by I. T. Lucas
It was a bob with bangs, and it looked cute on her. But since her natural color was light brown with reddish undertones, it didn’t change her appearance that much.
The idea wasn’t to make her look better, but to disguise her.
“Maybe I should go for bleached blond.” She took the wig off. “Or purple.”
Vivian followed her out of the bathroom. “You can use the black in the meantime, because it’s a better disguise, but you should take Amanda up on her offer for a makeover. I think this was her way of reminding you about that.”
“I should, shouldn’t I?” Ella sat on her bed. “I need to have my picture taken for my fake driver’s license, and I can’t do that until I decide on the look I want. And without a license, I can’t go anywhere.”
Vivian sat next to her on the bed and wrapped her arm around Ella’s shoulders. “I’m glad that you want to get out of here, but I don’t think you’re ready to get behind the wheel and go driving around. I think that you should get out of the house first and mingle with the people in the village. It’s so liberating not to have to hide who you are and what you can do.”
“Is it? Do you really feel more comfortable here than you did in our old home?”
“There is no comparison. When you start spending time with the immortals, you’ll get what I mean. You’ll feel at home like you never have before. These are our people.”
Ella smirked. “So that’s why I liked Julian so much. Because he’s an immortal.”
“Oh, I think that in his case, it’s more than that.”
“He is very handsome, and charming, and kind, and he played with Parker, and he’s a doctor.” Ella winked. “That last one was for you, since that seems important to you.”
Vivian narrowed her eyes at her. “I hear a but coming up.”
“He’s too good for me, Mom, too pure.”
“What the heck are you talking about? I’m sure that boy has bedded hordes of women, while you’ve been with only one man.”
“I’m not talking about that, Mom.” Ella put a hand over her heart. “I feel like there is darkness in me now. Maybe it was always there, and I just haven’t acknowledged it.” She lifted a pillow and hugged it to her. “I’m not naïve anymore. I’m constantly on the lookout for ulterior motives, and I no longer believe that people are essentially good. They might think that they are, but they are not.”
“That’s part of growing up, Ella, not some mysterious darkness lurking inside of you. Heck, I don’t trust people either. When Julian came to see me at the dental office with Turner and Magnus, I thought that he’d organized your kidnapping so he and his buddies could swindle me out of every penny I owned.”
That was news to her.
“You thought that they were running a scam?”
Vivian nodded. “It was easier to believe in that than the alternative. But when I asked Turner how much your rescue was going to cost me, and he answered nothing, I knew that the situation was much worse than I thought. Compared to what they were telling me, dealing with a bunch of scammers would’ve been a walk in the park.”
Ella could just imagine how devastated and hopeless her mother must have felt. “Oh, Mommy.” She leaned her head on Vivian’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry for causing you so much grief.”
“Don’t. It wasn’t your fault any more than it was mine. We were both fooled.”
“Only Parker wasn’t.”
Vivian smirked. “Parker likes Julian.”
“I like Julian too.”
“So what’s the problem? Don’t you find him attractive?”
She snorted. “I would need to be blind or dead not to realize how gorgeous he is.”
“So?” Vivian made a rolling motion with her hand.
This was hard to let out, but her mother deserved the truth even when it was painful. “I can think of him as an attractive guy, and I can see it with my eyes, but I can’t feel it on the inside.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m dead in here.” Ella patted her belly. “Because I can’t feel anything physical for anyone right now. Put a nude Thor in this room with me, and he would stir nothing. I could appreciate his beauty, but there would be no arousal.”
Her mother looked so sad that Ella regretted fessing up to the truth. She should have come up with another excuse.
“I wish I could help you, but I don’t know how. You should really talk to Vanessa. That’s what she does day in and day out. She helps girls get over their traumas.”
Ella shook her head. “No shrinks.”
“If you want to video the girls under her care, you will have to talk to her.”
“Not as a patient.”
Her shoulders slumping, Vivian sighed. “Why are you being so stubborn about it? You must realize that you need help.”
“I don’t. Grief takes its time, and there is no rushing it. Ten shrinks with Nobel prizes can’t make it go away, or ease it, or shorten it. I know that from experience, and so do you. And if you’re wondering why I’m bringing grief up, it’s because I’m mourning my old self. That carefree, naïve girl is gone, and I’m damn sorry to lose her because I liked her.”
16
Turner
As Turner opened the door, the appetizing smells had him lifting a brow. Bridget was cooking?
Or was she just heating up leftovers from yesterday’s takeout?
Dropping his briefcase on the counter, he walked into the kitchen and kissed her cheek. “What are you making? Or better yet, why?”
“We haven’t had a home cooked meal in a while. I thought I’d throw something together. I’m making curry.”
He was surprised she even had the necessary ingredients. It wasn’t as if they’d done any grocery shopping lately. With both of them working twelve-hour days, going out to dinner or bringing home takeout made much more sense.
Still, it was a nice change of pace.
