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CHANTI LIFTED HER HEAD from the harsh fur on Kody’s back and squinted hard at the houses in the distance. Kody had slowed down and was now moving at a walking pace.
“Where are we?”
Even as she asked the question, she knew the answer. Where else would Kody take her, but home?
He stopped and waited. Did he want her to get off? She relaxed her cramped hands, gasping as pain pulsed through her tired, sore fingers.
She slid off his back, her legs shaking as she hit the solid earth. A giggle escaped her lips as endorphins flooded her bloodstream. “We made it. We actually made it!”
They’d managed to steal back an Alpha wolf shifter and a Voodoo priestess. The gods must have been watching over them today.
Thank you, Loa.
Beside her, a naked Kody stood, back in his human form, his chest heaving with exertion and his skin slick with sweat.
“This is my family’s home,” he said. “I know it’s nothing like the bright lights of New Orleans, but...”
“It’s home.” She finished for him, staring out in the distance at the primitive village. Small houses were built out of logs and simple timber. There were no street lights, but there were dirt roads, and children playing in the gardens surrounding the houses.
She’d never understood people’s obsession with money and material possessions. All she’d ever wanted was to help people, and have a family.
Perhaps my wishes are finally coming true. But at what cost?
Her mind whirled with the implications of what would happen when they were found, but she pushed the worries away. She was a powerful Voodoo woman. She had to have faith that the gods would protect her.
“Let’s go find my brother,” Kody said.
He took her hand and led her through the thick forest, finding a path of sorts that led into town.
It was a ramshackle-style village. Lots of small, man-made homes and no shops.
What did they do for medical assistance? Food?
“Where would he be?” she asked.
“My mother’s house.” Kody pulled her further into the town, the townsfolk all gathering along the edges of the path to take a closer look at her.
They had long hair, and a dirty look about them that spoke of their wild heritage.
She tried not to cringe, but struggled when a large man came too close.
“What do you have there, Kody?” The man grabbed for her and Kody pulled her behind him, a nasty growl rolling out of his mouth.
“Back off, Cooper. She’s my mate.”
“Your mate?” The man fell back and away, his hands coming up as though he were giving up. “Since when do wolves mate with witches?”
“I’m not a witch.” She glared at him and the man gaped at her.
Seems like ignorance goes both ways.
Kody growled and dragged her down the muddy drive, walking right up to a larger, more well-kept home. There were wildflowers planted in front of the house and a bright red door that had been carefully painted.
Kody pushed open the door, pulling her inside.
Once the door shut, she tugged her hand out of his grip. Her conscious brain knew that he was just trying to protect her, but as she unlocked her tight jaw, she acknowledged that she also didn’t like being manhandled.
He tilted his head toward the hall. “This way.”
Chanti followed Kody along the darkened hall, with threadbare carpet beneath her feet, and no photos on the walls. They ducked into the first room where there was a bed in the center of the room, with Marty lying on top of the blankets.
There were four people in the room. Three Chanti didn’t recognize, all crowding around the patient.
Chanti took a deep breath and the smell of something acidic assailed her. She blinked, holding her breath. “He’s dying.”
Five heads turned toward her.
“Yes. He is,” an older woman answered, standing up slowly, straight and tall like a proud oak. “And who are you?”
The suspicion in the air made Chanti wrinkle her nose, a sneeze forthcoming.
“Hang on...” Chanti sneezed out the toxic air, her body unable to handle this environment for long. She would have to change the energy, or get out. Fast. “Sorry.”
Kody stepped up next to her, guiding her forward with an arm around her waist. “Mom. This is Chantelle Dubois. She helped us escape.”
Marty groaned from the bed and she moved forward. Someone had dressed him after he’d shifted, but the clothes couldn’t disguise the sick color of his skin.
Tania sat by the bed, pale and looking even more pregnant, if that was possible.
“Kody, can you get Tania some water and something to eat?” she asked her mate, wanting him to move out of the room for a moment so she could focus on Marty. “Preferably high in sugar. She needs to get her energy back up.”
Chanti didn’t turn but she heard him leave, the temperature in the room dropping lower as her body mourned the loss of her mate.
She shook her head at herself.
Ridiculous.
Focus.
“May I?” she asked, moving closer to the bed.
The older man by his bedside stood up and stared at her. He must have been a relative of Marty and Kody’s. He had the same shaped eyes and mouth.
