Astrid Stark Writes...

Hi! I’m Astrid, a reading fanatic, an avid tea-drinker, and an obsessive daydreamer whose biggest outlet is writing. This fall, I’ll also begin my Masters degree in English Literature and Transmedia research at the University of Alberta, where I’ll continue fangirling academically over my favourite storyworlds. 

This is a blog where I share all the stories I'm writing, most notably from The World of Solaris, which is what I call the world in my head. I have multiple short stories available, which are all linked below, and numerous extra material that can be found in my Master List.

Enjoy :)

There are a few ways you can read my short stories: in the order they release, chronological order, or in thematical order in their specific collections.

Short Story Collections

Swiftly Magical Stories

A Place in This World (part one, two, three, and four)

The Outside (coming soon)

Tales from the Shadows

My Three Little Daisy Buds (part one, two, and three)

The Heirs of Red (part one, two, and three)

Going Underground (coming soon)

Chronological Order

A Place in This World (part one, two, three, and four)

Going Underground (coming soon)

The Outside (coming soon)

My Three Little Daisy Buds (part one, two, and three)

The Heirs of Red (part one, two, and three)

Release Order

A Place in This World (part one, two, three, and four)

My Three Little Daisy Buds (part one, two, and three)

The Heirs of Red (part one, two, and three)

The Outside (coming soon)

Felicity didn’t come out of her room for dinner. Or when Rose put the kids to bed. Or when Rose was finally ready for bed herself. 

Rose walked down to the basement, took one look at her new bed, and grabbed all her bedding before turning back upstairs. She couldn’t handle being two floors away from the kids for the first night. And, if she was being completely honest with herself, she didn’t want to be too far away from Felicity. Roman’s warning rang in her mind.

Luna slept in the kids’ room, and Rose had sent Athena out to fly a perimeter around the city. Just in case.

Rose got comfortable on the living room couch, exhausted from the day and so ready for sleep that when her head hit the pillow, she could already feel oblivion take her. But ever since she left her family and joined Roman’s, Rose could never fall into deep sleep, and she learned very quickly that being a light sleeper was important in the world she now lived in.

Like right now.

Rose startled awake. 

At first, she wasn’t sure why. The house was quiet. Except…

The quietest footsteps could be heard a few paces away. Rose was sure that she wouldn’t have detected them if not for her supernatural hearing. Even with that, she had to listen very closely to make them out.

Moving as quietly as the other person in the room, Rose got up and turned, crouching down so they wouldn’t notice she was onto them. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Rose could make out a small figure creeping towards the front door, carrying a backpack and a large coat. 

Rose sighed and stood up to her full height.

“Where are you going?”

Felicity startled at the exact moment Rose turned on one of the lamps. They both took a moment to adjust to the light before Felicity turned her glare on Rose.

She stubbornly didn’t answer, just crossed her arms.

“What are you planning to do?” Rose asked, trying to keep her voice even, but she was tired and annoyed.

It was clear that Felicity was trying not to engage, probably more from stubbornness than anything else. But she was also a bomb just waiting for an excuse to go off.

Rose kept pushing. “Was your plan to wander outside in the cold until what? Until you froze to death? Starved? Got kidnapped?”

It worked.

“Well, anywhere is better than here!” Felicity yelled.

Rose winced, hoping that she didn’t just wake up the kids upstairs.

“I already said that I’m sorry I snapped, and I will keep apologizing, but you can’t just leave—”

“I can do whatever I want!” Felicity said indignantly and started walking to the door again.

“No, you can’t!” Rose jumped forward to grab Felicity’s arm. “Do you know how dangerous it is out there?”

Felicity squirmed in her grip.

“Let go of me!”

Rose got in between her and the door before she let go. She was confident that Felicity wouldn’t be able to get past her. Felicity seemed to recognize it too, because she glared at Rose one last time before she turned on her heel and headed back to the stairs.

“I HATE YOU!” she screamed over her shoulder.

Rose closed her eyes for a second before following her, remembering what Felicity did the last time she was this angry.

As she suspected, Felicity got to her room and tried to slam the door closed, but Rose caught it just in time. In retaliation, Felicity threw her backpack at Rose, but she caught that too, albeit barely. That was when Rose could take in the state of the bedroom for the first time since she moved her stuff out. 

After she turned the light on, she saw with horror what Felicity spent her time doing after she locked herself in here. Red marker was everywhere on the walls, outlining abstract slashes across the white paint between monstrous figures that looked so heinous they were almost good. 

“What the…”

But Felicity was on the move again. And before Rose could move a muscle, Felicity grabbed a picture book that Rose left for her to read and slammed it into the wall, corner first. The wall tore open like paper, and Rose knew that if the kids hadn’t been awake before, they sure were now.

“Felicity!” Rose yelled at her. “STOP!”

But Felicity moved to swing the book again.

Rose jumped forward and grabbed the book, wrenching it from the little girl’s grip. 

“What is wrong with you!” Rose snapped. 

Felicity seemed to take that as a challenge. She grabbed a small object from her bed—one of those markers with fruity scents. Rose thought she would throw it at her, but Felicity used it to punch another hole in the wall. 

Rose tried to stop her, but Felicity snaked out of her grip. Rose tried again, but this time, the pink strawberry-smelling marker broke in half, and suddenly Felicity and Rose were covered in pink ink. 

“Felicity, stop this!” Rose shouted.

At the same time, Lorelai, Jasper, and Winnie burst into the room, Luna on their heels. 

They were enough of a distraction for Rose to take the marker away from Felicity, dropping it behind her beside the picture book.

“Go back to your room,” Rose said to the kids, not wanting them to be Felicity’s next targets.

But Lorelai planted her feet, and Jasper and Winnie wouldn’t leave without her.

When Rose turned back to Felicity, she looked angrier, as if she didn’t want Rose to think that she would hurt the kids. 

“Just stay away from me!” Felicity yelled.

“Felicity, let’s calm down and talk—”

“You aren’t my mom!” Felicity screamed.

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but held still when she heard a distant sound. The hair on the back of her neck rose, and her heart rate started to climb. 

“Shut up,” Rose breathed softly, and all of the kids, Felicity included, went still. 

Footsteps sounded downstairs, soft like they didn’t want to be heard. It didn’t sound like Roman or any of the government agents that checked up on them. 

Rose thought for a second that it was the man who killed her mom, coming to finish the job, the very thing Roman was supposed to protect her from, but Rose usually sensed when he was around. This presence was foreign. 

Luna grew in size and stood between them and the door as Rose very quietly took out her phone and sent Roman an SOS text. She hoped he made it in time. 

With a flick of her wrist, the kids went behind her. Then Rose slid quickly to the closet to find the gun stashed in there. Roman always said he had something in every room, and after a second, Rose found it. But in that second, the footsteps came closer.

Rose was so terrified she wanted to barf, but the kids looked worse. She couldn’t let anything happen to them. She just couldn’t. 

So Rose let out a slow, soundless breath and reminded herself that she trained for combat all her life. She was capable even before Roman took her in and honed her skills. And how dare someone come into her house and threaten her safety!

Never let the fear win. Use anger instead.

That was one of Roman’s first lessons, and she was dead set on using it now.

She kept a steady grip on the gun in her hand. 

The person paused right outside the door. Thankfully, the kids were now hiding behind the bed, closer to the window. Rose hoped the kids remembered that their only job was to run and get out as soon as they saw an opening. She hoped Felicity had the good sense to follow them. 

As slow as molasses, the doorknob turned.

In one fluid motion, Rose clicked off the safety and shot at the door. After only a second, the door flew open to reveal a crouched man with his own gun.

He fired. 

At the same time, Luna ran into him, causing the bullet to go wide.

Rose tried not to let it faze her. She could have died… although a bullet wouldn’t necessarily kill her, it could definitely kill one of the kids.

A new anger surged in Rose’s veins, and she ran at the intruder, while screaming for the kids to get out. The man managed to throw Luna off of him, but Rose took her place and hit the man hard in the jaw. She could vaguely make out Felicity herding the kids out of the room behind her, and felt a small sense of relief just before the guy hit her square in the stomach. 

Rose rolled off him in pain but managed to go fast enough before another bullet went off. She kicked out blindly and connected with his groin. 

A loud howl tore through the air. 

That gave Rose enough time to get her bearings and kick a second time at the intruder’s hand that still held the gun. The gun flew down the hall, but it barely fazed the man, who now came at her with the weight and speed of someone five times her size. She barely managed to get her hands up before she was tumbling backwards down the stairs. 

The fall felt both excruciatingly long and too quick. Every slam into each step sent waves of pain throughout her body, almost paralyzing her. She groaned at the bottom. 

The intruder laughed.

“I heard Roman had little shits of his own now,” the man drawled with a foreign accent that Rose couldn’t place in her fog of pain. “But I didn’t think they’d be so weak.”

He took his time coming down the stairs, making Rose feel very much like prey. She had the terrible realization that Roman wouldn’t be fast enough to save her. 

Fear took over as he continued his descent. 

A whimper escaped Rose’s lips. 

The intruder reached the last step, his grin cocky. One more step and…

Suddenly, a tiny figure launched herself at the guy, and something glass shattered into him. 

Rose didn’t hesitate.

She jumped up, ignoring the pain coursing through her, and flew towards him. Felicity was already scrambling away, seemingly unharmed, but Rose didn’t have time to inspect her before she grabbed a shard of glass and stabbed it through his neck. 

The man writhed in pain, but looked like he would get up again.

Rose’s owl finally arrived, carrying with her a gun from the upstairs bathroom. Athena dropped it in Rose’s hand, and without any hesitation, Rose shot the man through the head. He collapsed lifeless in a heap on the floor. Rose immediately looked away.

Just then, a car could be heard outside, speeding into the driveway. Rose was sure it was Roman, but she gripped the gun tighter and positioned herself between the kids and the front door. 

The door burst open, but Roman paused when he saw Rose’s gun pointing right at him. Rose lowered it after several seconds, which was when Roman took in the room and saw the dead man behind them. He barely blinked, but did put a finger to his lips and gestured behind him.

Rose herded the kids behind Roman before they crept deeper into the house. Anyone could be lurking around the corners, and Roman clearly didn’t want to take any chances. 

Roman had his own gun out, looking like the government asset he used to be. Rose stayed at his back, keeping her own gun ready, just in case. She briefly looked back at the kids to make sure they were okay. 

