I stared at her, wondering how we had gotten to this point. This wasn’t my mother.
“I was at an event. I didn’t have my phone on me,” I said, trying to stay calm.
Emotions were high. There was no need to make things worse than they already were.
She made an ugly sound. It was half- laugh, half-scoff.
I didn’t respond, just stared her down.
Liam’s hand moved to the small of my back, a silent message he was there, that I wasn’t alone.
The movement attracted her notice and she narrowed her eyes at him.“You’re her doctor, aren’t you?”
We both went stiff. I hadn’t thought she would remember his face. He’d whammied her pretty good the one and only time he’d met her. Humans under that much influence often had trouble remembering what the vampire looked like, a natural defense mechanism to the way we tended to hunt.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Liam said easily, flashing my mother a charming smile and ignoring the way I stiffened.
My mother didn’t look placated, if anything his statement made her more suspicious as her attention swung back to me.“Is that how you got out of the hospital? By fucking your doctor?”
I sucked in a breath, shocked.
My mother rarely cursed, and never so casually—in a way designed to hurt and flay the flesh from your bones.
“Elise!” my father barked, horrified.
“Mom, that’s enough,” Jenna said, her voice strong. She stood in the hallway, her gaze fastened on my mother, the door slightly ajar behind her.
Liam had gone preternaturally still at my side and was now eying my mother in a way that made me think of a predator assessing the vulnerable points of their prey.
My mother stooped, grabbing her purse and straightening.“I’ll be in the cafeteria.”
She walked away without a word, leaving the rest of us staring at her.
My dad stood with a sigh.“I’d better go after her. Make sure she doesn’t get lost.”
He crossed to us and squeezed my arm.“Don’t hold it against her, Lena. This thing with Jenna has her out of sorts.”
I gave him a strained smile, not saying anything. There was nothing to say. Hurt had stolen my voice. Anything I said now wouldn’t be very nice, even if it was true.
There was a slight limp in his step as he headed down the hall after my mom.
Jenna watched me, the look in her eyes guarded.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier,” I said, not moving toward her for the hug every part of me begged for, too afraid of her rejection to attempt it.
Her shoulders slumped and she sighed, one hand coming up to scrub at her face.“I heard what you told mom. You can’t help that you didn’t have your phone on you.”
She took in our ruined and rumpled clothing.“Looks like you two had quite the night.”
I looked at the two of us, realizing for the first time how we must appear. The dress had seen better days and looked like I had grabbed it off the floor after a long night. Liam was in a similar state.
I sighed, at least there were only a few spots of blood. That wouldn’t be too hard to explain.
Jenna offered me a small smile. It wasn’t much, there and gone in moments, barely touching her eyes.“Thanks for coming, Lena. It means a lot.”
Finally, I stepped forward, wrapping her in my arms.“Of course.I’d do anything for you, little sis.”
She felt frail and insubstantial in my arms, the events of the night taking their toll. I couldn’t even imagine what she was going through. I was a wreck, barely holding it together. For Jenna, it had to be a hundred times worse.
