Melissa stretched and winced. Everything hurt, which wasn't really a surprise. Chronic overwork wasn't new to her, though there were days when even that wasn't enough. No amount of effort could outrun the weight of her surname.

The clinic displayed "Dr. Melissa Le Bleu, M.D." in brass letters and, on paper, was entirely hers, but she doubted she would be sitting in a private office at this age if she had been born Melissa Smith instead.

Connections mattered, reputation mattered, and her parents had both in abundance.

The clients came in regularly. Some barely bothered to fake symptoms. For them, being seen by a Le Bleu was the medicine.

And then there was Eydis Von Apfelhof.

Eydis was strange, especially given her age. Polite, well-spoken, observant… too perceptive. The sort who didn't ask questions because she already knew the answers.

On Melissa's desk lay a white envelope, an invitation to Thomas Blackwood's final fundraiser embossed in gold with a theatrical mask.

At first it had looked like a chance to build her own network outside the family shadow, and she told herself it was worth the risk. Then Eydis's last comment unsettled that certainty, because it was horribly logical.

Lately Melissa had been too busy to go online, and she wondered if she had missed something important. She checked her phone. No calls or messages from the Blackwoods. Given their history, Thomas should have reached out by now.

Fine.

She opened a browser and typed his name. Articles, headlines, photos, and clips flooded the screen.

Eydis had been right: Thomas wasn't merely recovering, he was dominating the news cycle.

Frowning, Melissa clicked the top video. Two million views. Thomas stood inside a pool of purple smoke, almost swallowed by it, then walked out untouched.

She watched it again.

"What in the world?" she muttered. "That thing had him surrounded for over a minute. It doesn't just… let people walk away."

The footage didn't lie, but it refused to explain itself. She leaned back, tapped the armrest once, and stopped.

She dialled. After two rings he picked up.

"You don't have to come with me tomorrow," she said.

"Hello to you too, doc. Little late to back out, isn't it?"

"It's just…" paused as a prickle lifted the hairs at her nape. She scanned the room. Everything looked normal: lights steady, equipment silent.

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"You all right?"

"Probably exhaustion," she reassured herself. "If Thomas notices I'm not there, I'll claim a bug and hope he accepts it."

"No formal excuse?"

"It's a last-minute thing."

"Mmhmm," he said. "Nothing to do with Dr. Le Bleu and Professor Le Bleu, I guess?"

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Professor Le Bleu's lectures on parental disappointment remain ever popular. You should attend sometime."

His laugh rattled through the speaker. "Your folks never change. Remember when we called them air patrol?"

"Ha, very funny."

"But the great Dr. Melissa Le Bleu calling in sick? Best you've got? What's really happening?"

She scowled. No way she was explaining a worldview shift sparked by a sharp-tongued teenaged client.

"Honestly, Lionel, I have plenty to juggle. The last thing I need is to stand at a gala looking like I endorse a campaign I can barely watch."

"Uh-huh," Lionel hummed. She didn't need video to picture the look he was giving.

"Broken promises are part of the job description. They'll cope," she added.

He half-laughed. "Wow! You do know you're saying that to someone on the government payroll?"

"Fully aware, super-secret Agent Robin." She shrugged out of her lab coat and chucked the invitation into the trash. "So, how's your sister? Has she realised you do more than push paper?"

"She's been… determined. More than usual. I thought—" He cut himself off. "Never mind."

Irritated, Melissa dug for her keys. "Lionel, she's eighteen. You can't protect her forever."

"You and I both know Gifted status isn't a gift. It's a target."

Melissa locked the door. "Try telling the majority who think a Gift is the same as winning the lottery. Suppression doesn't erase power; it's like watching your house burn and refusing to use the hose."

She bit back the sharper comment and simply asked, "Ever tell her I healed you completely, Lionel?"

A long pause. Maybe the comment was still sharp.

Melissa pictured his crimson eyes narrowing and took a step back. "Look, I'll see Natalia soon."

"…You're visiting St Kevin's?"

"Longer stay. Dean Saito asked me to help with this year's Gifted Show."

"You agreed? After all these years of turning him down?" He sounded surprised.

"Yeah, well. The smoke monster's still active. And Adrian… he insisted."

The elevator doors opened. "If you want Natalia safe, this is the way." She ended the call, stepped inside, and folded her arms as the lift climbed.

Lionel was still convinced he could shield Natalia from the thing that set her apart, as if Gifted power were some viral infection that might disappear if ignored.

Utter buffoon.

Melissa wondered if that wide-eyed kid had finally shaken off her past. She had hoped St Kevin's might give her the perspective she needed to move on.

St Kevin's.

Natalia and Eydis were the same age, same year, same school. Could they already know each other?

She opened the door to her penthouse, murmuring to herself, "Natalia… and Eydis. Looking forward to our next meeting."

Far below, wisps of purple smoke slipped from the elevator into Melissa's empty office, thickening beside the bin. From it, a striking obsidian serpent emerged.

"Striking is an understatement." Envy scoffed. "Imagine, a creature as magnificent as I, reduced to trash duty. How tragically pedestrian."

Her Majesty had instructed Envy to swallow everything, as if Envy were nothing more than a cleaner. Simple to command, miserable to execute. Grumbling, the serpent unhinged its jaw and devoured the bin's contents, plastic liner included, its scales shivering in open disgust.

"I trust tomorrow's spectacle justifies my suffering. Yet how will my Queen react when she discovers the blue doctor is heading for St Kevin's?"

Envy shimmered into purple mist that bled into the shadows.

"Better to keep that little detail to myself," it thought with a sly grin. "The Queen of Shadows shines brightest when the unexpected blocks her path…"

Wouldn't you agree?

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