CHAPTER 7

No matter how stressed she was by the whole arranged Binding, it could be worse. She could've ended up with a complete low-blood like him. She pitied whatever female noble actually fell for his arrogance.

He made a few more attempts to get under her skin on the drive, but she ignored him, and he eventually gave up. The Byrne Medical Institute wasn't far from the residential district of the Covenant. They were sheltered and protected, while their Sentinels prowled the deeper shadows of the territory, keeping a vigilant watch for any Feral Vampires or nearby Outer Coven Delegations who might cause trouble.

Sofia hadn't been to the Institute since her last annual checkup, since she was more or less the picture of health, but she hoped the tech who had been there last time wasn't still around, because he gave her the creeps. It wasn't the kind of thing it would do any good to bring up to her father, though. As far as he was concerned, as long as a male didn't try to force a full Binding or something, he wasn't doing anything wrong.

It seemed no one else was at the Institute, for the only two cars she recognised belonged to her father and the attending physician. She walked inside and Charles followed suit, far more interested in his phone than anything in the outside world, which suited her fine.

She recognized the young woman behind the desk as Hela Pendry, one of the few girls she had been on relatively friendly terms with in her youth, but they had lost touch as soon as Sofia left the general noble academy. She didn't blame Hela. There weren't any perks to befriending the Lord's daughter like there were in some Covenants, but it did put a spotlight on you that most weren't willing to deal with.

“Hi, Hela,” she said, bracing herself for an awkward reunion. The central Covenant was essentially a tight-knit society, and yet she hadn't seen Hela in more than passing at all, really.

"Hey, Sofia," Hela said calmly, though in a way that none of her fears sounded at all ungrounded. "It's been some time."

“Yeah, it has,” Sofia said, clearing her throat. “I think I’m supposed to see the Doctor, or…?”

“Yeah, they’re waiting for you,” Hela nodded to the other hallway. “Good luck.”

That seemed a weird thing to say, but Sofia could tell from the slight grimace Hela gave immediately after she said it that Hela thought so too; Sofia thanked her and made up her mind to hope she just didn't need that luck at all.

The Institute had undergone some remodeling since the last time she had been there. The walls were now painted a fresh, clean shade of white as opposed to their former dingy gray, and from what she could see through the few open rooms on her way, they had upgraded the arcane testing equipment, too.

The first examination room that was empty was the same one she had been to for her last physical, except that her father was standing with Dr. Hector Byrne, which just made things even more awkward. At least there was no sign of the creepy technician.

“Sofia,” Dr. Byrne said, smiling as she walked over to give her a brief hug. Dr. Byrne was a pleasant, pureblood woman in her late forties and her kind smile had always made blood draws a little less off-putting when Sofia was younger. “Good to see you again.”

“Wish it was under different circumstances,” Sofia replied with an awkward nod.

The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look, but her father scowled. He really wasn't a fan of any small talk, regardless of how innocuous it was. It was kind of hard to get over her social awkwardness when at every turn, he reinforced her fears that she was completely unfit for vampire noble society. Being locked away in a gilded tower with only her tutors for regular companions certainly hadn't helped.

“So, what exactly am I here for?” Sofia asked once she realized neither of them was going to volunteer the information.

“Just a regular in-depth diagnostic check,” said the Doctor, but this time her soothing tone simply wasn't enough. “We just have to take some in-depth blood and tissue samples, and check whether there's anything out of the ordinary. Anything arcane or biological that may be affecting the Ascension Rite.”

“Is there something wrong with me?” Sofia asked warily.

“There damn well better be,” her father muttered under his breath.

The Doctor blinked at him but chose to ignore the remark, to Sofia's relief. “It might be nothing, Sofia. Believe it or not, an inability to Awaken on schedule is not entirely unheard of, although it’s unfortunate that it occurred during your first attempt. There are times when extreme stress or minor bloodline imbalances can impact a noble’s ability to manifest their powers.”

Well, that got her attention. This whole time, she had been freaked out about all this for social and political reasons, but it hadn't occurred to her that something could actually be medically or biologically wrong with her. “Oh. But you’ll be able to tell?”

“That’s the idea,” the Doctor said pleasantly. She turned to Lord Quispe, waiting expectantly. “If you don’t mind, Lord Quispe.”

“Of course,” he grunted, stomping out the door and stopping to look at Sofia. “Behave, daughter.”

Sofia waited until the door shut behind him to roll her eyes. What the hell did he think she was going to do, sabotage the equipment? "Hop up here," she said, patting the crinkly paper stretched across the exam table before turning to head to the sink to wash her hands. "It's about time for your annual physical anyway, so we'll start with the usual readings and go from there."