Was River imagining it, or was Doctor Collins taking perverse pleasure in administering this punishment?
Most people would have given up and accepted their fate by now, and maybe River would’ve, if Lila’s glowing orange eyes hadn’t flashed through her mind. She couldn’t let this go without a fight. This wasn’t just about her—she wanted the best for Lila.
“But sir, I arrived at the hospital before my shift started,” she begged.
Tertia would be positively appalled to know that her daughter was pushing back against her superior, but River didn’t care. She had become a doctor to save lives, and she didn’t want to fail the Howlers.
“Were you, or weren’t you late?”
He wasn’t going to let this go. She could sense that, but she couldn’t give up.
“I was a minute late, if that.” Widening her eyes, River tried to appeal to any sense of kindness Doctor Collins might possess. “Let me operate. Please.”
She infused the last word with as much desperation as she could. It wasn’t a lie—she really did need to get into that surgery. This was her life’s calling.
The fire fae’s eyes narrowed, and a shiver ran down River’s spine. Danger lurked in his gaze as he moved towards her. The air thickened, and drawing breath became more difficult. Doctor Collins wasn’t a big man, but he still towered over her.
Everyonetowered over her.
Not for the first time, River cursedher short stature. Men like Ignatius Collins seemed to think that because she was short, they had every right to use their size to intimidate her and make them do what they wanted.
The joke was on them, though, because no towering fae male would ever be as frightening as Tertia Waterborn when she was displeased.
“I said,no.” Her superior’s voice was low, but thanks to her fae hearing, she had no problem making out his words. “This is a teaching hospital, Doctor Waterborn, and I’ve put up with you for almost a year. Do you think I asked for the spoiled fae princess to be put on my team? That I wanted to work with the one person who could go cry to Mommy whenever things didn’t go her way?”
His eyes flashed, and embers sparked above his hands. That had to be a safety hazard in a hospital, right? But who could she report it to—he was her boss.
“Get it through your pretty head, little girl,” Doctor Collins continued.
“I’m not a little girl,” she snapped, even though she knew talking back to him would make the already bad situation worse.
He kept going as if he didn’t hear her. “I don’t care who the fuck you’re related to, or who you had to bribe to get your grades.”
Bribery? How dare he make such an unfounded accusation? River had never paid for a single grade. She’d studied for countless hours and clawed her way to the top of every single class she’d taken. She’d earned each A with blood, sweat, and tears.
“Sir, you’re mistaken.”
A low, warning snarl rumbled through the doctor as he closed the distance between them. River refused to cower, eventhough her magic flared as the man tried to frighten her into submission.
In and out.
She forced herself to breathe and steady the flow of magic within her.
“If you want to remain in this residency program, you will learn to beearly, Doctor Waterborn,” her superior said harshly. “Should you continue to fail to abide by the simple rules the rest of us, whose parents aren’t Representatives, have to follow, then you’ll be gone. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Is that clear?”
Rude, awful man. Pure, unfiltered malice radiated off him in waves. It was so potent that River wondered why she hadn’t known her boss hated her before now. Sure, she knew he didn’t like her, but this was the kind of hatred that festered and grew over time, that required feeding and nurturing like a plant taking root in soil.
His hatred stung, and silver lined her eyes. She blinked back the tears, refusing to let them fall. She would not cry in front of this horrible man, would not give him any more ammunition to use against her.
Set me free,her magic whispered, slithering through her veins.How dare he speak to you like this? Let’s show him who is more powerful.
The magic continued, urging River to get closer to the man, to move into his space and make him submit to her.
You’re powerful, it reminded her.Take what you want; it’s yours by right.
For a moment, River considered doing what her magic demanded. After all, she was the one who had prepped for this surgery. She was the one the parents were comfortable with. She was the one who should be scrubbing in.
But then she remembered the screams of the dying during the Incident. The waves. The death.