She loved her husband, and her children, with an intensity she could never have imagined before she had them or before she could have had them.
Her life was three lives: A real life, and then a second life interrupted by a third; and yet of all of them, somehow, the third seemed the most real. It was in that third life that she had gone to college, dated a few times, graduated, met her husband, and had her daughters and then her sons.
In that order, to her, if not to the world as the world perceived it or as she knew it.
Kat had been quick and decisive in a way that even now amazed and impressed her, though it shouldn't have; they were far more alike than not, and Kat, though not the one who had brought everything to bear, had been willing to do anything to win.
But of course, Kat was hers now; or at least, Kat would obey her now. She thought of that and felt herself get a bit damp. Perhaps her old friend and ally should have more ... face time at the office.
But that was for later.
For now, everything they'd put into motion on that fateful night was still in danger. Her old affections were nothing compared to her new ones, and whether that was a result of Kat's actions or some effect of the stakes, she neither knew nor cared.
She sent her husband a text and made a private promise to get a good workout from him when she went back home over the weekend. Whatever pleasures she took here, he was her first and truest love, and making love to him was one of her greatest joys. Anyway, he'd been stuck with the kids for three days, and she wasn't willing to alter him enough to make that entirely natural. She made a mental note to work from home the next two weeks to see her kids and make her husband happier in every possible way.
A knock on the door. "Come," she announced, knowing before Victoria's head poked in who it was.
"You wanted to see me, Cheryl?" Her belly was really starting to show, which looked somehow amazing on her. They'd done a remarkable job, even by their standards, with this one.
"The moon runs freely through the night, and every woman in her train," Cheryl said, looking her associate in the eye.
A change washed over Victoria. Gone was the kind, sweet, certain young woman. Her right hand now stood, cold, calculating, and determined before her. She nodded. "Yes, Mistress, she does," she responded.
One of their great insights -- one Kat had used against her -- was that an altered mind is not nearly as effective as a new one. By day, Victoria was who she had been. When summoned, she was a cold, calculating, absolutely dedicated servant.
"We have things to do," Cheryl said crisply, gesturing at the seat across the desk. "Give me a status on Karyn."
