“To go back to what is achingly familiar,” Alinaadded.
Jen gave a curt nod. “Exactly.”
“Are we going with her?” Jacqueasked.
Jen shook her head. “No. I think she and Costin need to go. Titus can stay here with us, and we can corrupt him. Maybe in a few weeks, we can fly with him to Coldspring. But I think Sally needs to be reminded of where she came from, who she is, and that she is still the same amazing woman. She needs to see her family fall in love with Costin the way we know they will. That way, she will understand he still fits in herlife.”
“Do you think Costin will go for it?” Jacqueasked.
“He’ll do whatever it takes to get his mate back,” Jen saidconfidently.
“I’ll call her parents,” Lilly said as she pulled her cell phone from her backpocket.
Jen pulled out her own phone. “I’m booking theirflight.”
“Couldn’t we see if one of the Fae could take them?” Alinaasked.
Jen shook her head. “Let’s let her do everything the human way. The travel will give her time to prepare herself to see her parents.” Jen looked at the flights and prayed she was making the rightdecision.
* * *
Rachel saton the bed next to the sleeping young healer. There were dark circles under Sally’s eyes, and her skin looked drawn as though it were stretched too tightly across her face. She ran a hand gently across Sally’s forehead and pushed back her long brownlocks.
“You’re too young to be going through this,” Rachel whispered. “You should be worrying about whether Titus is learning his ABC’s and how to keep Jen from corrupting him too terribly. Notthis.”
She knew she didn’t need to stall any longer, but the truth was, she didn’t want to see into Sally’s mind. Not because she didn’t want to invade the girl’s privacy, though that did prick her conscience, but because she was afraid of what she might findthere.
Rachel let out a sigh and then pressed her hand to Sally’s forehead. The older healer closed her eyes and let her light and power flow into the young woman. She was met with immediate resistance and fought the urge to pull away. Darkness cloaked Sally’s mind. It whispered to Rachel like a lover, but the words that filled Sally’s mind were poison. Over and over, Rachel heard the hiss of a voice caressing Sally’s thoughts, telling her how unworthy and tainted she was.You are ruined, it crooned.Ruined andstained.
“Lies, Sally,”Rachel said into the girl’s mind.“Reject the lies that so easily entangle. You are precious and loved. You have suffered a horrible injustice, but you are no more tainted than a child who has been abused. You are the victim, and I know that is a horrible label to have to bear, but it does not mean you are tainted. Fight back, Sally. Don’t let this steal your joy and the life you canhave.”
Rachel tried over and over again to reach Sally’s mind but couldn’t get past the darkness. She didn’t even know if Sally could hear her in her mind. After several more minutes, she pulled her hand back. Tears streamed down her face as she stood and took a step back from the bed. Rachel wanted to turn and run, to get as far from whatever evil had latched itself to Sally as she could. But she wouldn’t do that to someone she’d grown to care for. Sally needed help. The young healer needed the support and love of themall.
When she finally left the room, Rachel was going over the things in her mind that she’d seen and heard inside of Sally, and trying to determine a way to tell her two best friends. She didn’t want to come across as hopeless, but that’s how Rachel felt, as though nothing would ever be okay again. Everything was falling apartand…
“Rachel?”
Her thoughts were cut off abruptly when Jacque placed a hand on herarm.
“Are youokay?”
“I…” she began but then stopped.Was she okay?She didn’t think so. Butwhatwasn’t okay about her? “Sally’s mind is wrapped in darkness. I’m not sure if it’s magic or her own self-loathing. It’s cloaking her mind. I tried to speak to her, but I don’t know if she heard me.” Rachel took several cleansing breaths before she spoke again. “It was whispering to her. Ugly, horrible things. Almost like it wasalive.”
Alina placed a hand on Rachel’s arm. The healer looked down. She hadn’t realized she’d been rubbing her arm. “It feels like my skin is crawling,” she said. “The … darkness, or whatever it is, feels like it tried to crawl into my ownmind.”
“What sort of magic was it?” Alinaasked.
Rachel thought about the question for a moment and then shrugged. “I honestly can’t say that I could tell. There was just so much malice init.”
Alina turned to Lilly. “Are you getting any weird vibes about Sally and Costintraveling?”
Lilly raised a brow at the Alpha female. “That’s not how it works. I can’t just make the visions happen. I do have an uneasy feeling, but I don’t think it’s because of Sally or Costin being in danger if theytravel.”
Jen walked over and looked at Rachel. “I heard a little of what you said. We’ve decided that Sally and Costin need to take a trip to her parents. Maybe it will help her work through whatever pain and lies she’s beginning tobelieve.”
Rachel nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.” She was about to say something else when she heard her mate’s voice bellow down thehallway.
“Rachel,” Gavril said for the second time, only this time he didn’t yell. “What is wrong? I could feel you. Something is notright.”