Felicity held another piece of glass, brandishing it like a sword. Lorelai held both Jasper and Winnie’s hands and pulled them close behind Felicity. 

The six of them got to the back door when they heard another sound.

Roman shot his gun before Rose could even blink. There was no hesitation.

A body thumped to the ground right outside the door.

Roman barreled forward, slamming into the door just as two clicks sounded from outside—gunshots fired with a silencer. The bullets flew over Rose and the kids’ heads as Roman used the door as a shield. 

In the next second, Roman was running outside, and the third guy who fired those last shots was running away through the backyard. Rose kept her and the kids inside as they watched Roman easily run the intruder down. Another second and he was dead on the ground at Roman’s feet. 

Sirens could be heard in the distance, getting closer.

Rose’s heart finally started to slow a bit after Roman gave her a nod from afar, but she still jumped when she noticed Felicity had come up right beside her.

Without saying a word, Felicity reached out and gently lowered the gun in Rose’s hand. She had forgotten she was holding it. Rose maneuvered it so she was only holding the gun in one hand and held Felicity’s with the other. 

The next hour was full of police officers and SSAND agents inspecting the house and surrounding area to make sure Roman didn’t have any other enemies lurking about. 

Rose heard Roman admit to one of the agents that he recognized the three men as members of a terrorist group he recently did business with. Their relationship went south after they found out he was double-crossing them—selling information about them while taking their money for his discretion. Rose wasn’t surprised, but she was surprised they found out where Roman lived. 

“It won’t happen again,” Roman promised the agent. “I’ll clean it all up. I sent out a hit on the whole group before you even got here.”

Rose didn’t hear the agent’s reply because someone was tugging on her shirt.

She looked down to find Felicity’s piercing ice blue eyes on her.

Felicity took a breath before she spoke.

“Why did you protect me?” she whispered, not breaking Rose’s gaze.

Rose bent down until they were eye level with each other. “Why did you protect me?”

Felicity contemplated that for a second. “I have nowhere else to go.”

Rose’s heart broke. 

“You have a home here,” she said, her voice cracking. “If you accept us, we can be your new home, Felicity.”

The little girl briefly broke eye contact to look over at Lorelai, Jasper, and Winnie a few paces away, watching them. 

“I don’t know yet,” Felicity said, turning back to Rose.

Rose nodded. 

Felicity wasn’t used to trusting people, especially not the ones who promised her safety when she’d never known it.

“Let’s make a deal then,” Rose said. “If you help me protect those three over there, I will never let anyone hurt you again.”

The give-and-take seemed to be more of what Felicity understood. 

She nodded and held out her little hand to shake. Rose shook it before opening her arms and offering Felicity a hug. After a moment of hesitation, Felicity quickly obliged, but only for a second before she pulled away.

Baby steps.

Then Roman was there, having walked out the last of the officers. 

“I think we gotta start you early,” he said, looking down at Felicity as Rose stood up beside her. “I saw the glass shard you held, and the glass in the dead guy. You have a killer’s instinct, kid.”

Felicity stood a little taller.

Rose glared at Roman.

Then Roman turned to Rose. “I also noticed the walls in your old room.”

Rose blanched.

“I think someone needs a different outlet,” he said, looking back down at Felicity. “Tomorrow we’ll start you on some boxing training. Maybe you’ll feel better hitting the dummy instead of the walls.”

Rose was afraid he would offer that, knowing how brutal Roman’s “training” could be. But Felicity finally looked something other than angry. And it wasn’t bad to know how to defend yourself.

Like what Rose did when she killed the intruder.

Her first kill.

She could still feel the gun in her hands, her finger not hesitating on the trigger.

Rose didn’t realize Felicity had walked off until Roman moved closer to her. She startled and looked into his green eyes, the same eyes he shared with the twins.

“Maybe you’re not that different from me either,” he said softly, like he knew exactly what she’d just been thinking about. 

Rose didn’t like what he was insinuating.

“The first kill’s the hardest,” Roman continued, now staring at nothing. “They get easier.”

“I don’t want to be a murderer,” Rose whispered, seeing her mother’s face in her mind’s eye. Would she ever forgive Rose for what she did today? 

“It’s all about staying alive, Rosella,” Roman said firmly. “Anyone who doesn’t understand that has always had the easy life. Not all of us are that lucky, and I’d much rather kill someone than let some bastard end one of those kids over there.”

Rose looked at the kids he was pointing at, the three—now four—children in Roman Pizarro’s care. And in hers too. 

“Do you regret it?”

Rose winced at the question. 

Did she regret it?

“No,” she finally said. “No, I don’t.”

Roman grinned wide. “That’s my girl. A true Pizarro.”

That did not make Rose feel better.

The next day, Roman kept his promise and started to train Felicity in combat. She determinedly went through every maneuver Roman demonstrated with more dedication than Rose ever possessed.

Maybe Roman was right, and Felicity was more like him. But she didn’t have to be that way.

Rose went on her own adventure in the early morning and came back before anyone even noticed she was gone. She was sure Roman knew, but he never cared what she did with her time as long as it didn’t interfere with his plans for the day.

When she got back, she noticed that Winnie’s toy was on the kitchen table, as good as new. It was so good, in fact, that Rose checked to make sure it wasn’t a replacement from the store. But it had all the same scuff marks that it had before Rose gave it to Roman. And she could sort of make out the small grooves where the broken pieces were put back together.

On her way to Felicity’s room, Rose went to the five-year-olds playing next door and surprised Winnie.

“It’s fixed!” Winnie exclaimed, as surprised as Rose was.

Rose smiled, and almost burst into tears when Winnie jumped into her arms.

“Thank you, Rosie!” she squealed.

Rose held her tight, wondering if she should reveal Roman’s hand in repairing it.

But the moment passed, and Winnie turned back to playing dress-up with the twins, Luna sitting on the floor watching them.

Then Rose continued to her original destination.

She found Felicity in her room, practicing the moves Roman must have shown her that morning.

“Can I come in?” Rose asked at the door.

Felicity only looked up briefly before she nodded and went back to striking the air.

“I have something for you.”

That got Felicity’s attention, and she fully faced Rose.

Rose gave a tentative smile before revealing the sketchbook and pencil crayons behind her back.

“I thought you might want another way to get out your feelings,” Rose said. “Now you can keep those markers off the walls and put it all in here.”

Felicity actually cracked a bit of a smile, and Rose’s heart lifted. 

Then Felicity schooled her features again and glared at Rose.

“I don’t like art.”

Rose shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “Then don’t use it. It’s yours, so you can do whatever you want with it.”

She left it on Felicity’s bed and turned to leave, not wanting to overstay her welcome.

But when she turned back briefly, she saw Felicity smile at the sketchbook and clutch it to her chest.

It would take time, but Rose was determined to give that girl a home in their strange little unit—this family of misfits. And maybe Rose would finally accept it too.

SUMMARY

PART ONE

Rose spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon moving all of her things from the upstairs bedroom to the basement. She didn’t think she had accumulated so much in the seven months she'd lived there, but as box after box of books, movies, and CDs filled, Rose realized how lived-in her bedroom was. How much of a life she created in her human world. 

She had to maneuver her stuff around all the workout and training equipment that Roman already had down there, so the hours flew by unnoticed. Before she knew it, it was lunchtime, and she was worried about what the kids had gotten up to in her absence. Specifically what Felicity had gotten up to.

Rose climbed the stairs and found Lorelai, Jasper, and Winnie in their bedroom, playing with the fairy figurines that Roman had gotten them from Germany last month. Winnie also held her usual Transformer toy in her lap. The toy used to belong to her older brother who died almost two years ago. Rose only learned that bit of information after Winnie finally realized she would never see her mom or dad again, two weeks after she moved in. She screamed and cried, refusing to let Rose near her until Luna brought over the Transformer toy. Rose finally got a word in, and asked Winnie where she got the toy. She told Rose enough of the story to get the gist, and Rose got the rest from Winnie’s Goldstone file. 

“Where’s Felicity?” Rose asked.

All three five-year-olds looked at her with innocent eyes, but it was only Lorelai who spoke.

“She didn’t want to play.”

Rose wasn’t surprised, but that didn’t tell her where Felicity was. 

Anxiety clawed its way up Rose’s throat, and she left the kids to play as she went to check the bedroom she just vacated. But as she guessed, Felicity was not in there either. 

Rose went downstairs, worried that Felicity had gone outside, but had a feeling it would be even worse. She wasn’t in the living room, the kitchen, nor the storage spaces or bathrooms. There was one final room left to check, and a pit formed in Rose’s stomach.

Roman’s bedroom was the only room completely off-limits to the rest of the household. If the kids got anywhere near the door, Roman blew up and enacted consequences that Rose did not want to relive. 

She knew where Felicity had gone. 

Opening the bedroom door slowly, Rose felt like a thief in the night, her heart in her throat. She had only been in the room twice before. Once when she first moved in, and Roman gave her the whole tour—including every potential hiding place and exit in the house should she need it—and the second was when she ran after a curious Winnie and got caught by Roman. This felt a lot more like the second time. 

The bedroom was plain, almost military in its precision and tidiness. The bed was made, the floor and dresser spotless, and the room was completely… empty.

Rose almost cried in relief until she heard the barest shuffling to one side.

Roman’s room had an ensuite bathroom and a walk-in-closet. The walk-in-closet had been converted into Roman’s office, tucked away where no windows could ever show what he had inside. He even put a lock on the door. Rose had never been inside. The sanctity of his room could never compare to how precious Roman’s office was to him. He threatened the purest pain for going inside that little room.

The door was cracked open the smallest bit, with a light peeking through. 

Rose was terrified. 

Before she could regret anything, Rose charged into the closet, making the blonde eight-year-old jump. She had been rifling through some of his files, and the hairs on Rose’s arms stood in terror as she took in the scene. 

Roman would kill her.

Rose didn’t even know if she meant herself or Felicity.

“Get out,” Rose hissed, her own voice scaring even herself. 

Felicity stood motionless for a second before she scampered around Rose and out of both rooms. A moment of paralyzing fear washed over Rose. Should she try and make it look like no one was in here? But she didn’t know what it looked like before, and Roman could sense when someone went anywhere near his stuff. He would be able to tell if something wasn’t exactly in the place he left it. 

“We’re dead,” Rose whispered to herself, before turning and leaving it all as it was.