Pulling out a barstool, he sat at the counter. “I talked with Sandoval today.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “About the ring?”
“I didn’t bring it up right away, of course. First I hit him up for a donation.”
“Did he agree?”
Turner shifted on the stool. “Two hundred and fifty thousand. That’s chump change for him, but it will help with the down payment on the halfway house.”
“Nice.”
“Thank you, I thought so too. After I got him to make the pledge, we talked about his nephew and how things were working out. I let him go on and on about how grateful he was for what I’ve done for the brat, and I only brought the ring up after half an hour or so of chitchat.”
“As a casual aside.”
“Precisely. I told him I’m looking for a buyer for it as a favor for a friend who has fallen upon hard times. I added that my friend doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s selling his dear departed wife’s engagement ring, and therefore is asking not to offer it to anyone in Russia.”
“Did he buy the story?”
Turner shrugged. “It doesn’t matter whether he did or not. It’s a matter of appearances. Arturo would never admit to dealing with contraband on the black market. That way he only agrees to help a friend who is helping another friend, and we both come out smelling like roses.”
“So he agreed?” Bridget pulled out a bottle of ready-made curry sauce from the fridge and dumped it on top of the vegetables in the wok.
“He said that he might know someone who’d be interested. I need to bring the ring to him, though.”
“Is it safe to take something like this to South America?”
“He invited me to his house in Miami. I told him that I need to check with my fiancé.”
“When?”
“Next weekend.”
Bridget loaded the curry onto two plates and brought them over to the counter. “I’m curious to meet the infamous Arturo Sandoval, but I don’t know if I can take the entire weekend off.”
Turner spread his thighs a
nd pulled her between them. “Yes, you can. All the missions for the coming month are scheduled, and thankfully there are no crises to deal with. We haven’t gone on a vacation together in a long time.”
She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re right. A weekend in Miami sounds fun. Is it safe?”
“I wouldn't offer to take you if I thought it wasn’t.”
“Then it’s settled.” She pushed away from him and sat on the next stool over. “We should schedule time for dates.”
He arched a brow. “We go out to dinner at least three times a week.”
“Those are not dates. A date is when you dress up and go to a fancy place like By Invitation Only. Or a concert, or a play.”
“Don’t tell me that you bought a membership in your cousin’s snooty restaurant.”
“I didn’t, but I can have Kian make a reservation for us. I thought that you liked it there.”
“I did, but this is not the time for frivolous spending. I could probably afford to get it for us, but I think it would be in bad taste considering the budget cuts.”
“No, you’re right. That’s why I decided not to purchase a membership for us and mooch off Kian instead.”
Turner scooped some curry on his fork and put it in his mouth. It wasn’t bad, considering that it was made with store-bought sauce, but it wasn’t great either.
“It would’ve been nice to have a gourmet restaurant in the village.”
“Maybe one day we will. Callie is thinking about it. But first, she wants to get her degree.”
“That’s more important than having a restaurant. If Merlin’s research is successful and he finds a way to increase fertility, the village might have a bunch of kids who’ll need a school and a teacher.”
Bridget nodded. “I agree.”
She pushed a piece of carrot around her plate. “Speaking of Merlin and his research, how would you feel about joining his program?”
Turner was a smart man, but it took him a moment to process what Bridget had meant.
“You want to have a baby with me?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Shouldn’t we get married first?”
She eyed him as if he wasn’t making any sense. “That’s it? I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t a proposal.”
Yeah, as usual, his emotional intelligence rivaled that of a brick.
“What do you want me to say?”
She waved her hand. “Tell me how you feel about it. Do you want to be a father? Are you scared? Are you worried that our lives would get messy?”
Taking a deep breath, Turner smoothed his hand over his hair. “I would love to have a child with you, and I would love to actually be there for my child, and not only financially.”
“But?”
“First of all, Merlin is only starting out, and we don’t know if and when his fertility treatments will work. Secondly, we both work very long hours, not because we need the money, but because what we do is important. I don’t see how we can fit a baby into this schedule.”
She sighed. “Don’t you think I know that? But as you said, it will probably take a long time until Merlin refines his treatments, and there is always a possibility that nothing he does will work. But on the remote chance that the treatments are successful, it takes over nine months for the baby to be born. That’s plenty of time to find a solution. I can train a replacement, and you can downsize a little. Isn’t our child worth the effort?”
It seemed that his pragmatic and logical Bridget was taking a leap of faith, and assuming a child was a certainty.
Turner didn’t have the heart to burst her bubble. If going to Merlin for treatment would make her happy, he would support her in any way he could.
“I have no problem with giving it a try.”
“Remember that you said that.” She grinned. “Syssi told me that Merlin’s potions are absolutely vile.”
He lifted a brow. Was she concerned that her mouth would taste bad when they kissed?
“How much of the potion does she need to drink?”
“She and Kian both have to drink an ounce of it twice a day. Not the same potion, obviously, but she says that they are both terrible.”
