Melanie was quiet on the walk to NeuroWell, which I was grateful for. Ever since orientation, when she’d ridiculed Milo for tripping and making her spill her drink, I’d disliked her. The fact that she was taking me away from Milo in a moment when I knew he needed me wasn’t helping her case.
I needed to get rid of her.
She walked stiffly ahead of me, and I bit my lip to keep myself from barking at her to hurry up. Fiddling with my chilli pepper keychain, I did my best not to spiral.
Would Milo be okay if I wasn’t back before he went on stage? I knew he hated public speaking. The idea of him standing in front of a sea of people, blinking his big, innocent brown eyes as he searched the crowd for me—only to find I wasn’t there—was making me nauseous.
I was so deep in thought that I barely processed the fact that Melanie had already led me through the deserted MTR floor to the elevator that led to The Cave.
She glanced over her shoulder at me, her gaze dropping to the enamel pepper keychain that I was still nervously rubbing between my fingers like a cursed worry stone.
Her lips pursed.
I moved to brush my arm against the keypad to call the elevator, but to my surprise, she beat me to it.
A look of cold satisfaction curled across her face as she passed the delicate white sleeve of her blouse over the black sensor. It lit green, and the elevator let out its chime-likedingas it arrived to collect us.
She had an… implant?
My brow furrowed as she stepped into the elevator, gesturing for me to follow her.
What did that mean?
Fuck.
The doors closed behind me, and suddenly, I wasn’t irritated anymore.
I was on guard.
Something wasn’t right.
Why the fuck would Luke have given Melanie an implant?
When had that happened?
I eyed her warily, and she gave me a contemptuous smirk. She reached out and boldly tapped my chilli pepper keychain, her sharp fingernail pinging sharply against the enamel.
“You know, I saw you two in the game store the day he bought you this,” she said, her voice low and soft. “I had my suspicions before that... but then Sebastian was all over him that night at the Memory Tap, so I wasn’t sure…”
“Ms. Larson,” I growled in warning, my blood turning hot at theaudacityof her thinking she had the fucking right to spy on us like this.
She flicked her eyes up to meet mine, that infuriating little smirk playing across her lips.
“Of course, that’s why Luke implanted Seb with the new model first. He was sure Seb was the one fucking him…”
“What?”
The elevator dinged as we arrived at our destination.
“I wasn’t fooled, though. Somehow, I justknewit wasyouhe was getting on his knees for. How else would someone that fucking pathetic secure a position in your lab from day one?”
The burning rage that was roaring through my veins nearly blinded me as I processed what she was saying. My fists were clenched at my sides so tightly my nails cut into my palms.
“Not that I blame him. It’s not like I would have been above it… Unfortunately, it turns out I just didn’t have the right…equipmentto entice you… Luckily for me, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.”
“Ms. Larson. You’refired. Effectiveimmediately,”I snarled, the words slicing like glass over my tongue. It was taking everything I had not to throttle this bitch, but… I wasn’t about to assault an employee, no matter how out of line she was.
She laughed lightly, tossing her long, glossy hair over her shoulder and stalking out of the elevator and into The Cave.
