“Desiree?” she breathes, her gaze darting to the operating room doors. The urgency to be inside, to save a life, overshadows any desire to engage with me. “Is everything okay? Wilder, is he?—”
“He’s fine, but I’m not,” I say, blocking her path.
She exhales. “Are you sick?” I shake my head. “Then can it wait? I’m about to head into surgery. Let’s catch up later.”
“I only need a second of your time.”
“Desiree, I have a patient. Whatever this is, it can wait.”
“Your patient is stable.” My enhanced hearing picks up the steady beep of monitors and the calm voices of the team inside. They won’t let him die. “Please, give me two seconds.”
Mom frowns as the OR doors swing open behind me. “Doctor Dunn, we’re ready for you,” a familiar voice calls out, sending heat down my neck.
“Thank you, Juliette. I’ll be right in,” Mom replies.
My body tenses, but I step closer to Mom. “Please, I heard about what you’re working?—”
“Desiree, heavens, is that you?” Juliette’s saccharine voice grates my nerves. My childhood nemesis is now a colleague of my mom’s. The irony is not lost on me.
“Doctor Dunn, hurry,” another healer calls out, and just like that, Mom is leaving.
Over her shoulder, she calls, “Come by the house this weekend, Desi,” then she disappears through the operating room doors, leaving me alone with a smirking Juliette.
“Well, don’t I get a hug?” Juliette insists, arms outstretched.
Juliette envelops me in an embrace that feels more like a trap. My body goes rigid, every instinct screaming to push her away. Suddenly, I’m back in high school, hearing whispers and giggles related to Juliette’s latest rumor about me. I’m shivering in Equinox Park, rope biting into my wrists as I pray someone will find me before dawn. I’m in the hospital, discovering my charts have been tampered with, knowing it was her but unable to prove it.
The fear and anger I had growing up comes rushing back, amplified by my vampire senses. I can hear Juliette’s heartbeat and smell the rush of blood coursing through her veins. Does she know how close I am to losing control? Does she have any idea of the damage she’s done?
To stop myself from going for her throat, I take a steadying breath. She’s not worth it. I’ll be locked out of the Nest forever if I do not meet Queen Vyvyan by her deadline.
Who knows what else Vyvyan will do if I don’t get Mom to promise to end her research?
“Wow, you look hot,” Juliette remarks as she pulls away, her gaze sliding over my revealing vampire-style outfit like oil. I suppress a shudder.
“I need to talk to my mom,” I say, stepping toward the double doors.
Juliette slides in front of me. Her smile is as condescending as it was when she started dating Wilder all those years ago, acting as if our toxic past was water under the bridge. As if she hadn’t spent years making me feel worthless, invisible, unwanted. “It’ll be a while before she’s free.”
My sigh conveys the pressure I’m under. Vyvyan will be furious, but surely, she’ll understand the blackout derailed our plans and let me try again. Won’t she?
“You know, Desi, I’m happy I ran into you,” Juliette continues, using the nickname that only friends and family have earned the right to use. Each word is like a needle under my skin.
I glare at her while years of pent-up anger bubble to the surface. “Why? You hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.”
I can’t help but laugh bitterly. “Every bad memory from my childhood connects to you.” The isolation, the constant fear—it all leads back to her. “You know what? I don’t have time for this. I have somewhere I need to be.”
I turn to leave, and Juliette grabs my arm. The touch awakens something primal within me. I hiss, fangs bared, my vision tinting red at the edges. Juliette recoils, the color draining from her face. For a moment, there’s genuine fear in her blue eyes, and part of me revels in it.
“What the hell, Desiree? I try to have a cordial conversation with you, and you try to eat me.” Juliette glances sideways. I notice a few staff members watching our exchange.
The fight leaves me. Their faces are a cocktail of fear and contempt. I shake my head; the truth hitting me anew: I never belonged here and never will. Juliette made sure of that long ago.
“Excuse me.” I head for the exit.
“You’re still the same, Desiree,” Juliette calls after me. “Better clothes. Still lost and alone!”
