Chapter 10

Elijah’s eyes had narrowed to slits, but beyond that, he remained unreadable. There was no missing the ferocity in his voice when he intoned after a few seconds had passed with no reply forthcoming:

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention, and as my tears devolved into pitiful sniffles I looked up to find that Rita was standing beside him. Her eyes went from the discarded box of chocolates on my desk to Tristan before trailing over to me, and we locked gazes.

Her nose crinkled slightly, and I felt my face heat up as an accompanying wave of self-awareness swept through me at that exact moment.

I was drowsy, all cried out, and feeling as fragile as glass, and as a sharp burst of uncomfortable laughter from Tristan snagged the burden of Rita’s stare off me, I took advantage of the moment of sweet reprieve to bend over and begin to rummage through my handbag for wipes.