Then he nodded once and moved away, to the back of the room.
Marty’s mother, however, stayed close, touching him. “I don’t know why he isn’t healing. Normally once you shift into wolf form, most of your healing is complete. He...”
She gestured to her son and her face crumpled. Poor woman.
No parent should ever outlive their children.
“I know you won’t want to hear this, but he’s been poisoned by black magic,” Chanti said. “Voodoo I do not use or like.”
The woman’s eyebrows rose high on her forehead and then narrowed to a frown. “You’re a Voodoo witch?”
“I’m a practitioner. A healer. Voodoo is a faith, not what the movies have made it out to be. I can help, I think. Would you allow me to?”
The woman’s wrinkles increased as she frowned hard, her brown eyes shimmering with tears until she blinked them away. She nodded once.
Chanti stepped closer, then sat in the chair facing him. Marty lay still and pale on the bed.
“A lot of his injuries have healed.” She reached out and ran her hands over his face, feeling for the energy pulses; his life force. “He was beaten and bloodied, so swollen we couldn’t see his eyes before. This is much better.”
She waved at his face as she moved down his throat, feeling the knots and fever in his skin.
“He collapsed just outside our town. His uncle carried him back, and now... he won’t wake up.” His mother’s voice trembled as she spoke.
Chanti closed her eyes, putting both hands up and hovering over Marty’s body. She moved them over his vital organs. Testing, feeling. Searching for anything that would tell her what she could do to help him.
What had Tania’s parents done to him?
Tania!
Chanti’s eyes popped open and she reached her arm out to the woman who’d started all of this. “Tania, come here.”
Tania fell forward onto her knees, crawling over to Marty’s bedside and laying her hands on her lover’s thigh. “Please, Chanti. Please help him. I’ll do anything.”
Chanti focused hard on Tania. “What did they give him? Do you know?”
Tania shook her head, her sad brown eyes speaking volumes of her pain. “They were trying to hurt me, too. I... I don’t know why my baby is still alive after everything they did to me.”
Tears welled in Tania’s eyes and flowed down her cheeks as one of her hands dropped to cradle her belly.
“Because I protected you,” Chanti said. “I protected you both. And if I was powerful enough for that, I will be powerful enough for this.”
Chanti wasn’t sure if she was speaking to Tania or herself, but either way, it was true.
Tania’s eyes went wide. “Oh, thank you. Thank you.”
Chanti raised an eyebrow at the same girl who only yesterday had asked for an abortion.
“Really?”
Tania’s pale face flushed pink, her eyes downcast. “I should never have asked... I don’t want that anymore.”
Kody stepped back into the room and handed Tania a bottle of water and a bowl of ice cream.
“Eat quickly,” Chanti said. “I’m going to need your help for this.”
She opened Marty’s shirt and pushed the edges back so she could see his skin. “Oh, my God.” Around his neck lay an Ouanga, tight and high on his chest. “Dammit.”
She grabbed for the poisonous amulet, her hands burning as she tugged and pulled. But she couldn’t break the necklace; and it was tied too high on his chest to pull up over his head. “Get me some scissors, a knife. Anything. This needs to get off him.”
An Ouanga was a mix of bone, holy water, holy bread, and most importantly, the toxic roots of the figuier maudit tree. To make the charm, one had to invoke the help of Jesus Christ and the gods.
Tania’s parents must have really wanted him to suffer.
“Here.” Marty’s uncle handed her a knife and she gently put it to Marty’s throat, twisting and pulling the amulet away, then tossed it to the floor.
He needed a poison cleansing, massive healing, and perhaps a level of magic she did not possess.
Chanti ran her hands through her hair, her fear trembling along every cell.
Focus. You can do this.
“To fix this, I need water,” she said. “Lots of it. We need to bathe his skin. Rid his body of all pollutants. And then I need to make a herbal drink.”
“And then?” his mother asked, gripping Marty’s hand.
“And then we pray.”
“Pray? To whom?”
Chanti put her hands in a prayer position, palms together. “To everyone who may help us. Jehovah, Loa, Fate herself, if need be.”
His mother nodded and walked out of the room, presumably for the water Chanti needed.
She turned to Kody, who looked ready for action, his eyes bright and fixated on her.
“What do you need from me?”
“I need to go and gather some herbs from the woods. Do you have a doctor or healer that I can consult with?”
