The Complete Lost Children Series

by Krista Street

  She sobbed again, silently, making me wonder how many years of practice she had at undetected crying.

  I brushed my finger across her cheek, not even realizing I was touching her until I felt her hot flesh. A nasty purple bruise bled just below the surface of her skin, ready to bloom upward and let the whole world know that someone had hit her.

  “I have makeup to cover that up.” She sniffed and wiped the tears away. “I came prepared.”

  My jaw locked. “Did he hit you a lot growing up?”

  She licked her lips, wincing when her tongue grazed the cut on her upper lip. “All the time.”

  My stomach squeezed, and I made myself take deep steadying breaths, because all I wanted to do at that moment was go back to that god awful house, get her mother out, and then burn her father alive in that hellhole before razing the property to the ground.

  Grace covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry, Raven. I’m so sorry I dragged you into this. It’s why I didn’t want you to come.”

  I gently pulled her hands away, pushing another lock of hair behind her ear. “Don’t be sorry. I’m really glad I’m here. I hate the thought of you doing this alone, and I really hate the thought of what that bastard could have done to you.”

  She caught my hand, her fingers threading through mine, but then her breath caught, as if realizing what she’d done. When she made a move to pull back, I squeezed her hand, keeping it in mine.

  “I want to be here with you, right now. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

  She met my gaze, tears shining in her eyes. “But how . . .” She licked her lip, then grimaced before fingering the swollen flesh of her upper lip. “But how can you want that? After what you saw? After what you heard?”

  I grabbed the plastic bag that I’d filled with ice when we first entered the room and held it up to her swollen mouth and cheek. “Do you really think I’m that shallow? That I only wanted to ask you out because I liked how you looked?”

  She flinched, looking down. “A lot of guys have only liked how I looked. They don’t want to hear about all the other stuff, the not so pretty stuff that comes along with being with me.”

  Shame filled her words, and I swallowed tightly, remembering the guys in the fast food restaurant and how her father had called her a slut. I had no idea what Grace had done in her past or who she’d been with, but I still loved her, and I knew enough to know that she was more than an abused girl with a troubled history who apparently tried to hide all of that ugliness from the world.

  If there was one thing I’d learned since joining Lena, Flint, Di, and everyone else in my family, it was that when you chose to love someone, you loved all of them, not just the pretty parts.

  “Were those guys back at the fast food joint guys you dated in the past?”

  She took the bag of ice from me and held it to her cheek. “No. They recognized me from . . . somewhere else.”

  I swallowed, my nostrils flaring as I remembered how they’d humiliated her. “Somewhere else?”

  She squeezed her eyes tightly shut before reaching for her bag. “You know it’s probably better if we don’t talk about this. I have a few things I need to schedule next week anyway, and I should check my work shifts to make sure I have the right dates and times. It’s really important to always stay on top of—”

  “Grace?” I took her trembling hands into mine, pushing her purse away. “It’s okay. You can tell me what happened. I won’t judge you.”

  She turned rigid, her gaze staying on the floor, but she dropped her planner and didn’t try to find anything else inside her carefully organized purse—a purse that contained all of the details about her perfectly controlled life.

  It all made sense now.

  Her rigid structures. Her immaculately planned agendas. A girl who had grown up in a broken home, where nothing was safe or structured, and who didn’t know when she’d be hit or battered next, wanted order and routine in her life.

  She wanted to control what happened around her, because she’d never had any control.

  “Grace? It’s okay.”

  She kept her eyes tightly closed and swung her head back and forth. “It’s not okay. If you knew the truth, Raven, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me. I never wanted you to know about any of this, because if you did, you’d run.”

  I gripped her harder, running my fingers along the backs of her hands. “I wouldn’t run, Grace. Please believe me. I won’t ever run from you.”

  Unshed tears pooled in her eyes. “You would.”

  “No,” I said in a firm voice. “I wouldn’t.”

