line

on the apartment door. It wasn't the polite

ll ended abruptly. Footsteps scurried back from the balcony. "Who could tha

suitcase and pulled open the guest room do

and it was immediately

a messy bun, and her face was a mask of pure fury. She shoved past a stunned Hailee without a word and strode int

lee stammered, trying to regain her com

whirling around to face her. She point

ailee. I was tired of screaming. I was tired of drama. I just

e with him," I said.

oncern evaporating. "I... I was just trying

bother to respond. The disgust I felt was a physical thing

houlders, steering me toward the door like a bodyguard. We left Hailee sta

, the adrenaline that had been keeping me upright vanished. My legs gave out, and I sank

of the last few hours-it all crashed down on me at once. A splitting hea

arm water into my hands. "Go take a shower. A ho

ter run cold, hoping it could wash away the filth of the day. But it couldn't. The ima

mind was a racetrack of angry, looping thoughts. Anxiety, sharp and venomous, coiled in my gut. My heart was beating too fast, m

hs ago for stress-induced insomnia when I was on a tight deadline. I haven't tak

ls into my palm. I didn't even look at them closely. I just wanted pe

or the promised drows

ickling sensation started on my skin. My throat began to feel tig

. I looked at my arms in the dim light from the window. An

ng. This was

g around my windpipe. I tried to call out for Janae, but my vocal cord

solute, seized me.

n violently. My legs tangled beneath me, and I pitched forward, crashing heavily on

nd unnaturally loud i

ound that sa

hallway light. She took one look at me on the floor-my face turning a dusky purp

God, Ca

Her fingers went to my neck, checking for a pulse. "Anaphylaxis," s

rolled under the bed. She snatched it up, reading the label.

me into her arms. I was a dead weight, my cons

erground parking garage. The cold concrete floor scraped against my bare f

led as she peeled out of the garage an

on't you dare close yo

t, airless ocean. The darkness was closing in, and I was too weak to