Arrabella
She drains her glass, pours another. Then another. While waiting for Patrick, she rehearses different ways of dropping the bombshell news. He’ll believe her now. He’ll be thankful she brought him on this cruise, close to Lillith. He’ll finally see how dangerous “Poppy” is.
When her glass is empty again, she checks her watch. It’s past midnight and Patrick still has not returned. A knot of anxiety begins to tighten in her gut. She decides to take a temazepam pill. She needs the sedative-hypnotic meds to help her sleep.
Or would they?
She screws the top back onto her jar of face cream. She’s already in bed, eyelids drooping, her world turning syrupy as her sleeping meds take hold, when she remembers her EpiPen.
She’ll search for it in the morning . . .