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“I know coming here is painful. But the world has changed while you’ve been at the Sanctuary. In your mind, this compound remained your former prison. I wanted you to see what it’s become and help you imagine what it might be one day.”
Lilting my lips, I relax under the power of our kiss. Overlord is so beautiful. I often find myself startled when I catch him in a particular light as if his good looks are otherworldly. As a teenager, I crushed hard on him.Now, he’s mine.
I don’t feel worthy, especially when he does such sweet things like keep my mom’s memory alive. In Metamora, the local women’s shelter is named after Betty Boop. Overlord’s mom was a great person who helped many. My own mother couldn’t even save herself.
Yet, I loved her. As a kid, I’d see how close she was to taking charge of her life. Beth never broke free of her devotion of Kraken. In the end, I think she stayed out of habit. As if she’d hit a point in her life, where she felt too old to start over.
When I consider the sad, sickly woman she was at her death, I see nothing to celebrate. But my mom was more than Kraken’s side piece. She was once wild and free. Though her life became a constant competition with Mother Goose, she still told me more than once how she was happy to have a daughter.
“Kraken has enough sons,” Beth explained and winked at me.
Life at the Sanctuary helped me remember my mom as more than the woman she was at the end. Her old friends fill in blanks about Queen Bee in her youth. I feel like I know my mom better now.
“You’re a good man,” I tell Overlord while he holds me. “You saved me.”
“And you saved me,” he says, wrapping me tighter. “Never forget how lost I was when you returned to my life. I couldn’t take care of my girls. They were drowning in grief, and I was useless.”
“We saved each other,” I say, breathing easier now as my gaze washes over the land. “Together, we can do anything.”
For the first time since hearing about Rafe’s attack on the compound, I don’t feel a nagging guilt. I thought I should fix the problems created by men far more powerful than me. Yet, I have no duty to them. What happened in Cahuenga wasn’t my fault.
Overlord and I take the scenic route back to the Sanctuary. As a lovesick teen, I dreamed of riding behind this beautiful man. I had many hopes. The road I took to becoming Overlord’s Duchess wasn’t easy, but there’s no denying I’ve reached the perfect destination.
GHOST
My Angel Eyes is ina great mood this morning. She feels optimistic about getting pregnant soon. She’s been especially baby crazy since Jelly Bean gave birth to her little girl, Vada. We visited the new moms last night, and Aqua swore it would happen for us.
Still thinking about the baby, Luca asks Hope, “Isn’t Vada a pretty baby?”
Hope nods as she pets her cat. “Do you want a girl?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I believe Luca when she says those words. She’s dreamed of a kid for nearly a decade. I can feel her excitement as we say goodbye for the afternoon.
“We’ll be patient and enjoy the process,” Luca promises me before I head out to meet Apex. “No stress.”
