Page 57

“Yes, dear. I would never make up something that vile. ZIRDA thought that if an Immune could block Zordi powers, then maybe they could also block our inability to mate. If it was possible to mate with an Immune, they figured they could create some of the most powerful Zordis on the planet. Could you imagine a Zordi immune to other Zordis’ powers? That person would be unstoppable.

“Naturally, once the Immunes realized that the tests were unsafe, they tried to back out—your parents included. However, ZIRDA wasn’t about to let the youngest Immune in their research pool go that easily. They offered your parents millions of dollars to give you up.

“When your parents still refused, like any good parent would, ZIRDA killed them. More specifically, Victor Grant killed them. He also killed another little Ordinary girl who looked just like you. Then his agents strapped all three of them into a car and rolled it off a cliff. The police were none the wiser. They ruled it as an accident and quickly moved on to their next case like it was nothing.”

I glance at my man, who seems to be processing this information the same way I am: in shock.

Grammy continues, “When the other ZIRDA agents found out what Victor had done, the organization split into two groups. One half agreed with Victor that the Immunes project needed to continue as it was, involuntary surgeries, nonconsensual drug tests, rapes, and all. The other half believed that the project needed to end. Rita—and Suzie and Andy Grant—led that second group. On the same evening your parents’ bodies were shoved off that cliff, Rita, Suzie, and Andy, with a number of other agents, made plans to save you.

“While some of the agents distracted Victor and his group, the others snuck you away. What Rita didn’t know was that Suzie and Andy weren’t actually on her side. Secretly, they wanted the Immunes project to continue, just in a more humane fashion. So they double-crossed her.”

“No!” Trey shouts so loudly, his voice booms against the kitchen walls. “They wouldn’t have done that.”

“Oh, I can assure you,” Grammy says, “they did. The original plan was that Rita would sneak Ari away to a location only Rita knew of. The less everyone else knew, the better. That place was with your grandpa and me,” Grammy says, looking back at me.

“We didn’t even know she had plans to bring you here until she showed up.

At the time, we hadn’t seen her in almost a year.

We were friends, but we weren’t that close.

However, she knew us well enough to know that if she showed up with a precious little girl in need of care, we wouldn’t say no.

And she was right. Once she finished telling us everything that happened, we didn’t hesitate to make you some food and a place to sleep. ”

“Can you tell us more about the part where my parents apparently double-crossed Rita?” Trey asks. “How did that all go down?”

“After Victor killed Ari’s parents,” Grammy says, “he locked her up in his ZIRDA hideout. While Rita and her team worked to sneak Ari out of there, that’s when your parents tried to take her for themselves.

I don’t know everything that happened, but according to Rita, it sounded like a bloodbath. Some lives were lost.”

Grammy locks her gaze on me. “In the end, Rita was able to get you out and away from the Grants, unharmed. While she made her way to us, Victor’s team assumed it was Suzie and Andy who took you, so he ordered his people to the Grants’ home, which was what allowed Rita to disappear without anyone stopping her. ”

Trey’s hand trembles against my thigh. “That’s why those men came crashing into my house that night. They were looking for Arella. When my parents realized that, they probably rushed home to save me and ended up getting killed instead.”

Tears roll from my eyes. “Oh god, Trey. I’m so sorry.”

“Rita told me about the explosion,” Grammy says.

“I have to admit, at the time, I was pretty dang happy about it. With Suzie and Andy gone, there were two fewer people in this world who wanted to hurt the innocent little girl who had just been dropped into our laps. The only people left that we needed to keep her away from were Victor and the people on his side.”

“How did you do it for so long?” I ask.

“Well, within a week of having you, Grandpa and I quit our jobs and got new identities.

We gave you one too. Your birth name was Hannah Calder.

Your parents were Stanley and Robyn Calder, two very brave and loving people.

Of course, I never met them, but I can only assume that of them for refusing to give you up for any amount of money.

“We named you Arella because Arella means angel . To us, you were our little angel. Our second chance at having a daughter or, since we were already in our fifties, a granddaughter. We gave up so much to keep you safe, dear: our careers, our names, our friends, and any connections we had to the Zordi world. We did everything and anything necessary to protect you. No expense was too big.”

Trey raises his hand like we’re in a school. “I have a question.”

“Hopefully,” Grammy says, offering him a sweet smile, “I have an answer.”

“If you were trying to keep Arella safe from Victor, why would you stay in California? Why not move to the other side of the country or a different continent?”

“Good question. It’s one that Phil and I have debated a lot over the years.

We’ve lost countless nights of sleep over the many reasons why we had to get Ari away from California, but the answer was simple: Uprooting seventeen people’s lives and tearing them away from their families was where we drew the line.

“Unless we were going to raise this little girl out in the middle of nowhere, there was always a chance that Victor or someone would come around knocking. We considered the isolation method, but that’s not the life we wanted for you.

