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They had to live.
Both of them.
He would fix this. He was not simply a man, monster he might be. But he was a Valenti. And a Valenti did what must be done.
He would move heaven and earth.
He would take the pen straight from the hand of God and he would damn well write a new ending.
“We are going to England now.”
When Riot woke up, she wasn’t in her bed.
That was her first thought as she groggily opened her eyes and tried to find a comfortable position. She couldn’t. Her arm wasn’t mobile and there was a strange beeping sound. And she...ached.
Her eyes fluttered open and she realized she was in what might have been a hospital suite. Except it was...fancy. But there was no denying there was medical equipment everywhere.
She tried to remember how she’d gotten there, but she couldn’t. She tried to remember...
She had to call Jaia.
Her roommate would come and get her. Heaven knew she couldn’t rely on her mother.
She and Jaia were supposed to go to Cambodia in a couple of weeks. Jaia had decided to go and meet some of her friends on a whim and she’d invited Riot to come along and Riot had thought...why not.
She felt a stab of disappointment. Depending on how badly hurt she was she might not be able to go on the trip.
Maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea anyway. After all, it would have cost her so much of her savings.
But then...
She had never really done anything adventurous before. Her life was just...
She had tried so hard not to be her mother. Not to be a riot, really. And somewhere in there she’d become a gray, pale nothing.
One that was in a hospital bed, though.
She looked around, trying to see if she could find a button to push to call a nurse or...someone. As she did she took in more details of the room.
It looked like a bedroom. Though, not an ordinary one. It was luxurious. With deep red wallpaper textured like velvet and gold edging on all the doorposts.
If she weren’t in a hospital bed, if there weren’t beeping machines and IVs and all of the other medical accoutrements, she wouldn’t have ever thought she was in a hospital.
Where was she?
For a moment she knew a zip of fear because this wasn’t...normal. And no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten here. She couldn’t remember the last thing she’d done.
Well, she had a most recent memory. She was in her apartment eating cereal for dinner and listening to Jaia talk about how staying in hostels was fine and she’d done it all through Europe and they’d be perfectly safe.
But that didn’t connect to this moment.
It didn’t explain how she’d gotten here.
She finally found the call button, or what she thought might be one, and pressed it. Repeatedly. Desperately.
The door opened and in swept a woman, not in a hospital uniform, but in a...pinafore that reminded her of something she’d seen in period pieces, down to the starched white apron.
“Ms. Phillips, you’re awake!”
