And just like that, my heart plummets because this isn’t the topic at all I was hopingfor.
“Why? What’s up?” I look back up at the girl with Laken’s face. She’s about as much a mystery as Melody is to me at themoment.
“She says I stole this ring from her.” Skyla holds up her hand, and the large blue stone on her finger glows like a fallen star. I glance to her other hand and she’s still miraculously wearing her wedding ring, and that sight alone makes my heartsoar.
“Where’d you get the ring?” I pick up her hand, pretending to be morbidly interested in her newfound jewelry, but the truth is, I’m thirsty to hold her, so very thirsty for hertouch.
“Chloe gave it to me for Christmas.” She carefully pulls her hand away and fondles the ring with herthumb.
“Chloe?” I try to hold back my judgment of their new bond, but for the life of me I can’t. “Skyla, what are you doing with Chloe of all people? You know you can’t trusther.”
“I can’t trust anybody.” She shrugs it off like a fact. “And don’t worry about what I’m doing with Chloe. I’m guessing you have bigger things to burden you these days.” Her eyes darken as she stares me down with something just this side of hatred. Skyla sinks to her knees next to the floating casket by our side and releases a nozzle near the bottom that sends both the fluid draining and the entire glass capsule tipping to itsside.
“What are youdoing?”
“I’m freeing this poor thing. What does it look like I’m doing?” She glides a metal gurney from the corner and rolls it over. “You can help if you want, but trust me—I don’t needyou.”
Those last few words cut like a knife. “I need you,” I say as I help her hoist the glass the vial on its ear. Skyla meets up with my gaze a brief moment before twisting open the top of the contraption, and the smell of something a little more pleasant than formaldehyde hits mynostrils.
“Shit.” I tuck my face into my arm a moment to catch mybreath.
“You think that’s bad. Imagine a world of servitude with this stench. I smelled this in my sleep for months—tasted it in myfood.”
Skyla was taken captive and worked with Ezrina for a time. It was a dark season in our lives. It seems as if our lives are continually peppered with darkseasons.
“I’m sorry aboutthat.”
“You don’t have to be sorry about that.” She grunts as she pulls the girl free from her confinement and lands her onto the glorified metal bathtub beforeher.
“I’m sorry about everything, Skyla.” As difficult as this conversation is, I’m relentlessly pursuing it. “Let’s take a moment and talk thingsthrough.”
“No.” Her eyes flicker to mine like flames. “Right now, I want to talk about Melody Winters—not to mention the fact—figuring out what in the hell Ezrina is doing with Laken 2.0. And before you say it,yes, I smell Wes at the other end of thisdisaster.”
“So we’re on the same page regarding that.” I watch as Skyla runs her hand over the girl’s face, examining her with the precision of a surgeon. “Melody is Dominique Winters’ daughter. She has two brothers, Asbury and Cash. They live on the other end of town in some weird mega house that has some never-ending construction project going on. The mother, Dominique, had a major heart attack about seven years ago. She was DOA when she got to the hospital and then miraculously woke up about an hour later as if nothinghappened.”
Skyla stops all movement and glances up at me. “Sounds like a familiar story, doesn’tit?”
“It’s close to what happened to Melody, only she woke up at themorgue.”
She gives a wistful shake of the head as she rolls the girl on her side. “I always suspected you could wake the dead.” She does a finger sweep of the girl’s mouth. “Especially the estrogen card carrying variety.” Skyla shoves her finger down the girl’s throat, and a burst of blue liquid vomits from her. “There we go,” she says it softly as if speaking to the girl. “If only I could figure out how to resurrect the deadmyself.”
A burst of blue light shines through the Laken lookalike as she coughs and sputters tolife.
“Skyla.” I hold an arm over the girl in the event she’s about toattack.
Ezrina and Nev hurry into the room along with Logan andLexy.
“What have you done?” Ezrina shrieks and sends us both jumping back. “Skyla!” she growls so loud it sounds like a cat with its tail onfire.
Skyla takes a careful step in toward Ezrina. “Who is she and what does Wesley think he’s about to do withher?”
The room grows strangely silent as Ezrina and Skyla have a momentary standoff. But the girl groans and vomits another vat full of keeping solution and brings everyone’s attention right back to her regurgitatingself.
Nevermore clears his throat. “I do believe we have a life on our hands. Rina, please tend to the girl so she doesn’tsuffer.”
“I’ll deal with you later,” Ezrina growls at Skyla before barking commands at Nev for hertools.
Skyla backs up slowly, her face washed white with shock as she stares down at that ring Chloe gifted her. “I have togo.”
