Pax pushed on the door to enter the Burnson Grove home, but before it was even fully open, her grandmother was pulling her into a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, sweetie,” Amelia was saying. “Thorn and Ash told us everything. Your father felt so horrible and he’s gone back to India to speak to Sakra and get some healing water. He’ll be back before morning. You have to talk to him—poor Raymond feels so guilty. He thinks that his friendship with Sakra is what caused Suja’s anger and…”
“Grandma,” Pax said gently. “I really don’t want to talk about the fight right now, if that’s alright with you.”
“Sure. Of course, sweetie—would you like some tea?”
“No, thanks. I just need to lie down.” Pax forced a weak smile and moved into the house, but she paused at the foot of the stairs. “Grandma. What should I do about Thorn?”
“What do you mean, dear?”
“I am kind of… scared.” It was hard for her to admit such a thing. “Do you think I should try to get past this and be with him again?”
Amelia was silent in consideration for a moment. “He’s a good boy,” she said finally, “but you deserve better. You deserve the best.”
“There isn’t anyone else,” Pax said.
“Do you mean devas? Well, that may be true. I know there are only a few devas and their children left in the world. But honey, there are worthy human men out there…”
“No. I didn’t ask about other men. I didn’t ask about humans or devas,” Pax said, turning to look at Amelia desperately. “I asked about Thorn. It’s him or no one.”
“Darling, you’re a young woman with your whole life ahead of you,” Amelia said with a small smile. “You shouldn’t shut yourself down to the world just because of one bad experience. Why, did you know that a co-worker of yours named Michael calls the house positively every single day to check on you? Sweetie, you should be open to…”
“Sorry, Grandma. I need to lie down.” Pax tried to keep the anger from her voice. She moved so quickly that her body was a blur as it travelled up the stairs and entered her room. Once there, she shut the door behind her and began to pace. Even though her power was spent, she could not force herself to lie down. Her head ached more than her open wounds. Pax considered chewing her nails to ease her stress, but she had never found that habit enticing. Dragging herself over to her bed, she positioned herself horizontally.
She lay on her scorched back and levitated off the bed until her nose touched the ceiling. Finally she lowered herself until her hair began to pool on her pillow. Pax repeated the procedure of vertical pacing before she abruptly dropped herself back to the bed. “Ow,” she muttered. She reached over to her night table drawers, and pulled out an old photo album. She turned onto her side and began to flip through the photos. They were mostly kiddie birthday photos where her mom had been present. The Burnson family had stopped taking photos regularly after the death of Bridget Burnson.
Pax barely had any recollection of most of the images, but she drank up the images of her mother’s smiling face. I wish you were here right now, mom. I wish I could talk to you about this. She began searching photos for the Kalgrens. In every photo where Bridget was pictured with Thornton in the frame, Pax tried to search her mother’s face for approval or disdain. Give me a sign, mom. Tell me what to do. She fingered the photos desperately, using her prana to try and determine the opinions of a dead woman.
When Pax started thinking about calling upon Suja and asking the demon woman to assume her mother’s form just so she could feel a sense of comfort, she knew that she had ventured too far from reason. Abruptly closing the photo album and stuffing it in her drawer, Pax exited her room through the window. She flew through the night sky drowsily, with her eyes closed half the time. Luckily, her route was a familiar one that she could navigate without vision.
When her feet finally touched down on the ground, she was at Amara’s oceanfront home where her jeep was parked in the driveway. Pax felt a smile come to her lips as she put her arms around the car and pressed her cheek to the glass fondly.
“It’s just me and you now, old friend,” Pax told her beloved metal box on wheels. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” She was digging into her purse for her keys when she noticed that a light was on in Amara’s house. It was her master bedroom. That’s odd. I thought Mara was staying under her father’s watch at the Kalgren Compound.
Pax levitated up to the window, and could not see inside due to the curtains. She lifted the latch and slid open the window so that she could crawl inside. When she saw a familiar dark head of hair peek out from Amara’s bed, she frowned.
“Ash! What the hell are you doing here?”
“Hey, cupcake,” he responded in an empty voice. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Pax was about to scold the man, but she didn’t have the heart. “Same here,” she responded, moving to sit beside her uncle.
“Seeing Amara hurt like that… it was a really big shock,” he admitted. “It scared the bejesus out of me.”
“Ash, you idiot. Amara isn’t physically hurt. She had a few creepy-crawlies dig into her skin and steal her energy, but do you know what’s really got her upset? The fact that you didn’t care. You saw she was shaking and scared and you just stood there. You didn’t even go to her and comfort her.”
“I couldn’t, Paxie. I made a decision and I need to be firm.” His face was miserable as he stared forward blankly.
“So even in a life or death situation, you can’t show her a little human kindness?” Pax demanded.
“We’re not human,” Asher responded automatically. Then he realized how foolish he sounded. “Look, I helped, didn’t I? You showed up out of the blue on my favorite skyscraper and interrupted my perfectly relaxing smoke. I dropped everything and went to freaking Venus with you to help save Amara! So quit judging my words, and judge my actions.”
“I don’t even know you anymore,” Pax said.
“That makes two of us. I am only your uncle when you need something from me, Pax. We used to be close. We used to be family. But frankly I don’t know why you’re here right now talking to me instead of with Thorn or Mara.”
“I guess we’re both closer to the Kalgrens than we are to each other.”
They were quiet for a period before Asher spoke. “It doesn’t matter, Paxie. Nothing matters as long as you girls are safe.”
Pax laughed as Asher tried to tousle her hair playfully as though she were twelve. “Does Mara know you’re in her bed?” Pax asked.
“No,” Asher said. “Please don’t tell her. I just can’t sleep anywhere else. I’ve been living here for five years, you know.”
