Bab 71: The originals are the ones to be scared of

The promo concluded with a louche wink directly into the camera lens before cutting to an avalanche of sleazy sponsor spots hawking ambulance-chaser legal firms, shady investment schemes, and other assorted venereal detritus.

Rose mashed the remote's power button, jaw clenched and tendons standing out in stark relief against her porcelain complexion. Anger, embarrassment, and creeping tendrils of all-consuming dread roiled within her.

"I don't know how much more of this humiliating circus act I can stomach," she hissed through gritted teeth, sinking back into her plush office sofa and raking both hands through her lustrous chestnut locks. "Goddamn bottom-feeders...making a mockery of me for sport."