Page 72 of Ballrooms & Blackmail

“She’s tough,” River murmurs, squeezing my fingers. “And stubborn as hell. She’ll fight for us.”

I nod, but part of me knows this has got to be my fault. Knows I have to fix it.

I press down on the accelerator, speed through the streets.

“Thorn,” River says softly.

Fear claws viciously through my chest but I force myself to nod, to say, “You’re right. She’ll be fine.”

Even if I don’t believe it.

Because I can’t keep the things—or people—I love safe.

I couldn’t then.

And I won’t be able to now.

Twenty-Two

River

We wait in the lobby of the vet clinic for what feels like an eternity, me sitting in the chair, Thorn pacing back and forth.

His tension radiates off him, fills the room.

Making it hard to breathe. To think. To hope.

Come on, Violet, I pray. Fight, little one. Fight.

But my mind is spinning through the details—pale gums, weak and quiet and so damned lethargic.

She didn’t fight going into the carrier, didn’t fight the vet examining her…which the doctor only did for all of a minute before rushing Violet into the back with the promise of providing an estimate.

At which point Thorn said, “Fuck the cost. Just save her.”

There was no missing the seriousness in his words, so the vet just nodded and went to work on Violet.

And now we’re here.

Me alternating between watching Thorn pace and willing the door to the back of the clinic to open and good news to be given.

But time ticks by. No news is passed along. Thorn keeps pacing.

And the door stays closed…until it doesn’t.

“Mr. Wilkenson?” the vet calls.

I jump to my feet, move to Thorn’s side, and slip my hand into his. He flinches, as though surprised at the contact, but his fingers tighten around mine, so I don’t draw back.

“Violet’s stabilized,” she says softly, and the tension bleeds out of his frame in a rush. “She’ll need to stay here for a few days while we work out exactly what’s happened…” She keeps talking, mentioning anemia and liver values and a probable viral infection. “The good news is that her kidneys are functioning and we’ve brought her temperature up. She’ll just need a little more time in the Kitty Spa to get her back on her paws.”

I almost laugh at the light words.

Almost.

“She was fine yesterday,” Thorn rasps.

The vet nods. “I’m sure she was. She’s young and tiny, and sometimes these kinds of things come on quickly.”