17
Vivian
As Vivian turned into the Sanctuary’s parking lot, Ella pulled down the shade and glanced at the mirror. “Do you think I should put on some lipstick? I look like a chemo patient with this black wig.”
Vivian parked and reached to get her purse from the back seat. “Here.” She handed Ella a red lip pencil. “Dab a little on the outline and then smack your lips. The color is very strong.”
Once she was done, Ella examined her reflection again. “Now the shadows under my eyes look even worse. Do you have an eyeliner pencil in there?”
“Yes, I do.” She handed Ella a blue one. “Go easy with that too.”
The sudden fussing with her appearance belied Ella’s nonchalant attitude about meeting with Vanessa.
She’d agreed to come on the condition that all they were going to discuss was her idea for the fundraising project, and she had threatened to walk out if Vanessa tried to psychoanalyze her.
“How do I look now?”
“Gorgeous and barely recognizable.”
“Perfect.” She smiled. “Let’s do it.”
Her head held high, Ella walked into Vanessa’s office with an impressive show of confidence. It was fake, but Vivian was impressed nonetheless. Her daughter was a fighter.
“Hello, Dr. Vanessa.” Ella glanced at the desk as she offered the therapist her hand. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know your last name.”
“Everyone just calls me Vanessa. No doctor and no last name. Nice to meet you, Ella.” She shook the hand she was offered. “Please, take a seat.”
“Thank you.”
“Your mother told me that you have an interesting idea that you would like to run by me.” Vanessa smiled. “She insisted that I should see you as soon as possible because I was going to love it.”
Not wanting to steal Ella’s thunder, Vivian hadn’t told Vanessa what it was about. It was Ella’s baby, and if she was allowed to run with it, her sense of accomplishment would do wonders for her self-esteem.
“Are you familiar with the GoFundMe fundraising platform?” Ella asked.
Vanessa nodded. “I am. It’s a way to raise money for a friend or a relative. The platform takes care of collecting the donations, but the fundraising is done by the individual setting it up.”
“It can be much bigger than that. My idea is to make short videos of the rescued girls telling their stories in their own words. Each video will be about one girl, and we will only show her silhouette. We can even change her voice if you think that’s necessary. Then we post it on YouTube, and on Facebook, and ask people to fund the halfway houses for the girls, or share the video, or both.”
Vanessa leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “The idea is worth exploring, but I foresee a couple of problems. First of all, I don’t know how many girls would be willing to talk on camera, even in silhouette. Secondly, for this to succeed, these videos would need to go viral, and I sincerely doubt that it would happen. People don’t like sad stories. Show them pictures of puppies and kittens, and they will share that, but not depressing stuff.”
Ella lifted her hand and made air quotes. “Beware. This can happen to your daughter. Save a life. Watch and share.”
Raising a brow, Vanessa asked, “And you think a heading like that will motivate people to share a horror-story video?”
“It would motivate me,” Vivian said. “If I saw this heading, even before what happened to Ella, I would click on it, watch it, and share it. It could have prevented her ordeal. I might have been more vigilant and investigated Romeo right from the start.”
“Yeah, me too,” Ella said. “In my gut, I knew that something was off about him. I even told my best friend Maddie, and she agreed with me. But I wanted to believe that he was for real
.” She shook her head. “I was so naïve.”
Vanessa leaned forward. “It wasn’t your fault, Ella. He was so convincing that he even fooled your mother, who has much more life experience than you. Good people don’t expect others to be bad. They are under the illusion that most people are just as good as they are.”
“I guess.” Shifting in her chair, Ella tugged on her wig to readjust it. “But back to my fundraising idea. I get what you’re saying about people not wanting to listen to harrowing stories. The videos will have to be edited, and the production will have to be done at least semi-professionally. Not too polished, but not too crude either.”
Vivian stifled a sigh. Ella had smoothly sidestepped Vanessa’s attempt to redirect the discussion toward what had happened to her.
“If you’re thinking about bringing in a camera crew, that’s not going to work, not even if it’s all female. A girl might be willing to talk to you, someone who’s gone through a similar experience, but not to strangers, and especially not in front of a group of people.”
Ella shrugged. “Originally, I thought to just shoot them with my phone’s camera and then do some editing to make sure the girls were not recognizable, but I think I’ll need better equipment.”
“Do you know how to use a professional recording camera?”
“No, but I can learn. The videos don’t have to be movie quality. In fact, it’s better if they aren’t. People are going to be moved by their authenticity, not their high production value.”
“Are you willing to tell your story on camera?” Vanessa pinned Ella with a hard look.
As evidenced by Ella’s audible gulp, she hadn’t considered the possibility.
A long moment passed until she nodded. “I’ll hate doing it, but I will. It’s important for people to realize that this can happen to any girl anywhere. I don’t know how the other girls got lured into a trap, or what their circumstances were before, but I guess some of them were just like me. Middle-class girls from good homes that were tricked by pros.”
