"I need to visit the bathroom." Margo put her teacup down on the coffee table.

Mia smiled at her. "I should go. I promised Toven that I wouldn't stay long. He wanted to go to the Lido deck."

"I think Dagor and I will join you," Frankie said. "Jasmine and Edgar headed there." She cast a glance at Margo. "Do you want to come? You can lie down on a lounger, and it will be like being on the couch here, just out in the fresh air. Am I right?"

"Maybe tomorrow." Margo pushed to her feet and gave Frankie a quick hug and then another to Mia. "I'm sure that by tomorrow, I'll feel well enough to go out there, but today, I'd rather take it easy."

She walked by Dagor and Negal, who were sitting on barstools in front of the tiny counter, sipping on bottles of that potent beer that the immortals liked.

She pecked Negal on the cheek. "I'm just going to the bathroom. I will be right back."

He nodded and got to his feet to open the door for Mia.

So far, so good.

Margo felt like a teenager sneaking away to smoke a cigarette where her parents wouldn't find her.

Negal would be furious if he found out what she was about to do, but she needed to know.

After locking the bathroom door behind her, Margo rummaged through the drawers but found no scissors, no clippers, and not even a razor. Negal used an electric shaver, and she had forgotten to buy a disposable blade for the few stubborn armpit hairs that no amount of laser treatments had managed to obliterate. Not that it was such a big deal. The hairs were blond and barely visible, but they annoyed the heck out of her.

She should just tweeze them away.

Well, what do you know? She could use the tweezers to make a scratch, right?

The cool metal felt slightly ominous in her hand, and she hesitated for a moment, not because she was afraid of a little pain but because she was debating the wisdom of her plan.

When Frankie was transitioning, Bridget had claimed that she had to wait to test her until Dagor's venom cleared her system because Frankie's body had been saturated with it, so the wound could have healed because of that and not the transition.

That wasn't the case with Margo. Negal had bitten her only once, so if she healed faster than normal, it would be a sign that she was transitioning.

Taking a deep breath, Margo hiked up her skirt, exposing an expanse of her thigh. She needed to make the scratch somewhere inconspicuous in case it didn't heal faster than it should, and she would be stuck with the evidence of her subterfuge.

With a shaking hand, she pressed the tip of the tweezers against her skin, wincing at the sharp sting of pain. It wasn't a deep cut like the one Bridget had given Frankie, but even a scratch would normally take days to heal on Margo's fair skin.

Transfixed, she watched as a thin line of blood welled up along the shallow wound, the deep red a stark contrast against her pale flesh. It didn't happen right away, and she was starting to despair, but then the blood flow stopped, and then the edges of the scratch started knitting together before her astonished eyes. It took long minutes until the wound vanished entirely, but it was still a miracle.

Normally, she would have never healed so fast.

A giddy laugh bubbled up from her throat. There was no more doubt. It was happening. She was truly transitioning.

Bursting out of the bathroom, she ran to the living room in a whirl of excitement and launched herself at Negal, who was sprawled on the couch. "I'm becoming immortal." She peppered his astonished face with kisses.

He let out a startled grunt, his arms coming up automatically to catch her as she clung to him like a koala. "Did you doubt it?"

She nodded.

A slow grin spread across his face as he took in her elated expression. "Of course you are, Nesha. But what has changed in the last five minutes?"

Margo's smile turned sheepish, a blush staining her cheeks. "I needed to see it for myself. I needed to know that this was really happening."

Understanding dawned in Negal's eyes, followed quickly by a flash of concern. "What did you do?" His gaze roamed over her body as he searched for injury.

Margo shook her head, pressing a reassuring kiss to his lips. "Just a little scratch to see how fast I would heal."

Negal's frown deepened, his hands tightening on her hips. "Margo, you shouldn't be doing stuff like that. Your body is going through enough changes as it is, and it's too early for testing. You should have waited for Bridget to determine the right time."

She sighed, resting her forehead against his. "I needed to do it, Negal. I needed proof. The anxiety of the uncertainty was making me sick. I feel so much better now that I know for sure."