He nodded. “Yes, I can get him for you. His name is Daniel. Is there anything else?”
“Yes, I need you to undress your brother completely while I go get what I need, then we have to treat him.”
“I’ll find Daniel for you and then we’ll get started.”
Chanti gave him what smile she could muster with all her energy being drawn to Marty. Kody pressed a quick kiss to her lips.
When he pulled away, a cool breeze blew renewed air into her lungs. She sighed, grateful for his presence.
“I’ll go get Daniel,” he said.
***
KODY HURRIED OVER TO Daniel’s small home that he used as a clinic.
“I need your help, Daniel.”
The healer rose to his feet, ready to help. As the Alpha’s son, there were definitely advantages like that for Kody. People didn’t often ask questions, they just jumped to help.
“What do you need?”
“Come with me.” Kody flicked his head to indicate he should follow, and they both jogged back to his mother’s house. “My brother’s sick. A black magic Voodoo family put some sort of curse on him.”
“Holy shit.”
Kody nodded, his tone grim. “I brought another Voodoo doctor back with me; she wants to help. Please give Chanti anything she needs. We need to save my brother.”
Daniel stopped and stared at me like I’d gone insane. “Kody, I can help. You know I can.”
Kody reached out and squeezed his arm. “This is Voodoo magic, Daniel. Black magic. We need her help, so please don’t fight me on this.”
Danie’s nostrils flared but he eventually nodded. “Okay.”
“Thank you.”
Kody opened the door and took Daniel to Chanti. They spoke urgently for a few moments, then left together. He watched them as they rushed back to Daniel’s house, obviously in search of something.
He was proud that his mate might be the one to save his brother. That she was intelligent and kind, courageous and strong. But he also wished that her help wasn’t needed at all.
He let out a long sigh and stepped into the house. Time to get his brother ready for his cleansing.
Tania was sitting on a chair next to the bed where Marty lay, looking pale and drawn. Kody’s heart clenched tight. Why would Fate do this to them? Give both himself and Marty mates that were not of their pack, but instead, Chanti and Tania were born of a people who hated wolf shifters?
There had to be a reason for it. There had to be.
Kody stepped forward, needing to do something. “Should we keep him lying down or sit him up, do you think?”
Tania swallowed hard, pain etched into her pretty features. “Ah, I think lying down would be best, but the bed is going to be drenched if he’s washed properly.”
He shrugged. Nothing mattered past his brother being better. “Perhaps we could put him in the bath then?”
Tania’s brows furrowed, but then she nodded. “That may work. Can you carry him? He’s pretty heavy.”
Kody grinned at the woman who would soon be his sister-in-law if everything went to plan. “I caught him as he fell out of a two-story window. Carrying him into the next room should be fine.”
He moved over to his brother. “Help me pull his jeans off if you can. Easier to do it here than in the bathroom.”
He lifted Marty up and Tania undid his jeans, then pulled them down his legs.
“His shirt too?” Tania asked, biting her lip in what looked like worry.
Kody nodded. “Good idea.”
That part wasn’t easy. Marty’s head lolled about as they tried to sit him up and tug his shirt off over his head.
By the time they lay him back down on the bed, Kody wasn’t sure he wanted to move his brother again.
“He looks terrible.” Tania’s eyes filled with tears and her hands dropped to cup her huge belly.
“Damn, you’re getting big fast,” Kody said, unable to keep the thought inside his head. “Even faster than a normal wolf mother.”
She looked down at her bulge, her hands beginning to move and make circles on the flesh. “I know. I don’t understand this at all.”
“A normal wolf gestation is only three lunar months.”
Tania nodded. “And it’s already been one full month and the next full moon is next week...” Her voice trailed off as her throat worked hard. “I didn’t know this would happen.”
Kody reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently. “Hey. It’s going to be okay. Fate chose you for Marty, and for this pack. We will protect you. Have faith.”
That seemed to have some effect, as Tania tossed back her hair and stood straighter. “All right. Shall we move him now?”
Marty’s head lolled to the side, his skin now streaked with black and green lines. The sight of the poison making its way through his brother’s body got Kody moving once more. “Yes. Let’s go.”
He reached down and picked up his brother, throwing him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Marty was lighter than he remembered, which was not a sign of good health.
Kody carried him into the bathroom naked and laid him down carefully into the porcelain tub, Tania cupping his head so he didn’t bang his skull on the tub.
