Page 23 of Born Chaos

“Okay!” I yell out, throwing my hands up between the two of them, even though they’re both still seated. “This is going nowhere productive right now. Sigrid, I’d like you to send the three victims to the hospital. I think we should run tests on them, see if there are any connections. Roman, you’re right. There isn’t much we can do when we don’t know what this is or if anyone is doing it. But we’re going to keep our eyes peeled. We’re going to have our ears to the ground.”

Mason arches an eyebrow at me, a smile pulling one corner of his mouth, as if to say,well done, I’m impressed.

“Juliet is right,” Sebastian says. He places a hand on my back, rubbing gently. “There’s nothing to be done until we have some answers. People have a right to get nervous. We just need to reassure them.”

“Forgive my people for being a little more than nervous,” Sigrid says darkly. “This last go around, it was them dying, not the vampires. Now they are losing their identities.”

“We will find answers,” I say calmly, laying my hand over that of my aunt. Her eyes slide to mine, and for a moment, we stare at each other.

She’s scared. Angry. In pain.

She loves her people. They look to her. And she doesn’t have answers this time.

“Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?” Mason asks, always the calming element in this storm of Night Council members.

“No,” Roman says firmly.

Mason nods and stands, pushing his chair back under the table.

“You’re all welcome to the engagement party,” Elena says. Her tone is still on edge but easing back to her normal confident self. “Friday night, seven o’clock.”

Just perfect. Chicago is falling apart, once again, and we’re all going to a party.

CHAPTEREIGHT

“No, this is the wrong fit,”Elena declares as soon as the attendant zips up the dress.

“It’s too bad the dress from the gala got ruined,” I state in annoyance. “I could have just worn that again.”

“Not a chance,” Elena says as she smooths the dress she’s wearing. “You’re the bride-to-be. This is your chance to stand out, to hog as much attention as you want and no one can question you. It’s your engagement party, Juliet. You have to make a statement.”

“And here I was thinking being the bride-to-be was statement enough,” I say with a snarky smile.

“You complain a lot for someone who is getting a free, fabulous party thrown for them,” my best friend points out.

“Only because I know you’ll still love me,” I smile as I look back over at her.

“Unfortunately, you’re kind of my favorite person in the world,” she says with a mock sigh.

The attendant helps me out of my dress. I’m only a tiny bit more comfortable than the last time I was here, standing in nothing but my underwear and a bra. I still hate that all my scars are on display for anyone to see, for anyone to judge. I’m doing my best to simply ignore them.

“Can I try that white one on?” I ask the woman helping me. There’s a rack of dresses next to us, filled with their suggestions, as well as the ones Elena personally pulled. But there is one dress hanging there, a left over from a previous fitting with someone else.

“Of course,” she says, retrieving it from the rack.

“White?” Elena asks doubtfully. “You’ll be wearing white at the wedding. Why not spice things up a little?”

“I’m just trying it on. Calm down,” I huff. Carefully, I step into the dress, and I hardly have to lift a finger as it’s pulled up my body for me.

There’s something… elegant, sexy, and grown-up about this dress. It hugs my hips in the most flattering way, ending just above my knees with a deep split up the back. It’s form-fitting as it hugs my waist. There are long sleeves that come all the way down to my wrists. But it’s the neckline that makes me stare at myself. It’s wide and severely square. My shoulders are barely, barely covered, and every bit of my collar bones are exposed.

“I take everything I said back,” Elena says as one of her eyebrows slowly rises. “White is definitely what you need to wear to this thing. With your hair up? It won’t just be Sebastian who can’t take his eyes off you.”

I have to admit as I stare into the mirror, turning side to side, evaluating myself from every angle, I look damn good in this dress. It’s not all that often that I feel deeply feminine and beautiful. But looking at myself in the mirror…

As Elena once said, sometimes dresses are magic.

“I’ll take this one,” I say with a pleased smile.

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