Chapter 5: Rumors Have Teeth
Chelsea’s hands closed over the silver bowl, but the light had already painted everyone’s faces blue.
Kase stood in the open clinic doorway with one hand braced against the frame, not entering until Valentina allowed it, though every line of him had gone too still. Brady was beside him, shoulders drawn tight beneath his coat, breathing through his nose in slow, uneven pulls. Caleb remained near the exam counter, the erased Council file still open on his tablet, his attention moving from the covered bowl to Valentina’s face with a care that made her want to step back.
No one spoke.
The clinic monitors kept beeping around them. Human technology counting heartbeats in a room where old blood had answered moonlight.
Valentina looked at Chelsea’s covered hands.
