Page 3 of Twisted Liars

“Unfortunately, there have always been those who struggled to build families. Infertile men or women. Women who could get pregnant but suffered miscarriage after miscarriage. Stillbirths. Heartbreaking stuff.” Zara paused for a beat, brows rising. “As the American population slowly grew, the Rosmerta members saw an opportunity.”

“To do what?”

“To help desperate people have families. As many children as they wanted.”

Rosie Oakeshott’s notes flashed in the front of my mind. InGallo-Roman religion,Rosmertawas a goddess of fertility and abundance, her attributes being those of ‘plenty’ such as thecornucopia.

I’d made the exact same mistake as her in my interpretation of the name. I’d only focused on the abundance part of the Rosmerta mythology when the fertility part was equally important. But how could we possibly have known that?

“So the big society secret is that you run some sort of ancient fertility center?” I asked, brows furrowing with confusion. “Or an adoption center?”

That didn’t sound so bad. Surely there had to be more to the story if they kept it all so hush-hush. Much, much more.

“Not exactly.” Zara returned to her seat and primly folded her hands on her lap. “Babies don’t just pop up from nowhere, sweetheart. You know that.”

“So you steal them from hospitals or something?”

“No. Don’t be ridiculous.” Zara’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t bore you with all the inner workings of our scheme, but here’s the basics. Young women come to be in our service, one way or another, and they provide—”

“You make it sound like a prostitution ring, honey,” Ali interjected, chuckling softly.

Zara laughed. “Yes, well, it’s difficult to figure out how to word it to a newbie.” She cocked her head and went on. “Don’t worry, Amerie. There is nothing sexual about our operation. You don’t ever need to worry about that.”

“Right,” I muttered, pulse racing.

“As I was saying, we have young women in our service. They are essentially incubators.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. “Incubators?”

“Yes. They grow and give birth to babies for us. Those babies are then given to those who are willing and able to pay the price for them.” She paused for a beat and tilted her chin. “It’s amazing what women can do when they aren’t caught up with all the stress and distraction of regular life, like jobs and education. All they have to do is focus on their pregnancies and wellbeing. One of our girls is only twenty-eight, and she’s given us nine babies. Almost one per year since she arrived. Isn’t that incredible?”

Incredibly fucked up, sure, I thought grimly, guts twisting into knots.

“How do the women get pregnant in the first place?” I asked. “And how do they end up in your service?”

“Like I said, it’s nothing sexual. No one is forced. It’s all artificial insemination. And we have the highest quality doctors to take care of everything.” Zara waved a hand at Dr. Carmichael. “Like Flora here.”

My heart hammered as my mind whirled again, twisting into oblivion. Was any of this real?

Surely not. It had to be a nightmare.

Zara stood and began to pace around the circle again. “Our girls are kept in a safe location that we’ve affectionately dubbed the Playground. There, they are—”

“The Playground?” I sat up straight. “That’s what you meant that day, isn’t it?”

Zara frowned and paused mid-step. “What?”

“A while ago I overheard you and Ali talking about one of your friends who needed to take a girl to the playground. I thought it meant something else, and I offered to babysit.”

“Oh.” She let out a light, tinkling laugh. “That’s right. I remember now. You looked so offended when we declined your offer.”

I gritted my teeth. “If there’s nothing sexual about any of this, why the hell is it called the Playground?”

“You have a dirty mind, Amerie.” Ali sniffed disdainfully. “Not that I’m surprised, given your low background.”

“Children are born there, so it’s a very happy place,” Zara said. “Playgrounds are happy places where you find lots of children. That’s why we gave it that nickname.”

I wasn’t sure if I should believe her when it came to that explanation. All this woman had ever done around me was lie, lie, and lie some more.

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