Felicity stood in the living room, already looking nervous. But all Rose could feel was fear.

“Do not EVER go into that room!” She shouted. “Do you hear me?”

Felicity cowered before sprinting up the stairs.

Rose assumed she would hide in her room, which was probably for the best at that moment. She couldn’t quell all the raging emotions in her gut. 

Roman would surely blame her for not watching Felicity. And what if Felicity read something incriminating from the files and accidentally told the wrong person what she saw? Roman held powerful information in his office, although he thankfully held the really bad stuff on secure hard drives. Only the tame things could be found on paper. 

But what if…

Rose sighed and knew she shouldn’t have yelled at Felicity, a child who was already scared of people. She would apologize and make it up—

A cry sounded from upstairs.

Instinct took over, and Rose sprinted after the sound, flying into the kids’ room. She understood the scene before her very quickly.

Felicity stood with Winnie’s Transformer toy at her feet, clearly stomped on with the arms and head broken off. Winnie was sobbing on her knees, reaching out to grab the toy, and the slight movement of Felicity’s foot made Rose’s heart stop, thinking she meant to stomp on Winnie’s hand too. But before she could react, Lorelai was there, pushing Felicity hard until she fell on her ass.

Now Rose’s heart stopped for a different reason, seeing the rage in Felicity’s eyes.

But Lorelai didn’t back down, pointing an accusing finger at the older girl.

“You are bad!” Lorelai shouted, the loudest Rose had ever heard her speak. “You stay away!”

It looked like Felicity was about to get up, and Rose thought she might lunge at Lorelai, and possibly even Jasper and Winnie crying behind her. Rose flung herself between Felicity and the kids, her hands out.

“No more fighting,” she said, trying to keep her tone both authoritative and calm. “Felicity, I am very sorry I yelled at you downstairs. That was wrong. But it was wrong of you to break Winnie’s toy—”

Felicity didn’t wait for her to finish. She got up and ran out the door before anyone else could react. 

They all jumped when they heard the door slam shut in the next room over. Rose wouldn’t be surprised if Felicity locked herself in her new room for the rest of the day.

Finally, she turned back to the kids, emotionally and physically exhausted.

Lorelai was trying to hold both Jasper and Winnie, who were still crying. Winnie clutched the broken Transformer toy to her chest.

“Here, Winnie baby,” Rose said, crouching down and holding out her hand for the toy. “Maybe I can fix it. Can I see?”

Winnie sniffled before handing the toy over, and then retreated to Lorelai and Jasper’s company. 

Rose looked down at the toy and felt her heart sink. She could fix one of the arms, but the head and second arm had shattered pieces where the joints attached. Maybe she could superglue them…

“I’ll try my best, okay Winnie?”

Winnie sniffed again, but nodded.

“Do you want a hug?”

Rose opened her arms, and after a second of hesitation, Winnie came forward and practically fell into them.

“I want my mama,” Winnie cried.

Tears sprang to Rose’s own eyes. 

Gods, she did too. 

But since none of them could have their moms back, Rose called Luna and Athena over instead. The twins snuggled into Luna’s fur while Rose leaned her and Winnie against Luna’s other side. Athena flew in and perched on Rose’s arm, snuggling her head against Winnie’s mess of orange curls. 

With a sigh, Rose let the chaos of the day wash through her. She really didn’t want to see what happened next.

It was an hour or two until Roman came home. Rose spent that time playing with the kids and making lunch. She tried to coax Felicity with food, but she kept her door closed, and Rose didn’t want to force any interactions after everything that happened. 

The kids stayed in their room when Rose heard Roman arrive, so she was the only one who went downstairs.

Her twenty-eight-year-old foster father looked giddy, hauling a big pre-built bookshelf through the front door. 

“Rosella,” he said when he saw her, a devious smile on his lips. “Everything worked out! That bitch will never get her hands on the girl again, and she feels like she owes me. And look what I got my hands on. Another shelf to organize all those stupid books you like so much.”

Rose didn’t know what to focus on first. The bookshelf or what happened with Tiffany?

Roman didn’t wait for her, just moved further into the house and placed the shelf in the middle of the living space. 

“What exactly happened with Tiffany?” Rose asked.

Roman looked at her with a flash of annoyance that quickly turned to guilt. 

Rose turned wary. “What did you do?”

Roman averted his gaze. “I may have had a little chat with Tiff’s mother… and also her dealer… and her bookie.” He paused. “And every guy she's sleeping with.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “Why?”

Now Roman looked at her like she was stupid. 

“Information’s key, Rosella. Both to collect and to spread. I just reminded Tiffany of all her dirtiest secrets and who she’s keeping them from. And I collected a few more while I was at it.”

“What about Felicity’s father?” Rose couldn’t help asking.

Roman shrugged. “I couldn’t find anything out, and frankly I don’t think Tiff knows which one he is. She’s never slept with anyone important though, so I’m not concerned. From now on, Felicity will be safe from that life.”

Rose swallowed. “Actually…”

Roman’s eyes sharpened on her. “What happened?” His voice became a hiss, and fear cascaded through Rose again.

Pretend it was you! she internally screamed at herself. Don’t throw the kid under the bus! 

But the fear was so strong.

“I-”

“Spit it out!” Roman growled.

Rose looked over to the side, with Roman tracking her gaze.

“Your office,” Rose whispered. “I-I-”

Roman’s voice got low, almost dangerous. “It was the girl, wasn’t it? She went in?”

Rose’s face must have betrayed the truth, because Roman didn’t wait for her to respond before stalking over to his bedroom door. He was only in there for a second before he came back out.

“Did you leave everything the same?”

Rose nodded.

Some tension left Roman’s shoulders. “So she only saw what was on the desk.”

Rose assumed that wasn’t a question, so she stayed still.

“Where is she now?”

“Locked in her room,” Rose whispered, watching Roman like prey watching the archer. 

Roman looked up the stairs before turning back to Rose.

“What did you do?”

Rose shuddered. “I yelled.”

Roman just waited for her to continue.

“And then she broke one of Winnie’s toys.”

“Which one?”

“The Transformer.”

Roman grimaced, and Rose realized that he probably knew the significance of that toy too. 

“Can it be fixed?” he asked.

“Maybe with glue.”

Roman nodded. “Bring it to me, and I can see what I can do.”

That surprised Rose. She didn’t think he would care about Winnie or the toy.

“What were the files she read?” Rose asked cautiously, wondering if this was the time she went too far.

Roman gave her a look. “You didn’t read them?”

Rose shook her head.

Roman appeared disappointed. “Well, I doubt she can even read in the first place, much less make any sense of the content, but the papers were about an old case I worked on. In Russia.”

“Russia?”

A haunted look came over Roman’s eyes, but he quickly shook it away. “It’s in the past. The man we had a hit on was dangerous, and connected to a lot of dangerous people. He was hiding in a little village. It doesn’t matter now.”

Rose had a weird feeling in her gut. “What happened to the village?”

Roman looked seriously at her. “It burned down.”

A shiver went up her spine. 

He looked away. “It’s nothing the kids won’t have to do one day.”

There were talks of Roman training the young ones to be the next generation of government assets—too young to be suspected by any enemies, similar to how Roman was trained. But Roman had his own empire since parting from the government's ruthless employ, built on illegal contacts and trading in secrets. Roman’s first lesson to Rose was that secrets were the highest currency in the game of power. In these past seven months, Rose had come to believe him. 

But she sometimes wondered about Roman’s work with the government. The same organization that was indirectly responsible for her safety. What secrets did they hold in their ranks? Were they actually capable of keeping her—and now her foster siblings—safe? What did Roman actually do for them?

Rose had her guesses, but she had a feeling she couldn’t even imagine the half of it. 

“Go get me the toy,” Roman said, ending the tense silence by picking up the shelf again and heading to the basement door. “And then I’ll be on my way again. I probably won’t be home until morning. No need to wait up.”

“I never do,” Rose muttered, but did as he asked.

She was a little nervous giving Roman such a precious object of Winnie’s, but if there was even a small chance he could fix it, she felt like she owed it to Winnie to let him try. 

After Roman came back upstairs and had the toy in his possession, he looked back at Rose once more while heading for the door.

“You’ll be okay with the hoard?”

Rose was too surprised to speak for a second.

He never asked if she was okay.

“Yeah,” she said slowly. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Roman stared at her a moment longer before he shrugged.

“I have a feeling that Felicity Jones is more like me than the rest of you. Don’t underestimate her, Rosella. And… good luck.”

Then he opened the door to the frigid winter air and was gone.

Rose started to have a bad feeling about the evening.

Next: PART THREE

PART ONE

“What do you mean we’re getting another one?” Rosella demanded. Behind her, the kids played with Luna, Rose’s big white wolf, hopefully not paying attention to the conversation.

“She’s the daughter of a friend,” Roman snapped, “and she gave the social workers my name. That tipped off the Director’s people and they wanted to add another little shit to my lot. I didn’t ask for this!”

Rose rolled her eyes. Roman could complain all he wanted, but he loved his job of overseeing up-and-coming assets. He loved control, and he loved having the government in his debt.

“What’s her name?” Rose asked.

“Felicity Jones, eight years old.”

Another truly young child, but at least she wasn’t as young as the three little ones behind Rose. She didn’t need more five-year-olds in her care. She was only fourteen herself, already trying to act like a parent.

“And you know her mother how?”

Roman actually looked sheepish. “She’s a regular at Falcon’s establishments. Buys a lot of drugs off him and tries her luck at gambling. Not very good, though.”

Rose looked at him, exasperated. “Please don’t tell me the girl’s another one of your kids.”

“God no! Tiffany already had Felicity when we met. And she always left the girl at home when we were at Falcon’s. That’s probably why they took her away.”

“Like you’re much better.”

Roman sneered, but Rose just turned away to the kids behind her.

She still remembered the day she came to this house and met Roman and his biological kids for the first time. The twins, Lorelai and Jasper, also recently came into Roman’s care and were obviously wary of the father they only met upon their mother’s death. But despite being much younger with only the faintest glisten of magic on them, they reminded Rose of the little brother she just left behind, sharing the same expression of freshly broken innocence. It tugged at her heart and gave them an instant connection… and made Rose miss her brother and father even more.

And her mom… but Rose missed her before she ever came to Roman’s door.

Then, three months later, another young half-blooded Supernatural needed a home, and Rose was eager to offer it. So the Pizarro household grew to five.

