“What do you feel?” Diedre’s voice crashed into Sally’s ears, helping the gypsy healer pull herself from the hurricane of emotions that was swirling withinher.
“I feel him. The werewolf imposter. He’s in that darkness. He’s tauntingme.”
“Is ityours?”
“No.” Sally understood now what the sprite meant. The darkness that danced in front of her wasn’t hers. It had been left there by someoneelse.
“It’s going to get warm in here,” Diedre said. “And I apologize, but we will see some of your memories. Sally, visible light isn’t the only thing that banishes darkness. Darkness is deceit. Its intent is to cover and conceal, to lie. So while we will shine the light into the darkness, we will also draw out the truth. Truth breaks the chains with which lies and deceit bind. Do you want the truth to rip through the lies,Sally?”
“Yes.” Sally backed up until she was pressed against a wall and slid down to the floor. She wasn’t therelong.
“Stand, child of mine,” a bright light filled her vision, and Sally had to cover hereyes.
Sally obeyed and rose back to her feet. “GreatLuna?”
“I hurt with you, Sally, precious mate to Costin. I have caught every tear you’ve cried, but I did not remove the pain. You are doing the right thing. Remove what is in secret, pour light into the darkness, and expose the lie and the truth. This I willbless.”
There was no easing into it. One minute there was no light and the next it flooded her. Sally was sure that light was probably shining out of the pours in her skin. She was suddenly outside of her mind and back in her own body. She could no longer see the room, but she was aware of what was happening. She could feel the heat radiating through her and feel the burn of truth as it began to expose thelies.
Memories began to be pulled from the darkness, but they weren’t real. These were the things that had been implanted like subliminal messages. One by one, they wererevealed.
“Little healer, he will not want you if he ever finds you,” Jericho whispered as he walked by her in the bar. Sally didn’t even act like she’d heardhim.
“Little healer, your worth is tied to your ability to be faithful to your true mate. Brown eyes, you have not been faithful.” These words were whispered to her as he stood beside her drying glasses at the end of a shift. Again, Sally never moved or saidanything.
“Little healer, he will always wonder if you desirememore.”
As the light shown brighter and brighter, the suppressed memories were exposed until there was only a shadowleft.
“That shadow is your own darkness, Sally,” Diedre said. “We have excised the implanted darkness, but only you can defeat your own darkness. We will help. Listencarefully.”
Sally heard her parent’s voices. “You are growing into a remarkable young woman, Sally.” Sally could see the memory. She was in their kitchen, ten yearsold.
“I want to be remarkable now.” Sally sighed. “Jacque is so free spirited, and Jen is so confident, and I’m justme.”
“Look at me, daughter of mine.” Her mom nudged her chin with the knuckle of her finger. “There is no such thing as just anyone. Every single person is unique in this world, and uniqueness is what makes something special. That means we are all special in our own way. You are special. You are unique. There is only one of you in this entire world. One day you will realize your worth, though your father and I will continue to try to get you to see it sooner rather thanlater.”
Jen and Jacque’s voices filled her head next, and the memory bloomed in her mind. They were sitting in Jacque’s backyard staring up at the night sky. They were freshmen in high school, and the school year was nearly over. She remembered that night like it had happened yesterday. “I wish I could be like you, Sally,” Jen said as she re-braided her hair, which she did like fifty times thatnight.
“Why on earth would you want to be like me? So guys won’t notice you, and you blush if they actually do?” Sallyasked.
“Do you really want me to dignify those questions with an answer?” Jen asked. When Sally didn’t respond, Jen continued. “Now, as I was saying, I wish I was like you because you see good in bad things. You see good in people and situations that Ican’t.”
“What are you talking about?” Sallyfrowned.
“When you got the flu over winter break you never complained, and you said, ‘At least I don’t have to get dragged into washing holiday dishes.’ When we got detention for the stunt we pulled on the football field with the baby powder, you were all, ‘It’s like a free period where we can just hang out.’ When you built that volcano in seventh grade for the science fair, it was amazing, and everyone knew you would win, and then you dropped it as you climbed out of the car. You shrugged and said, ‘Maybe someone else needs to win more than I do.’” Jen turned to look her in the eyes. “You don’t see yourself, Sally. But we do. We see you, and we like the hell out of what wesee.”
“What she said.” Jacque held her hand up in the air for a high five. “You know Jen is serious when she starts cussing the hell out ofsomething.”
That memory faded, and another quickly filled its place. This time it was Costin’s voice. They were in their suite, and he was lying next to her on the bed. Costin wasn’t able to touch her because she, along with the other females, had forbidden their mates to touch them. Even after she’d done that, he still professed his love for her. “Now that I have you, I can’t live without those things, Sally. Not just because of the Blood Rites, but because I couldn’t go on without you being in this world. So you see, when this is all over you have to come back to me. Whatever it takes, my sweet love, I will do it. I will take away every nightmare, every soul haunting memory, and replace it with my love. Do you hear me,Sally?”
“Yes,” she whispered for her unconscious self. She heard him then, and she heard him now. The next memory was of Costin holding her as she fell apart. She heard the words he’d spoken into her mind then just as clearly now.“I love you Sally. I love you, and I’m notleaving.”
The memories shifted again, and she recognized the next one immediately as it had happened not quite two weeks ago.“Get that you will always be more important to me than anything else. You, your safety, your health, your pain, your joy, all of that is more important than him. He is dead now. He doesn’t matter. I dealt with my own feelings when I tore him apart. Now it’s aboutyou.”
Sally didn’t know how long it went on, memory after memory of words that contradicted everything Jericho had tried to make herbelieve.
“Sally?”Costin’s voice washesitant.
