My nails were pretty short and uneven but the nail tech did what shecould with what she had to work with. When we left the salon my nailswere nice an... smooth and even and were covered in two coats of an almostclear nail polish, though when I held them to the light I could see ahint of pink color in the polish.Marta got a phone call as we were driving back to the estate. I onlyheard one side of the conversation so it didn't make much sense to me butshe seemed a little upset. "Is there. Deserted... you like that." She waited for her husband to say something."Ash, I don't know why you're telling me this," he said finally. "If you think I need some kind of validation for the way I feel about what happened... I don't." No, no," Ashley said hastily. "I was just saying she was one more person who wanted me to start thinking about what the heck I've been doing, okay?" After a moment, Brad nodded."Okay," Brad repeated. His tone said he neither agreed nor disagreed."Anyway... I did. I had gone all-in.School had a dress code and I found my wardrobe had the requisiteuniform: a black pleated skirt and white blouse, with black cable knittights and sensible shoes. I slowly figured out the hose and skirt. Forthe second time in my entire life I buttoned up a blouse. It felt tightup front and creases arrowed towards my boobs.I looked longingly at a pair of high-heeled ankle boots in the bottomof the closet. It was not fair that I couldn't wear them to class.Instead I slipped on. We helped you. Don’t you remember?”She was a long time answering. Confusion passed across her face like a shadow, then dawning fear. “Your Master tricked me! You are hunters!”The word “master” struck much too close to home, given his recent suspicions. Logan made an effort to keep his own frustration in check, cautioning himself to tread carefully. Reminding himself that this woman’s fears were very real and justified.“I don’t know what a “hunter” is, at least how you mean it, but I do know.