“It’s very nice to meet you. And thank you, for being willing to do…” She paused. “Um, whatever it is you’re going todo.”
Diedre gave a slight bow. “We are happy to help.” She motioned to a small bed. “If you would please lie down here so we can begin. The moon will be rising in less than a quarter of an hour, and we want to be well into the process before it’s reached itszenith.”
Costin took her face in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I’ll be right besideyou.”
She nodded. “Please keep your beast incheck.”
He winked at her. “No promises,beautiful.”
Sally shook her head at him as she gave her mom and dad both a quick hug and then climbed up onto the bed. She laid down on her back and set her arms down beside her. She felt like at any moment someone was going to jump out and yell “GOTCHA!” and that everything that had happened for the past two years was going to have been some weirddream.
“I know I’m too good to be true, Sally mine, but I’m real, not just a dream.”Costin teased through theirbond.
Sally rolled her eyes. “You would be the nightmare portion of thedream.”
He pressed a hand to his chest as though she’d truly wounded him. “Words cut deep, Sally.Truly.”
“Your mate is funny,” Diedre said as she walked over to the opposite side of the bed. “I bet you’re happy he isn’t just a prettyface.”
Sally covered her nose to keep from snorting out the laugh. Okay, she liked Diedre. “It is nice that he did happen to come with abrain.”
“You weren’t real concerned about my brain last night,” Costin muttered under his breath, which made Sallycough.
Diedre made a motion with her hands, and suddenly there were women surrounding the bed. It wasn’t a wide bed, so Sally was close to the edge on all sides, which meant all of the women had no trouble reaching her to lay a hand on her skin. Sally counted twelve sets of hands on her before she closed her eyes and tried to relax. She tried to push away any fear and to take deep breaths as shewaited.
The room seemed to fade away, and she was standing in a dark room. She could feel the floor beneath her feet and just barely make out the walls and a small window where a very scant beam of moonlight attempted to make its wayin.
“Sally?” She heard the sprite’svoice.
“Diedre?” sheasked.
“Yes, I amhere.”
“Where ishere?”
“We are in yourmind.”
Sally frowned. “It’s just a black empty room and”—she shivered—“cold.”
“I want you to focus on the darkness and thecold.”
Diedre’s voice sounded close, but Sally couldn’t see the woman. She couldn’t seeanything.
“I want you to zero in all of your attention on that darkness. Feel it. Is it a part of you, or is itforeign?”
“What do you mean, is it a part ofme?”
“Each of us has some measure of darkness in us, child.” The sprite’s smooth voice filled the space. She didn’t sound harsh, just matter of fact. “We all have the capacity to do great evil. We have a choice. Shall I go in this direction that leads to good, healthy things, or do I go in this direction which gives me the illusion of satisfaction for a brief second as it slowly kills my soul? But not all darkness comes from within. Sometimes, outside influences slip in unnoticed. I want you to feel this darkness and determine if it is yours or somethingelse.”
Sally turned toward the darkness that undulated like a charmed snake in a corner of her mind. It was so strange to see her mind as a room. Sally knew her brain was a pink mass filled with firing synapses, but this place was a rectangular room with dark corners hiding the secrets of psyche. The darkness shifted again, drawing her attention back toitself.
She took a step toward the black mass, even though her body was screaming at her to turn and run. She took another step, and still another, until she was able to reach out her hand and touchit.
She heard Costin’s growl but didn’t pull her hand away. The consequence of her action was immediate. Sally felt as though she’d swallowed a bag of cotton. She couldn’t get any air in her lungs no matter how hard she tried. Was it real? Could she really not breathe, or was this just something happening in hermind?
As quickly as the air had left her, it returned, and she was surrounded by memories. She could hear his voice, smell his scent, and even feel his skin on hers.Jericho.
“No,” she saidfirmly.
