“Welcome! What a wonderful surprise,” she says loudly and then laughs just as loud. “Vera, so good to see you. Have you lot eaten dinner yet? We still have plenty of food left if you’re hungry.”
“Yes, Dominique. We left Jaakii just after dinner. Thank you for your generous offer,” Vera says with a pleasant smile. “I brought Jax and Phoenix with me today. I hope you don’t mind. They helped me during the last rescue mission, and I wanted them to see where we bring those we rescue.”
Dominique claps her hands together. “Oh, dear spirits of the gods, of course we don’t mind! Please, come in and look around. Feel at home.” I stand closer to her than Jax, so she grabs my hands and presses her forehead to the backs of my palms. “Thank you so much for helping Vera save those innocent souls. There are so many of them, and it’s horrid what those damn Caligos do to those kids.”
“Ah…uh, of course. It’s our honor and duty to help in whatever way we can.” I stumble over my words.
The woman lets go of me and ushers all of us into the corridor to follow her. Wooden stairs weave upward, leading the way to the second floor, but we pass them and enter a modest living room. An old couch leans against one wall, and there are a couple of matching worn armchairs scattered around the room. In a corner by the window stands a round little table with four chairs that are all occupied by teenagers.
All of their gazes snap to us, and they pause whatever game they’re playing while they gawk at us with big, curious eyes.
“Where for the love of the spirits are your damn manners?” Dominique slaps her juicy thigh with her small palm. “Excuse these rascals. They forget themselves sometimes.”
The three girls and one boy, each no older than fifteen years old, nod their heads and murmur greetings.
“Don’t worry about that, Dominique,” Vera says with a smile. “We’re barging into your home at this hour. If you want to blame someone for rudeness, blame us.”
One of the girls giggles, and returns to the game. The others follow suit. I recognize the girl now; it’s the one I helped Vera carry out first.
She has put on some weight since I last saw her, and the bruises that littered her skin all over have healed. Her cheeks have a healthy glow when she smiles at the boy in front of her.
I’m rooted in place as I remember that night. Every second of it is still vivid in my mind. The way the air smelled, the sounds the four Caligos made as they died.
“Are you okay there, darling?” Jax’s hand on my shoulder snaps me out of the trance and I blink. “You look like you’re about to throw up or faint. Or possibly murder someone.”
I snort. “Because all these three things are so closely related.”
A casual shrug. “It’s hard to tell with you sometimes.”
Dominique invites us to the kitchen to have some tea. She hums a tune under her breath as she prepares two clay pots of herbal tea that smells of honey and something else I can’t recognize. All four of us sit around a small round table perched by the only window in the small kitchen.
It’s modest like the rest of the house I’ve seen so far. But it’s clean and kept well. I can tell Dominique takes care of her home and takes pride in it. Every kitchen and tea towel I can see matches, and is neatly folded.
Once our cups are full of delicious tea that tastes just as good as it smells, I’m restless to know what this place is. Vera is so secretive. She only gives away her cards one at a time.
“What is this place?” I look between Vera and Dominique. I jerk my chin at the hostess. “And who are you?”
Dominique smiles at me. Only now do I notice she has a gap between her two front teeth. “This is my home. And I’m Dominique Cortesa. I’m a seamstress by trade.”
I shoot Vera a glance. “I see you trained her well in your ways.”
Vera giggles. To Dominique she says, “You can tell them, Dominique. They’re dear friends I trust.”
Dominique barks a laugh and slams the table so hard the pots rattle. “Apologies, apologies. We tend to be extremely careful with new people. You can never be too cautious when it comes to safety.”
“I can understand that,” I say.
“You’re an expert con woman Dominique,” Jax says, tapping his chin. “I must say, I couldn’t tell you were kidding.”
Dominique blushes and giggles at Jax’s praise. It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes. I don’t get how women are so easily charmed by this slick bastard.
“I’m a seamstress by trade. At least, I was before Vera recruited me,” Dominique says. “In the past, long time ago, they used to train Caetras here, in this mountain village. It used be a huge secret, as most of the Caetra-related things are, so our village is not even on the map.”
“Ah, that’s an excellent spot for a safe house,” Jax says, his eyes wide with excitement. “This is genius, Vera.”
“I know,” Vera smirks.
“Who owns this village now, then? The government?” I ask and take another sip of my tea.