  She hung her head, a tear slipping out.

  I moved to sit beside her and placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to me. Her floral scent wafted into my nose, and her thin shoulders folded inward under my hand. I wanted so badly to hold her and protect her, anger again rising up in me that someone had hurt her.

  “Please tell me,” I said quietly.

  She took a deep shuddering breath. A long moment passed, and I thought for sure she wasn’t going to tell me anything, but then she said quietly, “I moved out when I was sixteen. I couldn’t take the beatings anymore, or how my dad hurt my mom so much. I tried to get her to come with me, but she said he’d kill her if she left, and she was probably right. He would kill her. So my mom and I saved money, hiding it from my dad. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough for me to get out of there and find a cheap place to live. I rented a room with a family in Casper and moved schools, working most nights and on the weekends to pay my bills. I thought I was doing okay. My grades were pretty good, and I was getting by. But then a few months went by, and I ran out of funds. My mom sent money when she could, but it was hard to sneak it from my dad without him noticing, and the part-time job I had just wasn’t cutting it.”

  A tear fell onto her cheek, but she kept her gaze down, not looking at me. “And then I met this girl who told me you could make a lot of money really easily if you . . .” She squeezed her eyes tighter. “If you danced at this club she worked at. So I got a job there and started dancing on the weekends. It was better for school. I didn’t have to work weekdays anymore, and I made a lot of money fast. But then—” She took another deep breath. “Then guys around town started recognizing me and rumors started. It got back to my dad that I was dancing for money, except the rumors got worse, and people started saying I was doing more than just dancing.”

  She shook her head, her words turning bitter. “And then one day, my dad showed up at my door. He forced his way inside and beat me so hard I couldn’t walk for two days. He told me that I was never allowed back home, that I’d shamed him and my mom by being a whore.”

  She blinked rapidly, but the unshed tears fell from her eyes. “But I never did that. Not once! I was a stripper throughout the rest of my high school years, but as soon as I got accepted into college at Boulder, I left that life behind me, and I haven’t looked back. I haven’t danced since I was eighteen, and I never want to do that again. I’d rather die than do that again.”

  A deep, uneven breath lifted her shoulders. She kept her face down, her chin quivering. “And I totally understand if you want nothing to do with me now. I’m not clean, Raven. I’m tainted and broken. You deserve someone better than me.”

  “You’re wrong, Grace. It doesn’t change how I feel about you at all.” I gripped her shoulders tighter. “It only makes me angry that your parents did that to you. You never should have been put in that position. You shouldn’t have had to sell your body to pay for housing and food. Your parents should have taken care of you.”

  Her lip quivered, another tear falling onto her cheek. “You really don’t think of me any differently?”

  “No.” I squeezed her more. “Not at all. If anything, I admire you. You’ve come so far even though you’ve been through hell and back. You’re incredible. I don’t know how you don’t see that.”

  She began crying in earnest then and sagged into me. I wrapp
ed my arms around her, loving the feel of her body against mine and the soft way she melted in my arms. But my anger didn’t abate. Rage poured through my veins at what her father had done, but I kept it firmly bottled inside me so she wouldn’t sense it.

  I smoothed back her hair and ran my hand up and down her back. She shivered and tucked her head under my chin.

  “I think you’re incredible too,” she said softly. “I’ve always thought that, but I thought you didn’t like me that way.”

  I scoffed, nearly choking. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been trying to work up the guts to ask you out for six months.”

  “You have?”

  I laughed, then groaned. “If you only knew.”

  She laughed quietly, but then moaned and fingered her lip. Another drop of blood came away on her fingertip. Her laugh stopped as she stared at the crimson bead. “But what about my mom? I can’t leave her with him. He’ll let her die.”

  My jaw locked as my hand moved up and down her back. “Then we’ll go get her. We won’t leave her there.”

  “But how? He’ll kill her if she leaves. I know he will. Otherwise, she would have run away with me when I was sixteen.”

