When the lawyer walked off, whistling an old tune, the women we'd rescued stepped out tentatively. Seeing me standing there with Evangelina, they rushed over to kiss our hands and pull us into hugs. We all broke down in tears.
Killian and Lucius returned; Mr. Longfield had given them the green light over the phone for the press conference. He could no longer hide his sons from the world, and he figured, what better way to debut them than as heroes?
They took the women to get something to eat and drink, providing them with decent clothes for the trip. Once they were ready, Killian and Lucius led them to the plane; I followed close behind. Bruce came over to say goodbye, pulling me into a hug and whispering with a conspiratorial tone, "We made a good team. We sold that whole 'passionate lovers' act pretty well."
Blushing furiously, I replied, "You're too sweet! Don't stay out of my life for too long, okay?"
He promised he wouldn't. Evangelina approached then; her cousin realized she wanted a private word with me and headed off to say his goodbyes to the others. "The Queen" had changed into a stunning, short pearl-colored dress.
"Get rid of that red hair the second you're done with the press conference," she said with a smile. "I love your hair exactly the way it was when we met."
I took her hands in mine, my voice almost a plea. "The truth matters to me. I know you're the smartest person in the room, but come on! You couldn't have planned all of this on purpose… right? You're one of the good ones, aren't you?"
She hugged me and whispered, "Of course I didn't do it on purpose. You know I think fast, and maybe I calculated a few moves—that's just how my brain works. It's not intentional; it's just who I am. But the truth is, we survived by a miracle, and we saved every one of those women. And you know what? Don't you think the world is a little better now that this empire is in my hands?"
I squeezed her with all my might. She gave me a quick kiss on the lips, and I walked away toward the plane… but then I turned and ran back, rambling breathlessly.
"Wait, wait! I love them both! I love Killian and Lucius. Please, use that giant brain of yours and tell me what to do when things get complicated."
She laughed. "I chose a psychopath for a partner—one who wanted to kidnap me and marry me in a cage—not to mention I've loved my cousin for as long as I can remember. I literally have a tattoo that says 'Love first, think later.' I can't give you advice; I'm the worst at this. All I can say is that they're the luckiest men in the world to be able to look into those unique eyes of yours and know you love them… See you soon, okay? Just get that red out of your hair."
We laughed, but with every step I took toward the plane, I looked back at her, a knot of anxiety tightening in my chest. Don't hate me, girl, but I also thought of Annia—so young, yet so filled with hate. I'll never understand how I got so lucky to cross paths with Carol; if only Annia had been as fortunate as me, she'd probably still be alive.
I took a deep breath. I saw Bruce hugging Marian Peirce while she talked to her parents on the phone, and then he shot me a wink as he said goodbye to the others. On board, the women were still crying tears of joy. Killian, Lucius, and I were in the cabin; the flight attendant was completely bewildered until the women started telling her the story. She couldn't hold back her tears, repeating over and over, "I knew that Vandereck woman was evil, I knew it!"
We took off toward freedom.
The landing was absolute hysteria. I covered my red hair with a captain's hat Killian lent me, desperate to keep the world from seeing me like that. The press was more focused on the Longfields than the victims, but during the conference, the women spoke up and told everything. They thanked the five of us a thousand times over. By the next day, the headlines featured a photo of Killian, Lucius, and me on the cover, with archival photos of Evangelina and Bruce. The headline read: The Five Heroes of the Vandereck Horrors.
When we reached the mansion, Mr. Longfield was waiting for us at his residence. Ursula was with him. We ate at a long table, and though I wanted the meeting to be more emotional, Longfield just took notes while Killian recounted what happened. Then we endured a brief reprimand for not checking in; it was directed at me too, reminding me that my contract demanded total loyalty to him. But his happiness was undeniable—not just because his sons were safe, but because all of this, in his own words, was "excellent for business."
Then they told me a stylist was waiting to strip the red from my hair immediately. Ursula and I hurried off to restore my hair to its original color.
You have no idea, girl, how happy I was to see myself in the mirror again. When I got back to the residence, Tomas the guard told me the three Longfields were in a private meeting and I could see them later. Ursula sighed; she's definitely still in love with her boss. I smiled, thanked him, and went to my room. I soaked in the tub I'd missed so much, then went straight to bed wearing a long T-shirt as pajamas.
Nightmares woke me up: Annia's body, Big George looming at my window in the dark. Imagine the heart attack I had when Killian dropped onto my balcony from the roof at that exact moment to enter my room.
