I groan and groggily open my eyes. Muffled, concerned voices echo around as blurry blobs block my vision of the intense light shining into my face from above.

"She's waking up." A slightly clearer voice mutters, a woman. I notice my hearing was sharpening. I cringe and shield my eyes.

"Wha... Where...? Where am I?" I moan. "What's going on?"

"Rest easy, dear." The woman soothes as feel someone unwrap something from around my arm. I glance over to see a short, black-haired dude holding a blood pressure gauge, back turned, looking at a life monitor, apparently mine.

"She seems normal. Lucky; she almost flat-lined this morning." He mutters. "Mystic! I'd start on an explanation for her, GF. Her situation can't get much more confusing." The woman, the one who had been hearing the voice of, curiously walks into view, head tilted. Her demeanor seemed so familiar to my fuzzy brain.

Wait. I was missing something, something very important. Who was I and where did I even come from? I go wide eyed, instantly totally conscious.

"Who am I? How did even get here?" I gasp in realization, though still too weak to even lift my head. Or perhaps couldn't feel my neck. What happened to me?

"I'm Mystic." The woman with shining dark chocolate hair greets in a calm tone, her blue highlights accenting her locks finely. "And you took a nice hit from a Yukon XL yesterday."

"A-a Yukon...? An SUV?"

"Yes, dear. A special agent tried to capture you into custody. You're al very lucky-and very wanted-girl. My friend, Logan was there to keep you out of their hands. You were in bad shape. But he fixed you up it seems, other than that nasty case of amnesia."

"Where is he?"

"He's asleep after being up with you since Thursday. You even bottomed out early this morning. I was for sure we were about to lose you anyways; but because of Logan's quick will and quick wit, you're awake with us today." She cocks her head at me again with that same look. "You're also very lucky we know exactly who you are and who you belong to."

"Y-you do?" I blink, in slight relief.

"Jenna Luikart--pronounced Loo-Kart--of the Leon area; runs with another crazy gang of loons we know." The guy agrees over his shoulder before turning back around to check a bag of fluids attached to my arm.

---

"Nice place you guys have here. Gage nods as we drive in. "Just as I expected. With so many Escalades, couldn't see a trailer park."

"I know, right?" Luga chuckles.

"3, 2, 1, and cue the Ford cliché." I joke. "You're a Ford? I'm a Ford. Hey, Ford. Heeeey, Ford! What up? Not much, you?"

"Otherwise, take it that you aren't fans of outsiders." Mystic chuckles, driving passed. "Especially not other females. I get it, there's only one female that rules your roost, and I'm the leader of our own group after the humans stepped out. We're pretty tight knit ourselves, being away from our own kind for several years before you show up. So I understand where your lack of trust comes from. But we're all GAT here. Don't worry. You can trust us." She gives me a cool blink, a now seemingly universal Escalade trait. I shrug.

"I can trust you guys." I agree. "Help us stay away from those Government bozos and I think my boys can get yours back to Prismona"

"I still don't know." Bryon squints. "There's something I don't like about you, Mystic. There's just a look in your eyes. It's too dark and secret."

"I guess my name suits me." She snorts in amusement and purposely gives him a knowing look before looking at me again. "Do you have free cabins?"

"On the far side of the compound." Jorg nods, glaring at Logan again. "Clean them up yourselves. I do not care who sleeps with whom. But stay away from us and my Engel." Jorg guardedly nudges me over to the other Rams before pulling in front of us and flaring.

"Oh, I see how it is." Logan laughs. "That's your fleet. You're their commander. You don't want anybody else in your little cliché."

"Sorry." I wince. "Dead on, dude." Cyrus slyly shakes his rear end at Lo, and the other two make mocking faces and noises.

"Surely there's a special cabin for the head birches." Mystic jokes.

"No, actually. Well, I do have a cabin, but it's not really a personal cabin; I tend to have a guy parked on my floor mat in the middle of my room every other night. We treat each other like equals, here, mostly. And I'm not totally in charge; Bryon and Doremon give the orders. They just need my help enforcing them. And that's probably why everyone is so... tense. Our territory, there's a mixed group visiting, with a girl involved, they hate girls anyways." She gives me an intrigued nod.

"You're a human but you act so.....So like us." She muses. "Do your cronies mind if we talk privately, by any chance?"

"Yeah. A few things we need to discuss." I agree. "We'll be back in a few minutes. Hold the fort and for the love of Dodge, don't kill anybody!"

"Go ahead." Dore bows. "Talk it out. Probably girl stuff anyways."

"As always." Mystic bows. "Good guess, Hyundai." We head off to the side. "You need to understand that we aren't trying to compromise your group's ties. We just need your help, and you need ours."

"I know that! Just give them time. They're purposely aggressive around any girl that comes around, I guess to show that I'm the only girl that they will ever want. I have no clue but Ford, it works enough for me! Sorry."

"You have your harem. I respect that." She assures, again, with that unreadable but cool look, mirroring Orion's usual expression. "All trying to win your affection like a bunch of desperate idiots. Trust me, I know the feeling. You can guess with my personality it gets annoying after a while. Doesn't it?"

