Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 1)

All around, people stared at me.

I blinked, looking up at them.

Why was I so short? And why had it taken so long to swim through a pool that was only waist deep?

I looked down at myself, seeing only a curved chest covered in feathers.

I squawked.

Holy crap, I’d turned into a duck!

“Play your turn, new girl,” Mary shouted.

Oh, how I wanted to shit on her head. If I had to be a duck, that was the only pro I could think of to this whole situation. Instead, I honked angrily at her and awkwardly flapped my way out of the water.

It took all my concentration to fish my ball out of the cup with my beak. Flapping my wings awkwardly, I flew over and dropped the ball in Mary’s cup.

She shrieked her rage, but Coraline shouted from the sidelines. “I call it good!”

Mary groaned, then reached for the potion.

Hell, yeah. Apparently, Coraline was the referee, and she was still annoyed with Mary. I flew back to my side and watched the blonde witch drink her potion. Steam poured out of her ears, and she shrieked like a teakettle.

A few moments later, I turned back into a human, and we kept playing. The game went fast, and fortunately, I didn’t turn into any more birds. Finally, we were down to two cups. Whoever landed her ball first was going to win.

“Shoot at the same time!” Coraline shouted.

Okay, I could do that.

Only problem was, I felt utterly pissed. Something in the last potion made my head spin like a top. I blinked and squinted, gripping my ball too tightly and focusing on the one cup left in front of Mary.

“On the count of three!” Coraline shouted from the side. “Shoot!”

Shit, shit, shit!

I sucked in a deep breath, blinking frantically. I’d been drunk before. In fact, I used to have a tiny plastic basketball hoop on my fire escape that I’d found in the dumpster. I’d thrown a tennis ball in it over and over again, imagining that Cordelia was my cheering audience.

Sure, this red plastic cup was a hell of a lot smaller, but I could do this. I could so do this.

“One…two…three!”

Instinct and desperation took over. My life was on the line.

I tossed the ball, holding my breath as it flew through the air. Mary’s ball shot toward me, and I wanted to knock it off track. I resisted, clenching my fists.

Finally, my ball dropped into her cup a split second before hers landed.

“Hell, yeah!” I raised my fists, victory surging through me.

Mary scowled. “I hate losing. But I kind of like you, so come on. Let’s talk.”

I looked at Mac. She raised her eyebrows and grinned, giving me a thumbs-up. I followed Mary to one end of the pool, wading through the water to the wide stairs. We climbed out, and she waved a hand at me. “Be dry.”

My swimsuit immediately dried, and I grinned at her. “Thanks!”

“No problem.” She gestured me toward a door. “Come on.”

Coraline joined us, along with Mac and another girl with glowing dark skin and braids. A pigeon sat on her shoulder. The second room was shadowed and sparkly, the walls covered in glittery fabric. A disco ball hung from the ceiling. There was a padded leather booth in the corner that looked like something out of an old steak restaurant, and the rest of the room was filled with dancers.