I let him in, laughing as I swatted him with a pillow. "After everything that happened, you're still doing stuff like that? I almost died! Besides, is that stupid Clause 7 still in effect?"
He kissed me and replied, "Don't talk about that. We both asked for the clauses to be lifted at the same time. My father thinks that, sooner or later, we'll end up fighting over you. He adores you, he really does, but he wants nothing to do with 'unauthorized encounters.' But I think I have an edge: if the union between Evangelina and the Longfields happens soon, Lucius will have to marry Sarah, the President's daughter. Then we'll be indestructible."
I turned dead serious. "Did you guys check if Sarah is… normal? I mean, like, she doesn't have people in cages, does she?"
Killian laughed, and then there was a knock at the door. It was Lucius with a bottle of wine and three glasses. He took me by the waist right in front of his brother and kissed me deeply. God, his cologne! Why do they do this to me?
He pointed at Killian and said, "See? Three glasses. You think I don't know you? I knew perfectly well you'd be here. I bet you climbed down from the roof and dropped onto the balcony just like you did when we were kids."
I told them, "Please, no fighting or arguing tonight. I just want to be Carmilla, the gardener who fell in love with both of you. I want to drink good wine and fall back asleep in this bed like a normal person."
But Lucius interrupted. "Don't you know what's going on in the world? You'll never be the same again. It turns out your photo with the pilot hat is causing a sensation. Apparently, we're the 'Sexiest Trio of Heroes' on the planet, and the Bances are being called the 'Hot, Hot Cousins.' It's madness: there are two fan pages for the victims, four for the Vanderecks, and forty for the five of us. Dad thinks we should disappear for a while."
With a glass of wine in hand and at Killian's request—who was already sprawled out on one side of the bed—I settled in the middle, with Lucius on the other side. Surrounded by love, and just because they thought it would be funny, we turned on the TV. You won't believe it, girl, but the first thing I saw was an aerial shot of Mary Garden, my beautiful home. The caption read: "Live: Here lived Carmilla, the heroine, before Longfield." The reporter in the studio praised the flowers while a colleague filmed through the garage window—the one where Carol kept old stuff and where I used to play dress-up.
Lucius said, "It's a beautiful house. Small, but it looks like a home."
The man with the microphone shone a light inside, clutched his head, and said, "You won't believe what's in there."
I covered my eyes, thinking: Did I leave a princess skirt out in the open?
The rude man was trying to force the door, and he actually managed to open it. But the police arrived to guard my house and kicked them out. We flipped the channel, and there was my photo in the hat next to a shot of Evangelina from her modeling days. The question on the screen: Which of these two brave women is sexier?
To my surprise, Evangelina was only winning by 68 percent of the votes. Killian said, "That's not fair. Her photo is a studio shot, and yours was taken while we were walking through the airport."
Lucius added, "Are people blind?"
I swatted them—it hurt me more than them when I hit those abs—and asked, "Are you kidding me? Tell me I'm beautiful and I'll pretend to believe you, but don't compare me to her like I actually have a chance. You should put her up against Aphrodite, not me."
They tickled me, and Killian kissed my cheek. I asked Lucius to give me one on the other side, but he replied, "I'm too old for those games."
Yet, he rested his hand on my thigh, and I thought to myself: God, they're both so handsome!
The broadcast shifted from the women's competition to the men's. On the screen, Killian, Lucius, and Bruce were ready for the voting to start. A female host said:
"Billionaire, blonde with long hair, tall as a door, with those massive muscles and that 'I'm going to do it to you all night' face… I have no doubt: Killian Longfield is, by far, the most beautiful man in the entire universe. Plus, he saves women by breaking bars with his bare hands…"
All the women in the studio gasped, but another one countered:
"I don't agree at all. Lucius Longfield is 'The Man,' and I'll fight anyone on that. Sky-blue eyes, look at that jawline, look at that body."
A third added, "I don't think they're my type; they can't compete. Bruce Bance is a detective; he solves crimes around the world. With that face and that body, I'd confess to a homicide just to have him arrest me."
Lucius didn't want to see the results and turned off the TV. We sat in silence. A moment later, he whispered near my ear:
"Who do you think won?"
Killian, from the other side, asked, "Answer us. Who do you think won?"
I turned the TV back on and replied, "Let's find out!"
But deep down, lying there between them, feeling their beautiful bodies against mine, I knew that I was the one who had won.