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“No, we don’t,” I said, curling back into the bed. I didn’t recall exactly what we discussed, but I didn’t like the look on Damen’s face. I pulled the sheets over my head. But even though I couldn’t see them through my shield, I could still feel their eyes on me.

“Bianca…” Damen’s voice lost a hint of confidence. Knowing I was the cause made my heart ache. But I tried not to care. The morphine made it easier.

I couldn’t tell if the numbness was me or the drugs that laced my system.

“Please go away.” My voice sounded funny, and my brain felt sluggish. I needed time so that I could forget about this and move on with my life. “I want to be alone.”

There was a thick silence in the room before the mattress finally shifted. Titus was getting up. And, suddenly, even though I’d asked for it, the space around me felt empty.

“All right.” Damen sounded further away, and I strained to hear him. “If that’s what you need. Try to get some rest.”

“But you won’t be alone,” Titus added. “Someone trusted will always be nearby, even if we’re not here with you.”

I wasn’t sure if they expected a response, so I pressed my lips together. My arms were tight over my head as I fought to keep my thoughts at bay. But after a moment of silence, I peeked out from under my sheet. They were gone.

I couldn’t feel sorry for myself. I’d sent them away.

It was only until I could get a grip. Until I could prove I was strong.

However, there was only one problem with that. It was hard to convince myself it was the truth when I knew how much of a lie it really was.

I had a new visitor the next time I woke.

“You’re up.” Bryce nodded, stating the obvious. He sat beside my bed, wearing light blue pajama bottoms and a loose-fitting top. Apparently, judging from the bracelet on his wrist, he was still a patient.

I wanted to ask how his poison training was going, but that would probably be awkward.

“Why are you here?” I wasn’t trying to be offensive, but I didn’t understand.

“While Damen might not be thrilled with our blossoming friendship,” Bryce said dryly, “he’ll get over it.”

“Where is everyone else?” I asked, choosing to ignore this blasphemous talk of ‘friendship. ’

“They’ve been around, but they had to leave.

They needed to stop by the Council to give their testimony.

Grace Cole passed away overnight, but there was enough evidence between what you’d discovered and Gloria’s report to charge both Alexander and Garrett Cole for previous murders, too.

” Bryce crossed his legs and leaned back into his seat.

“Meanwhile, Brayden and I are on babysitting duty. You’ve just missed him leaving for coffee. ”

I bit my thumbnail. “Are the boys in trouble?”

“Them, get into trouble?” Bryce touched his chest. “Of course not. They’d never get into trouble over something this mild.”

“What about…” My voice trailed off again. Would I be questioned? The boys had said I wouldn’t, but it seemed wrong somehow.

“What about what?” Bryce studied me.

I bit my lip, looking away.

But Bryce seemed to know what I was thinking. He gave me a knowing look. “What about you?”

The surprised lift of my eyebrows was all the confirmation he needed.

“You should be interviewed,” he said. “However, Finn was surprisingly helpful when speaking to the police. You’re off the hook.”

I clenched my fists. Why? He never cooperated with anyone.

“That being said, there’s another reason.

It seems Dr. Trinity ‘Reed’ has been throwing around her influence on your behalf,” he said, raising his hands to emphasize her last name.

“Why she’s using that alias is beyond me.

However, she maintains that as your physician, she does not deem you capable of being interviewed, and your name is being withheld from the investigation. ”

Most of Bryce’s words faded away.

Dr. Reed.

I hadn’t seen her for months. If she were involved, then they would be too. My stomach turned, and I sat up, clutching my sheets against my chest. “Dr. Reed is here?”

“Is she really that frightening?” Bryce frowned at me, but then his attention was captured by something outside the window. He continued speaking regardless. “That’s surprising. I think she’s soft.”

“You know her?” I asked, noting the lift of his brow as he continued to frown at the window.

“Our families are close,” he responded. His voice held a nervous note, and his shoulders were tight as he moved his attention to the foot of the bed.

He placed his hand on the arm of his chair. “Maybe I should—”

The door opened, and I instantly forgot about Bryce Dubois.

My mother entered the room in a rush. Despite her hurry, her outfit was perfectly pressed, and not a single chestnut curl was out of place, as she moved to the side of my bed.

My father followed her, dark hair tousled and the collar of his shirt wrinkled.

He had turned his bespectacled gaze toward the hallway behind him.

My heart thudded as I stared at the couple who had raised me.

I should have expected that this day might come, but it was the worst possible timing. And the last thing I needed was Bryce’s intrusion into my personal life. He and his closed-off mannerisms weren’t the most emotionally supportive.

“H-hi—” I began.

“I cannot even bear to look at you,” she snapped, already heavy in her dramatics as she began to pace at the foot of my bed. “What did you think you were doing? Did you even consider the potential consequences of your actions?”

I opened my mouth, but she continued .

“I cannot believe that you chose to ignore me the instant you had no supervision.” She stopped pacing and began to pull at her bun. “I was so worried. Then I hear that you stopped your medication.”

“I—” I began again, but she was lost in her anxiety.

“ Then , this morning, Trinity called to inform me that you were in the hospital!” She finally looked me in the eye. “What were you doing? Do you understand what could have happened?”

