There is only one thing that we can never change, and that is the place from which we come. Though she tries to control everything else in her life, there are three things that Counselor Carrie Everett just can't tame: her growing caseload, her weakness for police personnel, and her increasingly serious relationship with Detective Jenn Carver. While trying and seemingly failing to manage her personal life, Carrie's work life takes a turn for the chaotic when a brand new case threatens the safety of a close friend and coworker, Detective Kim Hayden. A case this serious is mentally taxing for a prosecutor, but that's the least of Carrie's worries. Now, it's personal, and when the detectives of Green Falls seek legal help to solve their case, life becomes a ticking clock for all involved. This is the sequel to my last piece, Black Tie Event, taking place two years after the first story's conclusion. You definitely do not have to read the first one to understand the second, though it may help and make the second piece slightly more enjoyable. You could even read them backwards if you so chose, though it might give some plot away to do it that way. Some new characters are introduced, among the familiar faces, and the situations are brand new. Rated R, just because of its intensity. Enjoy! Cover art again by perfect human @halieghk

'"If she's somehow convinced you that she doesn't control you then she's exercised the greatest control of all," she says so tiredly it makes me immediately conscious of how naive I've been. "She decides your every move."' When the adult population of the Herel Plain, a small country known equally for its film industry and repressive government, is decimated by a civil war, the state sets up an auction system to distribute the newly orphaned youth into American foster homes. The so-called "Pageant" separates Savannah from the brother she has raised and places her in the hands of a violent, brooding entrepreneur and his wife, a callous and alluring college professor, who enlist her - along with their thirteen year old daughter Laurencia and their irreverent, young assistant, Nasrine - as a dealer in the high-end American drug trade. When Nas comes to her with an unthinkable scheme to take off with the money, Savannah sees her opportunity to be reunited with her brother and give him the life they never had. To run away is all she ever wanted, but when the moment finally strikes, something about her new employer makes her want to stay. COVER ART by the wonderful @celaestial; thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart, friend!