Therefore, Rita and the other sixteen people on her team vowed to protect you for the rest of your life.

Together, we agreed to remain in California so everyone could stay with their families.

Then, if the day ever came, they’d only be one phone call away. ”

Things are starting to come together now. “That’s the call Gramps kept asking you to make.”

“Sure is. There are only twelve of them left. Some have passed. Some ended up moving away. The people who remain have named themselves Ari’s Guardians .

We moved around the state every year to be closer to each one, because every year, they rotated being your main guardian—from a distance, of course.

We’ve been careful to ensure that if Victor’s people ever tracked them down, they’d have no relationship with us to track back to you.

Moving around the state also helped make you harder to find. ”

“Somebody somewhere was slacking,” Trey says with a scoff, “because somehow, Victor found her, and that’s how I came into her life.”

That’s not the way I would have said that, but okay...

“It sounds like you two have a story to tell as well. Maybe you can explain how this”—Grammy wiggles a finger between Trey and me—“happened.”

“Yes,” I say, “but I want Gramps to hear it too. Maybe once he does, he’ll be more willing to accept Trey.”

“You still want his acceptance? Even after finding out he’s not really your grandpa?”

I nod firmly. “Of course, Grammy. Like you said, biological or not, you are still my grandparents. I still love you as much as I did before. Actually, I think I love you more now, knowing you took in a little girl you’d never met and sacrificed so much to give her a good life.”

That does it for Grammy. She loses it, bursting into tears. I slide off my chair to wrap my arms around her. She stands to meet me, and we embrace in a long, tearful hug. After we step back, I wipe the salty water from my eyes.

We chat about lighter things as we wait for Gramps to return. Trey enjoys more of Grammy’s cookies while she tells us some funny stories of the things I did growing up.

Eventually, Gramps steps back into the house and kicks off his shoes. He doesn’t look like he’s fuming anymore, but his expression is still hard.

“I told them the truth,” Grammy says gently. “The kids have a story to tell us too. Are you ready to hear it?”

Gramps responds by sitting in his chair and giving Trey and me a nod.

Together, we tell my grandparents everything.

Trey starts by telling them that he was a ZIRDA agent. Big mistake. The way Gramps’s face turns to stone makes me think he’s going to start a war, but he keeps his cool and doesn’t say a word. He relaxes once Trey gets to the part where he felt the glimmer and realized he was in love with me.

By the time I talk about how I was kidnapped by Victor’s people, Gramps is back to fuming. He doesn’t shout, but his hands turn to fists over the table. Those hands slowly unclench as Trey tells the details of how he rescued me.

When we get to the part where we were running to Las Vegas to hide from the Royals, Grammy’s on the edge of her seat.

“You know we made it out okay,” I say, trying to ease her. “I’m sitting right in front of you.”

“That doesn’t change that the Royals were right above your heads while you were crouched in an underground crawl space in a ginseng store. What happened after that?”

“Actually,” Trey says, “I think we should go back a little. We skipped the part where I find out that Victor’s not my uncle and is actually my dad.”

Trey tells a shortened version of that part, and then we get to the part where we found out that his aunt Jodi had swapped minds with Victor for twenty years.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Gramps says. “All those things Victor did to those Immunes... it was Jodi the whole time?”

Trey nods. “Yep. Everything from the brutality of the Immunes project, to killing Arella’s parents and mine, to abusing me as a child, to running ZIRDA as a Royals camp, to kidnapping Arella, and everything else in between. It was all Jodi.”

We give my grandparents a moment to digest that before I tell them about the zovernment erasing my memory and planting Caleb into my life.

“How is that possible when you’re immune?” Grammy asks.

“According to the Executive Keeper I spoke to,” Trey says, “they have a way of turning off her immunity by pumping her with a bunch of drugs and hormones to shut down her fear.”

Thankfully, Trey doesn’t mention how my immunity walls come down whenever he makes me orgasm. I don’t need my grandparents knowing that.

“I swear,” Gramps says, “the zovernment is full of corrupt bastards. They keep so much information hidden from the general public, and they?—”

Ding-dong!

All four of us straighten up like rods as we glance at one another.

“Are you expecting anyone?” I ask.

Grammy shakes her head. “Nope.”

Gramps is the first to rise from his chair. “Stay here. I’ll go see who it is.”

“I’ll come with,” Trey says, squaring his shoulders like he’s ready for battle.

Gramps doesn’t protest as the two of them disappear down the hall.

“It’s probably just a package,” Grammy says, rubbing the back of her neck. Judging by the way we all snapped into alert mode, I don’t think it’s just a package.

We listen intently as the door opens and Gramps says, “Can I help you?”

“Hello,” a sweet voice says. “My name is Mia Wang. I’m a Keeper here to speak with Mr. Ward, Mrs. Ward, Miss Rance, and Mr. Grant. May I come in?”