Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“That’s me,” Kierse said, stepping forward. Graves was close on her heels.
“Friends wait out here,” the woman said quickly. Graves shot her a look of pure wrath. The woman hardly blinked.
“He can come with me,” Kierse insisted.
“Are you sure?”
Kierse nodded. “Promise. It’s fine.”
Plus, Graves would probably kill someone before he let her go in there alone. Not when he had planned all of this and knew the doctor. Everything else felt like a formality. Bureaucratic nonsense, to be honest. She would have thought Graves would have a doctor make house calls. Not put her through this.
“All right. Well, I’m Jesy,” she said, holding the door so they could step inside. “Welcome to The Covenant.”
They went through basic measurements—height, weight, blood pressure, temperature, et cetera. Then Jesy brought them back to a room. Kierse sat awkwardly on a bed with paper that crinkled under her weight. Graves looked completely out of place, standing next to a small teal chair that wouldn’t have held all of him. The light was harsh against his midnight-blue hair yet somehow softened his sharp features. He looked more human here.
A few minutes later, another woman, who Kierse guessed was in her late thirties, walked in. This one was wearing a black frock, with beautiful, sun-kissed brown skin and a stylish red hijab. She had a small stud in her nose and eyelashes for days.
“Ah, hello, Kierse.” She held her hand out. Kierse was unnerved by the woman’s enthusiasm as she shook her hand. “I’m Dr. Mafi. It’s great to have you at The Covenant today.”
Graves cleared his throat. Dr. Mafi took him in with a sniff. “Emmaline.”
“Graves.”
The tension was palpable between them. They were either natural-born enemies or lovers. There was no in-between in their expressions.
“It’s been a while,” Dr. Mafi said. “I didn’t think I’d see you in here again. Not after last time.”
Graves shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “I’m here for Miss McKenna. As we discussed.”
Dr. Mafi huffed. “Yes. For Miss McKenna.”
“Well, then let’s begin.”
“I’m going to request that you wait outside while I talk to my patient for a moment.”
“No.”
“Then I cannot help you and you will need to find someone else to keep your secrets,” Dr. Mafi said with bite in her voice.
Graves looked like he wanted to argue. He didn’t like his wishes disrespected. Kierse had seen that he expected—no, demanded—respect. Beyond respect. He was a god to his underlings. How he tolerated Kierse, she didn’t know. But this thing with Dr. Mafi seemed to go beyond that. She was challenging him, giving him an ultimatum.
Graves tipped his head. “I’ll remember this.”
“I’m sure you will,” Dr. Mafi said with an actual eye roll.
As soon as Graves walked out of the room, Dr. Mafi faced Kierse. “Well, I don’t know how long we have, but I thought I’d cut to the point. Do you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into?”
“I’m going to guess the answer is no?”
“You do not want to work for him. And this testing . . . you don’t want it.”
“Why not?” she asked. “I thought we were just looking for a gene mutation.”
“You are. That and a physical and a blood test and a drug test and a pregnancy test and . . .”
“Wait, a pregnancy test?” she asked in confusion. “Whatever for?”
“Standard procedure,” Dr. Mafi said automatically.
“That doesn’t feel standard.”
“Have you had sex?” she asked blithely.
“Ever?”
“Recently?” Dr. Mafi corrected herself. “In the last month?”
“No?”
“Then we could probably skip it, but it’s completely standard.” She shook her head. “But that’s not what matters. What matters is that he’ll have access. You can try to keep it private, but if you know him at all, as I once did, then you know privacy is a lie. He has his hands in everything.”
Kierse apparently didn’t know him as well as this doctor. “Why should I trust you?”
Dr. Mafi let out a breathless laugh. “You probably shouldn’t. But you shouldn’t trust him, either.”
“I trust myself.”
The doctor looked unconvinced. “I don’t know what he told you about our hospital. The Covenant was started by a coven of witches.”
Kierse eyed her skeptically. “Witches?”
“Not like what you’re thinking. We mostly specialize in herbs and remedies.”
“No magic?” she asked, her eyes darting to the door, where another magical being stood out of sight.
“There’s some magic. Nothing like warlocks,” she assured her. “We started the hospital as a cover. We work with much of the supernatural community. We help them, heal them, hide them,” she said, meeting Kierse’s gaze with her own. “So if you ever need any of those services, you know where to find us.”
Kierse held her hand up in disbelief. “You’re helping monsters?”
“I’m working with Graves right now,” she said in frustration.
“But, like . . . other monsters. Wolves and vamps and wraiths and such?”
Dr. Mafi raised an eyebrow in question. “Why shouldn’t we? Humans have their places for healing. Why shouldn’t monsters?”