Page 109 of Beautiful Venom

Fuck.

I pull out my phone and call, but Jude doesn’t answer.

Good save.

“Probably still asleep,” I say as I hang up and then shoot him a quick message, pretending to frown at my phone.

Me

At the hospital. You better be on your way.

Dahlia’s wide eyes are still narrowed, but she releases a sigh and tidies up her space. “You can go now. My sister is wary of strangers.”

“Pretty sure she can’t tell if she’s in a coma.”

She glares at me.

“Too soon?”

“Just go away.”

I sit on her chair and throw a fleeting glance at the slumbering patient.

“Half-sister?”

She sits on the bed, blocking my view. “Why do you think that?”

“You don’t look alike.”

“Foster sister.” Her voice softens as she takes her sister’s hand in hers. “She’s the only family I have.”

“What happened?” I feign interest.

“We don’t really know, but she was attacked and dropped off at a hospital in Stantonville. She’s been in a coma since.”

“I’m sorry.”

Her eyes meet mine, glittery, with an unnatural shine. “Thanks, but she’ll come back. I know it.”

I want to tell her not to hold on to false hope and to hit her upside the head with hard facts that comatose patients don’t just come back and she should give up, but I can’t bring myself to.

Usually, I don’t give a fuck about people’s feelings.

Dahlia is proving to be an exception in ways I fail to recognize.

But I still say, “If you want to handle her medical bills, isn’t it a smart idea to take the offer I gave you?”

“The foundation pays for her bills.”

“Then you can have an internship with reasonable hours, higher pay, and with enough prestige to add to your résumé. It’s the smartest thing to do.”

She releases her sister’s hand and whisper-yells, “You sure it’s not so you can have access to me at all times for your sick games?”

I pull her by the arm until she crashes against my chest, her face a breath away from mine. “Oursick games, and I can have access to you whether or not you’re on the team.”

Her breathing escapes in long, choppy sounds, her eyes flickering between dark green and furious brown.

I see it then. The reason she’s been avoiding me.

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