“Hairy, three-balled, humping son of a Sasquatch, what the fuck is that idiot doing?” her twin sister, Adrianne, yelled.

Given this happened quite often—the yelling, not the Bigfoots with a third testis—Aimi didn’t pay much attention. Her hot-headed other half spent much of her time yelling at something. Or someone. What you needed to fear was the silence.

“The gods-damned apocalypse is here. Quick, Aimi, grab the keys for the Suburban. We need to go into town and hit the bulk store to stock up. Shit is going to get ugly. Really fucking ugly.”

“It will get even uglier if you keep cussing like that. Or have you so soon forgotten what Aunt Yolanda did last time she heard you acting unladylike.”

Soap wasn’t considered strong enough for a filthy mouth. They got to gargle castor oil.

Shudder.

“I bet even Aunt Yolanda drops an f-bomb when she hears about the moron who just told the whole world shifters are real.”

“Are you watching the Bigfoot-hunting dudes again?”

“No. This is on CNN.”

“What?” The mention of the news channel caught Aimi’s attention. She moved toward her sister and found her gaze riveted to the television screen. While the image proved grainy, she could see some kind of jouncing camera recording a crazy scene. Animals fighting each other; gators and bears and wolves and even some humans with guns. A chaotic mess that even had a moose charging through. The ticker bar and voice-over were even more strange.

“This is some of the video footage we received anonymously just moments before reporters arrived at the private medical compound situated only a few miles from the Everglades. The Bittech Institute is supposedly a medical research facility, but preliminary reports are stating it was more than that. It was run by…shapeshifters?” The on-screen anchor couldn’t help a disbelieving lilt. “Seriously?” The news anchor shook her blonde, helmet-stiff-gelled head, but a true pro, she went on. “According to Theodore Parker, the CEO of Bittech, shapeshifters have been walking among us for thousands of years, mostly undetected.”

“Because humans are twat-waffles who never look further than their own shortcomings.” Her sister threw a handful of popcorn at the screen, leaving a grease mark on the glass and adding another pile of crumbs to the floor. They’d tried having pets as children to eat the foodstuffs they dropped. However, all of them had run away. Strange how that happened.

“Why must you be such a slob?”

“Don’t be such a clean freak. I’m doing my part to stimulate the economy by providing employment for housecleaners. It’s people like you, who clean up after themselves, that put people out of work. Good job hating your fellow citizens.”

“Is this where I’m supposed to thank you for being a slob?”

“Just thinking of the little people,” said quite seriously by her sister, the mentality of a spoiled princess in a punk-rocker body. The chain looping from her nose to her ear was a nice touch.

But the piercings and rainbow pixie hair didn’t change one fact. “You are the epitome of a rich bitch, you know that, right?”

Her sister grinned, her perfect smile gleaming. “Why, thank you. I try my best. I did, after all, learn from the master.” Also known as Zahra, their mother. “Enough of my greatness. We have something only slightly more important to discuss. The end of the world.”

“Why the end? Did someone launch a bomb? Did they find a meteor? Is the core of the Earth overheating and about to blow us up?” Aimi might have a slight addiction to apocalypse-type movies.

“None of the above. I’m talking about the fact that shifters are about to go to war with mankind.”

“We don’t know that will happen.”

Her sister aimed the remote and rewound the news footage and replayed the animals running wild and, in at least one case, attacking a human.

Okay, so there was a possibility that the humans might get a little trigger-happy. Oh, who was she kidding. Humans would freak and go on a werewolf hunt.

I should make a quick call to my broker and buy some silver stocks. She should also invest in garlic. For some reason, when people got superstitious, they fell back to the basics.

“You’re thinking of making money, aren’t you?” her sister accused.

“Aren’t you?”

“Of course.” Her sister rolled her eyes. “I took care of your stuff, too. I predict the price of silver is going to shoot through the roof.”

Nothing like increasing her net worth to make her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“So, do you want to come with me on a run to the store for necessities?”

“You do realize Mother and our aunts probably already have storerooms of supplies just in case the apocalypse does come.”

“Hoarding bitches,” coughed her sister.

“Says the girl who sneaks all the boxes of Twinkies out of the kitchen as soon as the groceries are delivered each week.”

“I do what I must to save you. Your ass can thank me later when it doesn’t fall out of your bikini bottom. Now, come on, let’s go paint the town.”

Why not? Aimi could use a break from being in the house and listening to her mother’s constant harping: “When are you going to find a mate? Would you stop harassing your cousins? Getting arrested for drunk and disorderly isn’t how we stay low-key.”