“Should we start washing him?” he asked Tania, wishing Chanti was here to help.
“Yes,” Tania said, kneeling down next to the bath. She reached over and turned on the taps, water pouring into the tub.
Marty groaned as the cold water splashed on his pale legs and Kody’s heart lifted. His brother wasn’t dead yet.
Tania turned the hot and cold, checking the temperature with her hands until Marty’s tense body seemed to relax into the tub.
Black water swirled around him as the water began to fill the bath.
“Pull out the plug,” Kody told Tania. “And just keep washing that crap away. I’ll get some more cloths.”
Kody grabbed some washcloths from the closet and came back into the bathroom and handed them to his brother’s mate. Tania took the cloths and gently cleansed Marty’s pale face, the dark circles beneath his eyes getting blacker as the day wore on.
“Is there anything else you know to do that we should be doing?” he asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’d rather wait for Chanti.”
Kody noted her color and went out to the kitchen, fetching her more ice cream and bringing it back in.
“Here. Eat some more,” he said. “You’re still not looking good.”
She accepted the bowl and sat back on the closed toilet lid. “Thank you, Kody. For everything.”
He shrugged and used the cloth to wash his brother’s shoulders and arms. The water rolling off his skin was still a murky green.
Kody stared down at Marty, feeling disheartened. “I’d do anything for my brother, Tania.”
“And Chanti?” Tania asked, a small smile lighting up her face.
He chuckled. “You noticed that, huh?”
“Hard to miss.”
“She’s my mate,” he announced, “My perfect half. After all this I’m looking forward to getting to know her better.”
“Chanti’s awesome,” Tania said, scooping up another bite of ice cream. “I’ve always respected her stand on her Voodoo practices.”
“How’s that?”
“Through the ages Voodoo has been used to cure ailments, grant desires, and confound or destroy one’s enemies. But Chanti has always refused to hurt others. Even when prominent, wealthy New Orleans citizens have asked her. No matter the payment, Chanti has always used her skills to heal people.”
“Unlike your parents.”
Tania looked down and away, scarlet heat flushing her cheeks. “Yes. They... they’re not like Chanti.”
Kody went back to focusing on his brother, an angry swirl of hate moving through his gut. If his brother died there would be hell to pay. And New Orleans would not be safe from their pack anymore.
“You know we aren’t the animals your parents say we are,” he said.
“I know.”
He wanted to say so much more, but left it at that. No matter what now, Tania would bear a half wolf shifter baby. And she was the mate to his younger brother, an Alpha-born wolf. Her life was inextricably linked to their pack now, as was her child.
“Kody?” Chanti’s voice called through the house.
“In here. The bathroom,” he answered.
The door opened and his beautiful mate walked in, her long hair flowing down in dark rivulets around her shoulders.
“This was a great idea,” Chanti said, indicating to the fact we’d put Marty in the huge bath tub. “Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll mix up the drink.”
Her hands were full of herbs and twigs and even a small bottle of what he assumed was holy water.
She disappeared again, and Kody kept the water running. His mother came into the room with some food for both of them, laying plates of sandwiches down on the sink.
She stood next to the bath, her hands on her hips, and heaved a great sigh. “This is not the way I expected to see my first grandchild born. My son leaving us, and a grandson to replace him.” His mother’s voice was harsh as she stared at Tania.
Kody made a loud disapproving noise in his throat as Tania shrunk back against the wall. Her arms wrapped protectively around her belly.
“Don’t talk like that, Mom. Tania is Marty’s mate.”
“What?” she said, her aggressive posture relaxing. “He didn’t tell us that.”
“He told me. In New Orleans. He was the idiot who waited a month to go and find her. This isn’t her fault. So back off from all the doomsday speak and focus on getting this family back on its feet.”
His mother’s dark eyes shone with unshed tears as she reached out a hand to Tania. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry. Come with me. I have some better clothes you can wear.”
Tania’s long cotton dress was covered in blood and dirt, her belly bulging against the fabric.
Tania put down the empty bowl, got to her feet and lifted her chin. “Thank you.”
She didn’t take his mother’s hand, but she walked out of the room, leaving Kody and his brother alone.
Marty’s breathing was stilted, his skin sallow and lax on his bones.
