She squeezes my hand. “It’s going to sound stupid.”
“Try me.”
“Here goes.” Her lungs expand. “Since we haven’t spent much time together over the past four years…”
Guilt settles in the pit of my stomach. I shove it aside, reminding myself it was because of another stipulation in Mom’s will I had to follow. It wasn’t enough to get a degree. I had to graduate with at least a 3.9 GPA too.
Bitch.
“Hope, you can tell me anything, remember?”
“Yes, so…” She straightens her back. I hate that she looks too serious for an eighteen-year-old. “I applied to the hospital cafeteria. They said yes. We’re going to be working together.”
Is it good? Is it bad?
Good, I think. For one, having Hope there would be amazing. It would also make sneaking around easier with her as backup.
Not to mention, I could watch over her while she gets used to the city.
“Perfect.” I nod vehemently. “It’s perfect.”
“Thank God.” She lets her head drop onto the back of the sectional, being adorably dramatic.
“When do you start?”
“With you, tomorrow.” She tries to bite back a grin. And fails. “I asked Delany, our boss, to put us on the same shifts, and she agreed as long as I was willing to stay a little later for the first few weeks, like you asked her to do. She’s so sweet.”
“She really is.”
I would’ve taken the job either way, even if my boss was an asshole. But as far as I’m concerned, she isn’t. Definitely a plus.
“Now that that’s settled.” Hope snatches her phone from the coffee table, her fingers sliding over the screen. “What are we having for dinner?”
While we’ve been talking, the orange sky has turned to black. My stomach growls as if screaming at me thatyes, it’s time to eat.
And though Hope makes the best food I’ve ever had, I can tell she’s tired, which is why I ask, “Pizza?”
“Yes!” Her grin is wide.
Naturally.
I know all my sister’s favorite things.
Soon, I’ll know all about Alaric’s too.
2
LILITH
These intake forms are going to be the end of me. It’ll take forever to fill them out when I could be out there looking for Alaric.
According to my PI, he’s still in trauma. That unit requires clearance, but it doesn’t mean he’ll never leave. At some point, he’ll need to use the bathroom.
And if that happens while I’m stuck in the HR office…
It’ll suck.
I mean, it won’t be the worst thing ever. It’s not like we won’t see each other soon. I fully intend to talk to him, to make him mine at some point.