Chapter 5 #3
“But her happiness was short-lived, for the warrior she fancied herself in love with took off his mask and revealed his true face. He was no warrior, but an ogre in disguise. He could not love because he had no heart, and the entire time he’d been with the misunderstood princess, he’d been grooming her, training her.
He wanted her to use her body to pleasure and please his ogre friends.
The misunderstood princess learned that she was not the only one of his charges the warrior’s guild had entrusted to him that he was blackmailing and using for his sick, twisted desires.
“Once again, the misunderstood princess learned she could not trust anyone. She’d forgotten her initial rules, but now she remembered.
Now she had to protect not only herself but the other charges in the ogre’s care.
Before the ogre could bring the misunderstood princess to his fiendish friends, she brought several of the warrior’s guild to the ogre’s home when he had his mask removed.
They saw him for what he truly was, and took him away to their secret dungeon.
“They offered their apologies, even took the misunderstood princess away from the land where the ogre had been keeping her. But she was done trusting others. The world, her own kingdom, thought her dead, and she planned to keep it that way. She ran away from the warrior’s guild, leaving behind a doppelg?nger in her place.
“Now the misunderstood princess is not free. She did not run to a utopian land where she never had to worry about enemies finding her. Instead, she remained behind, watching over and protecting her sister with the use of the mystic realm and her powers. The misunderstood princess still has many of her own crimes that she has to make up for from her youth, and every day, she tries to right a wrong done to an innocent, even knowing that she is now the one who lives in the shadows and wears a mask so no one can find her.”
* * *
Rose remained sitting up in bed for several long minutes following the end of her story.
She did not know if the silence meant Keys had fallen asleep—and if he had, how much he had heard—or if he was simply resting.
She also didn’t know which she was hoping for.
More than anything else, she wanted to take his pain away. She hated the fact that he was hurting.
All of them were. Poison might not have known Melanie, but Sissy and Scissors had.
Melanie was as much Sissy’s club cousin as the other VDMC children were.
Over the past year since the Non Cras had been formed, Rose had gotten to know many of the club members beyond Poison and Kitty.
Viper was quiet and reserved, but a force to be reckoned with when wronged.
Phoenix was just as badass as ever, though there was no denying that she was more settled now that she’d found her soulmate.
Unhinged as ever, Gypsy was hilarious and unpredictable.
Tabs was the newest to the club, and she was getting to know and learning to trust everyone, including the mystery voice that randomly spoke in their ears.
Wendigo was definitely more even keeled since Waya and Benjamin came back into her life.
The throuple had a rocky start, but they were making it work.
Sissy was as much VDMC as she was NCMC. Her pain was their pain, and Rose couldn’t stand that she was just sitting here in her rented house across the country. Helpless, hopeless… She had no cure to offer her friends and family, no way to dull their agony or mend their hurt.
And Keys? How did she even describe her feelings for that man?
In under a year, he’d become the best friend she’d ever had.
Even Katy, Nora, and Luanne, her best friends and dubbed “foster sisters” from the reform school her parents had dumped her in, could not compare.
In many ways, Keys was the person she trusted most in the world. Including her own sister.
And he knew! He knew who she was. Rose didn’t know for how long.
Clearly, it wasn’t something he’d just figured out today.
He had to have known for a while. What gave her away?
As far as she knew, there were only two other people in the world who knew that the Non Cras’ tech, the mystery voice that guided them, was Poison’s sister back from the dead.
Kitty, Poison’s lover and Knightmare, and Jack from the Mountain Mutineers.
Keys made three. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
It had been hard enough stomaching that Kitty knew.
He’d figured it out months ago from his connection with Jack, along with the fact that it had been Rose who manipulated Kitty and Poison to the same house so they would meet.
Poison was so bullheaded, insisting that she was strong enough to go it alone, and Rose hadn’t liked the idea of her not having someone readily at her back.
She hadn’t known they would become lovers.
That had been a…happy accident, for lack of better wording.
But Rose was thrilled that her sister had finally found someone who could match her, challenge her, and wouldn’t hesitate to protect her.
