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“Because women’s shelters aren’t always safe and can be held against a woman when it comes time for court battles and such,” she muttered, bobbing her head.

She very apparently wouldn’t look at me.

“I’d love to be a part of something this wonderful, but I have absolutely nothing useful to contribute, Ellie.

I would only hamper a flawless system like this. ”

That was so far from the truth that it hurt my heart.

“That’s your abuse talking, Aurora,” I said gently, studying her carefully. “Would you be open to speaking to someone?”

Her mouth parted slightly before she corrected herself from showing emotion. “A professional? Therapy?”

“I’m speaking to someone,” I told her as I nodded.

She was quiet for several moments, once again showing the glaring differences from the Aurora Reed I used to know. The Aurora I knew was confident and her mind was set. Her goals laid out and ready for any change in her plans or retort someone might throw at her.

This was… A beaten down and broken version that made it hard for me to be angry with her when I was valid in hating her. It was very confusing and kept throwing me in ways that made me feel like I wasn’t just on uneven ground but trying to walk on water.

So move in impossible ways.

Awesome. Exactly what I needed at the moment.

Ha-joon moved behind me and I felt steady. Just that and I felt my footing become more secure.

“Just think about it,” he suggested gently. “Ellie’s not saying you have to.”

Aurora seemed relieved even as she was leery of him.

She met my eyes. “I would like to but not yet. I would like to adjust to my new reality. I wasn’t given warning and had no idea what was even going on with Kenneth before being informed of everything and then given hours to pack a bag and tossed out. ”

Wow, that was… Heartless didn’t fully cover it.

At. All.

“You’re going to go after them, right?” I hedged.

“I feel like I would disappoint you if I don’t,” she whispered and looked away from me.

The Aurora I’d known never did that except to appease Kenneth. What had my asshole father and her monstrous family done in the hundreds of years since I’d last seen her?

“If you need to let it go so you can move on, that’s your choice,” I said quietly, trying to accept that for her.

“But at least make them pay , Aurora. They sold you. Fine, it was done back then, but they held you captive long after it was made illegal. Don’t let them think you accept that as acceptable . There’s a precedence for damages.”

She slowly nodded. “I would like to learn more about that then. That is where I would like to start. Please. I would like—two days ago I was just living as I have for centuries in limbo of being locked away and watching the world pass by. Too much has changed too fast. I would like to not commit to anything at this time.”

“Okay, that’s a valid answer,” I accepted. Yeah, more than fair and smart even. I told her that much. I glanced at my watch and realized I had to get moving.

I asked Ha-joon to speak with Alexis to get Aurora that information before taking Aurora shopping. I gave him a kiss in thanks and promised I’d be heading home after the interview.

Which actually went better than I’d expected.

The interviewer was treating it more as a fluff piece, but the station’s staff and prep people had done their due diligence and the questions were pretty good.

It allowed me to get out good information and act as if it was more natural instead of wanting me happy since ASH bought airtime for commercials.

And they probably wanted to hit me up for more.

The guy then went off script, frowning at his index cards. “Aren’t people just going to use this as a chance to have access to a free portal to Atlanta and North America for whatever they want? There’s no way to control that.”

Wow. What a fucking moron.

I chuckled dryly, trying to hide that I wanted to call him several names.

“There is, actually, just like any other time a portal is opened from one continent to another. Especially since the witches and warlocks in ASH’s employment will be facilitating things.

It’s all being done legally and through the proper channels.

“Our government has been informed, and one of the law enforcement agents who is at ASH’s airport will be assigned to the portal.

People can only come through with proof of appointments or are sent right back.

They will be given wristbands—everything like normal.

We have ample security and cameras. We do this all of the time and we’re simply expanding. ”

“Of course, of course,” he agreed awkwardly. “I was playing devil’s advocate so your answer was on the record for anyone thinking to cause trouble.”

Sure it was. Yeah, nice try, buddy.

Still, I played along and thanked him for being diligent and giving me the opportunity to prove we were ready.

I made it through the rest and thanked him when we were done. He was polite but didn’t even shake my hand, mumbling and immediately pulling out his phone.

One of the assistants apologized and said he was like that with pretty much everyone he interviewed, so it wasn’t a reflection of me. There was more the guy clearly wanted to say, but it would be professional suicide given where we were and all the ears around us.

