Normal people just don’t do that, and the virus they were spreading around is something that doesn’t usually present itself in shifter clans. Is Lucky planning to infect large numbers of shifters and then offer this cure? And what’s the downside? Are there side effects to this?
We watch quietly as a spokesperson for the company comes on at the end of the commercial to talk about how this product is going to change the world for dragons. As soon as she opens her mouth, my blood runs cold.
“It’s her,” I whisper. “I know her.”
“How?” Nicole turns. “How do you know that woman?”
“She’s the woman from the business card. The one Peggy brought with her when she came to us.” I would reach for the card itself, but it’s at my cabin off in the forest. We all need our secret hideaways, and that place is mine. Besides, I was worried about someone trying to trace my call. There was no way I was going to even attempt to reach anyone at Lucky from Fablestone. Not that I could if I wanted to. The cell service here is shit.
“I know her,” Nicole says. “She’s the woman who hired me.”
We watch as the woman speaks about the product.
“Dragon-X is more than just a cure for this virus,” she says calmly. “It also offers the vitamins, supplements, and minerals that shifters need to say strong.”
“That’s not true,” Nicole whispers. “Shifters don’t need additional vitamins.”
“It’s one of the best things about not being human,” Marta agrees. “No offense,” she adds.
“None taken. I know humans have many disadvantages when it comes to our bodies. This is just blatant lying, though. What kind of vitamins is she talking about?”
We finish watching the broadcast. Then we watch it again. And again. And again. Then I pull it up from another website and read the accompanying articles about the commercial itself.
“When was this released?” I ask Marta.
“A few hours ago,” she says. “People are excited.”
“Are they?”
“The blog-o-sphere says ‘yes,’” Jeremy offers from his computer. Everyone knows there have been some weird shifter illnesses lately. That’s all probably thanks to Lucky.”
“Starting rumors,” Nicole comments. “It’s not a bad move.”
“It’s a good political strategy, at least if you can control them to an extent.”
“Who is the woman in the commercial?” I ask Nicole. “Do you know her?”
“Yeah, I’ve met her,” she nods. “She’s the one who hired me. We’ve worked together a few times. Her name is Erin.”
“And what does Erin do?”
“She’s in charge of a lot of things. Marketing. Hiring. Management. She kind of does it all, from what I can tell. She’s not very easy to access, though. I kind of got the impression she was more powerful than people were letting on because anytime I tried to arrange a meeting with her, it was shot down.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah,” she says.
“Found her,” Marta says, and motions for us to come to her computer. “I pulled this up on an old news article. It’s not on the official site or anything. Erin Allison,” she reads. “Director of Marketing, Operational Management, and Providential Research Director.”
“Sounds like she’s got quite a few titles to her name.”
“She’s been with the organization from the start,” Marta continues reading from the computer. She scrolls through the biographical information she pulled up and then starts typing a few things, trying to bring up more data. I’m quiet as Marta works, allowing her to find exactly what we need to start moving forward. “Looks like she graduated from law school, top of her class, got in on the ground floor of the organization.”
“Relationships?”
“A husband. Married ten years.”
Marta displays a picture on the overhead screen and the stiffness in Nicole’s body tells me everything Marta doesn’t. Nicole said her ex-boyfriend’s wife worked at Lucky, but she didn’t know who it was. Well, I’m guessing that she did know who it was. She just didn’t realize the relationship the two of them had until now.