Page 68 of Sweet Nightmare

And now that she’s standing this close, I know she had a turkey sandwich for lunch, while Simon had tuna and Remy had a piece of chocolate cake. I definitely didn’t recognize any of that when I was talking to them earlier, but now I can’t help but notice it—and a thousand other things about them, too.

“I feel strange,” I tell them, proud of how calm I’m managing to be, “like my senses are on overload. I can hear and smell and see everything.”

Except the words don’t come out sounding calm. They come out like a snarl. Still words, but definitely a snarl.

“Oh, shit,” Mozart says, exchanging a long, concerned look with Simon.

“Oh, shit what?” I ask as my heart starts beating double time.

“Does anything else feel weird?” she asks, getting face-to-face with me so she can look in my eyes.

“Umm, my voice?” I say in what should be an obvious tone but ends up sounding like a rumble.

“Her eyes are still manticore,” Mozart says, and though she’s trying to sound calm, I can hear—and smell—the panic just below her surface.

“Is that bad?” I ask as the same panic starts shooting through me. “Am I going to hurt one of you?”

I start backing up just in case, terrified that my poisonous tail is suddenly going to resurface.

“It’s not us we’re worried about,” Luis answers as the three shifters exchange a long look.

“Don’t do that,” I plead. “Please. Don’t talk around what’s happening. Just tell me what’s going on.”

Mozart places a comforting hand on my arm even as she blows out a long breath that has notes of barbeque chips and lime seltzer water. “Don’t freak out.”

I rear back. “Nothing good ever starts with ‘don’t freak out’!”

“Don’t freak out,” she says again, more firmly this time. “But we think you’re unmeshed.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

THINGS ARE ABOUT

TO GET MESHY

“Unmeshed?” Forget double time, my heart just quadrupled in speed. “I have no idea what that means.”

I’ve never even heard the word before. But whatever it is, it isn’t good—at least not judging by the looks on all of their faces. Even Luis looks serious, and he’s never serious about anything.

“Normally, when you’re a shifter, the two sides of your nature exist together.” Mozart makes a kind of braid with her fingers to illustrate. “Being here dampens that for all of us. It brings our human side out a lot more, but the other side is always still there, giving us a little something extra.”

“Like how fast the wolves can be?” I ask. “And how strong the dragons are?”

“Exactly like that,” Simon agrees. “It’s why I can hold my breath underwater for several minutes, even when I’m not in my siren form.”

His voice, always musical, sounds downright magical to my ears right now, and I find myself swaying toward him. My whole body physically aches with the need to be closer to him.

Jude rolls his eyes and stops me with an arm around my waist.

“So what do we do?” Jude asks. “How do we get her un-unmeshed?”

“I think the word you’re looking for here is meshed,” Luis comments dryly.

“I need to fix this,” I stress, because it’s not just the voice and the senses worrying me. The weird heat in my stomach feels like it’s spread to my blood. It’s running through my veins and arteries now, making me feel like I’m on fire from the inside out. Or like my skin is going to start melting off me at any second.

None of which is a pleasant feeling.

“Usually shifting again solves the problem,” Simon answers.

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