“I—” I told her. “I don’t want the medicine.”

“I don’t care what you want,” she said, pointing at me. “This isn’t your decision. And for good reason—what would possess you to put yourself in such a dangerous situation?”

I frowned and looked at my knees. “It—it wasn’t on purpose.”

“Hold on,” Bryce interrupted. The air shifted as he stepped beside me. “Why are you lecturing her? You haven’t even asked her how she feels.”

My father—who’d remained by the door as he perused my chart—looked up while my mother was startled.

“Bryce Dubois,” my father said, lowering the clipboard. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Bryce…” My mother’s expression crumbled as she touched her mouth. “You’re older now.” Her lined, red-rimmed eyes flickered between us, and she frowned.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him. “You’re not normally in this realm.”

“Well,” Bryce replied. “I have my studies. Regardless, why are you telling her what treatments she needs? She’s an adult.”

“Technically, yes,” my father said. “But there are extenuating circumstances.”

“Bianca is mentally and physically incompetent,” my mother stated. My skin exploded in the heat, and I covered the bottom half of my face with my blanket. “She cannot be trusted to make appropriate decisions about her health. She will only hurt herself.”

“I—I don’t,” I argued. Normally, I wouldn’t dare talk back to them, but I couldn’t hold back.

“Yes, you do,” my mother responded to my outburst. She grabbed the folder from my father.

“Don’t worry,” she said, thumbing through the pages. “We’ve already decided you’ll recover somewhere where you can get the treatment you need. Trinity is taking care of everything, and you’ll see her until things get sorted.”

“N-no!” I said again, pushing my back against the head of the bed. The tubes running into me had been torn out once more, but I didn’t care.

“I don’t want to! You—you lied to me!” My hand was shaking as I pointed at them. “You knew who I was!”

They looked at each other, lips pursing, before my mother responded, somewhat more subdued, “You’re unable to handle that level of responsibility.”

“You’re wrong! I want to stay with Damen!” I argued. “He’ll stop you!”

“He can certainly try,” my father told me, then sighed. “Bianca, you can hate us, but you’re still going.”

“Why?” I asked, my heart pounding. “I don’t need to!”

Bryce held his arm between us, interjecting, as his entire body tensed. “You’re not taking her anywhere.”

“Stay out of this.” My father’s expression was grim as he faced Bryce, and for the first time, he was truly intimidating. “You’ve no right to intervene.”

“I won’t allow it,” Bryce’s tone was firm.

“She is severely compromised, Bryce!” my mother snapped. “She cannot help the fae.”

What.. .

What was she talking about? My heart was racing as their arguments echoed in my head.

I… I was fine.

“L-leave—” I began, and the three looked at me. “Leave me alone!”

“I don’t know what you mean, but let’s talk this through,” Bryce said, his brow furrowing. “There’s no need to force her— ”

Bryce’s attempts at negotiations were silenced as a man and a woman in white entered the room. Their uniforms were crisp, and their faces expressionless.

They approached, their movements deliberate, as the woman held her hand out toward me. “Miss, we’re here to ensure your safe transport.”

I pushed my feet against the mattress. “No! I won’t go back there.”

The room spun around me, my world tilting on its axis. My parents' faces blurred, and a cold, clawing panic took hold of me. It wasn’t until the heavy weight of a calloused hand closed around my arm that reality hit.

I reacted out of sheer instinct, pulling from the man’s grasp toward the other side of the bed. But the woman was there already, waiting, and in her hands was the familiar padded garment used to torture me.

“No,” I repeated. “There’s nothing wrong with me!”

But my words fell on deaf ears.

Of course, I struggled, even knowing it’d be useless. But in situations like this, the only options were to fight or to give up. And I couldn’t give up—not when I knew the truth, not if it meant leaving the boys.

However, I was at a disadvantage. The struggle had reopened my wounds, and I was slowly losing myself to the pain trickling back into me .

“Leave me alone!” My voice was hoarse, and quite quickly, my arms were trapped. Wetness pressed against my skin as my bandages soaked.

“Don’t forget she’s hurt,” Bryce snapped from somewhere beside me. He’d started forward but was now leaning against the foot of the bed. His angry voice continued to sound through my head.

“That’s why she’s in the hospital,” he said, sounding as though he considered them the ineptest professionals in the world.

“We have no choice,” the woman replied. “Her injuries can be addressed when we arrive on location. We have authorization to take precautions for the safety of our staff.”

“She’s a tiny girl,” Bryce growled. “She’s not hurting you at all.”

I kicked at the man. However, I lost my balance and missed my target. My potential victim took the opportunity to push my face onto the bed.

“Sedate her,” the woman ordered, and my heart pounded.

“No…” My vision blurred. It was hard to see, think, or even feel. I was being carried, laid on a cloth stretcher, and restrained. That seemed unnecessary; I couldn’t move anyway.

But the bindings made my helpless situation even worse.

There was an angry shout as the scenery changed. Brayden was calling out from somewhere nearby. But it didn’t matter.

The world moved, and walls and ceilings became overcast sky. I wasn’t sure if the wetness against my cheeks was from rain, or my tears.

I couldn’t do this.

Once the gurney was secure and the telltale sway of the van rocked me in my prison, I was already gone.