As if it were Aimi’s and her cousins’ fault the cop who pulled them over didn’t have a sense of humor.

“I’ll go, but I’m driving,” she announced.

“You drove last time,” Adi said with a pout.

“Because I’m the one who still has a license. Or have you forgotten that pesky thing called the law?”

“Those human things shouldn’t apply to us.”

“And yet, they do, and you know what Mother said she’d do if you got arrested again.” Force her sister to dye her hair back to her normal color, lose the nose piercing, and start wearing proper dresses with pantyhose and fat-heeled pumps.

The shudder in her sister proved most pronounced. “Mother is evil.”

“She is, which is why I’m driving.”

“Fine.” Her sister bounded off the couch. “I call shotgun.”

“Who else is coming?”

Adi shrugged. “I don’t know, but chances are, Deka and Babette will want to come, too.”

They hadn’t even managed two steps when the dreaded voice stopped them. “And where do you think you’re going?” Mother asked as she swept into the family room of their mansion. Although “family room” seemed a misnomer. It implied an intimate place for a few to gather.

In Aimi’s world, a family room was more like a grand ballroom with a huge open space, three-stories tall, ringed in balconies, and, hanging in a few places, swings, suspended by chains and wrapped in silk flowers. No nets below, she might add. Nets were for the clumsy who shouldn’t procreate, according to her Aunt Yolanda.

On the main floor sat a myriad of game tables—billiards, foosball, air hockey, arcades, and more—along with several couches and a few televisions, all of them hooked to the most recent game systems.

This was where the kids hung out, and according to their mother and aunts, even at the ripe age of twenty-seven, Aimi and Adrianne were still kids.

Single ones, who had yet to move out because, in her world, only married girls got to move out to start their family line.

The whole bra-burning thing had kind of passed them by on account the women already ruled in the family—for some reason, they tended to birth way more girls than boys. Because of this, they abided by some self-imposed, quirky rules. The big one being: have babies, but not just any babies, family-approved ones.

“We were just going to go out and maybe hit a restaurant for dinner and then a movie.” Adi never had learned to lie very well.

Their mother’s gaze narrowed, the violet of her eyes dark, the regard suspicious. “This sudden desire to hang with humans wouldn’t have anything to do with the news coming out of Florida, would it?”

“News? What news?” Adi stated, even as the report on the television at her back flipped to yet more footage of animals running wild.

“Your ability to play stupid is astounding.”

“Not really, I’m pretty good at acting oblivious and ignoring things, too.”

The jests did not lighten their mother’s expression at all.

“I take it you heard what’s happening?” Aimi asked, trying to divert attention from her twin.

“Of course, I heard. You know how closely Vanna and Valda monitor the news stations and the internet for out-of-the-ordinary tidbits. We’ve been expecting this for a while now. However, it did happen a tad sooner than predicted. Something must have forced the SHC”—short for the Shifter High Council—“to move up their timeline.”

The reply took Aimi by surprise. “You knew the Cryptozoids would do this?” Cryptozoids being a fancy name for creatures that weren’t human and believed to not exist.

“There is little we don’t know. But we did have advance warning from the SHC. Mainly from that mongrel, Parker. A few years back, Parker met with several of the Sept heads”—the Septs being the dragon version of a pack, divided by color and varying in power depending on their strength and size—“and made some valid points about revealing the existence of shifters and other species. He argued the world had changed too much for the Cryptozoids to remain hidden. It was just a matter of time before the shifter secret came out. Even we are not safe, despite the measures we’ve taken to keep our existence secret.” Those that discovered what they were didn’t live long, and yet the trail of deaths couldn’t be traced back to them because no one ever found the bodies.

Only amateurs leave evidence behind.

“You’re being rather blasé about the situation. Aren’t you worried at all?” Aimi asked.

“Worried about what? The shifters may do as they please.”

“So does this mean we’re coming out of the castle, too?” Adi asked.

“Not exactly. After Parker had revealed his plans to us, we engaged in many discussions with the other Sept leaders. It was decided that should the revelation come to pass, we would let the lower-born weather the initial shock.”

“By ‘weather,’ you mean let the humans go crazy and hunt the shifters. Are you planning to hand them pitchforks, too, and point them in the right direction?” Adi, the voice of pessimism and anarchy.

“We can’t be sure that will happen. We live in an age where differences are now protected by laws.” And yet, even Aimi didn’t entirely believe there would be peace. She had watched her fair share of paranormal shows and movies. It seemed, without fail, the inhuman had to die.

