Page 17 of Born Reckless

She's not wrong. Being in this small, enclosed space with two humans, the burn starts almost immediately. As soon as I finish the blood, it's easier to look at Mason without seeing him as a snack.

We drive for twenty minutes before the limo pulls up in front of a hotel. I can tell it's a nice place. The kind of place I would never, ever be able to afford. A footman immediately walks out and takes Elena and Mason's bags from them. The three of us walk inside, and Elena checks us in under a fake name with a fake ID.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this. She is what she is. And now, because of me, we have someone chasing after us. I can see how having a fake ID when you're a vampire would come in handy.

The man at the counter hands us three room keys. Considering that it's four in the morning, this isn't exactly a typical time to be checking in at a hotel. But he doesn't question Elena. This is the kind of power she has. This is the kind of commanding presence that she owns.

Silently, we ride the elevator up nine stories. The elevator dings, and the doors open to reveal an opulent hall. We walk down to the very end of it and Elena swipes her key. Doors open to reveal a lavish penthouse. There's a central living area, kitchen, and a large dining room. I see two doors splitting off from the main living area, leading to bedrooms.

"You should shower," Elena says. At the door, Mason takes our bags from the footman and hands him a tip. He walks back into the room and lays the bags on one of the couches. "You still have blood on you. You can't keep walking around looking like that. You’re a little obvious." She crooks a smile and winks at me. "I will leave some clothes for you on the counter. We’re close enough in size, you can make do until I can get someone to pick some things up for you and bring them here."

"You’re really not going to let me go back to New York?" I ask and panic starts eating at my insides. "Everything I own is there. I’m so damn close to finishing my residency. I’m… Elena, I’m buried under nearly two-hundred thousand dollars of student loans. I can’t just walk away when I’m this close to the finish line.”

Elena walks forward and runs her hands down my arms. I see compassion on her face, something that isn't there very often. "I know what New York means to you. And I know how hard you’ve worked. You’ve had to fight so much harder than you should have had to. But youcan’tgo back to that life. Would you really want to go back there, now that you know what you are, and be alone?"

I think about what she says, and her words make my stomach feel heavy. Elena has been trying to talk me into moving to Chicago with her for a long time. But I had school. I couldn’t just rip my roots up and leave. I’m finally getting control of my life. But now…

“There’s a doctor in Chicago,” Mason cuts in. I look over at him and see him slide his hands into his pockets and he looks up at me from beneath his eyelashes. “A vampire doctor. He owns his own hospital, and a good chunk of his staff is like you. I’ll talk to him. Maybe you can’t go back to your residency, but I’m sure he’d be happy to finish out your training and give you a job when you’re finished. If you still want to be a doctor, Juliet, we’ll make that happen.”

We’ll make that happen.

Power is a strange thing. You either have all of it or none of it. And my entire life, I’ve been the kind who had none of it.

“I’m buried in so much debt,” I say in a hoarse whisper. “I’ve been living off of student loans for the past year. Medical school—”

“Your debt will be paid off when the banks open in the morning,” Mason cuts me off. The look in his eyes darkens. There’s something protective and demanding in them. “I know this is shit, Juliet. But you can either go back to your life in New York and eventually get killed, or you can let Elena and I make this right and let us help you. But Juliet…” He shakes his head, and I’ve rarely seen such intensity. “I can’t let you go back to that city and be at risk.”

No one has ever tried to protect me. I’ve built this armor of bitterness and snark so I could protect myself.

Mason doesn’t know me. We’ve spent a few hours together. And they were intense and unexpected. But he doesn’t know me.

But that look in his eyes, it reaches something in me.

It breaks that stubborn arrogance in me that says I can do everything by myself.

“Please, Juliet,” Mason says, and his voice is little more than a whisper, and his eyes are begging. “Let me help you.”

Goosebumps flash over my arms. And I feel something in me shift.

We all have pivotal moments in our lives. And staring at Mason, letting him break through just a little bit of my armor, I feel that this is one of mine.

“Fine,” I answer hoarsely.

Elena rubs her hands up and down my arms again. "I can keep you safe in Chicago," she continues. "I'll explain everything. And I promise, I'll make sure you have an entire new wardrobe waiting for you when you get there. What else do you need? A laptop? A car? Whatever you need, I will make sure that it's waiting there for you."

"Elena…" I say in exasperation.

"I know you don't like accepting my money," she cuts me off. "But sometimes you have to recognize when things are out of your control. When you need help. Please, just, don’t keep fighting me."

Something burns at the back of my eyes. In all my life, there have been people who have made sure that my basic needs were provided for. But they did it because they were being paid to do so. But Elena is different. Elena cares. She gives a damn about what happens to me.

"Everything is going to be okay," Elena says quietly as she leans forward and wraps her arms around me. I finally understand how she’s so damn strong considering how tiny she is.

I take a deep breath and know that she's right. Things are out of my control right now. I have to trust her. So, I simply nod and have no other choice but to swallow my pride.

She lets me go, and without another word, I step into one of the bedrooms. It's just as lavish as the rest of the place. There is a huge bed in the center of the room, and big expensive furniture is pushed up against the walls. There is a massive closet attached to it, a space that is bigger than my bedroom back in New York. And just to the side of that, I find a huge, beautiful bathroom.

I start the hot water in the shower and begin peeling my clothes off. Standing naked in front of the mirror, I remember what last happened in New York.