A Lonely Road

Is There Always a Love Triangle?

When Kaelie parked the bike at the bottom of a quaintly cliche street in the center of the small town, the first thing she noticed was that the tourist trap was, well, deserted. It shouldn't be. This was a hotbed for vacations and tourism, thriving with people and chatter. The silence was unnerving. Save for a few natives, the street and shops were empty. Her body tensed, she brushed the tips of her fingers against the hilt of the small knife she'd managed to slide into the cast on her wrist. Another hung on a delicate chain around her neck, it's deadly charm hidden under her tank. Guns might be a lot easier, but they were bulky and loud, and in Kaelie's opinion, drew entirely too much attention. Knives were indiscreet, easily hidden. In fact, she doubted that Jace even knew she was armed.

Confidently, like she belonged here, she approached one of the shops, Jace a few steps behind. She wanted to appear as though she was a sweet French girl, giving an American boy a tour of the village, a forgettable storybook character. A bell chimed over the door as she wandered into a rather adorable boutique. "Bonjour, monsieur," she called to the owner in a sweeter version of her own sharp voice.

The middle aged man smiled at her from under thinning blonde hair, looking her up and down before responding. "Ah, mademoiselle, bonjour. Comment avec-vous?"

"Je suis bien, et vous? J'adore vous magasin, c'est très belle!" Kaelie said, following the charmed owner to the counter and continuing her conversation in lyrical French. After finishing, she browsed lazily around the racks, ignoring Jace's increasing confusion and signaling that they would talk outside the store. When they left, Kaelie held a bag of clothes in one hand, given to her by the the man, whose dark eyes had crinkled with amusement when he said she reminded him of his wife and insisted she take the bag. She hugged him warmly, American style, and, following the story she'd given him (her cute American boyfriend was only in town for a few days) took Jace's hand in hers and leaned into him, head on his shoulder.

"Au revoir, monsieur!" she called over her shoulder. Outside, and a few feet away, she released her hold on Jace's hand, much to her ever growing discontent. Even Jace looked somewhat mournful that she'd removed her touch.

"What did he say?" Jace asked in a hushed voice. "Does he know anything?"

Kaelie nodded. "It's more like what he mentioned isn't anything to him, but is to us. He mentioned a few of the women that have disappeared, said that they all show up sooner or later, with more money, and they never say anything about where they went."

"The surrogates?" Jace asked and Kaelie nodded again, brain whirling with thoughts. The shop owner had not been able to give her any names, but she wondered if she would be able to track down some of the women, see if she could get them to talk about what happened. She wondered if the woman that had helped them knew how many women had been taken. She still worked for the Illusion, she had to, she tried to warn them when she could, if something was going to happen. She'd called Lilith when the lab here had been purchased, but she hadn't indicated that they were already impregnating women.

She'd told Kaelie about her son when she was younger, that he was around her age, that she had to keep working for the Illusion to protect him, and Kaelie understood that. If they could find the warehouse that the new lab was in, and they could find her, maybe they could get these new experiments out before they turned into Illusion slaves. The shop owner hadn't said anything about the warehouse, and Kaelie hadn't wanted to push him and raise his suspicions. Although Lilith had been able to find the Paris news story that the warehouse had been bought, and that the women had been disappearing, they were quickly taken down, and the location was never revealed, their guardian angel was never able to provide exact coordinates. Kaelie sighed in frustration and Jace grabbed her hand.