Page 132 of The Echo of Forever

“She can’t do shit for you,” he said, frowning now.

I lifted and kissed him to change his expression, liking it better when he had that playful look on his beautiful face.

“You’re right, but I went along with it to save us from having another problem on our hands before the board convenes.”

In the grand scheme of things, Millicent was collateral damage. Not just to us but Jayden, too.

“I’ll kill her afterward. Fewer problems for later.”

He said it with such nonchalance, like ending her life was the least important thing on his to-do list.

“Whatever you want,” I murmured, eyes drifting close.

I woke to the sound of him calling my name, what felt like hours later, but had only been ten minutes based on the time.

The Society’s private psychiatric facility had the feel of a boutique hotel; patients were checked into their own suites with private nurses and six rotating doctors.

I’d been thinking about what my mom said the night she drugged me. How I couldn’t remember anyone hurting me as a kid other than her, but under the guise of protecting me.

It felt… significant.

Like my life with Demetrius wasn’t the only thing I’d forgotten.

“I need to go in alone,” I said, shaking my hair back into place before meeting his intense gaze. “We might be married, but until the official announcement, there are some places you can’t be.”

He had this defiant look in his eyes, and I decided to take it for what it was, wrapping my fingers around his Cuban link chain and tugging his lips to mine.

“You tryna placate me with kisses, my forever?”

I smiled into his mouth.

“Is that a problem?”

“Nah…” He chuckled and nudged my head back with his forehead. “But they won’t stop me from doing whatever the fuck I please when it comes to your safety.”

Demetrius’s grumpy mood brought a smile to my face; this version of him was growing on me.

I went inside, signed in at the reception desk, and ignored the way the attendant’s eyes lingered on my face a beat too long.

“The doctor is on rounds, Ms. James,” she said, after I set the pen down. “Third floor, room 307.”

Dr. Patel was waiting outside my mother’s room when I arrived, tablet in hand as he swiped at the screen. He was younger than the usual for this facility, maybe mid-thirties, if that.

“Ms. James,” he greeted, extending a hand I deliberately didn’t take. “I’m Dr. Patel, overseeing your mother’s care.”

“I know,” I said, cutting straight to the point. “What’s next for her now that she’s here?”

He blinked but quickly recovered from my directness.

“Your mother is experiencing an acute manic episode, complicated by paranoid delusions. We’ve stabilized her with medication, but she’s still in a fragile state.”

“Fragile.” I tasted the word, finding it inadequate. “And the bruises? Has she mentioned where those came from?”

I had an idea, but what the fuck did I really know about any fucking thing?

Dr. Patel’s gaze shifted briefly to the tablet in his hand.

“She hasn’t been forthcoming, and in her current state, her accounts are… unreliable.”