Chapter 26

Trixie hurried down the road feeling lighter than she had ever felt before. She had done it! She had managed to find a way to save her family! There were certainly worries that remained with what a deal with Emerick might entail, but she would fuss over that later. For now, she had every intention of enjoying her success.

'He seemed like a nice fellow,' the demon, Lamya, commented. Trixie froze momentarily, anxiously glancing around to see if any one else had hear her voice. Thankfully, the streets were relatively empty.

"Quiet down," She whispered urgently. "If anyone found out I had you…"

'Oh settle down,' Lamya chuckled. 'Only you can hear me. I am speaking into your mind after all.'

"You're in my head?" Trixie groaned. "That's all I need!"

'You don't have to speak out loud,' Lamya pointed out. 'I can hear your thoughts clear as day. Speaking to yourself as you are is only going to give people the wrong idea.'

'Stay out of my thoughts!' Trixie resumed walking, but made it mentally clear what she thought of the situation. 'I mean it!'

'I make no promises,' Lamya replied. Trixie took a breath and shook it off. Demon or no demon, she wasn't going to let anything get her down.

She was still shocked that Emerick had flat out offered her his house. She and her family where in such a desperate position, she couldn't refuse any offer he made. Frankly, he could probably have afforded to simply buy her and the others off of the matrons if he really wanted to. Surely, he had to know that she was at his mercy, so why had he been so generous?

Admittedly, she had been baiting him in hopes he'd bring up the offer he'd extended to Rathus and Titus the afternoon before, but never in her wildest dreams did she think he'd offer his home. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of answering to someone else, but she could've swallowed her pride and done so for the sake of her family. She was unbelievably grateful that it seemed she wouldn't have to. Not yet at least.

She shook away the heat building in her cheeks as she thought of his smile. Reminding herself he clearly had ulterior motives, she managed to clear her head just as she reached the orphanage. The last thing she needed was another interrogation.

Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she was in a fair amount of pain. Thanks to the injury on her hand, she had to get creative to sneak back in. Climbing wasn't an option. Using her good hand, she managed to pick the lock leading in through the back door of the building, then crept carefully past the rooms of the sleeping matrons to the main hall. Once she reached the stair case, it was easy enough to slip into the wing where the orphans were assigned to sleep.

"You're back," Rathus smiled weakly when she slipped into the room. "You ok?"

"No, but I got good news," Trixie replied. "We're out of here."

"Seriously?" Rathus sat up a little straighter. "Did Emerick find you then? I'm guessing he's our out."

"Yeah," Trixie nodded. "Now help me get the others up and packed. He'll be sending for us this morning."

"Whatever you need boss," Rathus got to his feet and carefully started rousing the little ones. It didn't take long, most of them were either awake, or sleeping so fitfully they were all too happy to wake up.

Once she was sure Rathus had things under control, Trixie moved to the other rooms to relay the news to the rest of the family. Sullivan, Lorelei, Liron, and Dalek were equally excited about the news and helped her finish seeing to the other young children.

She found Jemma with Ripley and Titus, gently soothing and caressing the poor boy while Titus administered ointments to the cuts, bruises, and swelling all over his face and frail little body. Seeing him like that, any remorse Trixie felt for the death of Melony flew out the window.

"Glad to see you made it back," Titus greeted her with a weary sigh. He tried a smile, but it was so strained she could almost hear the sounds of his face cracking. He looked worse than Rathus, and she worried about his emotional state. She couldn't afford to have him obstinate or testy. There was too much to do.

"You heard the news?" She checked.

"Yeah," He winced. "Do we really have to go with him?"

"We don't have any other option right now," Trixie replied firmly. He looked like he wanted to say more, but decided against it. "Look, just bear with me for now. I promise it will be alright. Anywhere has to be better than here, right?"

"I guess," He said, though doubt was evident in his features. After a moment, he pulled out a jar and handed it to her. "Use that, it should help with your injuries…" He frowned as he saw the blood-soaked wrappings over her hands. "I don't have anything for that though. What happened?"

"I slipped and cut my hand against the rubble," Trixie lied. She was relieved when Jemma showed no signs of surprise at her comment.

"Ok," He didn't seem to believe her, but he didn't press her either to her relief. "I'll see what I can come up with."

"No, that's ok," Trixie shook her head. "We need to focus on getting the kids ready. They'll be here before too much longer."

"Great," Titus grumbled. Trixie ignored his negativity. He'd come around eventually.

Leaving him to sort through his things, she started applying the ointment he'd handed her. It didn't make the pain go away out right, but the cool numbing that followed the gentle sting was greatly relieving. If she weren't so anxious about the impending move, she might've fallen asleep.

'Interesting family you have,' Lamya observed. 'The orcs in particular seem to favor you highly.'

'Thought I told you to stay out of my head,' Trixie frowned. 'And don't get any funny ideas. They're basically my brothers.'

'You say that, but is that really true?' Lamya chuckled. 'I think their feelings are stronger than mere familial bonds.'

'They're my brothers!' Trixie replied firmly. 'Nothing more! That's all they'll ever be to me, and if they're smart, that's all they'll see me as.'

'Whatever you say my dear.' Trixie ignored the comment and focused on packing her own things. She didn't have time to think about the accusations the demon was throwing out. It was moving day after all.