodded at him running his gaze over me. “Coach, you okay? That was some release of energy back there. Don’t worry, we didn’t tell anyone that your gift went weird, we just said that you and Jared were having a fight.”

“Focus, Reuben,” said Jared. “We need you to use your gift on Lena.”

“No problem.” One brief touch to the shoulder had Lena’s gift more powerful. “Is there any other way I can help?”

I shook my head. “Hopefully, we won’t need any more help.”

When Jared reached for him, Reuben raised a hand and headed for the front door. “I can get back to my apartment myself. You guys look like you need to be together right now.”

Wasn’t he lovely? “Thanks for coming. See you tomorrow.” He nodded and left.

Lena shook her head a little. “Strange how different, stronger, I now feel.”

“Do you think you’re strong enough to help Sam?” asked Jared.

She inhaled deeply. “I can try. I would appreciate it if no one speaks while I study her.” She came to sit beside me on the sofa, but she didn’t touch me. Her attention was all on me, though her eyes seemed slightly out of focus. Minutes later, she took a deep breath and graciously accepted the NST that Sebastian was holding.

“Do you see DNA strands?” I asked.

“It’s like looking at numbers and equations. I see what adds up, and what doesn’t, in which case I can spot abnormalities. I see weak points, and I see strong points; therefore I know a person’s strengths and weaknesses. I am able to shuffle the numbers around, make different equations, thus making a person stronger or weaker or different. Providing those equations make sense, there will be no problems.”

“So…the brothers’ equations weren’t adding up,” I surmised. “That was why the vampires they held were deformed.”

“Yes. If a being has too many weak points, it is impossible to significantly strengthen them. So it might be reasonable to assume that the other vampires hadn’t been strong enough to undergo the changes. The brothers were clearly hoping to strengthen you in some way, but I do not understand what they were trying to achieve. What I can tell is that they have tried to change you at a dramatic, massive level. The problem is…some of the equations aren’t adding up. Where your gifts were once strong, they are now weak.”

“What else?”

“As you know, when a person is Turned, their body changes in many ways. As they go through the transition, sensory organs are improved so that vision, hearing, and sense of smell are all enhanced. The circulatory, skeletal, and muscular systems also change, making the body much more resilient. But if a body is frozen in its development on a cellular level, does that really make it stronger? Personally, I do not believe so. It appears that the brothers have managed to…unfreeze parts of you in order to make changes. But I cannot explain what they are, I’m sorry.”

Lena’s gaze danced from both Jared and me. “My main concern is not the changes that are taking place. I’m not proud of this, but when I first began experimenting with my gift, I was very advantageous. I tried to change too much too quickly. The result…it was not pretty.”

Jared narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that in those cases, the animals’ system sort of went into…well, I suppose you could say ‘override’. It began to shut down in some areas, protecting itself, and trying to rectify these problems. The problems were not always completely rectified even with my help to undo what I had done.”

Jared went even paler. “So the animals died?”

“No. But they became brain damaged. One slipped into a coma from which it never awakened.”

“And that could happen to Sam?” Jared ran a hand through his hair. “Can you help in some way? Can you undo anything of what they have done?”

“I’m sorry, but I doubt I will be able to make much difference, as I do not understand what it is the brothers have done to Sam’s DNA. The only thing that will allow me to have any effect on Sam, a vampire, is that her development is no longer frozen. At best, I can slow the process, ease the side effects, but the changes will ultimately be made unless you can find the brothers and make them reverse the process.”