Chapter 10
Saturday morning, Ariel paced the empty classroom, waiting for anyone to show up to her Survivors of Grimm support group.
She had checked the vents for anyone who might be listening in, since she now knew she was living under dual surveillance—trusted by neither FUC nor Grimm.
It had occurred to her that perhaps she should postpone the meeting if she wanted to keep acting as though she were still loyal to Grimm, but what was the point if he already knew she wasn’t?
Her chest burned with anger as she recalled the note that had been left on their table the night before, and the lie spelled out so blatantly inside it. Grimm had tricked her once, but she wasn’t about to let him take advantage of her a second time.
It seemed unfair that Anson would cut her out of FUC’s plan to capture Grimm.
They were the same age, after all, though he technically was born a whole three minutes before she was.
Ariel didn’t like this big brother protector chip he had on his shoulder.
It started when she first got sick as a child.
It kept her feeling helpless. She didn’t like that feeling one bit.
It was time to take her power back. Learning the truth was the first step.
Now it was time to do something about it.
Ariel had passed out invitations to members of her therapy group and left other invitations with Paige to pass out to anyone she’d missed.
She got permission to use one of the therapy rooms for her first meeting, and she’d even had the forethought to ask Paige if she wanted to sit in on the group to supervise their activities.
Paige had surprised her by declining, telling her, “You’ve got this.
” That was good. Because Ariel had plans for this meeting that Paige might put a stop to if she were there.
Ariel’s heart skipped a beat when the door finally opened.
The large black wings behind Gabby made her appear a fallen angel of sorts.
The dark expression on her face coupled the smokey, black eye shadow she wore only completed the look, although Gothic angel was more like it.
Ariel felt her eyebrow raise as she noticed Gabby carried something large wrapped in a blanket under her arm.
She set it on one of the desks in front of Ariel.
“Present,” Gabby said. Ariel knew the clipped word did not necessarily mean Gabby was still mad at her.
She had trouble speaking after what Grimm did to her, and one-worded sentences were easier.
While Gabby’s attitude had softened towards her, Ariel knew better than to consider the crow shifter a friend—not yet, anyway.
Part of her wondered if Gabby was only pretending to go along with the support group so she could get revenge on Ariel when she least expected it.
Sure, she hadn’t had first-hand involvement with Gabby’s capture, imprisonment, and experimentation, but she wasn’t sure that much distance was enough for Gabby to actually give up any desire for vengeance against anyone involved in Grimm’s plots.
It would be even harder for those who had seen her face while they were imprisoned.
She might not have been their kidnapper or recruiter, but she might have been one of the lackeys who delivered food to them while they were imprisoned, or one of those who transported them from their cell to the experiment labs.
She sighed. There were many who harbored anger toward her—and for good reason. But she had to put herself out there and hope that she could trust people.
“Gabby,” she started, squaring her shoulders so she could do what she needed to.
When the crow shifter faced her, she continued, “I need to apologize to you for my involvement working with Grimm. I’m sorry this happened to you.
I’m sorry I helped him throughout the years.
And I’m sorry it took me so long to come around to seeing the harm my actions caused. ”
Gabby considered the words for a moment, then gave a sharp nod. “I accept.”
Was that it? Was it really that easy to be forgiven? Ariel figured they were at least at the starting line. Whatever happened from this point forward would be judged against her former misdeeds. But at least she was being given a chance.
She turned her attention to the package Gabby deposited and wondered what the gift could be. The blanket wrapping the item looked like one of the honeycomb patterned ones the hospital used for their beds. “Do I open it now, or wait until others arrive?”
“Now.” Gabby gestured toward it.
Ariel gasped at what she found. She looked up to Gabby, and the shifter’s icy blue eyes crinkled in the corners as she smiled, though it seemed a mischievous grin.
“How did you find this?” Ariel’s voice caught in her throat as if her breath had been knocked out of her.
How did Gabby even know she was looking for it?
Ariel never thought she’d see her prosthetic leg again.
And while the one FUC gave her functioned well enough and was comfortable enough, the one Grimm made her had weapons hidden inside.
It had a taser, a few throwing knives, brass knuckles, and some zip ties.
Now that her shrew venom was dulled—thanks to FUC—she wished it had a compartment for pepper spray.
Before Gabby could answer, a woman with bright pink hair waltzed into the room, cheerfully announcing, “I brought coffee and donuts!” The bright pink feathers in her hair shifted as she sauntered over to the desk at the front of the classroom and set down the refreshments.
Ariel wasn’t sure who this shifter was. While she had invited a bunch of people, the smiling woman wasn’t from any of the therapy groups Ariel had attended, but maybe she was someone Paige had handed an invite to.
She was about to ask who the hell the woman was when Gabby’s face lit up.
“Lyla!” She beamed as she put her arms around the woman’s waist, planting a kiss on her full lips.
Gabby turned to Ariel and stated, “I invited.”
Ariel nodded, taking in the slender woman.
She figured the feathers were attached to her head and not added as some sort of fashion statement due to the amount of ex-experiment bird shifters at WANC with animal traits that wouldn’t disappear in their shift back to human form.
Lyla must have been a rescued experiment, too.
And since she’d gotten permission to invite others from outside the therapy groups—including Ariel’s sort-of-girlfriend, Joline—she figured it was fair that Gabby asked hers to join them, too.
And at least Lyla was a rescue; Joline wasn’t.
As if on cue, Joline walked through the door, carrying plates and cups. “Huggie gave me some supplies,” she explained to Lyla, referring to the on-campus activities coordinator, AKA party planner.
“You two know each other?” Ariel asked, more confused than ever.
This was her club, and she’d meant it to be a gathering of strangers, but these sort-of-friends were a welcome surprise.
Seeing the three women casually stand around together gave Ariel a cozy feeling.
It was thoughtful. And surprisingly, she was filled with a warmth that made her feel her heart might burst from happiness.
Joline nodded. “Lyla’s a cadet. She joined after me, but we have some classes together.” Joline beamed at the other couple. When she noticed the blanket mound on the desk, she looked at it quizzically and asked, “What’s this?”
“Gabby found the leg Grimm made me. Although, I probably shouldn’t ask how she got it,” Ariel explained.
She was surprised at how much being honest had been helping her.
And actually trusting people—a little bit, anyway.
These women had already done far more for her and asked for far less than Grimm had in her time working for him.
Ariel lifted the blanket, inspecting the prosthetic.
The round gears and hydraulics seemed to be functional.
The black sleeve at the top still had the nodes for sensing her leg muscle movement so the prosthetic would move more like a real limb.
The sight of it alone made her body relax, knowing the relief it would bring from the stiff basic one she’d had to use for so long. It really was a work of art.
But looking at it now, Ariel realized something was missing.
Not physically, no, it seemed completely in-tact.
What was missing was the feeling she’d once had when she looked at the device as a symbol of Grimm’s generosity, even love.
Now she knew that she’d been fooled by him.
The only thing Grimm loved was experimentation.
Heck, maybe the whole reason he’d cut her leg off in the first place was just so he could test out the apparatus. The thought made her feel sick.
Ariel tapped twice on a side compartment of the thigh. It opened revealing a sleeve of throwing knives. She slid one out, taking the sheaf with it before putting it in her pocket.
Joline’s brow creased with concern. “Is that a good idea?” Her brown eyes flicked from Gabby to Ariel a few times, like she was watching a ping-pong match. Gabby shrugged, looking a little sheepish, while Layla playfully smacked her shoulder.