Page 81 of Fall into Place

“Right.” Joni pressed her lips together. “Of course. That makes sense.”

Dr. Vázquez poked her head out of her door. “Rick? I’m ready for you.”

“Cool.” He stood up and grabbed his backpack. “Nice to see you, Joni. And hey, good luck on Friday!”

He gave her an affable pat on the shoulder as he went into the office. Joni tried to shake off what felt like a cross between nausea and white-hot fury, but she was entirely distracted when she saw a tall, gorgeous woman leaning against the wall a few feet away.

“Octavia?” She gasped and rushed over to her. “It’s daylight! What are you doing here?”

“Still raining.” Octavia grinned. “And I was bored! Wanted to see where you’re always running off to. Sat in on a lecture about the long-term ramifications of the Chinese Exclusion Act—someone should tell Professor Chang-Reitman he’s missing a lot of crucial details. And I should know. I was there.”

Joni closed her eyes; she felt a tension headache coming on. “Please do not tell the history professors that you’re a vampire.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Octavia breezed. “Unless they’re cute enough to feed on. Anyway, now that I’m here, what should we do with our afternoon? I could fancy a museum, or maybe an early supper—”

“I can’t, I told you.” Joni sighed. Her phone was buzzing in her bag, and she reached in to grab it.

“Oh, blow off work,” Octavia wheedled. “When you’re as old as I am, you realize how silly all those mortal concerns really are—”

But Joni wasn’t listening to Octavia—she was wide-eyed, staring at her phone.

“What is it now?” Octavia huffed.

Joni looked up, her eyes wide. “It’s Betherton’s assistant. She found an address for Lirio, and she wants me to meet her there tomorrow.”

Joni held out her phone, and Octavia quickly scrolled the messages from Fern.

“This is brilliant,” she breathed.

“No it isn’t!” Joni protested. “My interview is Friday, and I so need to prep. Maybe Fern can reschedule?”

“To introduce you to a notorious recluse?” Octavia looked flabbergasted. “This is the break we’ve been wanting for days, this is exactly what we need to get my brother home, my entire future depends on this!”

“Then go yourself!” Joni burst out. “If you can make it to my campus, you can make it to some townhouse in Gramercy Park.”

“She wants to meet you at two p.m.” Octavia tapped on Joni’s phone. “Is it supposed to rain again tomorrow?”

Joni pulled up her weather app and sighed. “No. Hot and sunny.”

“See?” Octavia took Joni’s hand. “I know your other obligations are important, but this is my whole life we’re talking about. Please, Joni, do this one thing for me—once Callum comes back, I promise I’ll be out of your hair forever.”

“Oh.” Joni was taken aback. “Really?”

Octavia threaded her fingers through Joni’s. “I mean, you have your life, I’ll have mine. No more imposing on your busy schedule. That’s what you want too, right?”

Joni felt a tightness in her chest. What had Dr. Vázquez just said about being vulnerable and going for what you want? It suddenly seemed unbelievably stupid. Because it didn’t matter how much Joni might want something real with Octavia—Octavia would never want it back.

“Right,” Joni mumbled.

“What do you say, then?” Octavia pulled Joni close and kissed her cheek. “Will you meet Fern tomorrow?”

“Sure.” Joni swallowed hard and her voice was flat. “No problem.”

Text message transcript: Joni Chaudhari and Tess Rosenbloom

Joni [1:07 PM]: I know I’ve told you a lot of crazy things in the past few days, but this might top them all?

Joni [1:08 PM]: I am leaving my apartment right now to get on a subway to Gramercy Park, theoretically to go meet August Lirio