“Why would the girl’s mom give your name?” Rose finally asked, looking back at Roman.

His anger left as quickly as it came, his emotions more fickle than the children he housed and clothed.

Roman sighed. “Tiffany doesn’t want her own mother to get her hands on the girl. Apparently, when Tiff found out she was pregnant, her mother threw her out and cut off contact, the same way her mother did to her.”

Last year, Rose would never have dreamed that humans could be so cruel to their own blood, even after seeing those scenarios in movies, shows, and books. But since living with Roman and having her whole world turned upside down, it wasn’t a surprise.

“You seem to know Tiff really well.”

Roman met her gaze, going serious all of a sudden. “I promise you, Rosella, after Felicity comes to live here, I will not be seeing the likes of her again. I already told Falcon to bar her from all of his haunts. A mother shouldn’t neglect their child like that.”

It amazed Rose how Roman could have such lofty ideas about parenting and still be more absent than not himself. His righteousness was astounding.

“Where will Felicity sleep?”

Roman shrugged. “I thought you might want to move to the basement for more privacy, and the girl can take your room. Or I can buy a bunk bed for the kids’ room.”

“The kids are too young for bunk beds.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Fine. You figure it out.”

Rose wasn’t sure how she felt about being on a completely different floor than the kids, especially since Roman’s room would be on the floor between them. But that arrangement did make the most sense. They were losing space on the second floor, and Roman would never move to the basement.

“Okay,” Rose conceded. “We can finalize everything once Felicity arrives and ask for her opinion.”

Roman clapped his hands together. “Look at you acting like an adult. Guess you can handle the kids’ bedtime by yourself.”

“I always do,” Rose muttered.

Roman pretended not to hear, turning his attention to the kids behind her. “See you guys tomorrow. Daddy’s got business to deal with tonight.”

Rose grimaced as the kids tentatively waved goodbye.

Roman didn’t waste a second before walking out the door. But despite his abrupt exits, Rose always knew he would come back.

​

The next morning, Rose woke up early as usual and started breakfast while the kids slowly began to migrate downstairs. She worked hard every morning not to remember a different young face when she looked at her new foster siblings; the brother she hadn’t seen or heard from for seven months.

Feeling her distress, Rose’s white wolf, Luna, nudged her hand. Rose took a deep breath before forcing a smile. Homesickness had to wait.

The three five-year-olds sat obediently at the kitchen table as Rose filled their plates with pre-cut pancakes. She was just about to take a seat when she heard the front door open and Roman’s familiar tread coming inside… followed by a second, softer pair of steps.

“Kids! Come meet your new sister!”

At Roman’s bellow, Rose and the kids all stood up as Roman and the girl came through the archway into the kitchen.

Felicity Jones was a small eight-year-old with long blonde hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks. Her eyes were a bright blue that seemed to pierce through everyone in the room, and her cheeks flushed pink like she was two seconds away from crying or screaming. Rose stared at her intently for a second, feeling the air around the girl.

She did not have a drop of magic in her blood.

“Hi Felicity,” Rose said cautiously. “My name’s Rosella, but you can call me Rose or Rosie, if you want.”

Felicity just stared at her, but as the silence stretched, it looked more like a glare.

“Okay, guys,” Rose stammered, turning to the kids behind her. “Do you wanna introduce yourselves?”

Lorelai stepped forward, looking almost regal with her straight back and solemn air. Rose thought for a second that she’d extend her hand out in greeting; she was acting so formal.

“I am Lorelai,” she said seriously, like she was trying to show her dominance to this newcomer. “This is our doggy, Luna.” Rose’s white wolf gave a little bow of acknowledgement. “And this is Jasper,” her twin brother came forward with her, albeit hesitantly, “and this is Gwy—”

“Winnie!” Gwyneth exclaimed before Lorelai could finish. “Call me Winnie!”

Rose turned to her in surprise, while Jasper let the smallest smile form on his lips. He still had trouble pronouncing his Gs, but it seemed that Gwyneth was making sure he didn’t have to anymore.

Even Roman was smiling faintly, but he tried to hide it in the next second by clapping his hands obnoxiously.

“Now that that’s done, let’s put your shit in the room. Rosella, have you moved out yet?”

Rose looked at Felicity. “Do you want your own room, Felicity?”

Felicity shrugged, still not speaking a word.

“She can have a sharesies room with us!” Winnie said excitedly.

But Rose feared what would happen if she put this child in the same room as the kids.

“No, Felicity probably wants her own room,” Rose said quickly. “I will move my stuff into the basement, and Felicity can have my room.”

Lorelai turned to Rose in distress. “But the basement is too far! What if we have bad dreams?”

“It’ll be okay, Laylay,” Rose said, kneeling to be eye level with her. “We can practice going downstairs together, and I can sleep in the living room for the first bit, if you want.”

Jasper started nodding and reached out to Rose. She took him into her arms, picking him up as she rose. Then she turned back to Felicity and Roman.

“I don’t have much to move.”

Roman nodded absentmindedly, more intent on watching Jasper in Rose’s arms.

For a second, Rose thought she saw jealousy in Roman’s eyes. It must be hard when your own son would rather be picked up by this young girl—a temporary, barely tolerated resident—than his father. Not that Rose knew when she could go back to her real home, as every month that passed left her with less and less hope.

The six of them finally went upstairs, an unusually quiet Roman leading the charge with the three girls in between and Rose taking up the rear with Jasper in her arms. Luna stayed downstairs, watching.

Rose didn’t know how to feel about this newcomer in their house. Her protectiveness was acting up again, but she had a sinking feeling that Felicity needed just as much protection as she needed protecting from.

“This’ll be your room, kid,” Roman said once they were all upstairs.

It was clearly Rose’s room, with a smattering of books covering almost every surface. Roman wrinkled his brow, almost in disgust.

“You need a shelf.”

Rose didn’t feel that comment warranted an answer.

“We’ll get all this shit moved,” Roman continued. “You’ll be right at home, kid.”

Felicity did not look convinced.

She surveyed the room like it was a prison cell, her eyes staring longer at the windows and door. Not for the first time, Rose wondered what this little girl’s life was like before the social workers stepped in. Probably something much worse than Rose, or even the kids, could ever imagine.

Suddenly a scratchy sound came from Felicity. It took Rose a second to realize it was her voice.

“Do the doors lock?”

Roman looked just as surprised. “Doors?”

Felicity pointed to the bedroom door. “Does it lock?”

Roman just shrugged. “I think it locks from the inside.”

“It does,” Rose said, watching Felicity intently. “You can lock us out, but we can never lock you in.”

Felicity didn’t show any emotion at this information, but Rose swore her shoulders dropped just a tad.

Roman was clearly ready to change the subject. “Okay, let’s have breakfast before we do anything else. This is a bigger job than I signed up for.”

Rose didn’t know if he meant moving all her stuff, or taking Felicity in.

But before they could leave, the bedroom window blew open, and an owl flew inside.

The kids squealed in delight while Felicity jumped back.

“Felicity,” Rose said calmly, “I would like you to meet our owl, Athena. She’s someone else who will be there if you ever need help.”

Roman rolled his eyes but didn’t dispute Rose’s claim.

Winnie was jumping up to try and get Athena to land on her arm, but Athena stayed perched on the windowsill, watching Felicity with her dark eyes. Felicity watched her back before turning around and leaving the room. Rose thought that that was as good a reaction as any to the unusual pets they kept here.

They made their way back downstairs, and the five-year-olds ran to the kitchen table to have their now cold breakfasts. Felicity stayed back, looking at the food warily.

Rose gestured for the blonde girl to come forward, but she wouldn’t budge. Even Roman sat down and grabbed some toast from the counter.

“Don’t you want to eat breakfast with us, Felicity?” Rose asked.

Felicity kept staring at the food, her hands unconsciously going to her stomach.

“What’s breakfast?”

Roman dropped his toast with a clunk. Rose was just as shocked.

“What do you mean?” Rose asked softly, trying her hardest not to spook the girl.

Felicity took a hesitant step closer, like she couldn’t help herself.

“Is breakfast the food?”

Rose’s heart stuttered. “Breakfast is when we eat food in the mornings.”

“Every morning?”

“Yes.”

Felicity looked shocked.

“Come eat with us,” Rose said, extending her hand to Felicity. “You’re allowed to eat with us.”

Felicity ignored Rose’s outstretched hand and darted towards the food, grabbing a pancake and devouring it in one bite.

“Careful, girl!” Roman snapped, and Felicity retreated again. “You could choke! Eat slower.”

“Roman,” Rose hissed. “Don’t scare her.” Rose turned back to Felicity with her own plate outstretched. “You can sit and eat with us, Felicity. But Roman’s right, don’t eat so fast. You can take your time. We won’t take the food away from you.”

Felicity didn’t look convinced, but she finally came and sat down in the empty chair beside Rose. Rose had always thought it weird that Roman had six chairs around the kitchen table when they used to be just four. It came in handy when Winnie came to live with them, and obviously came in handy now—almost like they were meant to have Felicity.

It didn’t take much convincing to get Felicity to continue eating, but she didn’t slow down. She attacked the food like she hadn’t eaten in days.

Maybe she hadn’t.

The thought turned Rose’s stomach, and she didn’t feel hungry anymore, which was probably for the best. Felicity devoured Rose’s whole plate until she moved on to what was left on the table.

Roman looked equally concerned, but was trying to hide it.

“Felicity,” Roman said, “when was the last time you ate?”

Felicity did not pause her food frenzy even a little, just shrugged.

Rose and Roman locked eyes, and they silently agreed that they would do what they needed to for Felicity. Rose was shocked Roman seemed to care this much. Or to care at all.

Felicity finally swallowed and took a breath. “Sometimes I couldn’t find any food in the house.”

“Did your mom not make you food?” Rose asked.

Felicity shook her head. “Mama wasn’t home much, and when she was, she stayed on the couch. She didn’t like when I bugged her, so I didn’t.”

“It’s a miracle child services weren't called long before this,” Roman muttered.

“More a tragedy than a miracle,” Rose muttered back.

Felicity went back to not talking.

The other three kids stayed quiet too, Lorelai eyeing Felicity every few minutes. Felicity didn’t seem to notice.

Rose had a feeling they shouldn’t ask Felicity more questions. She didn’t want her to shut down completely, and she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to know all the answers. But Roman did not have the same qualms.

