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Whatever I had done was working a lot better on Abbie than it was on Taylor. I didn't know what to do. Taylor was suspicious, accusatory, but by the same token, she was still sitting there calmly, her most boisterous resistance a slight elevation in volume. But would her passivity last? Maybe I was safe, maybe, but that was an awfully big risk to take.

"Your sister is fine. And so are you. Understand? Nothing bad happened in here today. Say it, Taylor."

After a moment, she shrugged. Fucking hell, that jiggle. "Nothing bad happened in here today. Apparently."

Did that statement mean anything? Her present apathy made it so difficult to predict long-term animosity. There was no telling whether getting away with Monday had been a fluke or a part of Serenex's intended effect. Their product advertised its ability to suppress an unruly mob, but not to make them permanently well-behaved citizens. Would Taylor keep playing mum?

There was no certainty, and standing around wondering wasn't g