Master of Smoke

geeks.”
    “I know, darling, but you are a geek, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, I married a geek, and that turned out rather well.”
    “Ah. Yes. Good point.” Without thinking, Eva picked up her own glass and drained it in one long swallow.
    Charlotte put down her glass and dropped David, who landed like a—well, cat—then promptly streaked across the living room and under the couch.
    Eva, watching him in worry, was startled when Charlotte cupped her face in both cool, slender hands. “Something is wrong.”
    Pulling away, Eva picked up the wine bottle to pour herself another glass. “Everything’s fine, Mom.”
    “Which must be why you’re guzzling the Zin.” Charlotte brushed a lock of Eva’s hair back and studied her, dark eyes narrow. “Baby, this is your mother you’re talking to. I can always tell when you lie. And you’re lying now.”
    Eva pulled out of Charlotte’s light hold to give herself time to think. She had to come up with something her mother would believe. Preferably because it was true. “Like I said, I’m just a little upset about David.”
    “Are you afraid of him?” Charlotte’s eyes flashed with sudden anger. “Has he hurt you?”
    Eva blinked, startled. “David? God, no.”
    Charlotte nodded slowly. “Okay, that was honest. But you are afraid of something. Really afraid.” Brown eyes narrowed. “Is it that asshole neighbor of yours?”
    “Ronnie? No, David took care of him.”
    “Then what is it? I know there’s something. There’s been something for at least five years now.”
    Which was when the werewolf attacked her. Eva froze, the glass halfway to her lips. Mom’s getting entirely too close to the truth. I need to distract her.
    “We did notice, you know,” Charlotte continued, eyeing her. “One day you were fine, the next you started hiding from everybody, including us. You lost weight, and there was a look in your eyes no mother ever wants to see on her child’s face. You scared the hell out of us. And just like now, you insisted nothing was wrong when we knew damned well something was. What are you hiding?”
    Shit. “Nothing, Mom.”
    “Don’t give me that.” Charlotte’s honey brows lowered. “Who are you afraid of?”
    Should she come clean? Tell Charlotte she was a werewolf and transform to prove it? Tell her about David, the hunk currently hiding under the couch? “Mom ...”
    Before she could say anything more, the tinny notes of the sixties Batman theme started playing from the depths of Charlotte’s purse. “Dammit, Bill, your timing stinks.” Grumbling, her mother picked up the handbag and started digging through it in search of her cell phone.
    A reprieve. Thank God. Eva sagged against the counter, her mind working frantically. She really hadn’t wanted her parents to know what she’d become. It would only scare them, especially considering this Warlock character had drawn a bead on David—and Eva along with him.
    “Talking to Eva,” her mother said into the cell. “Bill, it’s really not a good ... Can’t you—? All right, dammit, I’ll go pick the damn things up. But next time, pack them in the car the night before, would you?”
    Grumbling under her breath, Charlotte folded the flip phone and stuffed it back in her purse, then looped the bag over her shoulder and headed for the door. “Your father left the prizes for the Magic tourney at the house, so he wants me to go pick them up. I swear to God, that man would forget his head if it wasn’t bolted on his shoulders.” She opened the front door.
    Alarmed, Eva straightened. “Ma, don’t ...
    David streaked right past her ankles, out the door and into the night.
    When Miranda opened the front door, her stepfather stood on the other side—seven and a half feet of enraged, fully transformed werewolf. He stepped inside in one long stride, slamming the door behind him. She backed away, heart in her throat.
    “You utter fool!” Baring the knife length of his fangs, Gerald backhanded her before she could get her arms up to block the blow. She slammed into the foyer wall with a crash that rattled the portrait of her grandfather, then fell flat on her ass. “You betrayed your people.” His voice rose to a roar. “You betrayed your god!”
    Miranda shook her ringing head as she fought to scramble to her feet, desperate to get away before he hit her again.
    “Gerald, wait!” Joelle darted in front of her husband, raising her hands in supplication.