  The fire swirled inside me, my anger making it hotter. “We’ll find a way.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The sound of running water came from the bathroom as Grace showered. Even though it was early evening, fatigue had lined her face. I’d encouraged her to shower and settle in for an early night, and considering she hadn’t argued, it seemed she agreed.

  I paced our small hotel room, the constant trickling water in the background. I’d promised Grace we’d find a way to help her mom, and I intended to keep that promise. Now, it was a matter of figuring out how we helped her, but to do that, I needed my family.

  I pulled out my cell phone and called Di, my pace increasing. She answered on the second ring.

  “Raven, how’s the weekend going?” She sounded cheerful and optimistic, neither traits I equated with my big sister, which meant she was anxious about how things were going for me.

  “Not good, but it’s not why you think.” I explained as quickly as possible what had happened at Grace’s house, and how she’d kept her abusive past hidden from all of us, including Lena. However, I didn’t divulge that she’d been an erotic dancer. I wasn’t sure if Grace wanted anyone else knowing that.

  “She moved out when she was sixteen, and her father beat her growing up?” Di’s voice tightened. “Are you serious? That bastard!”

  “I know. Trust me, I know. I’m trying to keep control of myself right now because all I want to do is burn that motherfucker.”

  “You can’t, Raven. You need to keep your power a secret.”

  “I know. I didn’t say I was going to do anything. I just want to.”

  “So where’s her mother at right now?”

  “Still at their home. Last I saw her, she was huddled in the kitchen corner. I imagine her dad beat her after we left, because Grace’s father learned that she contacted Grace and told Grace she was sick. He’d forbidden her from doing that.”

  A sound of disgust came from Di. “We need to get her mom out of there. Have you called the police?”

  “No. Grace won’t let me. She said her father would kill her mother if she went to the authorities, and given what I saw today, I believe it.”

  “Where are you right now?

  “Some hotel in Casper.” I grabbed a hotel pen from the desk and read off the hotel’s name. “We need to get her mom out of there, if you know what I mean.”

  Her voice turned grim. “If the police aren’t an option, and Grace is certain her father will kill her mother if she tries to leave, then you may be right. I’ll call an emergency family meeting right now. You can expect at least a few of us up there by tonight. We’ll figure something out. Just don’t go anywhere, okay?”

  The shower turned off, leaving the room quiet. Grace would probably be out in a few minutes. “I won’t. We’ll stay here.”

  “Good. We’ll see you soon.” With that, she hung up.

  ~ ~ ~

  “I don’t think I can eat.” Grace picked at the pizza I’d ordered for dinner. We sat cross-legged on the bed, a pizza box open in front of us. Canadian bacon and pineapple covered the large pie, the doughy fragrance filling the room. “But thanks for ordering my favorite toppings.”

  “That’s okay. We can always save it. If you change your mind, you can have it later.”

  She nodded solemnly, and I stowed the remaining pieces on a paper plate before placing them in the mini-fridge.

  Damp hair trailed in soft tendrils down Grace’s back as she picked at a thread on the bedspread. The bruise on her cheek bloomed darker, and her lip puffed outward, still swollen, but it was better than it had been previously, thanks to the ice.

  “Is your family really coming up here to help?”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to correct her and say our family, but I didn’t. Even though I considered Grace part of our family, she still had an estranged blood family and a mother that she wanted desperately to help.

  “Yeah. Di, Flint, Lena, Jet, Jasper, and Edgar are all coming. They should be here any minute.”

  Grace stopped picking at the thread and wrapped her arms around herself. “Do you really think they can help my mom?”

  I thought of the twins’ ability to manipulate thought patterns, how Edgar could control minds if he chose too, Flint’s strength and speed, and Lena’s ability to harness auras from living things and turn those auras into workable energy. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure they can help.”

  A sharp knock came on the door. Grace jumped, a look of terror filling her face. I placed my hand on her knee. “Don’t worry. It’s probably just them.”

