Page 24 of Mask and the Magnolia

Hopefully Evie gets to the bottom of that or else I’ll be asking for the name of the company who installed the card readers on Ward C.

After about fifteen minutes of barely breathing, I slowly pull my phone from my purse to check the footage of the hall and when I see Evie and her brother leave, I sag against the wall with a sigh.

I really need to figure out how to break that part of the contract.

Camden Blackhurst isn’t a terrible looking guy. He and Eve have different mothers, so the only similarity they share is their blonde hair and that comes from their father, who Camden happens to be the spitting image of. It’s how we ended uppreordainedin the first place. He is Carter’s mini me, I’m the black sheep of the family without a snowball’s chance in hell of making something of myself that’s separate from the Reynolds’name, they need the bloodlines to stay strong and pure so theholy trinity of Raevenwoodwill live forever, and bam, I’m doomed. For a long time, Camden’s looks were the only thing he had going for him but the older we got, the uglier he became.

Not that I give a shit about that when it comes to who I want to be with for the rest of my life. If they’re physically attractive, great, but I’m more concerned about whether or not they know the difference between right and wrong, and a square from a triangle. Besides, I figured, if I was lucky enough to fall in love with someone and decide I want to be with them, it’s not because they’re a sexy nerd, or some huge tattooed rebel, or whatever.

Part of me is stupid enough to think that scent matches aren’t as rare as they seem to be, and fated means exactly that; you end up with whoever it is you were destined to fall in love with, everything else be damned.

The rest of me knows all of that is bullshit because I havenevermet anyone who found their scent match, and enough money and power means fate doesn’t stand a chance.

I don’t even care if I end up alone for the rest of my life, I have got to find a way out of mating this asshole, or else my future will be extremely bleak.

With another sigh, I check the time and realize my future won’t only be bleak, it’ll be nonexistent unless I get to Blackhurst in the next five minutes because Nurse Hubbard will have my ass for being late.

Thanks a lot, Camden, you jackass.

Swipingmy card as quickly as possible, I push open the door to reception on Ward C and rush through. I throw my hand up in what hopefully looks like a polite wave instead of a musclespasm while I run, ignoring whatever the girl behind the desk is saying until I hear, “Office, Maggie. Group room isn’t finished yet.”

I hang a sharp left once I’m in the common area, almost crashing into the nurse’s station before zigzagging around it then book it straight to Dr. Lowe’s office.

I’m only a few minutes behind, group was scheduled for nine thirty, but not being able to get here to settle in and prep with Isaak ahead of time has me on edge.

Well, more on edge since Camden already pushed me right to it with his surprise breaking and entering. So much so I convinced myself that him being in the hallway outside my room was enough for me to stink like his scent, so I stripped off my clothes and took my second shower of the morning. I dried my hair at record speed, threw on the first clean dress I could find, then grabbed my shit and ran. Getting here ten minutes after group started is my fault, even if I feel like the reason for it was warranted, and this is most definitely not the impression I wanted to make onanyonetoday.

Especially when I use too much force to open the office door, lose my balance when it swings wide, and go down on my hands and knees so hard I gasp louder than intended while I send my bags and all of their contents skidding across the room.

Right into the center of the seven man circle.

Because I’m an idiot, embarrassed, and praying for some sort of black hole to open up underneath me, I don’t look up at anyone as I crawl after my belongings.

“Ms. Reynolds, are you alright?”

I wince at the sound of Isaak’s voice, my cheeks flaming as I lift a hand to wave him off. “I’m fine. Great. Never better.”

Everyone else is silent as he gets up from his chair, reaching down to help collect all of my shit, but I quickly scoop everything I can reach into my messenger bag. I’ll figure out if I fucked upmy iPad and phone later when I can lick my wounds in private, and I don’t give a damn if things are a mess and in the wrong bags. I just want to get everything back where it belongs so I can take my seat next to the doctor because sitting on my knees in the middle of the session circle while I can feel all of these men staring at me was not on the agenda for today.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

“I’m fine, really.” I crawl forward and grab my charger, a protein bar, and lip gloss. “I just, I, I’m…”Oh my god, I am so fucked.

There, on the floor about two feet away, directly in front of two pairs of off white slides filled with bright white socks on big ass feet, is a gigantic, knotted, hot pink dildo and matching vibrator. Evie bought them for me after the last time we had an argument. She’s convinced I’m crabby and edgy because I haven’t had sex in months, and if I masturbate, I’ll be less stressed about everything going on in my life. I was offended at first, but only for about five seconds before I started laughing, and eventually agreed with her.

The monster dong and high powered wand have been sitting on my desk in their packaging for over a week now, and Eve must have shoved them in my messenger bag by mistake when she was trying to help me avoid Camden. I can’t even be mad about it because she had good intentions, but my best friend might have inadvertently ruined my career. What doctor, or murderous patient for that matter, is going to take me seriously after seeing shit like that fly out of what is essentially my briefcase? What the hell are they going to think of me at all, assuming it isn’t going to be good since it looks like I’m bringing things to get myself off while I’m at my internship in an old asylum?

Yeah, I’m pretty sure my career is over well before it could begin, and my father is going to love every second of the retellingof my downfall when Dr. Lowe gives him his daily report that I’m not supposed to know about.

With more shame and embarrassment than I have ever felt before, I crawl the almost two feet to the tools of my destruction. My palms sting and my knees are throbbing as I try to move as quickly as I can, holding my breath until my hand is almost on the first box, but before I can grab it, movement in front of me makes me flinch.

Slowly, I look up, following the slides all the way to shins, tracing the orange jumpsuits while trying to avoid laps, then further still over stomachs and chests until my eyes are shifting back and forth between faces I’ve seen but didn’t really look at.

Korvin Severe and Desmond Hawthorne.

Wow. I had no idea they looked like this, and, just,wow.

They’re both looking down at me with curious expressions and arched brows, a faint grin on Severe’s face behind his muzzle, Hawthorne full blown smirking behind his.

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