Page 55 of Jorhee

Good. Let this cause a scarred wound on his heart so large that he will remember it always, and take care never to hurt Jesse or anyone else by listening to hearsay or siding with bigots ever again.

“Thank you for loving him. He deserves every bit of it. I’m going to try to show him he has love from me and Susie too.”

I nodded curtly.

“We shall speak again once there is news.”

I ended the comm call, eager to return to Jesse’s side. He would need to be coaxed into eating something. Hopefully, Ted or the sheriff or the ambassador would discover the buyer or buyers and have good news to report very soon.

And if not, Lauren would never know another day of peace.

I would make certain of it.

34

JESSE

I should have known Johree would jump right into the fray.

I woke up with my throat parched and aching, my eyes feeling hot and swollen.

“Please eat at least some soup,” he begged me. “Your father agrees with Bob that the odds are good they’re safe at a sanctuary.”

“They’re both trying to cheer me up while hoping for the best. Those sanctuaries can’t buy all the horses there, and plenty of healthy horses with a lot of years left in them end up as pet food or gourmet steaks for those who like”—I made air quotes—“‘exotic meat.’ So, yeah, hope for the best, but know it’s probably the worst.”

“They’ve asked if you’d consider uploading the video to your channel so that, if the buyer sees it—or someone who knows them does and tells them—they’ll get in touch. Even if they were sold for meat, they might not have gone for slaughter yet.”

I laughed humorlessly.

“Sure. Let’s do that. Might as well let the whole fucking universe know what a bitch my sister is. Send me the vid.”

I dragged myself out of bed to fetch my tablet before climbing back into bed with it. By the time I’d opened my streaming software, Johree had sent me the vid as requested. I stared directly into my tablet’s camera, not caring that I looked like shit or that the lighting wasn’t perfect. This needed to be raw so everyone could see the truth of my feelings over what she’d done.

I began recording.

“Hi, everyone. Yeah, I know I look awful, and the video’s a little shaky, but I’m not using my usual setup. I’m doing this via my tablet because I have something really urgent to share with you all.

“You may have watched one of my earlier videos showing the progress we’d made putting up a barn and a stable and fencing in a paddock and some pasture. Not all of that was for the kilt-ha we’re gonna be raising, but for my two horses. Socks, who my dad gave me for my tenth birthday and who I was excited to be bringing to a fancy retirement setup where he could graze, play, and be spoiled for the rest of his days, and Meadow, who I got after graduating college and returning to my family’s ranch. There’s a lot of beautiful country I was excited about exploring with her, and I was hoping to find a horse large enough for Johree to ride so we could do it together.”

I sniffled, swiping at my eyes to dash away two more tears that threatened to fall.

“Sorry. This is really hard to say. Um, suffice it to say, my dad really did apologize and said he was gonna have my sister and her husband wait for arranged transport for them as soon as he knew when someone could go get them so someone would be there. I’m just gonna play this video message she sent to my dad’s lawyer in reply so you can see for yourselves. And, um, afterward, if you know anyone working at the auction house or the person or persons who purchased them, please get in touchwith the nearest Mylos and Dragonii Testing Center so they can pass that information along to us.”

I paused, uploading the video to the software and stitching it to the end of what I’d just recorded. Then I uploaded some pictures of me and my horses so folks could see the bond we had, as well as what they looked like. Once I was satisfied, I hit Publish.

“May the chips lay where they fall,” I murmured.

I watched as, mere moments later, the viewing counter began to climb. Fifty-two viewers, then a few hundred. Within minutes, there were thousands, and the shares were in the high triple digits. The video was already going viral, the animal lovers in my fan base doing their thing and leaving words of sympathy and encouragement for me.

Lauren had no idea what was about to hit her, and frankly, I didn’t care. If anything, I felt rather gleeful that her name was going to be ruined forever because of the wounds she’d dealt me.

I looked up at Johree.

“I think I can have a little soup. Could you replicate me some cream of tomato soup? With garlic-and-herb croutons?”

He bent down, kissing my forehead.

“Sit back,” he said, fussing with my pillows. “I will be but a moment.”