"...It can." I admit. She smiles, amused.

"Then let's go get some lunch, just us two girls, with no annoying guys, and talk about things. Maybe our two parties will ease off without their girls here and actually open up. Maybe we can hit some stores, too. My human forme needs a new watch. And some shoes! You can't tell I'm a girl, can you? Machine or not, Ford, shoes are the best!"

"Well, okay." I agree. "It's funny because you're actually more into shoes than I am, being a human!"

"Hey, girls?" Midnight bows, driving over. "Uh, Orion wants to know if you want to go for lunch with him, Jen."

"Oil off, dude. We're going out to lunch." Mystic snaps, suddenly aggressively.

"Wait, I thought we were going out!" Mid points.

"Not now! We have an important meeting away from all of you guys so you can talk without us distracting you and we can talk without you distracting us. Tell your clan mates, but not until after we're gone so that oversized Ram doesn't wig out and try to stop us." Mystic slowly pulls around in an exaggerated turn, flashes her lights as she passes me, and calmly drives around the corner.

"That was odd." Midnight gapes. "I don't think it was me she flashed!"

"What was up with the flashing, now that you mention it?" I agree.

"That's a submissive reaction in every car." He explains. "But I don't know why she's submitting to you for. You aren't even high rank, no offense."

"None taken." I blink, genuinely curious. "We'll discuss that at lunch."

---

Mystic glances at her phone and chuckles.

"What?" I wonder, and she shakes her head.

"Oh, nothing. Tex just messaged me. He says Midnight just told everybody we went out for a lunch meeting and now they're all about to wet themselves. Here I was hoping our absence would cool them off." Mystic rolls her eyes before apparently suddenly remembering something. "Oh! I almost forgot. Here, uh, this was a gift from Lyric. Obviously it causes some amount of pain for Logan, so I never wear it. But I think you might look nice in it. I mean, who else can I give this to?" She pulls out a box and slides it across the table. I open it and gape at the stunning necklace.

"Mystic, it's beautiful." I breathe. "Holy Dodge, I can't take this!"


"No. You need it." She pleads. "Logan is my friend. Sure, seeing you wearing it will hurt him just as much as me wearing it would, but you don't have to worry about seeing him every second of every day, so."

"This Lyric." I cautiously ask. "Was she--?"

"She was our care taker." Mystic sighs. "Our practical owner. She made sure we were cared for, and loved. Until one day, we became too big of a liability, and the humans abandoned our program--and us. Even Lyric abandoned Logan for a boy from her school. He's a big, sad wiener, that Ram is. Face it, our whole group is sad. We were left, and for what? We were forgotten, after all we had been through? We protected her race. We're sentient, and capable of love, and they still treat us like dirt under tread!"

"That's a human for ya, sister." sigh. "Imagine, if weren't raised by Cadillacs, I would have been the same way. Thank GM for Caddies, I'll say it again."

"Who's your favorite?" Mystic blinks. I shrug.

"I don't know, actually. They're all amazing guys." I admit. "Bryon and Jorg are the two always there for me, though. I don't even need to ask. How about you? Out of any of them, who's yours?"

"It's not any of them, per say." Mystic uncommittedly shakes her head.

"Naw. It's Bryon."

"Close, but no."

"How is it not Bryon?" She shrugs with no reply. "Bryon is the sexiest guy-ESV ever conceived. Sure, he got his face gnawed off by a dragon, but I think he's still beautiful!" Mist smiles and looks up at me with her eyes, amused.

"He's been through hell and back with scars to show it, and you still love him." She waves, impressed.

"Well, yeah. He's my best friend. The first day I met him, he beat a cougar off me!"

"Are we talking a cougar as in a mountain lion, or, well...?"

"A lion." I giggle. "Yeah, I should be more descriptive. But he saved me from a freaking cougar. And then countless other things. He isn't perfect on the outside to most and I know many a person who would just throw him away for that. And thinking about them makes me want to love him forever. I think he's gorgeous. And he's the sweetest guy ever. So go ahead, ladies. He's mine anyways."

"It's, uh, not because I think he's ugly." Mist assures. "I don't like guys in that way."

"Wait, huh?" I blink.

"Sure, they're alright to look at. They're good for doing errands and for helping out, yeah. But I just don't find them...attractive? Can I say that here?"

"So, you're saying," Bryon randomly pops up over her seat, with Jorgen. "There's a girl alive I don't have to worry about trying to steal me?"

"Or me?" Jorg blinks.

"What--when?" I moan.

"Long enough to hear you pouring your heart out over me!" Bryon proves. I smile and shrug.

"I'm like a dude, dudes." Mystic nods. "It's cool. I'm just part of your gang."

"Huh. Cool, bro. That's one less girl to growl at." He shrugs before popping down beside me. "What are we talking about?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about." I assure. "Now go on. Quit leeching into our convo."

"We all know that we are the best leeches, Engel." Jorg winks, reaching over my shoulder to take some fries from the basket.

"Wha--hey! I didn't say start leeching into my salty sodium fries, dingus!"