Chapter 13 #2
“But now you’re friends?” Gemma seemed like a good-hearted person. How did she get involved with them?
“Family,” she corrected. “They are the family I never had.” She had a loving smile on her face.
I didn’t know what to make of it.
Gemma bit at her nail, eyeing me apprehensively. “I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell you this… Hell, I’ve never told anyone about it.” Her eyes darted between me and the floor. “I know a thing or two about Grayson swooping in for the rescue.”
She didn’t say anything further, just watched her hands. It was obvious that this was difficult for her to speak about.
“What do you mean?” I prompted gently.
She gave a bitter snort. “He bought me. That’s how we first met.”
What? “He bought you?” I questioned, shock prickling my skin.
Gemma nodded. “I’d been trafficked, Ava.
My own father had sold me to traffickers for drug money.
” Her voice was thick with emotion, but she sat perfectly still.
I, on the other hand, recoiled at her words.
Gods, what kind of sick world did we live in?
These poor people. I realised how much of a safe bubble I grew up in.
I vowed that if I ever saw my parents again, that I would thank them for sheltering me from this cruel world.
I took Gemma’s hands like she had taken mine. “That’s…” I couldn’t find the words to comfort her, or to express how I felt.
“I was high as a kite, pumped full of drugs to keep me… compliant, when they auctioned me off. But I will never forget that day. I will never forget that feeling of watching Grayson and Thompson go into a bidding war for me. I was no better than an animal.” She took a deep breath and smiled sadly. “Lucky for me, Grayson won.”
I waited for her to continue. There surely had to be more to the story. What the hell was Grayson doing in a place like that? Did he buy women often?
“I expected the worst from him, of course. And you know how he is. He can be such an unfeeling brute sometimes.” She smiled and shook her head affectionately.
Her demeanour confused me. He had bought her.
“Long story short, he was there that night… It’s complicated.
But he saw what was happening and decided to take me.
Then I helped him bring down the whole thing.
We did it anonymously, of course, but we saved so many girls.
” Her voice cracked. “And all those trafficking bastards are all behind bars. Some are dead.” Her eyes flashed to mine for a moment.
I swallowed hard at the lump in my throat. “You’re so strong, Gemma.” My mind was reeling. This had happened to her, and she still had the courage, the will, to smile.
She cleared her throat. “Thompson,” she spat the name, “the other guy that bid on me, it was his gold we took at the bank. They were illegally safeguarding it for him, so he wouldn’t have to pay taxes on his money.
So technically, the gold was never there, and we didn’t steal anything from the bank. ” She gave a small smile.
Mr. Greene. Did he really do that? “Thompson didn’t go to prison?”
She shook her head, her lips pursed. “No. Gray, he… he likes to punish people his own way. He takes the time to get to know someone first. To figure out where it will hurt most. For Thompson, it wasn’t prison or even death.
It’s his money and status. So we took all of it from him. The gold was the last of it.”
Her breath came out in a woosh, her features softening. “Grayson helped me get my revenge, and now I can move on with my life.”
We studied each other’s faces for a while. Gemma was the first to talk.
“I hope you understand him better now. He does bad things, but he’s good too, you know? He took me under his wing and gave me a family.” She snickered. “A weird one, but a family, nonetheless. One that would do anything for me, instead of sell me for a fix.” Her lips thinned at the memory.
I squeezed her hands. “Well, I’m glad I was of use stealing that gold,” I joked, trying to lift her mood.
She gave a strangled laugh and stood from the bed. “Well, Grayson is downstairs in the living room. If you want to avoid him some more, you can help me hang these?” She winked at me conspiratorially. “And while we’re busy with that, we can think up other activities to dodge him.”
I laughed gratefully. “I’m taking some of this stuffing for my crow.
” I was thankful to Gemma. She was being a real lifesaver.
I needed time to process. Plus, I enjoyed her company.
She was funny and bubbly and went out of her way to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of. And gods, her strength was inspiring.
By the end of the week, I was sure that under normal circumstances, we would’ve been fast friends.
Gemma and Rachel would have gotten along splendidly.
We spent most of our time hiding from Grayson at a stream near the cabin and chatting about everything under the sun.
