#Chapter 315 – Determination
Ella
I gasp and quickly reach out my hand to clasp Roger’s. I feel that he is just as tense as I am as we
both sit on the end of the bed, staring at Cora.
Leon flicks his gaze to me and gives me a very subtle shake of his head and a tiny frown. It’s a small gesture, but the meaning is clear: I absolutely must not disturb Cora’s state. As a precaution, I raise a hand to my mouth and cover it, knowing that in the upcoming moments I may hear
details that make me react involuntarily.
Roger squeezes my other hand tightly as Leon continues.
“Cora,” Leon continues, curious. “I admit that I am intrigued by this man, this priest. Can you tell
me more about him? What details do you remember?”
“It’s…hard,” Cora says, and I see her brow ruffle. “He…he didn’t want me to remember.”
“That’s very frustrating,” Leon continues, his voice like honey. “Just tell me what you see.”
“He’s tall,” Cora says, her frown deepening. “He has pale skin and dark hair…he’s not old, but not
young. His robe is black.” She gives a little shrug and huffs a sigh through her nose. I can see that
she’s frustrated, even in her hypnotic state.
“That’s all right, Cora, that’s wonderful detail,” Leon says soothingly. I hear Roger’s mouth pop
open and snap my head to him, but Leon holds up one finger towards us, begging patience while
he continues.
“What happened next, my dear?” Leon asks.
“He told me,” she says, sighing, “to destroy the sample in my hand – to wash it down the sink, and then discard the vial. And then, once I did that,” she sighs, almost peaceful again, “he had me go to the other freezer – the one with the shifter samples and to take out number 7285692. So I did. And then I prepared that, and tested it for motility, and when it was ready,” she shrugs, “I went into the exam room and helped Ella.”
“Thank you, Cora,” Leon says smoothly, smiling at her. “That is wonderful detail. You’ve
remembered it all so beautifully.” Then, he turns to Roger and nods, giving him permission to take control of the investigation.
“Cora,” Roger says, releasing my hand and crossing his arms over his chest. “Can you hear me?”
“Roger?” she asks, her eyes still closed. “What are you doing here in my lab?”
“I’m just…visiting…” he says awkwardly, clearly not very good at the kind of play acting that Cora’s
hypnosis requires.
“You’re not allowed to be back here,” she says, frowning.
Roger scoffs a little, as if remembering that she had no protests about a strange man in black
robes who apparently took control of her will and made her switch sperm samples before
inseminating me. I give Roger a hard nudge with my elbow and when he turns to me I give him a
stern frown, clearly communicating that he needs to be nice to my sister. This was, after all, not
her fault.
Roger sighs and nods, agreeing to my terms. “Cora,” he continues, “what did the priest say to you
before he left? Did he ask you to…forget anything? Or do anything special with the sample?”
“No,” she says, turning her head to the side and considering. “He simply…took my hands, before I
went, and there was a white light…and then he was gone.”
“And then you took the sample,” Roger asks, “and you didn’t know to whom it belonged?”
“No,” she says, folding her hands in her lap, looking if anything a little bored. “I thought, at the
time, that it was the right sample. I thought it was the donor.”
“Very good, Cora,” Leon murmurs rea*suringly next to her. “You’re doing wonderfully.” A little
smile comes onto her face.
“Cora,” Roger says again. “Did you ever see the priest again?” he asks, “after that day?”
“No,” she says simply, with a little shrug. But then, a darkness pa*ses over her face, and she
frowns. Leon sits up, peering at her closely, and then looks at me, worried.
“Cora,” I say, intuiting that Roger may have hit on something here but…..perhaps, just asked the
wrong question.
“Ella?” she says, her voice a little scared.
“Yes, Cora, it’s me,” I say softly, quickly standing up and moving to her side, sitting back down on the bed and taking her hand. I’m probably blocking the remote investigators‘ view of Cora now, but I don’t care. My sister is more important.
“Oh hey, Ella,” she says, her voice wavering a little bit, afraid.
“Cora,” I say, as gently as I can. “You said you don’t remember seeing the man in the black robe
Roger’s leans over Cora now, reaching for her face, calling her name – and then slowly, so slowly,
“Is she is she all right?” he gasps, moving briskly into the room, his team of investigators behind
“She’ll be fine,” I murmur soothingly, hoping desperately that I’m right. My sister looks at no one, her face buried against my shoulder as I slowly rub her back, rocking her. I make quiet shushing sounds, the same I make to Rafe when he’s having a hard night. It’s all I know to do in a moment like this just to be soft, and quiet, and create a safe space for her to deal with whatever just happened.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate (PDF)
The last couple of chapters have gotten sloppy, confusing her and him for she/her Sinclair is not a her. Isabel has changed her name to Elizabeth too. Making it hard to read. I’m loving this book, but I hope it goes back to its previous high standard!...