After the silence started to feel too tense, Roman cleared his throat and turned to Felicity again.

“How did you eat if your mother never fed you?”

Felicity did not meet Roman’s gaze, instead shrugging down at her empty plate.

“I found stuff in the house.” She paused. “Or I looked outside.”

She was a true scavenger.

“But,” Felicity continued, “Mama got mad once. She said bad guys are outside. So she kept me in my room.”

Rose thought back to Felicity’s earlier questions about the locks on the bedroom door.

“Did she lock you in your room?” Rose asked.

Felicity nodded.

Roman’s voice went hard. “For how long?”

Felicity shrugged again, but couldn’t hide her tremor.

“I tried to sleep,” she whispered. “And I tried to open the window. I couldn’t. It got dark and then light and then dark again.”

Roman’s face went from sour to full-blown rage.

Without another word, he got up from the table and went to grab his jacket.

Rose followed him, scared of what he might do.

“Roman! What—”

He turned so abruptly that Rose jumped.

“I am going to have a little chat with Tiffany,” Roman said, voice low and dangerous. The same way he sounded when he was threatening someone out on the streets, either for information or to show his dominance.

“I thought you were friends,” Rose said quietly, both to not provoke Roman further and because she didn’t want the kids hearing her from the other room.

“Not after this,” Roman said, turning back to the foyer and throwing on his jacket. “She will never see that girl again. Felicity is mine now, and no one treats one of my kids like a dog waiting for scraps. If that woman tries to get her back, she’s got another thing coming.”

“I thought the Director’s people were already paying Tiffany off so Felicity could be part of the Goldstone program.”

“I’m sure they are, and I’ll just give her a bit more incentive to stay away. I know enough about Tiff that I could bury her before she could even think about being a nuisance for us.”

Rose’s body went cold. “You won’t kill her, will you?”

Roman gave her a sly smile that chilled her further. “I don’t need to.”

And then he disappeared into the frigid morning air.

Next: PART TWO

PART THREE

Summary

The Pizarro household grows once again, and Rosella has to figure out how to care for a human child who wants nothing to do with her. Not only does this new foster sibling disrupt the easy routine of Rosella and the other kids, but the consequences of their caregiver’s profession finally come knocking on their door, putting them in more danger than they signed up for. Rosella has to come to terms with the chaos of her human life and the lengths she will go to keep her new family safe.

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

Extras

Code Z Mission Document

See also:

SSAND Operations

See also:

SSAND History

Creatures

There are four classifications of creatures:

1) Humans

The simplest and largest classification, humans have the largest population despite only being one species. They rule our world and most do not engage or even know about the existence of Supernaturals or Magical Creatures, only using them for their seemingly fictional stories. 

2) Supernaturals

This is the classification for creatures who appear human and have the ability to use magic (ex. werewolves, faeries, witches, vampires, etc.). They have historically had to hide from humans to survive.

3) Magical Creatures (Non-Humanoid)

This is the classification for creatures who do not appear human, but are more intelligent than animals and have the ability to use magic (ex. phoenixes, dragons, griffins, unicorns, etc.). They also stay hidden from humans and live in close proximity to Supernaturals.

4) Divine Beings

This classification is for all the beings that are considered gods or god-like in the various human creation stories of our world. They are powerful beings that are from other planes of existence but are able to travel to our world and interact with the other classifications of creatures.

**The Descendants of Magic a.k.a. Maghs**

The Maghs are creatures said to bridge the gaps between all the classifications of creatures and are able to move freely between the pillars of species in our world: The Divine from Above, The Divine from Below, the Air Beings, the Earth Beings, and the Water Beings. Their main pursuit is to keep the peace between humans and Supernaturals.

While Supernaturals and Magical Creatures are able to harness and manipulate magic, the force that flows through everything and everyone, the Maghs are created from Magic itself. They were made from Magic so they are considered to be Magic.

To keep the peace between humans and Supernaturals, Maghs created laws for the Supernaturals to ensure their safety and keep them hidden from the majority of human society. They collaborate with the rulers of all major Supernatural species and secret branches of most human governments to maintain good relations and diffuse any dangerous situations between the species. They also police Supernaturals to ensure that the rest of the Supernatural community remains safe, including maintaining peace between different species of Supernaturals.

The Maghs are considered to be the most powerful beings, because they have the ability to contain the strongest Supernaturals, but to ensure that they are never able to take complete control over our world, there are multiple caveats to their power: 

Maghs have normal human life spans. 

All Maghs’ power/magic is connected to each other and their Queen, meaning that when they are close in proximity to each other and their Queen, their power is stronger, with the Queen’s power being the strongest. 

The Maghs’ existence and life force is connected to the Queen; if the Queen dies without an heir (another female of her bloodline), then all the Maghs die. 

The Maghs and Queen can be controlled by the Codex of Magic, their most sacred text, if it is awakened. 

Maghs have a rigorous hierarchy that is intended to keep balance within their ranks, made up of the 46 Families that all fall into 3 sections of the spectrum of power: the Centre Path led by the Queen, the Order of the Griffin led by Master Roar, and the Order of the Dragon led by Master Kingston

Maghs are only able to shapeshift into one other being, besides the Queen who can shift into two, based on the family they are born into

Places

Human Lands

These are the almost 200 countries that are ruled by humans on the seven widely recognized continents. 

The birthplace of the Maghs is theorized to be a hidden human land, known only as the Reddawn.

Borderlands

The Borderlands are lands ruled and occupied by Supernaturals and are hidden to those who cannot use magic. They are found in between borders of tangible places and are impossible to access if you do not know where they are. Examples include Faerieland, Elfheim, Undersea, etc.

Organizations

S.S.A.N.D.

Canada’s Secret Security Agency for National Defense, a secret sister agency to CSIS (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) that operates outside of the law in foreign threats and security that specializes in Supernatural occurrences and affairs. Headquarters are in Alberta because of the closeness to the Maghs in the Rocky Mountains.

S.S.A.N.D. Operations:

Operation Black Ridge

An operation that oversees the alliance of Supernatural creatures and the Canadian government; it is closely partnered with Goldstone

Code Z Mission - a mission of Black Ridge that oversees the protection of the Magh Queen

Operation Red Water

An operation that oversees adult training into spies, assassins, and other assets (18+); the operation is slowly deteriorating as Goldstone is rising and replacing it

Operation Goldstone

A helpful family guide for "The Heirs of Red"

See also:

June 30, 2026

Another update!

Project 1: The Rose Locket

I have officially sent the manuscript out! I will continue to edit it and work on small changes, but now it's a waiting game. I will also keep sending it out, so there’s more chances of it being accepted, but I am ready for the possibility that the novel’s journey might not include traditional publishing. But for now I will just celebrate that I've gotten this far!

Project 2: The Queendom of Hunters & Roses

Nothing new to report here. I am focussing more on my prose writing than my poetry.

Project 3: The Heirs of Red

I more recently really got into working on this story, so I think this will be the next one I release. I am still writing the first draft, so it might be a minute before it comes out… sorry! But while editing TRL, some of my favourite scenes are the ones with Rosella and her foster siblings, and it inspired me to get back into this story. Especially after M3LDB where we meet the first three kids, I thought this one was a perfect sequel since it introduces Felicity, the final foster sibling that comes to live with the Pizarro family. 

Felicity is one of my favourite characters (not a big feat since I love all of them), but I just love to see how she grows, which is more obvious with a character like her since we meet her so young. She’s only 8 in this story and 10 in TRL, and eventually we’ll see her as a teenager and then as an adult [not anytime soon, but there are plans ;) ]. This story also gives insight to how dangerous it can be living in Roman’s world.

Project 4: The Outside

I have fully outlined this story and have started to write it! But I think I will shift more focus to THOR for now, but who knows. Maybe you’ll get another two stories back to back :) Although, this one will feel a lot less interesting than THOR, because there's less action and it’s more of a slice-of-life moment.

Project 5: My Three Little Daisy Buds Going Underground

I finished M3LDB!! You can find the whole story here. So now I’ve shifted my focus to this new story that I have already outlined in lots of detail, meaning all I have to do is sit my ass down and actually write it. This story takes place right after APITW, so before M3LDB, THOR, and The Outside, and is really just something fun I wanted to write to add colour to the gang world in TRL. Because it’s not super important it might be a second before I actually write it, but it’s a fun project for me (as all of these are) so who knows.

Here is a timeline to show when these projects take place chronologically:

Rose got up early the next morning to check her face in the mirror. No marks marred her skin from Roman’s assault, but her insides churned. She suddenly realized how very far away she was from home. Her dad wasn’t here to hold her until she was okay. Her brother wasn’t here to distract her from all the chaotic thoughts that clogged her head. And her mom… Well, her mom wasn’t here to say everything would be alright. But she wasn’t anywhere anymore. 

The twins slowly woke up when Rose got back from the bathroom, which was when they heard the front door open loudly.

“Rosella!”

Roman’s booming voice seemed to shake the whole house. But at the twins’ frightened faces, Rose tried to play it off as normal. She wouldn’t let Roman terrify the twins more than they already were.

Cautiously, Rose opened the bedroom door and went downstairs. Roman stood in the entryway with a large suitcase in one hand and the other guiding a small girl further into the house. 

The girl had strawberry blonde hair—though, some might call it orange—and light grey, almost silver, eyes. Those eyes latched onto Rose immediately, lighting up like she knew she was home.

“I called Georgina early and arranged to move Gwyneth in right away,” Roman said. “This can make up for last night.”

This wasn’t exactly an apology, but Rose suspected that Roman didn’t do those. This was as close as he would get.

Rose tried to forget everything about last night and just focus on Gwyneth. She walked over, working hard not to rush to her side and yank her away from Roman. The protectiveness was almost startling.

“Hello, Gwyneth,” Rose said as she knelt down in front of her. “My name is Rosella, but you can call me Rose. You’ll be staying with us from now on.”

Gwyneth actually smiled. “I’m Gwynie!”

Rose couldn’t help smiling back. “Are you? Is that what you want to be called?”

She nodded.

“I also arranged for you kids to have the day off from school,” Roman said proudly. “Called the principals and everything.”

“Do you expect a prize?” Rose said before she could think better of it.

But Roman didn’t shout or tense up in anger. He smiled too. 

“I thought you could get Gwyneth settled in as I take care of some stuff. Then tonight, you can help me with some business.”