However, I appreciated him making it clear it wasn’t me and he was being honest. I still put in a call to the executives who hired such a dipshit interviewer on the way back to the portal.

I’d traveled all the way to New York, having had one of the hospital’s witches open a portal for this interview at our expense when others wanted to get this exclusive.

And they’d treated it like a fluff piece with some idiot who didn’t understand the severity of the information? How this could realistically help their viewers?

I was glad when my concerns were received, and after a bit of back and forth, we decided to have another segment featuring ASH but their weekly medical one.

It was late notice for that week, but they were going to juggle some things and get us in next week.

I asked the executive email me what they were looking for and I’d get one of my department heads.

One who would be dynamic on camera.

Done and done.

She was chomping at the bit for it to be a reoccurring thing and I was open to it with different attendings even… The ones who played nicely and I would want to speak for ASH. Ha-joon immediately came to mind even. But a lot depended on how well we were treated on this second chance.

I thanked the witch when I came back through the portal and checked she was okay and nothing else popped into her day. She was fine and gave me a look not to doubt her. She was vastly powerful and this was child’s play for her.

Actually, it was because of her child that she took the job.

We had great benefits and didn’t treat our witches and warlocks like doormen.

She could be doing a lot more, but… Some people just wanted calm lives and regular nine-to-fives.

Her especially after her rough divorce. So she normally picked up an extra shift when her ex-husband had her child.

Good for her.

I handled a few other things at the office and headed home, texting Ha-joon asking how things went and if he was hungry. His response made me frown because he said he’d eaten with Aurora but asked me not to be angry.

But to hurry.

Ummm, okay then.

I understood better when I arrived to find Mrs. Clark at his condo looking like she was about to beat Aurora.

“It’s more complicated than you know and it’s not for me to tell you,” I said, not hiding how exhausted I was.

“Are you okay?” Aurora worried, no longer in passive mode blending in with the wall. “I thought your interview was supposed to be easy?”

“It’s not my normal and I had to handle more after,” I told her. “But it went better than I’d hoped. There’s just been too much and I’m pushing for a lot of change. I’m also hungry.”

“Oh, then of course you need to eat,” she said as she started to fret over me… At the same time Mrs. Clark went to.

Oh boy.

Which explained why Ha-joon had sent the message he had.

I ended up having her white kimchi with radish with my burger and fries to appease her.

Not a combination I would have sought out, but it didn’t not work.

Aurora seemed to be amused, so she understood Mrs. Clark was being a bit childish and left it alone.

“The Alpha of Atlanta sent a formal apology to our family for jumping the gun and announcing there was an actual match and engagement instead of a suggested idea,” Mrs. Clark informed us.

“That’s why I came besides with more food.

Your father was worried you wouldn’t be open to hearing that from him after his transgressions. ”

“And he’s still angry at me for what I did and challenging him,” Ha-joon muttered, reaching for soy eggs.

She opened her mouth but then closed it. “I don’t know that’s true. I don’t know what is going on with your father or our family right now. We’re a mess. Someone is always fighting and—” She cleared her throat and stole a few of my fries.

She was hiding here. That was what she didn’t want to say. She needed a bit of peace from the problems going on at home.

“Stop feeding the gits if they’re going to be babies,” I suggested. “It’s not difficult to not fight in the house. They don’t even all live there. Right now, it’s a damn neutral zone for your sanity and everything else is outside. That’s more than valid to declare at least for the time being.”

“Agreed, Mum,” Ha-joon said after a moment. “They run to you for every little damn thing. They always have and then yelled at me for taking up too much of your and Da’s time. It’s—we all need a reset and reminder we’re adults.”

She snorted, probably because Ha-joon was the only one who acted like a damn adult. No, his eldest sister did too.

“You make valid points and I will listen,” Mrs. Clark accepted after a moment and stealing a few more fries. “Thank you. I needed to take a step back.” She glanced at Aurora. “If you need any help so you do not upset your stepdaughter, I can give you my number to—”

“I don’t have a cell phone, but your son has been helping me,” she told her.

“My son is too busy to—”

“Mum, it’s fine,” Ha-joon said quietly, seeming uncomfortable.

Shit, I hadn’t meant to put him in the middle of this.

Why was life always so fucking complicated?