Gemma was studying the comings and goings of a newt, which I had to admit, also grabbed my interest. But I spent most of the time there foraging close by, taking samples of plants I didn’t recognise, so I could look them up later when I was free again.
I was even lucky enough to see a rare mushroom release its spores, something most people would never experience.
Not that most people were into that kind of thing.
My crow friend also came along on our trips.
Gemma had given me some cereal that I used to play with him—throwing it up in the air for him to catch mid-flight.
On the second day, he brought me a gift.
A beautiful flower. He nodded his head, very chuffed, when I placed the flower behind my ear.
From then on, he brought me a flower or bundle of berries each time he came along with us.
Sometimes, I would just sit quietly and listen to the chatter of the trees.
It was hard to hear and required immense focus, but I loved to listen to them.
They were patient and wise and kind. They recognised me too—or the stories of my visits to the forest over the years, carried over, deep within the ground, from root to root.
“The Curious One,” they called me. “The daughter of Gaia that can eavesdrop,” they liked to tease too.
On our way back to the cabin, after another lovely day at the stream, Gemma, with her sixth sense, found a nest of the cutest pink baby mice.
But there was also the carcass of what we presumed to be their mother, and they looked a little lethargic.
So, Gemma of course, brought them with her to the cabin.
We were sitting at the dining table, trying to feed the three babies with milk in a syringe when Grayson and Hunter came laughing through the door. Hunter was punching at Grayson’s side, trying to get free from the headlock he was in. They looked every bit like brothers and almost… normal.
“Oh, Gem. Again?” Hunter sighed in a loving tone. He came to kiss her on the cheek and inspected the mice. He completely ignored my existence, which I was used to by now. I still hadn’t had the nerve to ask Gemma about it. I just pretended not to notice his cold demeanour towards me.
Gemma stuck her tongue out at him.
Hunter pulled his face back abruptly as he realised what she was holding. “Gemma! Really? Mice? You know I hate those things!” He shuddered, pulling his face in disgust.
“And this is your chance to get over it.” She lifted the small pink baby closer to his face. “Look at it! How can you hate something so freakin’ cute!” she screeched adoringly.
Hunter pretended to gag. “You just keep those things far away from me, or I’ll feed them to the owls,” he warned.
Grayson was still standing by the door, quietly watching the spectacle with his hands in his pockets.
I could feel his eyes on me, making me squirm in my seat.
Inevitably, my traitorous eyes looked to him.
I got caught in his gaze, his eyes keeping mine captured for an uncomfortably long time.
When I finally broke the spell he had over me and looked away, my whole body was tingling.
I had thought that time away from him would dull whatever was happening between us, but boy, was I wrong.
I felt flushed and flustered from just one look.
Feelings of wanting to get away and wanting him closer, warred in me.
I could almost see the strange tether between us, pulling at my chest.
As if he felt the tug too, Grayson sauntered over to us and took a seat next to me. “Need any help?”
Gemma answered. “Sure. You can feed this little guy.” She shifted the small box and the third syringe over to him.
He gently took the third baby out of the box and studied the way Gemma and I fed our little mice, intently, before trying it himself.
He frowned. “He’s not swallowing it down.”
“Oh, that’s because Ava hasn’t worked her magic on him yet.” Gemma grinned from ear to ear.
I placed my pink mouse back in the box. “Here, let me have a look.”
Grayson placed the baby in my palm. He seemed weaker than the other two.
I could feel him slipping away. I warmed him between my two hands, closed my eyes to focus on that spark of life in the centre of my chest, and gently blew over his face.
I did it two more times, feeling his tiny body start to warm.
“Now, it is up to you, little one, if you want to continue this life or move on to the next. But if you ask me, I’d stay. Gem here will spoil you rotten.”
Gemma giggled excitedly as the little mouse shifted in my hands.
“Good choice.” I smiled, satisfied. I handed him back to Grayson.
“By the way, it only works when she does it,” Gemma muttered to Grayson.
I watched, awestruck by how gently Grayson was handling the little baby in his big hands. He had a crease between his brow as he carefully concentrated. With a few more tries, the baby was drinking.
“You’re staring, Princess.”