Encased in her own purple orb, Elodie wove through the surge of MediCenter employees all pretending to be calm as they made their exit.She couldn’t be in the building another second.Her legs itched to break into a sprint and carry her to the MAX stop as quickly as possible.She needed to be home, buried under her blankets until this day was over and the rising sun reset herworld.
Elodie pulled on her beanie and kept her chin tucked against her chest as the train lumbered up to the curb.The pristine floor of the MAX glinted through the purple haze that coated the inside of the car.Elodie perched on the edge of the seat against the back wall of the MAX.Her clammy palms seemed to stick to the slick cover of her textbook as she rested it against her lap.By now, everyone knew about Eos’s MediCenter invasion.Everyone.
She flicked her gaze around the car and its Violet Shield encased occupants.Silence blanketed the MAX.The same thick silence that had invaded days earlier.But what happened at the MediCenter wasn’t the same as what occurred at Tilikum Crossing.There was no violence.No people laying with Xs across their chests.This was different.Didn’t they seethat?
The MAX lurched forward, beginning its journey into Zone Two.Soon, Elodie would be home.She chewed the inside of her cheek.Was Aiden headed home too?Had he done what she had and left the MediCenter as if nothing had happened?
It’s still me.I haven’t changed.
Heat pricked Elodie’s eyes and she pressed her lids closed.She couldn’t think about him.Sheshouldn’t.Tears forced back, she cracked open her textbook to the dog-eared page.She needed a distraction.
“Meet Tanner Kerns,” Zane’s boot-clad foot clanked against the marble tile as he gave his best squinty-eyed, pensive Marlboro Man impression.With his squared jaw, broad shoulders, and the featherlight creases around his eyes, he wasn’t far off.
“Tanner Kerns?”Vi folded the Arts section of theNew York Timesand tossed it onto the velvet couch cushion next to her.“How does the Office come up with these names?”
Zane shrugged and his cowboy boots creaked as his weight shifted.
Vi ran her fingertips across her lips.“Those pants are...tight.”
Zane turned and wiggled his butt before completing his spin.“Nice, right?All that gym time paid off.Tanner has the firmest ass.”
Vi reached out and grabbed Zane’s hand.“And, right now, it’s all mine.”She yanked him down onto the couch.A wave of sandalwood and whiskey brushed against her as he cupped her cheeks and rested his forehead against hers.Goosebumps crested across her skin as she and Zane sat in a moment of sweet contentedness.
“Have I told you today how much I love you?”Zane’s lips grazed hers as he spoke.
Vi closed her eyes and brushed her nose against his.“How much?”
Heat met Violet’s lips as Zane pressed his mouth against hers.She relaxed against him as his tongue swept between her lips and explored her own.Vi didn’t need his words.This was answer enough.
Too soon, the kiss was over.Zane caressed her shoulder as his hand slipped from her cheek.Having him close felt so good, so safe, so comforting.For as long as Vi could remember, she’d been looking out for herself.It wasn’t until Zane that she’d learned what it meant to be taken care of, and she would never let the feeling go.
“We might have a problem, Zane,” Vi said.A soft smile creased her cheeks as she twined her fingers with his.“I might be in love with Tanner Kerns.”
The train car shook as it put on its brakes and approached its next stop, forcing Elodie’s attention from the butterflies that Vi’s romantic life had loosed in her stomach.Back whenDeath by Violethad been written, people spent so much timetouching each other.Now, it was so wrong—illegal.Elodie smoothed her hand over her own goosebumps.But the thought made her breath hitch and her heart race, and not out offear.
A bright beacon of sunlight had broken through the MAX’s windows and shone directly through her protective orb and onto Elodie’s textbook.She snapped the book closed.The light frayed her nerves and forced her to hide under her itchy beanie.She pulled it down past her brows to lock in the bomb of a secret ticking behind her eyes as the MAX’s Helper Holly continued to make a sport of giving “up-to-date” and “real time” alerts of “Eos’s attack on the MediCenter.”
Promise me you’ll take a real look at what happenedhere.
Had it been anattack?She’d seen no one harmed.As she raced back to her own unit, she’d seen that Eos had literally sealed employees in their offices and labs.If, as the Key continued to purport, Eos’s sole purpose was destruction and the perversion of the safe and right way of life, they’d definitely missed their mark.More than that, Eos, the terrorist organization that always left behind bodies, had gone above and beyond to ensure no one was injured.Even the explosion they’d used as an entry point had been in an empty storage closet.
As she clicked off her Violet Shield and trudged up the steps to her front door, Elodie’s hair stuck out from under the black fabric in sweaty clumps against her forehead.Her backpack thumped against her rounded spine as her shoulders sagged and she curled in on herself.
You’re safe with Eos, Elodie.Safe with me.
The front door opened noiselessly.Elodie filled her chest and waited for the click of her mother’s heels.
Nothing.
She closed the door behind her and let loose a relieved exhale as she freed herself from the sweltering cap.
Sharp clicks splintered her reprieve.
“Oh, Elodie, my darling, darling girl!”Gwen’shigh-pitchedhysterics reached Elodie before her mother’s pointed stilettos carried her into thefoyer.
Elodie let her backpack slide down her arms and crash onto the porcelain.“Mom, I can’t rightnow.”
With a tissue, Gwen dabbed her own rouged cheeks.“I’ve been beside myself with worry.Simplybesidemyself.”She pressed the folded corner against her dry lashes.“Thank goodness Rhett was here.”
