MOTHERS

◙six◙

"At this point, ladies, it's not about trust anymore." Jacob retrieved the documents that had been passed around, stuffing them back into his briefcase, then shutting it with such force Lorelai winced.

"It's not?" Tegan's voice had turned razor sharp, as if she were about to pounce on Jacob simply for existing. "Why would we go anywhere with you, do anything for you, if we don't trust you?"

Jacob tapped on the sleek brown surface of his briefcase. "Because it's about the fact that you're being summoned. I'm not asking you to come with me, I'm telling you. I was being polite before, but we're running out of time."

"You never said this was a time-sensitive issue," said Esme, still rapping her nails on the back of Lorelai's chair. Lorelai smelled her intense perfume—rich vanilla with a pinch of spice—and it bothered her sinuses more than she cared to admit.

"Actually," Lorelai breathed through her mouth, "he told me it was time-sensitive. You all barely let him explain himself, and came in here claws out, attacking him." She didn't know these women well enough to raise her voice and accuse them, but their fury was filling her living room up with negativity, and it made her shift about in her seat.

Did she like Jacob and his appearance at her doorstep? No. But he'd provided proof that she and the other mothers were needed back at the lab. And as much as the idea of returning there didn't sit well with her, she didn't think there was much of a choice.

Dr. Price wouldn't have broken his own rules otherwise, right?

He'd always come off as a stern, strong-willed man, from the day he'd recruited her off the streets, to the day he'd watched her sign the paperwork stating she'd never breach a word of the experiment to anyone. And she doubted he'd change his mind, forgo the paperwork he'd made her and the others sign, for something benign. If he'd sent Jacob and the others, he meant business.

"You didn't say that in your text," whispered Esme, leaning forward, her thick tresses brushing over Lorelai's shoulder.

"Again," Lorelai whispered back, "you didn't really give me a chance to, did you?"

"Okay, fine." Jacob slammed a fist to his briefcase, garnering everyone's attention, silencing Tegan's grumbling. "You know what? I'll offer you something better than a document signed by Dr. Price. I'll offer you the truth, hm? That'll get you to come with me, I guarantee it."

"The truth?" Auryn came to stand on the other side of Lorelai's chair, her energy a positive counterbalance to Esme's negativity. "Truth about what?"

"I'm going to tell you something Dr. Price failed to mention in any of your paperwork." Jacob wasn't smiling, and yet there was a hint of satisfaction, of dominance in his voice that put eerie butterflies in Lorelai's stomach. "And in return for telling you this, I'll ask that you accompany me to the lab. It'll be in your favor as much as mine and that of other people working there."

Esme and Tegan glanced at one another, then at Jacob. As the strongest opposers of his arrival, and the fiercest ladies of the group, it appeared they'd taken it upon themselves to be the deciders in this situation.

"Spill," said Tegan, toying with the dog tags dangling from around her neck. "Then we'll make up our minds on whether or not we'll come with you."

Jacob set his hands into his pants pockets and lowered his chin, studying the pointed tips of his shoes. "The date from the paperwork you signed when we first brought you all in? It was falsified. Between the time you consented to the experiment, and the time you were released from it, you were made to believe about ten months had passed."