“If you ask, Mara would probably let you stay in one of her other rooms,” Pax suggested. “There’s plenty of room in the house. It’s just a bit odd that you’re sleeping in her bed.”
“I know. I’m a loser,” Asher admitted easily. “Keep this secret for me, cupcake?”
Pax’s heart always melted when her uncle was modest and self-effacing. “Fine.”
“Thanks, Paxie. You’re my favorite niece.”
She smiled at the lame old joke. “I’m still your only niece, Uncle Ash.”
The touching family moment was interrupted by Pax’s phone ringing. She felt a pang of fear, praying that it would not be another text or call for Para. When she uneasily withdrew the phone from her purse, she saw that it wasn’t who she expected.
“Thorn wants a booty call?” Asher guessed with a grin.
Pax hit the dark-haired man in the shoulder. “It’s Layla Solyst.”
“The Earth Deva’s wife?”
“Yeah,” Pax said, sending her uncle a puzzled look. “I’ll just let it go to voicemail.”
“Doesn’t she have kids?” Asher asked. “Maybe they need you to teleport over there and help out in some kind of crisis. It could be Suja. Us devas gotta stick together!”
When the phone rang again, Pax nodded. “She’s double-calling. That means it’s an emergency.” She answered the call and pressed the phone to her ear. “Hi Layla. What’s up?”
“Paxie!” came the earsplitting shriek from the other end of the line. “I just saw the news! Good Sakra, I am so sorry sweetie. I had no idea things were this bad.”
Pax winced and moved the phone a few inches away from her ear so that the loud voice wouldn’t damage her hearing. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Mara called me a while ago and asked me to do some investigating for her, so I’ve been loosely keeping tabs on the situation. But Paxie, you poor thing! I just woke up to feed the baby and turned on the news and saw her! Do you want to meet up and talk about it?”
Asher could also hear Layla’s voice. When Pax looked at him with confusion, he grabbed the television remote and turned on Amara’s giant flat screen TV. When he flipped to a news channel, Pax wrinkled her nose at the sight of a segment on her mother’s death, complete with crime scene photos.
“Layla, you called just to tell me that some idiot has a new conspiracy theory about my mother’s death? Dear Sakra! I don’t want to listen to this garbage.”
As Pax’s finger moved to hang up the call, Layla’s voice could be heard screeching, “No! Go to channel six. Channel six!”
Pax exhaled loudly and rolled her eyes at Asher who shrugged and compliantly switched the channel. Then they saw her. Pax stared at the television in dumbfounded shock while Asher also gawked.
“Sweet Sakra,” whispered Pax. “She’s beautiful.”
“I know, darling. I’m so sorry,” crooned Layla Solyst from the other end of the line. “She’s a definite fifteen out of ten. You don’t deserve this public humiliation.”
Asher and Pax stared at the TV for a few more moments. It was the first time that Pax had seen pictures and videos of Para. She couldn’t help admiring the woman’s flawless grace as she glided through the mall on Thornton’s arm with her unusual dress and ultra-long hair. When the news program filled the entire television with a still shot of Para’s face, she noticed the way her makeup accentuated the softness of her lips and hardness of her striking eyes.
“Whoa,” said Asher as a picture flashed on screen of Para caught in a romantic embrace with Thornton. He was whispering something in her ear as she smiled. Several more pictures of compromising, incriminating positions flashed across the screen.
“Oh, Paxie! Please tell me you’ve left that cheating scum for good!” begged Layla from the other end of the line. “I can hardly believe what I’m seeing. That shameless creep! I’m happy I dumped him while you were still in diapers.”
Pax finally recovered from her daze and smiled. “Thanks for your concern, Lay. Yeah, I left him. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
“Do you need me to come over?” Layla asked.
“No, no. I’ll be just fine! Say hello to the babies for me, okay?”
“Paxie, are you sure…”
Pax hung up and stuffed the phone back in her purse. She made a mental note to never answer her phone again.
“Who is this new mystery mistress?” the news report was asking, and Asher finally had the presence of mind to shut off the television.
“Paxie, that girl doesn’t mean anything to him,” Asher said quickly. “I’m actually dating her—in fact, they were just talking. It was completely innocent. Thorn’s a good guy, and he loves you…”
“Why are you lying for him?” Pax asked. “Why are you trying to cover for him?”
Asher paused. “I don’t know. He’s my best friend.”
“I guess our loyalty to the Kalgrens will always supersede our loyalty to each other, right Ash?” Pax smiled cynically. “I need to go.”
“Wait, Pax,” Asher began, but the woman had already shot downstairs like a lightning bolt, and he could hear the sound of her Jeep’s engine starting. He considered chasing after her to defend his friend and try to clean up Thornton’s mess, but he quickly remembered that he wasn’t completely on his friend’s side.
He had forbidden Thornton from seeing Pax, and even though it had been revealed that Suja had influenced his friend, it did not explain or justify his behavior after the situation. Asher shook his head, surrendering. He had his own mess to wallow in. Sometimes it was satisfying to do something one was good at, and he was definitely good at wallowing.
Asher lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes to sense for Amara’s life force. She'll be happier this way, he told himself. He focused on her energy, meditating to carefully watch over her from afar. He could sense that she was in her old room at the Kalgren Compound. She did not seem to be sleeping. She seemed restless and, well, sad. He couldn’t help thinking that Pax had been right, and he should be comforting her. No. She’ll be happier this way eventually. I know I did the right thing.
He continued to focus on her prana until he felt himself nodding off. He fought to stay awake.
His last barely coherent thought before he drifted off to sleep was of Amara, and a few words seemed to appear in his mind out of the blue. He clumsily processed them, not sure if they were from an outside source or distortions of his own thoughts. He was too tired to make sense of it:
You’re wrong. I only wanted you.