Page 15 of The Key to Fear
For the first time since she’d arrived at the MediCenter, Elodie felt at ease.Monitoring patients, making sure their needs were met, discharging patients and preparing for new patients to arrive, this is what she was good at—even when Gus left her with vague and incomplete new patient information.It also didn’t hurt that this version of Holly was the one Elodie was most comfortable with.Helper Holly, or at least that’s how she thought of the disembodied Holly voice, who stayed at the MediCenter and served as Elodie’s nursing assistant.
Careful not to press unnecessarily on the expansive control panel, Elodie rested her forearms on the desk and studied the holoscreen as it scrolled through each patient’s information.Bots beeped and hummed mechanically as they passed through the shield of violet light staining each patient’s doorway, which protected those outside from any deadly microbes that might try to escape.
Everything looked normal.TheLong-TermCare Unit physician had come through earlier and hadn’t marked any patients as contagious, including the new one.No doses needed to be changed.No one else was being transferred out or in.Since Gus had left her with zero specifics about the new patient, Elodie double tapped on her chart to review it more closely.PatientNinety-Two’s health information was as normal as Elodie’s other patients, steady rhythms, no present contagions, nothing out of the ordinary.
Elodie dropped her chin into her palms.It shouldn’t be disappointing.Everyone was healthy.And she really had had enough excitement for one day.
Lights reflecting off the cover of her textbook drew her attention.She should probably hurry and finish reading the second book in the series so she could move on to the third book, then the fourth, and the fifth.After she finished, she’d be able to turn them over to the Library or incinerate them herself.
She warmed as she thought about how many more adventures she and Vi had left.But Astrid was right.Elodie’s stomach squeezed.She could end up getting in trouble for something as stupid as reading unsanctioned fiction.
If the Key did find out, how bad would the punishment actually be?It was only reading, and reading never hurt anybody.Now, what would be painful was not knowing how Vi’s story ended.It would make Elodie distracted and angsty, and all of that negative energy would spill into her work and her social life.Not finishing the series would be more harmful than keeping the books for a little while longer.
Excitement flapped in her chest as she turned to the dog-
earedpage.
Vi’s heartbeat ticked up a notch as the wire dug into her custom leather gloves.The pressure made her jaw slacken and fire spark to life deep within her belly.
Vi enjoyed killing.Not in the way someone enjoyed a vacation or a free day off work.That enjoyment was a pacification—a scab protecting the world from what would happen if freedom really meant a person was free.
And Violet Jasmine Royale had let herself loose.
But what Vi liked more than the kill, what she craved more than a tall glass of double malt and a thick cigar, was the moment after.The brief second of swollen silence stretched thick and hard between her and her victim.
Vi’s lip twitched with a sneer.
Victim.Yeah, right.
The word implied that Johnny Diamoto had been worth saving.It implied that he was innocent, and JohnnyDiamotowas far from innocent.He was a liar.They all were.
Johnny’s lies had attached to his soul and fed from any goodness in him like a leach, getting fat and bloated, infecting him with darkness.They had poisoned him and now, Johnny Diamoto was as healthy as the lies he told.
The cavern the garrote had carved into Johnny’s neck squelched as Vi pulled the wire free.It hung from her fingertips as she, breathless and satisfied, strode into the Honeymoon Suite’s luxurious bathroom.She ignored her reflection as she made her way to the marble double sinks.There was no reason to look at herself when she really wasn’t herself at all.Johnny had liked them blond haired, blue eyed, and beach-bum tan.Violet wasn’t any of those things.
She stole a glance in the mirror as she rinsed the garotte and peeled off her gloves.She’d been made over so many times, costumed as so many different people, that she had trouble remembering exactly what she’d looked like before.Again, she averted her eyes and busied herself with drying her things.There was no use in thinking about what she looked like.Tomorrow, she’d report into the office as this tan blond and leave as someone else.It was a fair price for getting to do what she loved, and for getting revenge.
Vi tucked her most prized possessions into her overnight bag before she checked the time.The cleanup crew wouldn’t arrive for another hour.The corners of her lips curled into a grin as she eyed the jetted jacuzzi tub.After the night she’d had, she deserved a soak.
Water surged from the faucet as Vi turned the knob to hot.She squirted in a glob of complimentary bubble bath and watched the water foam as she kicked off her stilettos and wiggled out of Johnny’s favorite lacy negligee.She turned on the jets and sank into the steaming water, closing her eyes as the bubbles puffed up around her.There really was peace in death.Hopefully, this time, it would last until she got home.
Block letters formed at the edge of Elodie’s vision and snapped her from Vi’s fantasy to her mundane reality.
Incoming call from RhettOwens.
Elodie groaned.
With how often she was interrupted, she might end up keepingDeath by Violetforever.
Elodie pressed her back into the chair’s hard frame as if to distance herself from the message scrolling past her vision.It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to her fiancé.After all, they were in a stage that Astrid kept referring to asromancia-landia.Or maybe it was a place?Elodie wasn’t quite sure.What shewassure of was that she and Rhett had definitely never even passed throughromancia-landia.
Choosing at the last moment to forego the video portion of the call, Elodie activated her comlink.“Rhett, hi.I’m at wo—”
“I want to assure you that there’s nothing to be afraid of.”Rhett’s tenor voice was smooth and clear in her ears.“I’m sure you saw Ms.Scott’s situation update, but I know how sensitive you are and that you would still be shaken up.”
Elodie’s brow furrowed.“I’m not overly sensitive, I—”
“I didn’t sayoverly, El.But you are a woman.”
