The Lost Heir
He looked at her directly, his eyes on hers, the pleasantness unchanged.
"I'll be leaving with your blood this morning," he said.
The room didn't change. The light was the same. The waterfall ran below the window the same as always. Kendra's hands stilled on the duvet and then started moving again, quiet and even. Celeste looked at the scalpel and felt the fear arrive all at once, chest to throat to fingertips, her face held carefully still above it.
She thought about tomorrow night. About what it required. About the fact that she was still here, still breathing, still sitting in this room with her face composed and her hands steady. As long as that was true there was still a chance.