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CHAPTER TWENTY
MAGGIE
The human girls are safe.
The exit was just where Marcellus had claimed it would be. Once again, he came to my rescue, and this time, he saved twelve additional girls as well.
When we rushed out into the open air, several of the girls broke down, falling to their knees and weeping. I’d had to beg them to get up. I’d had to remind them we weren’t out of the woods yet. We were still on vampire territory.
A silver-haired woman who looked more fairy than human had practically glided toward us out of nowhere. Despite the fact that the woman was unfamiliar, she brought a kind of peace with her. It blanketed the area, calming all of us under its influence. With her were Addy and Vzar, who assured me that we could trust her.
We’d managed to herd the girls toward a bus that the woman—Sarah—had arranged. I learned that she was the wife of one of the counts. Count Westoff was a trusted ally, according to Vzar. There was so much information thrown about, and I caught about every other word, nodding my head idly while trying to process it all.
“Maggie, can you help me?” Vzar calls from the front of the bus, drawing my attention.
We’ve been trying to keep the girls calm and preoccupied while decisions are made on how best to get them home.
“I’ll be right back,” I promise Callie, the girl I’d been trying to keep from breaking down.
“O-oh-kkay,” she stutters, teeth chattering, likely from the adrenaline receding.
Her large, haunted brown eyes stare right through me, chilling me to the bone. Callie is the youngest of the group, and the most outwardly traumatized. I’ve tried to coax her into talking about her family or friends, anything to get her mind off of whatever evil she endured with the vampires, but she’s mostly remained quiet and lost in her own terror.
I make my way to the front of the bus, where Vzar is talking in hushed tones to Sarah. Count Westoff hikes up the steps, joining them as I approach.
“What’s going on?” I ask Vzar.
He shares a glance with Sarah, who offers a tight-lipped smile.
“We’ve been talking, and the best option we have is to compel.”
I blink, trying to process his words. “Compel them?” I run a hand back through my hair. “What does that involve exactly?”
“I’ll simply whisper a different scenario to them, and it will become their reality,” Sarah explains. “They’ll remember their experience, but all traces of vampires will be erased. They’ll believe they were part of a human trafficking situation.”
“Why not compel them to forget it all?”
“They need to know who they are and where they come from so that it will be easy for the police to locate their family. We don’t want to rob them of their lives.” She sighs. “Besides, if all the girls mysteriously lose their memories, it would bring up a whole host of questions by the authorities. We need to avoid that at all costs.”
I bob my head. “So, you’ll take them to the police? Not a hospital?”
“I’m”—she looks to Count Westoff, who nods once before she continues—“aware of a trafficking operation. One I’ve been wanting to bring down for some time.” Her teeth clench and her fists ball. “I’ve worked with very talented psychiatrists to help the victims of this group. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been enough evidence to convict them.”
“I was able to find some,” Count Westoff chimes in. “If we pin it on this operation and steer the conversation away from vampires, I can guarantee that the Council will agree to allow these girls to return home.”
“If we don’t do this, what happens to the girls?”
Vzar and Sarah share a look.
“They’ll hunt the girls down and kill them because of their knowledge of vampires,” Sarah explains.
“Okay. What’s next?” I ask her.
“Sarah will compel all the girls and we’ll distribute a sleeping serum to ensure they’re all calm. Once that’s done, Sarah and I will ride with the bus to Texas and stop at the first police station. One we know isn’t in the pocket of the traffickers.”
“How long until you’re on the road?” I ask Westoff.
“As soon as they’re asleep.”
