Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

you see a warrior or a woman?” Mason asked.
“I see a friend,” Murphy answered.  “One who has had a hard life but manages to find something to laugh about every day.  She is loyal and proud.  Mia changes frequently, and it takes her a while to get used to the changes and accept that she will never be normal.  Sometimes, I see how sad this makes her, but I dare not try to comfort her.”
“Or you’ll be picking your teeth out of your eyebrows?” Mason asked.
“Exactly.”

Chapter Six
Mia picked through Sabine’s clothes, trying to find something to wear that wouldn’t cost her an arm and a leg to replace.  “At least it’s not cashmere,” she said, tugging on the expensive activewear Sabine must have sunk a mortgage payment into.
Ted looked over and shook his head.  “Minnie Mouse, aside from Tauni, Sabine doesn’t have any friends to shop with.”
“What about Holly, her sister in-law?  She seems pretty down to earth.”
“But busy.  I fear that your cousin gets most of her ideas about clothing from social media and Ralph.”
Mia sighed.  “Ralph can err on the side of fashion instead of comfort.  K, before you answer, I need to look like Sabine from a distance.  It has to fool Whit.”
“Then you need to wrap your chest down,” Ted said bluntly.  “There’s a roll of compression wrap in my go-bag.”
Mia dug through the bag, and sure enough, there was a wide band of self-adhesive bandage wrap.  She walked over and waited for Ted to finish typing a command into his laptop.
“I used this to secure the wires of the recording devices to our announcer.  Then Mike started using it to secure his stomach.”
“I thought he looked rather solid, and here I was, thinking he was going to the gym,” Mia said, holding her breasts flat until Ted rolled the tape over them.
“It’s criminal to tape these babies down,” Ted said, pulling the tape tight as he wound it around her body.  “Can you breathe?”
“Yes.  If I release my wings, the armor will cut through it, but I expect, if I do use my wings, the jig’s up anyway,” Mia mused.
“Tell me what you’re thinking?” Ted asked, worried by Mia’s knitted brow.
“That I need you here but would be happier if you were back home.  You’re way too distracting.”
Ted chuckled.  “I guess it’s the price you have to pay for having all this at your disposal,” he said, striking a pose.
“I love you, Teddy Bear.”
“I love you too.  Now put on some clothes before the others get here.  What are you going to do with your hair?  Last I saw, Sabine’s hair was long, and yours is still growing out of the Victor bob.”
Mia laughed at her impulsive self-haircut.  The mighty birdman Victor had mentioned that her long hair was a hazard in battle, so Mia took her long braid and sliced it off.  Upon reflection, she should have just secured it to her head.  She pulled her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail and secured the saved, severed braid to it with a few elastic bands before releasing the braid.  The long hair trailed down her back.  “I knew this would come in handy.  Waste not, want not.”
Mia tugged on a waist-length yoga bra and topped it off with a filmy tunic.  She adjusted her walk to be less athletic and more graceful.
“Remember, Sabine is very pale.”
“Not much I can do about it, wait.  I’ll just mix a little zinc…  Shit, too much.  I look like a kabuki dancer.”
Ted shook his head and walked back into the main part of the suite.  “I’d say, if you have achieved kabuki, then you’re on the right track.”
Mia washed her face and started again.  This time, she chose a sunscreen for faces that, if she read the directions correctly, was supposed to give her a dewy look.  “It takes a lot of effort to look like Sabine,” she mumbled.
Burt walked into the suite.  “I thought this was supposed to be a sports-class yacht, but the luxury never ends.”
“As long as the engines on this thing are fast and their electronics are up to date, I couldn’t care less how many flat-screen televisions it has,” Ted said.
“Where’s Mia?” Burt asked.
“Coming,” Mia called.  “How do I look?”
Mia walked out into the sitting room of the suite and around the room before posing.
“Not bad.  You won’t fool anyone close up because your lips and eyes are different, but ten feet away, you’re Sabine,” Burt said.
“What about Sabine?” Patrick asked, striding into the room and stopping.  “I thought you were gone...  Wait, you’re not Sabine.”
“I think I’ll take that as a success,” Mia said.
“Where is Sabine?” Patrick asked.
Mia looked at her watch.  “Probably over Tennessee.  Nicholai has amazing wings.”
Mason ran in.  “Murphy said you’re ready to…  I just saw you leave.”
“That’s not Sabine,” Patrick said through his teeth.
“Damn, is that you, girly girl?  Where’s your boobs?” Mason asked.
Ted started coughing.  The situation was too funny for him to be offended.
“Brother, you always know how to impress people,” Patrick said.  “K.  Now how about your telling us the whole story, and don’t gloss over the masquerade part Mia is playing either.”
“Mia?” Burt asked.
“Burt, I would be more comfortable if you handled this.”
“Really?  Okay, Callens, have a seat.  I’ve got a long story with lots of details and not much time to tell it in.”
Patrick and Mason sat down.  Mason’s head kept turning Mia’s way, especially when Burt related where most of this information was retrieved from.
“If it were anyone but you PEEPs that were relating this story to me, I’d swear you were liars,” Patrick said.  “But it makes sense, especially seeing the specters that we’ve seen already on the island.  We were warned not to step