“Don’t you dare give up, you bloody idiot,” Kody said in a low voice as he continued to wash his brother. “I’m not taking over the pack on my own. There are too many people for one Alpha, you know that. We were meant to do it together! So, you can fucking forget about dying on me.”
A strange noise puffed out of Marty’s mouth, almost like a laugh.
Kody knelt beside the bathtub and squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “You’re still in there, aren’t you? Don’t give up. Your baby will be born next week, probably with the full moon since it’ll be an Alpha. Chanti’s making you some medicine now, so keep fighting, brother.”
“I’m here.”
Chanti’s voice made him jump as she stepped closer, moving around to the other side of the bath and kneeling down near Marty’s head.
“Drink this.” She lifted a glass to Marty’s lips and tipped some of the brown liquid into his mouth.
It dribbled down the side of his face, but she kept tipping, massaging his throat when he gargled and gasped.
“You need as much as you can handle, Marty,” she said. “Please just drink.”
Marty continued to struggle to drink, the liquid slowly disappearing from the glass.
When it was empty, Chanti filled the glass with water from the still flowing taps and began chanting in a language he didn’t understand, as she poured the contents over his skin. The water bubbled and hissed as it hit Marty’s body.
She took off a necklace she wore and then leaned forward, tying the leather around Marty’s neck, the metal pendant settling on his chest.
She kept singing softly throughout.
“He needs more water,” she said. “Let’s fill this tub up and start praying.”
She grabbed the plug, put it behind his brother’s back, and the water began to rise. “Get Tania. I need her.”
Kody got up and walked out of the room, following the female voices that led him to his mother’s sewing room.
Tania stood in front of the mirror in a pretty pink dress that tied beneath her breasts to accentuate her shape.
“Tania,” he said. “Chanti needs you.”
The smile froze on Tania’s face and she followed him out of the room and back to the bathroom.
The bath was full of water now and Marty’s eyelids were flickering as though he was in REM sleep.
“His color is improving, but he won’t wake up,” Chanti said. “We need to pray. Tania, get in the bath with him, sit behind him, and wrap your arms around him. Kody, can you help me move him?”
Tania didn’t hesitate and climbed in the bath while Chanti and Kody pushed Marty’s naked body up to sit. Tania shoved her bulky frame in behind him.
He moaned as he lay his head back against her shoulder.
“Tania, pray with me,” Chanti said.
The women linked hands, lowered their heads and chanted. “We pray to Ezulia for help. Goddess of love and creation. She who heals with cold water, where she resides. Please help us.”
They repeated the lines, their eyes flickering as the water began to roll and weave. Waves created by their words washed over Marty, over and over again until finally there was a huge crescendo of sound.
And then there was silence.
Kody froze, his heart thundering in his chest as he waited to see what would happen next.
Marty began to moan and thrash in the water and Tania held him tight, Chanti leaning over to grab hold of his arms.
“What’s happening to him?” His mother’s scared voice sounded behind him.
He had no idea.
Marty lurched up and Chanti jumped up, directing his head forward with her hands.
He began to vomit. Black, thick, bug-infested spew.
Kody looked away, not sure what to do.
“Pull the plug out, Tania,” Chanti said.
Kody sucked in some air. “How can I help?” he asked, as his brother continued to empty his body of its contents.
Hopefully there would be some of Marty left after this.
“Run the water,” Chanti said, still holding Marty’s head. “Flush everything away.”
The bath had a shower head attached at the top as well, so Kody reached up for it, flicking on the water and using the detachable hose to wash away the stink.
Tania was trying to get up, her pretty pink dress now covered in the vile stuff.
“Here.” He reached out for Tania’s hand and helped her to her feet. She stood, her eyes glued to his brother, still in the bath.
“Did it work, Chanti?”
He was wondering the same thing.
He let Tania go and focused back on his brother, using the hose to rinse his chest, his legs. Marty gagged, but nothing was coming out now.
Chanti rubbed his back and reached for the hose. Kody gave it to her and watched as she washed Marty’s hair back from his face and the black water away.
“Let’s get him out and walking around.”
He was barely conscious, and she wanted him to do... what? “Is that a good idea?” he asked.
“Yes. I want him to get rid of every bit of poison, if he can. But he may keep throwing up, so make sure you take him somewhere where that is possible.”
Kody nodded and grabbed for the black toweling robe his mom was handing him.
“Come on, Marty. Stand up.”