Though Rose prayed Poison never discovered that Kitty knew Rose was alive for the entirety of their relationship and did not tell her. She hated that she was the secret being kept between them, but she also couldn’t risk Poison discovering who “MV” really was.
The phone still to her ear, Rose looked over at Oscar. All her sacrifices, everything she did, was for him. He was so small, so innocent. He did not deserve to pay for her crimes, but that would be exactly what would happen if the people she’d fucked over in her past discovered she was still alive.
The 3Ts may have lost their foothold in Atlanta, but they were still very active in the southern drug trade—and they were all very aware that Rose took down the congressman that had greased the wheels of their easiest smuggling routes.
She’d seen them shoot a woman when her lover was behind on distribution quotas.
Rose had no trouble believing that they would harm her son to get back at her.
“You’re wrong, you know.”
Rose’s breath caught. She’d honestly thought he’d fallen asleep. “Am I?”
“You don’t help people because you owe penance. You help them because you want to, because you’re a good person.”
Rose closed her eyes, grateful he could not see the shame on her face. “You do not know all I’ve done, Keys. You don’t know the hurt I’ve caused.”
“Everyone’s made mistakes, Rose. We’re human.
The only thing that’s perfect about us is the fact that we’re imperfect.
We fuck up. We learn. We try again. You’re right that I don’t know everything you’ve done.
I can only imagine the hurt and betrayal that you’ve endured.
You were a kid. You should have been protected, guided.
You were let down by so many people… It breaks my heart to know how alone you’ve been your entire life.
I look up to Poison, even respect her as a leader and a club sister, but there’s no denying she equally let you down. ”
“It wasn’t her fault,” Rose defended. “She had a right to her own life.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that she was an adult while you were a child.
Give yourself some credit, Rose. If you were truly a bad person, you would have continued your life of crime.
Said ‘fuck you’ to anyone and everyone, looking out for only yourself.
You and I both know that there are a lot of people who would exploit what we can do.
You could offer your services to the highest bidder.
Instead, you help your sister find people who need her, uh, extra brand of help.
You’re a good person, Rose. I just wish you would see that. ”
Rose shifted uncomfortably. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s called me by my name. Like, a really long time. Feels odd to hear it, actually.”
“Do you want me to call you something else? Honestly, I was happy when I had something to call you by. ‘Glitch’ was just weird.”
Rose chuckled. “Yeah. I mean, no. You can call me ‘Rose’. It’s fine.”
“Good.”
“Since we’re trading secrets, what’s your name?” she asked, curious.
“You mean you have had access to my system for nearly six months and you haven’t gone digging into my personal information?” he asked back. Though his voice was still tired, there was a hint of amusement to it. She was glad. “I’m honestly shocked at your restraint.”
Rose shook her head, even though he couldn’t see it. Smiling, she said, “It’s good to know one of us has boundaries.”
“Fair. It’s Caspian.”
“Really?” Rose frowned. “You don’t act like a Caspian.”
“What do Caspians act like?” Keys inquired.
She shrugged, picking at the edge of the comforter. “I don’t know… I just like ‘Keys’ better. It suits you.”
“My brothers are dicks. Back when I was a prospect, one of them said something about how I touched keyboards more than I touched girls, and it became a thing.” He paused for a second.
“When I patched in, we could choose our road names. I didn’t want to risk them coming up with something stupid, like Pumpkin’s, so I chose ‘Keys’. They seemed pretty happy with that.”
“You know how you were saying I don’t give myself enough credit? You don’t either, you know.”
He chuckled. “What a pair we make. We can see the good in each other, but not ourselves.”
“How about we make a deal then? Each day we make sure to tell the other something to help them believe they’re a good person. Can be small, can be big, but it has to be something current. Deal?”
“Deal.” She liked that she could hear the smile in his voice. “Now, tell me more about this misunderstood princess. She sounds hot.”
Rose tried to keep her voice serious. “The misunderstood princess who was sixteen for a good part of that story sounds hot??”
There were several heartbeats of silence before Keys said, “And on that note, I’m going to say good night and go to bed. Well, actually, I’m probably going to Hell, but hopefully not tonight. Night!”
Keys hung up before she could respond, making Rose have to bite her pillow to keep from laughing.