Page 55 of A Malicious Menagerie
We’ve meandered to the far end of the garden and under an overgrown rose trellis whose blooms have long since fallen away. I park the wheelchair in front of the lone stone bench there before taking a seat, the chill biting into my legs.
“Poor girl.” Nan frowns. “Well, it’s good that she has you, then. You’re such a ray of sunshine. You certainly always brightenmyday.”
“Nan, you’re embarrassing me,” I tease, but her words suffuse my chest with a warm glow that loosens the cold grip of anxiety on my heart.
“Have you met anyone else at work?” she asks innocently. “Any young men, perhaps?” I flush, and Nan’s blue eyes sharpen. “Anna, have you been holding out on me?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just… new. And complicated. Chase works for my boss, too, but more like what Delia does than what I do.”
“Is he handsome?”
“I suppose some people might think so,” I reply airily. As if Chase isn’t a stone-cold stud who could pose half-naked on the cover ofGQ.
“Well? What’s he like?”
“He’s…” I have to pause to gather my thoughts because Chase is so many things. He’s flirty, and kind, and he makes me feel like I’m the only other person in the world when he looks at me.
Chase is… everything.
“He’s a long way from home,” I finally begin, careful about which truthsto reveal. “And the way he talks about his family, especially his sisters, is just so loving. And he’sfunny, Nan. So funny. He makes me laugh so hard sometimes with his ridiculous jokes that it’s hard to catch my breath.”
“He sounds like a catch,” she notes with a lopsided grin. “So, what’s so complicated? You obviously like this young man, and he’d be a fool not to fall in love with you.”
My blush is radioactive. “It’s a little early for that. Besides, we work together. That always makes things hard.”
Nan waves off my concerns. “Anna, it’s ajob. There are always others. But love is rare and precious and needs to be protected at all costs.”
And just like that, Nan has once again cut through all the bullshit to the heart of the matter. I smile fondly, so full of love for this woman who guided me and raised me that it makes my chest tight. And she’s right—my love for her is rare and precious, and Iwillprotect it at all costs.
And that resolution gives me the courage to ask, “Nan, do you remember me telling you about the monkeys at work?”
Her curious gaze meets mine. “Of course. Why?”
It feels unnatural to say it after holding it in for so long. I scan the courtyard, looking for the scary man from earlier or anyone else strolling a little too close. I’m paranoid, but can it be considered paranoia when the threat is real?
Finally, I lean in and drop my voice to murmur, “What if I told you they aren’t monkeys at all?”
Nan’s pale gaze sharpens. “I would say that I’ve suspected that for a while now. But then, what are they?”
I hesitate, my mind whirring. What can I say that won’t make me sound crazy when I’m already flirting with delusional? “They’re people. People like my friends Delia and Chase.”
Nan’s eyes widen. “People?! But the things you’ve said about this place, it sounds like some kind of zoo.”
“It is.”
She looks disgusted. “But that’s…”
“Wrong,” I finish for her, relieved that she sees my point. Or at least thegist of it. “It’s wrong, and I intend to make it right.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“I have a plan to free them… but it’s dangerous.”
Her brow furrows. “How dangerous?”
“Dangerous enough that we’d need to leave here. Permanently.”
Nan gapes. “Anna Grace Carmichael, what have you gotten yourself into?”
