Chapter 2 2 Here Comes the Hot-Stepper

"Her heart rate is elevated," Olive says, her sky-blue gaze trained on the vein in my neck.

I can hear the air sawing in and out of my mouth. Tiny black dots form in my vision as I look at Olive and try to focus on her face. She has two noses, one hovering to the side of the other. I squint and the two images merge into one, but wavers and splits after a moment. A wave of nausea sweeps over me and I swallow hard to keep myself from vomiting on the table. My head is lolling back and forth as though my neck is unable to support the weight. I put a hand to my temple to keep my skull steady. Pain shoots up my throat. I grab the glass of water and with a shaking hand, attempt to bring it to my mouth. I miss and it spills down the front of my button-down shirt. The cold water feels divine on my burning flesh and I sigh. I raise the glass so I can pour it over my head.

Nikki grabs my wrist to stop me. "Hey, Lottie. Hey. Talk to me."

"What's happening?" Olive asks. She snaps her fingers in my face. "Is she in a trance or something? Is someone doing this to her?"

At that, Nikki shoots up to her feet, knocking her chair over. I can only watch in awe and horror as she takes a flying leap across the room and tackles Sylvie to the ground. She lands on the were-fox's abdomen, yanks her up by her ponytail, rears back her arm, and smashes her fist into Sylvie's face. The other were-fox attempts to pull off Nikki, but Nikki twists around to face her without letting go of Sylvie and shoves her away with one arm. The were-fox crashes into the far wall, leaving a woman-sized dent, and slides to the ground.

The fog inside my brain clears and my larynx returns to working order. "Nikki, no!"

"Leave." Punch. "My best friend." Punch. "Alone."

I bolt out of my chair, but Olive clotheslines me with a stiff, lean arm, forcing me back down.

Sylvie struggles to lift her head and pries open a bloodshot eye which is already swelling up like tenderized meat. "I don't know what you're talking about." She coughs and sprays a mouthful of blood and saliva onto Nikki's face. "Bitch." She hammers her forehead forward and slams it into Nikki's nose. It explodes in a fountain of blood.

Nikki screams and puts up both hands to her nose to stem the flow. While she is distracted, Sylvie swings her knee upward towards Nikki's head, catching her in the jaw. As soon as Nikki is on her back, Sylvie gets on top of her, knees her in the abdomen, and traps her in a headlock, yanking and twisting as though she means to pull off Nikki's head.

Nikki is stronger, but Sylvie is a dirty fighter. A trained dirty fighter. I see a flash of metal zip over Nikki's head and realize too late that the other were-fox has thrown a knife toward the two weres which Sylvie plucks easily in the air. She lifts the hand holding the knife and slams it down. I shriek. Luckily, Nikki manages to turn her head to the side before Sylvie can connect. With a cry of pure fury, my best friend bucks upward, dislodging the were-fox. Catching Sylvie's neck in the crook of her elbow, she jumps up and lands soundly on the ground, her knee colliding solidly with Sylvie's cheek.

The doors to the back room swing wide open and a tall black woman as solid and wide as a tank comes out of the kitchen wearing a red ankle-length dashiki splashed with yellow and lilac flowers. On her head is a yellow turban that only statuesque black women can pull off with style. Her skin is the color of rich mahogany and her lips are blood-red. With a look of intent on her face, she strides over to the two weres. She takes hold of Sylvie with one hand and grabs a fistful of Nikki's mane in the other, yanking them upward and off their feet so they hang helplessly like marionettes.

Holy crap, the Queen can kick ass. I look at Olive to see if she knew the diner owner could lay the smack-down like that and based on the mystified awe in her wide sky-blue eyes, I would guess she had no idea, either. What the hell kind of creature is the Queen that she can easily take down two angry were-animals like they were nothing more than mosquitoes?

"Nikita, what is this foolishness? Your father taught you better than to scrap in public like a wild animal." Nikki struggles to escape her hold, but the Queen's grip is unbreakable. Her red mouth tightens in contempt as she stares down Nikki into submission. She shifts her wrath to Sylvie whose neck she has encompassed in one large hand. "And what about you, young fox? What makes you think you can bring this garbage into my territory and get away with it?"

Sylvie, who is rapidly turning purple, coughs and wheezes. The Queen eases her hold a bit, but doesn't let go. "She started it," Sylvie gasps. She works up a mouthful of spit and blood and aims it at Nikki, nailing the tip of her black ballet shoes. "She attacked me."

"Is this true, Nikita?"

"She was doing some hoodoo shit to Lottie." Nikki points a finger in my direction. "Girlfriend is itching like a crackhead and turned all zombified. I think this bitch hexed her or something."

"Impossible. She doesn't have that kind of power." The Queen lowers the two females to the ground, but retains a grip on their shoulders. She gives Sylvie a shake. "You know anything about this, fox?"

Sylvie's denial is vehement. "No way. My beef is with this psycho bitch, not her human pet."

