"You... you really are going to help me?" Mara looked at Vivienne, her eyes wide with disbelief. Vivienne nodded, "Yes."

"But you... you..." Mara stuttered, at a loss for words.

Even Cecilia hadn't expected Vivienne to consent. "Vivienne, you're really willing to help Mara?"

Vivienne affirmed. "Sure, but I have my conditions. I'm the Specter Healer; I don't work for free."

Mara knew it. Vivienne wasn't the type to offer help out of the goodness of her heart.

"I understand, but I'm broke right now. Can I write you an IOU and pay you back once I have the money?" Mara pleaded.

Vivienne smiled, her red lips lifting in a beguiling curve. "That's not what I'm asking for."

A shiver ran down Mara's spine as she locked eyes with Vivienne's smile. She felt like she had just fallen into a bottomless pit - a trap that could spell her doom! Leaving the hospital, Percival drove Isolde back home.

Isolde took every chance to stick close to Vivienne. "Vivienne, what was the deal you made with Mara back there?"

Vivienne scooped Isolde into her arms, meticulously parting her hair to craft a sweet hairstyle for the youngster.

"Little ones shouldn't pry."

Isolde sat still, leaning against Vivienne, her tiny shoulders pressed against her chest.

After a while, Isolde murmured, "Vivienne, you're really busty, you know."

Percival nearly choked on his own spit.

Unfazed, Vivienne continued her task while Percival's face turned a shade that would've given any artist's palette a run for its money.

"Kids shouldn't talk about such things," Percival cleared his throat.

Isolde scoffed. "Percival, why so prudish? I'm just saying she's got a great figure. It's just a fact."

and parked by the roadside, swiftly moving Isolde to the

and you're going to

under

dropped off at home, where her father, Nathan,

of the car, she whispered to Percival, "Percival, don't tell me you never noticed how

into Nathan's arms, urging her dad

by his son's anger and his daughter's smugness,

Isolde departed, Vivienne couldn't contain her laughter any longer and burst into giggles in the

face grew even redder. "Vivienne,

it. She had never imagined Percival could be so shy - adorably

challenged for the first time in his life. He adjusted his tie and

things got heated,

thermos of soup Aurelia had made for Vivienne,

two could take a

his head hard on the roof. Without pausing to rub

to appear

Percival with a meaningful look.

was not lost on

entered the

no going back to the Ellington

Perez Mansion, Karen

again last night?" Karen felt his pulse, and her

no, of

sigh. "Three forty-five AM. That's about when you actually went to sleep. Caught up in a

smacked his lips, amazed at the accuracy

a bit of an upset stomach and could use something light," Jasper

look, pointing to the pastries. "You just

she caught Jasper cajoling Karen, with Maddox enjoying

bully a defenseless old man?" Vivienne approached, handing

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