Breeding true is all the more important because the two-natured have a high mortality rate. So the leader of a pack is required to have children with as many of the pureblood women in his group as possible. I found this out from Calvin Norris when we were semiromantically involved for a while. As much as I thought I might care for him, this secret breeding program was something I couldn’t handle. I’m the sort of woman who wants her husband home in bed with her, not out having kids with the nice lady down the street.

The two-natured young start manifesting their abilities when they hit puberty, as if teenagers don’t have enough problems already. According to what I’ve been told, the kids are mentored and taught how to handle both the physical and emotional changes that their condition entails.

Sometimes, though, shapeshifters will find that they have to mentor a nonchild. That’s what happened with my brother, Jason, though there are times when (with the way he acts) you’d think he was a prepubescent kid. After he got involved with Calvin’s niece Crystal, one of her werepanther ex-boyfriends took it into his head that the only thing that attracted her to Jason was that he was a full human. So he decided to turn Jason into a werepanther and win Crystal back that way—which, by the way, didn’t work. This transformation is not an easy thing to go through, but my big brother survived. In fact, after the first time he changed, Jason described it as “the most incredible experience” of his life.

Go figure.

THE FAIRIES

Just when I thought I had things figured out, with the vampires and the shapeshifters and all, I ended up having everything turned upside down again.

I found out that fairies are real; and no, I’m not talking trash about gay guys. I am talking about fairies—you know, those guys with the pointed ears? They’re actually a lot like the elves in The Lord of the Rings. I’m sorry, but Tolkien got them wrong. You don’t want to meet a real elf. They can take off your hand with one bite.

Unlike vampires and shapeshifters, fairies aren’t actually from the world we know. They come from a world that is pretty darn close to ours but is separated by some kind of magical barrier; at least, that’s the way I understand it. This world is called Faery, and all the . . . well, the creatures that live in it are the fae. Fairies are only one branch of the fae, but they’re the most populous and the most humanlike in form.

I’ve met elves, demons, and goblins. You don’t want to know them, though Mr. Cataliades, the mostly demon lawyer, is an okay guy.