Chapter 5

Julian didn't leap back in panic, but his eyes flared with sudden, wild confusion as he looked from the woman in his lap to the doorway.

The woman straddling him had a mask on, but she sounded completely like Elara. She had Elara’s dark hair and her soft skin and was wearing a silk slip that looked just like hers. She was holding Julian’s head in her hands, kissing him deeply, pretending to be the girl who had left for the hospital an hour ago.

"Julian...?" the real Elara whispered from the doorway, her voice cracking, broken and small. "W-what…