He grabbed his brother under the armpits and hauled him up.
Marty’s eyes were half open now and the black smudges beneath, were gone.
Damn, he looks better. Half dead, but better.
Marty jerked and Kody pushed his head toward the bath, where he threw up even more of the blackness.
Kody looked away, to Chanti. “Is he going to stop soon?”
Chanti’s eyes were half closed as she rested against the basin. “Yes, I hope so. It’ll be a close call, but I think we’ve done enough.”
Did performing such a ritual take something out of Chanti? She looked exhausted.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. Don’t worry about me,” she said, waving him on. “Just go. Get him out into the fresh air.”
Kody didn’t argue with her. He could already see that doing so, both now and in the future, would be futile.
He wrapped the bathrobe around his brother and half carried him outside.
The moment they fell through the front door, Marty lurched to the side, throwing up on the grass outside their parents’ house.
“Take him into the forest,” his mother yelled, and Kody grimaced.
His mom loved her garden. If Marty lived to hear about it, he would pay for that later.
“Come on,” he said, lugging his brother toward the trees.
They staggered a few more feet and Kody patted his brother on the back, the cool northerly breeze making his hair prickle on his skin.
Perfect.
“Breathe, Marty. Come on. You wanna shift again?”
He hadn’t thought to ask Chanti about that, but he hoped it would be fine.
“Just give... me... a... minute,” his brother said, his voice croaky and weak.
Relief and gratitude filled his soul, and Kody sent up a prayer of thanks. Marty was back. Chanti had saved him!
“No problem,” he said. “We’ve got time.”
He bashed Marty on the back again and his brother coughed and hacked, but little more came out.
Then Marty took a deep breath and threw back his head, his spine straightening to his full height.
“Yes. I think shifting would be a good idea.”
He dropped to the ground and began to change. Kody followed suit. He wasn’t letting Marty out of his sight for even a minute.
In their wolf forms, they ran off into the woods together, his brother getting faster with each step they took. Kody threw back his head and howled in celebration. His brother was back, and their pack would stay strong.
***
“WHERE DO YOU THINK they’ll go?” Chanti asked Kody’s mom from inside the main bedroom where they were cleaning up.
She stared out the window, watching the two wolves bound off into the dark.
“Just into the bayou, probably. It is safe there and the boys know it very well. By the way, my name is Sharon. We didn’t get a proper introduction.” She gazed at Chanti, concern creasing her face. “Chantelle, come, sit. You’re still not looking very well.”
“Thank you.” She sank into the chair, her legs still unsteady and her head pounding like someone was playing football with her skull.
That had been the most intense experience of her life. She’d never sensed evil like it before.
“Was it really terrible for you, Chanti?” Tania asked as she walked back into the room, wearing a long t-shirt and new leggings. The poor girl had needed to change out of her new dress. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you more.”
She reached for Tania’s hand as she walked into the room. Tania had helped all she could. When they’d both stepped into that dark spell, she’d felt Tania withdraw.
“You were protecting your baby, and so you should.”
“But I could feel... that...”
“Darkness. I know. And it was somewhere I’ve never been, and don’t really want to go again.”
She shuddered and let go of Tania’s hands as Sharon handed her a hot cup of tea. “Thank you, Sharon.”
“Do you think Marty will be okay?” Sharon asked.
“Yes, I think so. The poison in his system was pretty toxic, and a whole lot of hatred had been infused into the amulet, but Tania helped a lot with that. Cancelling it out. Her love, and her child’s love, it all helped.”
Sharon ambled around the table, then sat down next to Tania and cupped her face.
“My son’s mate. Part of me thought I’d never live to see the day.”
Tania gazed into Sharon’s face and then they embraced, with a sigh that echoed through the room.
Chanti’s eyes went out of focus and she swayed on her seat. “Is there anywhere I can lie down, Sharon? I’m not feeling the best.”
She needed a couple of moments’ peace. Her brain felt like it was swinging around a pole and pounding into the pavement.
“Of course. Kody’s house is just next door. Would you like to go there?”
She nodded, too exhausted to feign embarrassment. His mother obviously knew what they were to each other.
Sharon took her hand and led her next door to a small, well-built house. It was minimally furnished, but clean. Chanti fell onto the bed she was directed to. Her dreams, dark and haunting, rose up to meet her, foreshadowing dark times to come.