Rose rolled her eyes. Director Abba had explicitly told Roman numerous times that Rose was no longer allowed to help him with his business. She put Rose in a human school to prevent it. But it was becoming increasingly clear that the Director turned a blind eye to a lot of what Roman did.

Suddenly, Gwynie looked behind Rose and squealed. Rose realized that the twins had followed her downstairs.

“Guys, Gwynie’s going to live with us now. Do you want to welcome her?”

“Hi Gwynie!” Lorelai said, instantly running forward to give Gwynie a hug.

“Jasper?” Rose asked cautiously, knowing that he might not speak, given all the new changes and what happened yesterday. His fear was palpable. 

But eventually, he walked closer and gave Gwynie a small wave. 

“Hi, Wynie.”

That’s when Rose remembered that Jasper had difficulty pronouncing his Gs. 

Gwynie just smiled brighter and put her arms around Jasper as Lorelai did to her. 

“Hi Jaspy! We will be brother and sister now!”

Jasper gave a minuscule smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. 

Roman had gone upstairs to put away Gwynie’s bag, but he came back down now, giving Rose an assessing look. 

“I hired some people to build another bed in the twins’ room in an hour, so why don’t you get the kids some breakfast and then play with them in the backyard or something. This fucking house is getting too cramped.”

Prior to yesterday, Rose would have taken a comment like that and thought Roman was all bark and no bite. But now she wondered how much his anger was just waiting to be unleashed.

Rose herded the kids into the kitchen, wondering what she could possibly make them all for breakfast.

“But I’m not hungry,” Gwynie said when the twins excitedly went towards the fridge. 

Rose looked over at her and finally sensed what was wrong. Gwynie’s face looked pale, her freckles turning white, and she kept rubbing her arms like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. She must have stayed in the city for the past 24 hours. 

Without thinking, Rose brought her power forth, letting it surge through her body as Roman yelped in surprise. A medium-sized pure white canine erupted from what seemed like thin air.

“Wolfie!” Gwynie squealed in delight. She ran right up to Luna and threw her little arms around her neck.

Rose was taken aback. Gwynie knew what Luna actually was. Both Lorelai and Jasper thought she was a dog when they first saw her. 

Already the colour was coming back to Gwynie’s cheeks, and her smile was infectious.

Rose was careful not to expel too much magic when bringing her animals out of her body. While she could shapeshift into Luna and her owl Athena, they could also be separate animals from her, meaning she didn’t need to be controlling them to have them act as a regular wolf or owl. Letting them be their own creatures required less magic from her, so she wouldn’t be detected by other Supernaturals, but it was enough to hopefully sustain Gwynie.

“We had lots of friends at home too!” Gwynie said. “They loved Mommy.”

Rose kneeled beside Gwynie and stroked Luna’s fur. “Oh yeah? What were their names?”

“There was Piggy, Doggy, Horsey, Mr Moose, Baby Deer, Mama Deer, Miss Fox and Mommy’s goats. But Daddy made Mommy give away Piggy and chase away all the friends who ate our food. Then only Miss Fox came to play.”

“Can we get a doggy?” Lorelai asked, coming to Gwynie’s side and cuddling Luna too. 

Jasper followed after only a moment’s hesitation. 

“We have Luna,” Rose said, knowing Roman would never get them a pet. “But we also have an owl, right, Laylay and Jass?”

Rose made Athena, a beige-and-white barn owl, fly in from the other room. Roman gave another grunt of surprised annoyance. 

“If you’re done giving me a heart attack,” Roman grumbled, “why don’t you feed these kids something?”

“We don’t have any food,” Rose snapped back. 

“Check the fridge.”

Rose reluctantly left the kids with her animals and opened the fridge to find it full of fresh groceries. 

“From now on, I’m getting someone to deliver shit,” Roman said. “Don’t need Georgina up my ass about not feeding all you children.”

Rose ignored him to grab some eggs. “How do you kids feel about scrambled eggs?”

A chorus of excitement greeted her, and Rose turned just in time to see Roman leave through the front door. 

After they ate, Rose did take Roman’s advice and took the kids outside to the backyard, where autumn hadn’t fully touched all the trees. Flowers still bloomed around the landscape, but were clearly not maintained. 

As the kids ran outside, Rose noticed how Gwynie almost instantly went to the flowers. 

“Laylay, Wynie, look at the squirrels!” Jasper exclaimed delightedly as two squirrels ran by, daringly close to the kids.

Rose walked over, wanting to be close to them when more animals found their way over. Athena flew overhead while Luna sat contentedly on the deck, watching over them. 

“Look! Pretty flowers!” Lorelai said, bending to pick the white daisies along the fence's edge. 

“Those are Mommy's favourite flowers,” Gwynie said as she started to pick them too. “Mommy calls me her little daisy bud.”

Rose’s heart clenched.

She crouched between the three of them. “Do you like daisies, Gwynie?”

Gwynie nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Daisies are pretty! Like me!”

Rose laughed warmly. “Yes, you are.”

The kids surrounded her, picking daisies and putting them in each other’s hair. The backyard filled with a chorus of “Wynie, Wynie look!” and “Catch this Laylay!” and “Jaspy, help with the flower crown!” until Rose’s heart filled and tears fell from her eyes. None of the kids were using magic, but it felt like the whole yard was filled with it. 

This was what Rose was meant to do here. Be here for these three little ones. And protect them now that their mothers couldn’t.

Rose held onto Luna’s fur and smiled.

This is where she belonged.

SUMMARY

PART ONE

Maria dropped Rose and the twins off at Roman’s house, which was small enough not to garner attention, and in a quiet neighbourhood far enough away from the city’s centre. Roman’s enemies and allies congregated downtown, so he made sure his most personal possessions stayed nowhere near there.

Rose found a pizza in the freezer to make for the twins for dinner. They now had a system where Rose would prepare anything that required the stove or sharp knives, and the twins would help with anything Rose deemed safe. That mostly meant setting the table.

It had been a shock when she had to learn how to feed herself and two five-year-olds over the past couple of months. At home, her parents did the cooking while Rose and her brother annoyed them. With Roman, she quickly realized he was less equipped than she was to care for children. He wasn’t even thirty yet and had made do in the past by buying premade meals or dining at high-class restaurants.

Rose suspected that the twins hadn’t had many good meals in the month and a half they lived with Roman before Rose came along. Not that the meals were much better now, but Rose was trying her best. She was only fourteen, but she already felt years older. Not in wisdom, but in exhaustion. 

Would it be better to have Gwyneth here than in a human foster home? Rose really didn’t know, but she knew how humans could treat Supernaturals. That had always been her people’s greatest issue with humans—how terribly they treated anything that was different from them. And Gwyneth probably didn’t even understand what she was, not exactly. Those were dangerous lessons for a young Supernatural to learn by herself.

Even now, Rose worked to stifle Lorelai and Jasper’s flares of magic. Touching a hot pan meant the curtains went up in flames. Accidentally shattering a plate on the floor meant the sink water rose and levitated before pouring all over the kitchen floor. Rose had to quickly undo the damage while dampening the twins’ hold on the magic around them. Soon, her dampening skills would stop the twins before they did anything unusual, and that would eventually teach them to hide it, too. But Rose was all they had from being discovered. She would be all Gwyneth had too.

After dinner, Rose sat down with the twins to do whatever kindergarten homework they had, before getting them ready for an early bedtime. She was ready to sleep too, but before Rose could even make it to her bedroom, the front door opened.

Roman Pizarro was home. 

And he looked furious.

Roman was the type of man who was good-looking and knew it. Rose had seen him use his charms multiple times to get what he wanted, whether it be access to a club he wasn’t a part of or information that he shouldn’t know. But the truth was, even though Roman had the ability to be cunning, he was a big baby underneath all his charm and schemes.

He threw tantrums when he didn’t get his way. He sulked after being scolded by Director Abba. 

But Rose realized very quickly that this time was different. 

Roman slammed the door shut as he locked eyes with Rose from across the room.

She had never seen him this angry. And never this angry at her.

“You bitch,” he snarled.

Before Rose could comprehend anything, Roman was across the room and backhanded her across the face.

Pain blossomed from Rose’s entire head, and tears sprang unbidden from her eyes. The hit was so hard that she stumbled backwards and barely caught herself on the living room couch. 

“My house is not an orphanage!” Roman bellowed. “How dare you make a deal with Georgina without talking to me first!”

Then he backhanded her again, across the other cheek.

Rose did fall then, slamming her side into the corner of the coffee table. She couldn’t help but cry out from the pain.

Rose always knew Roman wasn’t a good man, but she never imagined he would hit her like this. Like it was a lesson. 

He trained her sometimes, in combat and thieving and weapons and spying and anything else he thought of. Sure, Rose got hurt sometimes, but she never thought he meant to. Not like now.

Through her blurry vision, Rose made out two small figures at the top of the stairs. She didn’t want Lorelai and Jasper to see her like this. To see their father like this. 

“Roman,” she croaked pathetically. “I’m sorry—”

But he already turned away, grabbing a lamp and hurling it at the wall. A scream escaped from the top of the stairs, but before Roman could turn his attention to the twins, Rose sprinted forward. In one blink, her supernatural speed carried her to the twins, and she picked them up before running into their room and locking the door. She soothed the wild flares of energy circling their bodies, binding it tightly inside of them, while forcing her own body to erase the bruises forming on her face. 

Lorelai and Jasper both gasped before crying uncontrollably again. 

“Rosie?” Lorelai choked out.

Rose didn’t know what Lorelai meant when she spoke her name, but she just held both of them tighter before bringing them back to bed.

The three of them huddled on the same mattress, Rose’s arms wrapped around both of them as she tried to murmur sweet nothings to get them to sleep. But her heart wouldn’t stop thundering. Even now, she thought she could hear the faint sounds of more glass shattering and drunken cursing from downstairs.

Unlike the twins, Rose took a long time to fall asleep.

***

Georgina tried her best to keep her heart unfeeling, but Rosella seemed intent on challenging that. True, it was Georgina’s job to assist, or at least investigate, the Supernaturals in this country, especially regarding their connections to humans. And a Fae murdering a human husband was a very valid connection.

But… 

Georgina’s mother’s voice came back to haunt her with her guard down like this.

Don’t get attached. Caring is for the weak. Emotions only get in the way.

