Chapter 19
Zephyr
Shedidn’tknowif he’d detached, but he’d certainly disappeared. And she didn’t want to automatically assume it was because of her.
He didn't come home that night, or the next, or the next, and Zephyr waited, and waited, waited.
After leaving with Hector post-steamy kiss, he’d not returned. She’d gone home after her volunteering, had dinner watching a movie, and when it became clear that he wouldn’t be back, she’d crashed on the couch surrounded by the dogs. That was mostly because she'd never slept alone in any house, and the thought of going up to her room in the house surrounded by wilderness had made her shiver. At least with that dogs, it hadn't been as bad. Bear especially, sweetheart that he was, had curled up on her feet, the expansion and contraction of his sleek body easing her nerves a bit.
Nala had come in the morning and woken her up, Leah had come in soon after to take care of the dogs, and Zephyr had gone to work with Victor, returned, and waited. Rinse and repeat.
The next evening, she’d gone down to the first level to hang out with other members of the staff on the property, had her dinner talking to Zen, and crashed on the couch again in the company of the dogs, Bear laying his head on her stomach with canine compassion.
Alpha hadn't had any contact with her for days either. And while her instinct was to think it was because of her, she overrode that. It was possible that something urgent had come up and he got occupied enough not to give her a call. He’d just told Victor to relay the message that he would be away for a few days, and that had been it. And it could very well be the underworld shit or the killer shit or some other shit she had no idea about because he didn't communicate with her.
So, she was trying not to take it personally, even though she knew for a fact he was getting updates on her from Victor. And that sucked because she didn’t know if she was more pissed or more hurt.
“Hey, Zee!” her sister called out from the back of the long common room in the SLF building where the women who stayed there watched television or played boards games. Zephyr glanced at her in question.
“A little lady wants to see you.”
Zephyr let her eyes drift down to a young girl at Zen’s side, something fiery taking root in her stomach. The girl, with straight black hair and half-dead eyes, couldn’t have been more than fourteen. But it was the purple bruise on the right side of her face that made Zephyr grit her teeth.
Oh, the monster.
She kept the smile tight on her face and waved the girl forward to the chair in front of her. “Come here, honey,” she cajoled, keeping her voice light and soft.
The girl walked forward slowly as though sore, and Zephyr’s fingers curled around her scissors.
“Is it okay if I touch your hair, sweetheart?” Zephyr asked once she sat down tentatively, knowing from experience that some survivors didn’t want anyone touching their hair or certain parts of their head. As much as it broke her heart, she knew she had to ask the girl.
The girl nodded.
Zephyr gave her a soft, encouraging smile. “You’ve got such beautiful hair. Do you know what you want me to do with it?”
The girl shook her head.
Zephyr lifted her blond locks to the side of her face, keeping her eyes off the bruise. Someone had beat up the little angel in the worst way, and Zephyr wanted to find the bastard, drown him in a bathtub and throw her hairdryer in.
She locked eyes with the girl’s gray ones in the mirror across her. “What do you think? I’ll cut it like this so it’s all feathery and falls right here, hmm?”
The girl’s jaw trembled, but she nodded.
Zephyr got to work, adjusting her chair and moving the portable sink behind her head, giving the girl’s hair a quick wash. Massaging the pressure points on her scalp to give her some relief, Zephyr chattered away, telling the nameless girl what she was doing every step of the way, talking about different nerves in the head, seeing her relax at the sound of her voice. She never asked her anything personal, having learned early on that the survivors didn’t talk unless they wanted to. Once she was done and her hair was clean, she wrapped a towel around her head and straightened her chair.
Zen joined her on the side, removing the portable sink.
“You’re about to be blown away, honey,” Zen told the girl, taking a seat. “You know about Cinderella?”
The girl nodded as Zephyr took off the towel, getting her scissors and comb ready.
Zen took over the conversation. “Zee is like the fairy godmother. You’ll feel so new after she’s done. Look at all that beautiful blond hair!”
God, she loved her sister, and how she genuinely cared so much, the way she hyped people up into believing in themselves.
She got to work, and after almost twenty minutes, she was very pleased. The girl’s entire look had changed, a sleek bob falling against her jaw, feathery side bangs adding a feminine flair to the style, making her gray eyes pop.
“You like it?” Zephyr asked, happy to see her work bring something to the young girl’s eyes.