Her speech is a little garbled since she must have lost a tooth or four, but I understand her well enough. I glare at her and she glares right back. It's the one of the biggest things that bug me about being friends with a supe: folks always assume you're that supe's pet. If I weren't feeling like somebody scrubbed me raw with sandpaper and didn't possess the strength of a five-year-old girl, I would totally jump on that bitchy fox and yank her scalp off.

"And what is this 'beef' you're talking about?" the Queen asks Sylvie.

"That crazy ho is mad at me because Antwan prefers me over her. It's not my fault she can't keep a man."

Nikki growls and tries to reach the were-fox over the Queen's body. The Queen responds by tightening her grip on Nikki's shoulder causing her to yelp. "At least I'm not built like a ten-year-old boy!"cries Nikki.

The Queen looks at one female after the other with disgust, grunts, and unceremoniously drops them both on the ground. "This bullshit is over a male? I ought to kick you both in the teeth, that's what I should do. Look, I don't care what flavor of animal y'all are, you are sisters. You should be backing each other up, not tearing each other down." She places her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "If you bring this bullshit to my fine dining establishment again, both your clans will hear about this. Just try me. I will ban the both of you and you won't ever get to taste my hot wings ever again."

Nikki whimpers. She loves the Queen's hot wings. Not a day goes by that she doesn't whine about craving for the damn things.

"Never brawl again in my presence or you will both forever be banned from my establishment. I have spoken."

We all watch in awe as the Queen, having said her piece, thrusts her chin upward, steps over the two fallen females like they were garbage, and sashays back to the kitchen. With the Queen gone, the diners switch their attention to Nikki and Sylvie as though greedily anticipating what they would do next. The females painstakingly avoid looking at each other, tending to themselves and straightening their clothing. Olive approaches Nikki and pulls her up from the ground, while Sylvie's were-fox buddy gets the brush-off when she attempts to do the same for Sylvie. The fox manages to get herself up and sneers triumphantly at Nikki. She hobbles a few steps forward and promptly falls on her face.

Somehow Nikki, ever the soul of discretion, manages not to laugh herself breathless. She indulges herself with a snicker, however.

To Sylvie's credit, she manages to rise with all the grace that Mother Nature has given were-animals and pulls back her shoulders. She sweeps her hair out of her face, takes the tissue offered to her by her friend so she can blot the blood from her nose, and exits the restaurant without taking a last look at any of us. Once she is gone, the diners glance at the door, at Nikki, back at the door, then at Nikki again. Having decided there is no more drama forthcoming, they return collectively to their meals and the hum of conversation once again fills the diner.

"Ugh." Nikki wraps her fingers around her nose and yanks it back into place. "You all right?" she asks, looking at me. "Did that fix it?"

I glare and punch her in the shoulder. "What the fuck was that?" With only the slightest wince, I give my hand a shake. The girl is made of steel. "You're picking fights in public now?"

Her hazel eyes widen in disbelief. "Back up, sister. I fought that skank because I thought she was hexing you and this is the thanks I get? Unbelievable."

I snort. "Bullshit, Nikita. That's such crap. You were just looking for an excuse to scrap with her because you're still pissed about Antwan."

Nikki's nostrils flare in response. Her nose, thankfully, is already healing. She opens her mouth to give me a talking-to that is sure to make my ears fall off, but Olive smoothly sticks herself between us and prods me back to my seat. She takes the chair previously occupied by Nikki and pushes a glass of water in front of me. "Drink that up. You're still looking a little green around the gills. Maybe you should go home instead of going back to work after this, eh?"

I must look pretty bad if Olive has managed to work up some concern for me. Vampires are characteristically narcissistic and Olive, even though she's one of my best friends, is no exception. If something doesn't directly involve her, she doesn't usually expend the energy to care about it. I am touched by her concern and express it by patting her hand, which she pulls away in discomfort. I sip the water and choke, sputtering all over myself. I attempt to mop up the wet spot on my shirt, realize it's a lost cause, and give up, dropping the crumpled napkin on my plate. "No, I have to get back to work. My boss is useless without me. Can't operate a computer to save his life."

Nikki rolls her eyes. "It's not like your own dad will fire you." She smiles graciously at the purple-haired waitress who sets down a tray full of food in front of her and waits until her back is turned before digging in. She picks up a clump of fries clumped together with cheese and offers it to me as a conciliatory gesture. "You're cheap labor."

I cover my mouth and dry-heave, turning my head away. The adrenaline brought about by the excitement of the last several minutes is starting to fade and that skin-too-tight feeling is coming back. The air surrounding my skin seems to crackle with static electricity and the little hairs on my arm are standing on end. Instead of itchiness this time, it's heat. Sharp, stinging, unrelenting heat that feels like sunburn times twenty. In my hysteria, I ask myself if this is how a vampire would feel like before she bursts into flames. I reach for the glass of water and for the sake of scientific experiment, pour it over my skin. I gasp as the droplets of water sizzle and steam rises from the area.

"Holy shit," Nikki whispers.

I bring up my arm closer to my face and stare at it as if I've never seen it before.

That's about the time a master vampire called Marcus Hollister walks in and I slide out of my chair, unconscious.