And despite Georgina’s hatred for her long-dead mother, this was one area she was right about.

“Director Abba?”

Maria’s voice snapped Georgina back into the present.

They were at the police station. Georgina’s contacts told her that Mary Dare would be moved from the holding cell tomorrow morning, most likely taken straight to prison. The idiot woman confessed, not to mention was found covered in her husband’s blood.

Georgina had already saved too many Supernaturals in her time as the Operations Director of Black Ridge. Some of them did turn out to be Georgina’s most trusted agents, Maria included, but sometimes she had trouble seeing the lines. Like, when did she step in to help a Supernatural versus a human? Should her priority be her own race? Or the Supernaturals? She’d already gotten Rosella’s cousin out of trouble so many times that she lost count. Not that Rosella knew that. But Josi Marc was the daughter of one of Georgina’s oldest friends, who stupidly married the most Supernatural of all the Supernaturals.

“You should stay out here, Maria,” Georgina finally said. “I need to see Mrs. Dare alone.”

In a busy police station, Maria couldn’t outright ask if Georgina was sure, so she just gave her a look. Georgina gave her a stiff nod back, trying to convey confidence. 

You couldn’t buy the type of loyalty Maria displayed these past two years. Georgina didn’t know what she would do without her, especially when it seemed like Maria always knew what Georgina needed without her having to say anything. Sometimes she wondered if Maria could read minds, or if her intuition was just that good. Georgina wouldn’t be surprised either way.

After giving her young assistant one last look, Georgina followed one of her local police contacts to the interrogation room where Mrs. Dare was waiting for her.

Walking inside, Georgina finally understood what Rosella meant by the effects iron had on the Fae. Mary Dare looked sickly, with hollowed-out cheeks and chapped lips. But there was a defiance about her. She did not shrink away from Georgina’s stare.

Georgina took the seat across from her and waited until they were alone before speaking.

“Mrs. Dare,” Georgina said icily, “I am a representative with the Supernatural-relations organization in this country, and I have a few questions for you.”

The female looked young, like she was in her early thirties or even twenties, but Georgina knew how Faeries aged differently from humans. She could be centuries old for all Georgina knew. 

“I know who you are, Director Georgina Abba,” Mary’s voice rasped. “And I know why you are here.”

Georgina did everything she could to not show a reaction to the Faerie knowing her name. But of course she would. Black Ridge may be secret to humans, but many Supernaturals knew the parts of government in charge of dealing with them.

“Alright, then let us begin. Did you mean to kill your husband, Nicolas Dare?”

Mary didn’t even blink. “Where is my daughter?”

“If you answer my questions, I’ll answer yours.”

“Fine. Yes, I did mean to kill him. Now where’s Gwyneth?”

“So you admit to murder?”

Mary gave her a scowl, as if Georgina were the idiot. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

Georgina kept her gaze steady and voice even. “Then why?”

“Why did I kill him?”

Georgina nodded.

Mary Dare finally showed some emotion—guilt, hatred, grief, and something else. 

Defeat.

“If you know what I am, then you must be wondering why I married him in the first place.”

Georgina nodded again.

Mary looked incredibly young at that moment. 

“My name is actually Maeris. My family—no, my brother is very highly regarded at home, and so I grew up in the High Courts, apart from the freedom of the usual Fae. Nicolas was a young and foolish man looking for adventure when he visited Faerieland. My brother wanted to enslave him, but I was also young and looking for adventure. And just like Faerieland is mystical to you humans, the human lands were mystical to me. Nicolas promised me more fun than I could ever dream of. I thought I had him in my debt, being his saviour against my brother, but that idiot thought he was saving me. 

“Nicolas brought me to his family farm, where his aging parents had deteriorated significantly in his absence. They died not long after we married, and quickly after that, we had our son, Tucker. We faeries don’t experience time the way you humans do, so those short years still felt like a brilliant adventure to me. I learned about farming and your strange animals and little human children. And then came Gwyneth, my beautiful baby girl, and we were happy, the four of us.”

Mary— Maeris paused.

Georgina found herself leaning forward and quickly righted herself.

“Now I’m not sure if my brother had been looking for me,” Maeris continued, “or if he sent someone after me, but Nicolas sure thought so after…”

She trailed off, looking lost and alone in her memories. 

Georgina spoke softly. “After?”

Maeris snapped back, and it was like a beast was released inside of her. Her face grew stormy, and she was visibly vibrating. 

“My babies are half-fae, and Faerie children are meant to roam and wander! I told Nicolas that! So when Tucker and Gwyneth went to the little pond, as they often did, and I was in the garden… I don’t know what actually happened— but Nicolas blamed me and my folk! I-I didn’t get there in time, and then it was too late!”

Rage laced every inch of Maeris’s voice. “I felt something pull at me, and then I heard my babies screaming. The Fair Folk are fast—I am fast—but by the time I got to the pond, Tucker was beneath the water, and Gwyneth was screaming on shore. I jumped in and searched for his body… He was in the deepest part, stuck in the weeds. I brought us up and screamed until Nicolas found us. My baby boy… my baby boy was dead, and Nicolas blamed me! He was convinced it was the Fae, taking out their revenge on him because he stole me away! 

“He was such a stupid delusional man, and I said as much—the Fae don’t kill their own children, and Tucker was half of me! The Fair Folk don’t concern themselves with stupid revenges on childish humans! I was no locked-up princess, and he was no knight. A century spent with a human is only a blip to us, and I am sure my brother thinks I will return after my hunger for adventure is sated. But Nicolas wouldn’t listen to anything but his own dumb thoughts, and instead of letting me speak, he would lash out at me.”

Maeris put her cuffed hands on the top of the table, and Georgina barely swallowed her gasp. The skin under and around the metal was red and peeling. But Maeris pointed to her arms where Georgina could see faint white lines—lash marks. 

“That stupid human rediscovered all the tales that he used to find Faerieland to now hurt me so I would ‘remember my place.’ I made sure my baby Gwynie wasn’t around to see, but I was sure he only needed a couple of sessions to get the anger out of his system. I was wrong. My husband was like all you stupid humans, and thought my Fae blood meant I was no better than an animal. Like those dogs you slaughter when they have no more use.

“This morning I… snapped. My baby was at that dumb thing called school, so her perfect face couldn’t stop me from giving Nicolas everything he gave me—pain and suffering and humiliation.”

A pang of sympathy hit Georgina. She was suddenly very glad Maeris had rid the world of Nicolas Dare. And that Gwyneth Dare had Rosella looking out for her now.

“Not all humans are like Nicolas,” Georgina said softly. “But many men are.”

Maeris looked at her in surprise. “You believe me?”

It broke Georgina’s heart—at least, the little she had left—that Maeris assumed the worst of humans. She wanted to bring Nicolas back to life just to kill him again.

“I do, but I don’t know if I can get you out of here. I can try to pull some strings, but you already admitted to being guilty. The only thing that could save you is that it was self-defence.”

“I don’t care about getting out of here.”

Georgina was taken aback. “But the iron— Your wrists—”

“It could kill me, yes,” Maeris said calmly, like they were talking about the weather. All the fight from earlier was gone. “And it very well might, but if I get out, where will I go? If I go home, I must take my baby, and after my family learns of what that human of mine did, they will never accept her. And I can’t take care of her in these human lands. I don’t understand them. I can’t endanger my little daisy bud like that. She will be safest wherever you have her now, and she can only stay there if I remain here.”

There were a hundred better scenarios that Georgina could think of, but she had a feeling that a Faerie mind worked differently than hers. 

“You don’t think I would help you and your daughter if you got out? Or that your family would accept both of you back, since, as you said before, Gwyneth is still half-faerie?”

Maeris shook her head. “You humans cannot help me. What happens when you die, and I am still alive in these lands? Who will protect my baby and me then? And my family is not like a human’s. When Oris sees what Nicolas did to me, he and his mistress will think Gwyneth is tainted. If I die in here, Oris may one day find out I had a child and come looking for her. He will accept her because he won’t know the actions of her father. The knowledge will die with me.”

Georgina decided not to point out that she knew the truth, too. It didn’t really matter since this was just one more secret she would take to her grave. 

Finally, Georgina nodded. “So you want to stay in prison where you will die?”

Maeris lifted her chin. “We Fae don’t view death like you mortals. It does not frighten me; it must be done.”

Georgina nodded again and got up. “Then I will leave you to your decision.”

“You never told me where Gwyneth is.”

Georgina paused. “She’s living with another Supernatural, a Princess of Magic.”

Maeris gaped. “The Princess? And how do you know her?”

“She’s also in my care.” Well, she was in Pizarro’s, but details didn’t matter right now. “Your daughter is safe, Maeris.”

Maeris nodded and then gestured to the door. “Thank you. Be on your way.”

Georgina suppressed a chuckle. Faeries still thought they were superior, even one in chains.

Next: PART THREE

PART ONE

Rosella stood outside the school with Maria, waiting for the twins to come out. Even two weeks in, she still wasn’t used to her own school days, much less the routine of picking Lorelai and Jasper up. But Roman was even less used to it. So here Rose was, having to call Maria in again, because fourteen-year-olds weren’t allowed to drive. 

The Director of Black Ridge’s assistant never spoke much, and Rose was glad for that. She never knew what to say to this young woman who claimed she was human, but had magic spiralling around her wherever she went. Rose didn’t think Maria was powerful, but she was intimidating. And like everything else in this mundane society, Maria didn’t fit in any of the boxes Rose had in her head. Not for humans or Supernaturals.

The shrill bell of the elementary school startled Rose from her thoughts, and she quickly looked away when she realized she’d been staring at Maria openly. 

Parents, teachers, and what looked like hundreds of children swarmed the school doors, and Rose had to remind herself that she wouldn’t lose Lorelai and Jasper in this chaos. She and Maria stood right by the entrance closest to the kindergarten classrooms, and the twins knew to come right out to them. It was a far better plan than to have Rose go in to find them. When she did that the first day, she got so overwhelmed that she missed them entirely and spent what felt like an extra hour finding them. 

Rose just wasn’t used to being around so many humans at once. They felt different, smelled different, sounded different, and lived so differently than anything Rose was used to. It wasn’t that she was never around humans before she moved in with Roman Pizarro and his two five-year-old children a few months ago. But being around them all the time, every day, was weirdly exhausting. Not to mention that Rose was terrified of being discovered by the wrong people.