  She grabbed my hand, her grip clawing into me. “What if it’s my dad?”

  The knock came again.

  I squeezed her gently. “I’ll check before I answer.” I strode to the door and called loudly, “Who is it?”

  “The asshole exterminators.” Jet’s muffled response came through the door.

  Grace’s tense lips relaxed, and her mouth curved upward in a smile before she laughed softly.

  I unlocked the door and swung it open. A burst of winter air blew into the room. Outside, snow flew through the dark night sky.

  Lena barreled inside, her long curly red hair flying behind her. The second Grace saw her, Grace burst into tears.

  Lena whipped off her jacket, throwing it to the floor. She had her arms around Grace, pulling her into a fierce hug, before I could blink. The two best friends hugged tightly, and Grace’s head dipped as she buried her face in Lena’s shoulder.

  “I didn’t even know!” Lena squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh my gosh, Grace. How come you didn’t tell me? How come I never knew about this? I’m so sorry that you went through all of that!”

  Grace clung to her as the rest of my family entered the room. I closed the door behind them, engaging the lock. Everyone wore winter coats, and each slid them off, throwing them on the free bed.

  Flint and the twins’ large builds filled up the space. Each of my brothers wore angry or indignant expressions.

  “Where’s dear old dad?” Jet asked as Lena continued to murmur things to Grace.

  “Still at the house Grace grew up in,” I replied.

  Di crossed her arms. She wore a thick black sweater and black skinny jeans. Her gaze narrowed when she got a look at the bruise on Grace’s face. “Good thing you got her out when you did.”

  Edgar hung near the door, a nervous expression on his face. Considering he’d chosen to join us, I could only assume he intended to help.

  I clapped him on the shoulder, offering him a smile. All he managed was a curt nod. I wasn’t surprised. The last time he’d used his mind control powers had been six months ago to help Jacinda and Luke rescue their babies from Albert Darlington, and it had taken two months before he started acting somewhat normal again. I hoped whatever was to come
wouldn’t be a repeat of his regression.

  “Thanks for coming,” I said to him.

  Edgar dipped his shaved head and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Grace deserves to be treated better.”

  My jaw tightened, the fire inside me building again. “She certainly does.”

  Flint, the twins, Di, Edgar, and I all stepped out of the room to give Lena and Grace some privacy. “Are you guys staying here for the night?” I asked in the frigid cold outside.

  “We might as well book rooms. I imagine we won’t do anything until tomorrow.” Flint pulled out his wallet. “Lena and I can share a room.”

  “I’ll room with his ugly mug,” Jasper hooked a thumb at his brother.

  Jet laughed.

  “And I’ll room with Di,” Edgar said, still wearing that apprehensive expression.

  The six of us headed for the check-in counter. Everyone booked rooms and got their keys. By the time we returned to the room I shared with Grace, nearly twenty minutes had passed.

  I grasped the door handle, then paused. It suddenly occurred to me that Grace may prefer to share a room with Lena, feeling more comfortable with her best friend than me. My heart sank. As much as I wanted to be with Grace, be close to her and keep her safe, that may not be what she wanted.

  Vowing to ask her before everyone turned in for the night, I slid my room key through the card reader as snow danced around us.

  I opened the door to see Grace and Lena on the bed, facing one another and holding hands. Blotchy skin lined Grace’s cheeks, but a smile lifted her lips. A laugh came next after Lena said something quietly.

  Just the sight of Grace’s returning joyfulness created a lightening inside me. Never had I felt so grateful for Lena than I did at that moment.

  “Hey,” Grace said when she saw me. The six of us shuffled inside, closing the door behind us.

  My heart beat harder at the sound of her voice. “Hi. How are you feeling?”

  “A little better.”

  Jet and Jasper launched themselves onto the bed by Grace and Lena, bouncing it. Grace giggled again, but Lena swatted Jet in the arm. “You trying to bounce us off?”