Then again, humans made the movies. What if the Cryptos did? History was shaped by the winners. Imagine a world where they didn’t have to hide, and those that crossed them succumbed to the old ways, the recipes to eradicate them contained in a grimoire kept locked away.

“You are naïve if you think this will go over well. The humans fear what they don’t understand.” Her mother shook her head. “Mark my words, we will see blood running in the streets. Mayhem and lawlessness will flourish. Many will die.”

“And you’re just going to sit back and allow it?”

“What else would you have us do?”

Aimi lifted her hands and shrugged. “Something. Anything.”

“For centuries, kings and queens have let their pawns fight the battles.”

“You’re talking about letting humans and shifters go to war.”

“The humans are already at war with each other. It’s all over the news. Every day, a new shooting and bombing. The governments will welcome a chance for reprieve, and what better way to draw nations together than to fight a common enemy?”

Sometimes, her mother’s cold, calculated nature stunned. Aimi wasn’t averse to doing what had to be done, but even she drew the line somewhere. “If it comes to war, millions will die.”

“And if that happens, then the earth might have a chance to recover from humanity’s excesses.”

“Did you seriously just solve pollution by countenancing the eradication of a good portion of the population?”

“The simple elegance of it is stunning, don’t you think? Once the chaos has died down, and both sides are tired of the fighting, we shall step into leadership roles. If you ask me, this is great news for our kind.”

“Add in an evil laugh, and you’ll sound like a dictator.” Aimi couldn’t help but shake her head at her mother’s bloodthirsty ambition.

“Dictators get the job done. Have you not studied our history at all? Have some pride in your roots.”

“Is that why you’re here? To remind us that we’re snotty princesses in hiding?”

“Actually, I need you and your sister bathed and changed into something nice. Eugenia and her son are coming for a visit.”

“Would that be the son who always smells like garlic?” He also sported greasy hair, lacked a few inches in height, and might have been inbred, given that his intelligence was lower than most household pets.

“He is a lovely young man. A single young man.”

“Since when? Wasn’t he married to what’s-her-face?” Adi snapped her fingers. “That girl we met at that wedding years ago. Lulu something or other.”

“An unfortunate incident took his bride’s life, so he is on the market again. And lucky you, Eugenia wants one of my girls to have first chance at claiming him.”

“No thanks.” Aimi wrinkled her nose.

“I’d rather mate with a human,” Adi added.

Their mother’s lips flattened. “One of you will claim him. There is nothing wrong with Harold that mouthwash won’t fix.”

“He’s gross.”

“And stupid.”

“That’s quite enough out of both of you. In case you hadn’t noticed, you are running out of options. One more year, and you will be considered spinsters by our laws, and you know what that means.”

It meant being subject to stupid Sept rules all in the name of preserving their race. She’d rather preserve her dignity, but that wasn’t an option. But she could at least say no to Harold.

“I am not claiming Eugenia’s son. If you want us to get mated, then bring us a decent option, and we’ll reconsider.”

“You know the options are limited.” Limited because only sons born of certain lineages carrying a certain trait could be considered mates for the prestigious Silvergrace family. Barf. Aimi and Adi lacked the reverence for bloodlines that their mother and the rest of the family had.

“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Adi shrugged. “If we don’t get married, then oh well. We’ll do a turn with the milkshake and do our best to keep the battery industry hopping.”

“How did I raise such ungrateful brats?” Their mother crossed her arms. “You do realize, if you don’t marry, you will have to live with me forever.” The fate of unmarried daughters in their family. Her mother smiled. “Did I mention my mother and her mother were incontinent by the age of seventy?”

Aimi’s eyes widened. “No way. I am not wiping your ass, not when we can afford a nursemaid.”

“Only if I let you hire one because, so long as I am the matriarch of this family, you won’t have any money of your own other than what you earn or I give you.”

“You are pure evil.”

Her mother preened. “Thank you. Now, change into something pretty or don’t. But I warn you, one of you will be claiming that young man.”

Like hell. They didn’t that day or the next when their mother tried to ambush them. Adi and Aimi played a game of ‘dodge the marriage-bent mother’ until garlicky Harold was safely claimed by some other poor girl looking to escape her overbearing matriarch.

But while the dodging game still proved as fun as it had when they’d started playing it at twenty-one, it did highlight one important fact. This was Aimi’s last year to be considered a suitable bride. If she wanted a life outside this house and away from her family, then she needed to claim a man.

But not just any man.

A beast thought extinct. And, guess what, the world was outing them on a daily basis. Now, she just had to find the right one before her next birthday.