Finally, Rose saw Lorelai and Jasper coming towards them, Lorelai pulling her brother behind her. She walked them confidently to where Rose and Maria stood, like she instinctively knew where they were. Rose wouldn’t put it past the twins for having that kind of intuition. Not only because of the trauma they’d already suffered in their short lives—losing their mother and then being put in the care of a twenty-eight-year-old father who hadn’t known they existed—but also because of what Rose sensed in them the moment she met them. There was magic in their blood.

“Rosie!” Lorelai exclaimed when she finally saw her and ran to throw her arms around Rose’s legs. 

Rose gratefully wrapped her arms around Lorelai, able to let out a tight breath. Jasper came more slowly behind his sister, but he grabbed Rose’s hand when she extended it out to him. It took a month and a half before Jasper felt safe enough to speak to Rose, much less touch her. He was even less comfortable around Roman. Rose couldn't blame him.

“How was your guys’ day?” Rose asked

She felt Maria move slightly closer to her side, as more people moved around the school. 

The Director’s one job concerning Rose was to keep her safe and under the radar. For the first couple of months, the Director really only had Roman on that job as the rest of her team focused on finding the man responsible for this heightened security in the first place. But since Rose and the twins started school, Maria was put on the job too, coming around the house to see how the kids and Roman were managing, picking the kids up from school when Roman wasn’t around, and acting as Rose’s bodyguard whenever they were out of the house. 

“It was weird!” Lorelai answered, like that explained it all.

“What do you mean?” Rose asked, but was already brushing it off. They could talk about it in the car.

Surprisingly, it was Jasper who explained. “Those big guys that took us away from Mommy came for a girl in class today.”

Rose turned back to them in confusion, but it was Maria’s voice that had her concerned.

“What the…”

Maria barely spoke at the best of times, so at the sound of her voice, Rose’s defenses immediately went up. She looked around and saw two police officers escorting a little girl, who seemed even smaller than the twins, out of the school, a teacher at their side.

“They said Gwynie’s mommy was in trouble,” Lorelai tried to explain, “so Gwynie had to go with them. Just like we had to go with them when our mommy was in trouble.”

As the officers came closer, an uncommon but familiar feeling washed over Rose. It took her a minute to remember what the sensation signified and another second to pinpoint where it was coming from. 

Rose looked at both officers. No. 

The teacher? Also no.

Then Rose’s gaze connected with the little girl, the one Lorelai called Gwynie, and Rose knew.

“Maria,” Rose breathed with urgency. “The girl…”

But they were already at the police cruiser that Rose just noticed. She was still getting used to taking everything in in a landscape that already felt so full. The police car hadn’t stood out to her, but it must have to Maria, which was probably why she was so tense when they got there.

“What about her?” Maria asked, looking concerned. She should be.

“We need to find out her name.” Rose kept watching them. “And I need to talk to the Director. Now.”

For some reason, Maria listened and walked over to the officers. Rose could just make out Maria taking out a badge, which Rose had no clue she even had. Maria’s work was part of a secret branch in the government, one that worked with Rose’s family. Regular police officers shouldn’t know what it was, but whatever Maria said worked, because suddenly the officers were nodding and talking openly with Maria. She nodded a couple of times and then came back towards Rose and the twins. 

“The girl’s name is Gwyneth Dare,” Maria said quietly, as she gestured for Rose and the twins to start walking to the car. “Her mother was just apprehended and charged with the murder of her husband, Gwyneth’s father. They live on a farm just outside the city.”

“Take us to the Director,” Rose said as they climbed in. “I need to talk to her.”

“Does Gwynie need a new home, too?” Lorelai asked as Maria drove off. “Is she like you, Rosie? Will she come live with us, too?”

Maria’s eyes briefly shot towards Rose’s in the passenger seat before they went back on the road.

“I don’t know, Laylay,” Rose said. “But she does need a new home. Just like we did.”

Rose could tell Maria wanted to ask her about Gwyneth, but she didn’t. Rose didn’t know what to say if she had.

They finally made it downtown to a high-rise building where Rose was introduced to Director Abba three months ago. The day everything changed for her. 

Maria led them up the elevators and through the halls to the Director’s office. Rose didn’t know when, but she knew Maria had given Director Abba a heads-up before their arrival. 

Without even knocking, they went inside.

The twins were obviously nervous, and Rose hated herself for not dropping them off at the house before coming here, but she also didn’t like them out of her sight if she could help it. She didn’t know if that was for her benefit or theirs.

Rose clutched both Lorelai and Jasper’s hands as they entered.

Director Abba looked up from her desk, face unexpressive.  “What can I do for you, Rosella?” 

Rose held her head high. “There’s a little girl at the twins’ school, Gwyneth Dare—”

“Yes, the one whose mother killed the father,” the Director interrupted. “I’m aware.”

“Does the girl have any family to take her in?”

“Why does that concern you?”

Rose didn’t break the Director’s stare. “Does she?”

The Director huffed a sigh, but answered. “No. The father was an only child with elderly parents who died before Miss Dare was born, and he isn’t close to any extended family. The mother doesn’t seem to have any family whatsoever, which is all I could find out before you barged in here. Now, would you like to tell me why you’re wasting my time with a little kid I have nothing to do with? Do you think it’s another one of Roman’s?”

Rose shook her head, holding on tightly to the twins. She wasn’t sure she actually wanted to say the truth in front of them, but she just hoped they didn’t understand the full scope of what she said.

“Gwyneth Dare has Fae blood, I’m assuming from her mom’s side. And it was powerful. I think there’s a reason they lived on a farm outside the city instead of in, and if Gwyneth goes into the regular foster care system, or to some unknown relative on her human father’s side, she’ll be unsafe. She’s too young to know how to control her abilities, and being close to too much iron in the city will weaken her.”

“Then how has she been able to go to school in the city?”

Rose shrugged. “She’s only half-fae, and from what I’ve been told, the Fae can withstand the city for short periods of time.”

The Director arched an eyebrow. “And what are you proposing I do about this?”

“You’re the Director of Black Ridge. Supernatural relations is your job, and I thought you wanted to protect us. Not just my people, but others too. Isn’t that why you brought in Maria?”

Maria visibly startled by the door.

Rose may not know what Maria’s ties were to the Supernatural world, but they touched her blood and soul. She wondered if Maria’s abilities were part of the reason why the Director thought Roman’s household was the best fit for Rosella, with his twins of magic-users. Could Maria sense the twins’ magic? Was that why she came around so frequently to make sure not only Rose was okay, but the twins as well?

Rose’s own senses of the magical world were dimming the longer she was away from her people, but she could still detect the type of magic surrounding a person, a Supernatural. The twins had magic-using blood in their family—what humans called witches, wizards, or sorcerers. Their father, Roman, didn’t have a drop of magic in his blood, so it could only have come from their mother. 

Rose didn’t know much about Roman’s brief lover, Evita Flores, besides the fact that she and Roman parted ways before she told him she was pregnant. She also knew that Evita barely scraped by when she got sick and died shortly thereafter. Roman also mentioned once that Evita left her family in Cuba when she was young, and Rose wondered if she was able to come to Canada so easily because she knew the Supernatural world and knew how to use her own abilities. But Rose hadn’t told anyone else about the twins’ blood.

Although that didn’t mean Maria and the Director hadn’t come to the same conclusions.

“And others in your employ,” Rose continued. “So I thought Gwyneth would fall into that same category. She needs help.”

Director Abba watched her carefully. “Those others in my employ are able to work for me. Miss Dare is too young.”

“Then let Roman take her in. He’s already fostering me. Let him foster Gwyneth, too.”

“What about the city’s iron? Roman’s not moving outside of the city anytime soon.”

“I can shield Gwyneth,” Rose said. “If I generate enough energy—well, magic—I can lessen the iron’s effect on Gwyneth.”

“I thought the whole point of you living with Roman was to keep you under the radar. Isn’t using your magic the antithesis of that?”

“My kind doesn’t use magic. We are magic. But our magic, and the ability for others to feel it, is amplified when we are around our kind, and yes, when we expel large amounts of it. But I wouldn’t do anything drastic.”

Director Abba didn’t look convinced.

Rose sighed. “Do you know how my kind can shapeshift into an animal? It’s usually one animal based on our family. Well, I can shift into two, and not only can we shift into them, but we can separate them from our bodies. If I keep at least one of my animals out in the world at all times, the energy generated should expel enough magic to offset the iron’s burn.”

Director Abba actually seemed to consider it. “What about the mother? According to your theory, she would be a full-blooded Fae. Do you want me to get her out of murder charges, too?”

“She’ll waste away in prison. The iron…” Rose started to say, but she really only cared about the little girl. If the mother did kill her husband—and got caught—Rose wasn’t sure she needed protection. 

“Most humans waste away in prison,” the Director retorted. “And they don’t have the iron as an excuse.”

“As long as Gwyneth is safe, I don’t care. The mother made her decision.”

“The murder could have been self-defense.”

“Then shouldn’t your human courts clear that up and give her a fair sentence?”

Director Abba looked at her in disappointment.

Rose knew what she said wasn’t true; she’d watched enough human movies and shows, and read enough books growing up, that she knew that the human justice systems were corrupt to their core, but that wasn’t her fight. Not right now.

Finally, the Director gave a slight nod and stood up. “I will get the necessary documents set up for Roman Pizarro to foster Gwyneth Dare. I’m assuming you didn’t run this by him, so I will also break the news and weather his temper tantrum. Anything else?”

Rose just gripped Lorelai and Jasper’s hands and shook her head, ready to leave.

Director Abba nodded to Maria by the door. “Take them home. We’ll reconvene later.”

Not for the first time, Rose thought there was more to the Director and Maria’s relationship than they let on. Their actions and looks fit more between mother and daughter than boss and employee.

The reminder sent a pang through Rose’s entire body, but she shoved down the grief before it could fully emerge. 

They followed Maria out without another word.

Next: PART TWO

PART THREE

See also:

SSAND Operations

Summary

Rosella Pizarro is still getting used to living in this very human world with her very human foster father, all while realizing the challenges of being a Supernatural in a place where people, at best, don’t know anything about the magical world, and at worst, feel threatened by what they don’t understand. So Rosella vows to do whatever she can to protect those like her, including her two young foster siblings. But one day, she notices that another magical child needs help, and she’s the only one who can. To hell with the consequences.

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

Extras

Code Z Mission Document