CHAPTER 96: NICE TO MEET YOU, DOCTOR

Eleanor’s POV

"Are you sure you can trust this guy?" Mira asked, twisting around to look at me, her brow furrowed. "What if he rats you out to the brothers?"

Roxy was driving, with Mira in the passenger seat, and me in the back, clutching the card like a lifeline.

"I don’t think he will," I said, my voice softer than I intended. "Sir Alfred has been nothing but kind to me since the day I arrived."

Mira’s expression remained skeptical. "Eleanor, just because someone is nice to you doesn’t mean they’re trustworthy. What if he has an ulterior motive? Or worse."

Roxy cut in from the driver’s seat, her eyes flicking to me in the rearview mirror. "And what ulterior motive could a butler possibly have? Besides, this is our best shot at getting her the help she so desperately needs. You need to dial back the paranoia a notch, Mira. Isn’t that why we’re going with her to confirm?"

Mira sighed, her shoulders relaxing slightly. "That’s true."

I knew where her fear was coming from. They didn’t want a repeat of what happened before—the kidnapping, the near-miss with being sold off.

That disaster happened because I was alone, desperate, and blindly searching for answers about what I was. But I wasn’t alone anymore.

They had experience I lacked.

Mira nodded, her gaze still thoughtful. "I’m not surprised this doctor keeps her identity a secret. People with her kind of abilities... their powers are always in high demand, and rarely for good reasons."

I gulped. The thought sent a fresh wave of anxiety through me. Would Sir Alfred, in his kindness, have inadvertently led me to someone dangerous? I couldn’t believe that. I refused to.

"We’re here," Roxy announced.

I looked out the window. The neighborhood was... nice. Quiet, with well-kept lawns and children’s toys scattered on some driveways.

It was disarmingly normal. Roxy slowed the car to a crawl as we looked for the address. A group of kids stopped their game to stare at our sleek sports car.

Neighbors on their porches murmured to each other, and a few even pulled out their phones to take pictures.

"Mira, slow down," Roxy said, though she was already driving slowly.

"Why?" Mira asked, but she was already rolling down her window. She leaned out slightly as a pair of women walked by on the sidewalk. "Excuse me!" she called out, her voice friendly. "We’re looking for a doctor named Chloe. Do you know which house is hers?"

One of the women pointed further down the street. "The blue one with the white trim. Number 42."

"Thank you!" Mira said, rolling the window back up.

We pulled up alongside the curb in front of a modest, blue house with a detached garage. My heart was hammering so hard I was sure it would burst out of my chest.

"Alright," Roxy said, cutting the engine. "Time to see if this lady is legit."

We walked up the path to the front porch, a united front. Mira knocked firmly on the door. I watched the handle, holding my breath. It turned, and the door swung open.

A woman stood there, looking to be in her late forties. She had very long, straight black hair and calm, assessing hazel eyes. She didn’t seem surprised or alarmed by our arrival at all.

"I’ve been expecting your visit," she said simply. Then she turned and walked back inside, leaving the door open.

Eleanor, Mira, and I exchanged a single, wide-eyed look. Then, without a word, we stepped inside.

The moment we stepped into her cozy living room, Mira voiced the question spinning in all our heads. "How could you be expecting us? You know you’re expecting only Eleanor."

The woman, Dr. Chloe simply sat on the plush sofa opposite her armchair. "There are many things I know. For instance, your names are Mira and Roxy."

Roxy scoffed, crossing her arms. "You could’ve gotten that from a quick internet search. That’s not a big deal."

Dr. Chloe’s lips curved into a faint, knowing smile. "You didn’t even let me finish my sentence."

"And why should I?" Roxy shot back, her posture tense. "The way you’re acting is making me seriously doubt you’re the enchantress we are looking for."

In the space of a single heartbeat, the world shifted. A tingling sensation, like a thousand tiny static shocks, washed over us. One second we were standing, the next we were all seated firmly on the sofas opposite Dr. Chloe, who hadn’t moved an inch.

Roxy was the first to react after a stunned second of absorption. She shot to her feet, her eyes wide. "What the fuck?"

Dr. Chloe merely raised an eyebrow, her gaze serene. "Is that sufficient proof of my credentials, or would you like another demonstration?"

"How?" Mira breathed, her voice full of stunned disbelief.

"That’s just one of many things I can do," Dr. Chloe said, a glint of amusement in her hazel eyes. "Do you want to keep being amazed, or shall we get straight to what you came for?"

We all fell into a stunned silence.

"Good," she said. "Now, it’s time to go to my lair. You might want to hold onto your pearls."

In the space of another heartbeat, the cozy living room vanished. The tingling sensation returned, and the world rematerialized around us.

We were now in a different room entirely, one lined with dark wood shelving units holding an array of bewildering objects. There were bottles filled with glowing liquids of every color, intricate metal instruments, bundles of strange herbs, and other things I had no name for.

The woman stood before us, looking entirely unruffled. "Welcome to my lair. I must insist you do not touch anything."

Roxy glowered. "You could have waited for me to sit down before doing that again."

Dr. Chloe gave her a bland look. "I thought you were tough. Can’t you handle the feeling of being teleported?"

"Did we just... teleport?" Mira asked, her head swiveling to take in the new surroundings.

"Yes," Dr. Chloe confirmed. "But we’re still in the house. Just in a... different location."

The woman’s hazel eyes locked directly onto mine. "Follow me."

I stood up on slightly unsteady legs and followed her as she moved slowly between the shelves, which seemed to loom the same height as she was.

"I checked your core the moment you crossed my threshold," she said, her voice normal yet intense. She stopped and turned to face me fully. "And I must admit, I am profoundly confused by what I saw."

My heart sank.

"The standard suppressants won’t work on you," she stated. "Your body would reject them. I can’t even begin to formulate something that would work unless I know everything that is going on with you. I need to know what you have experienced. How your primal urges manifest. Everything."

Disappointment washed over me. "I... I can’t tell you that," I whispered. I definitely couldn’t.

She sighed, a sound that held no surprise. "I expected you to say that." In a movement too quick to follow, she plucked a single strand of my silver-white hair. She held it between her fingers, chanting a series of soft, unfamiliar words. The air in the room grew heavy.

"I am swearing an oath," she explained, her eyes glowing faintly. "A magical confidentiality agreement. Whatever you tell me will not leave this room. It will be bound to me, and to this space."

Just then, Mira and Roxy found their way to us, their expressions wary.

The woman glanced at them before returning her focus to me. "I have a feeling the secret you keep is... significant. I don’t normally offer this, but I am deeply curious about your core."

Mira stepped forward, her protective instincts on high alert. "Is it because you think she’s unique? So you can use her for your own benefit?"

Dr. Chloe didn’t deny it. "Yes," she said simply. "But I will not do anything that Eleanor does not explicitly agree to." She turned her piercing gaze back to me. "The choice is yours. Accept the oath, and my help. Or leave, with the power inside you remaining a wild, untamable thing."