Kara smiled as she stared at the phone. It felt good to be around the girls that she’d come to care for. She’d been sequestered—her own choice, and a little of Nick’s—but it was definitely time to rejoin the rest of the world.
“Did you know that children who have multiple mentors in their life outside of their home are less likely to have external behavior problems such as bullying, as well as internal problems like depression?” Jewel also stared at the phone.
“Are you trying to say that Jen is actually a good influence on my kid?” Sally’s voice was full of skepticism.
Jewel lifted one shoulder. “If nothing else, she will be an example of how he shouldn’t behave. So, I guess, yes, I’m saying she will be a good influence … with your guidance, of course.”
Sally was quiet for a moment. “You’ve given me something to think about, but that’s not what’s important at the moment. Y’all get to knocking on my door.”
Kara pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. She concentrated on Sally—what she looked like, her voice, her mannerisms, anything she could think of that made Sally who she was. Then Kara searched out the healer magic that flowed in her body like her own blood. She saw a white strand of light ebbing and flowing. It was coming from her, moving past the mate bond and the pack bond and connecting onto a golden cord that contained distinct threads wrapped around one another, forming a thick rope. She counted the strands. There were eight. She continued to follow the white light as it moved over the thick, golden rope, all the while keeping Sally at the forefront of her mind. After what couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, the white light stopped at a door that seemed to float in midair.
On either side of her own white light were two others, though one was silver and the other more of an opal color. They hovered at the door. Kara visualized knocking on the door, and it opened. The three lights flowed in.
Once inside the door, Kara no longer saw the lights. Instead, the figures of Rachel, Jewel, and Sally had taken their places. She glanced down and saw that her own body had manifested, as well. She looked at the others and a smile stretched across her face. “We did it.”
“Because we’re awesome.” Sally grinned back.
“And smart,” Jewel added.
Kara looked at the three women. “Okay, what now?”
Sally pursed her lips and glanced at Rachel, whose brow rose as she looked at Jewel.
“Nothing?” Kara asked. “You three awesome, smart chicks have nothing to give me?”
“We don’t know this new healer. We can’t really guess what her power feels like, can we?”
“Wait.” Kara held up a hand. “Did you guys see the cord that we followed to get to Sally’s door?”
Rachel and Jewel both nodded.
“It was made up of eight strands.”
Rachel smiled. “And there are eight healers.”
“Exactly,” Kara snapped. “So maybe we can follow each strand of the cord until we find the right chick.”
“Process of elimination,” Jewel offered. “We might want to warn Anna, Stella, and Heather that we will be psychically knocking on their allegorical doors.”
Sally shook her head. “You and your big words. And where would the fun in that be? Life is short. We need to get our kicks where we can.”
Rachel smirked. “And you’re worried about Jen being a bad influence on Titus?”
Sally shook her finger at the older healer. “Titus still has a chance to survive his childhood without acquiring an inner Jen. I have been fully exposed for a very long time. I’ve already caught the IJS. There’s no hope for me.”
“IJS?” Jewel mouthed as she looked at Kara.
Kara grinned. “Inner-Jen-Syndrome.”
Jewel frowned. “Sounds serious.”
Sally’s head whipped around. “Oh, it is. As a freaking heart attack. Or stroke, or any other sort of serious medical condition you can think of. Jewel, you’re a genius. Help a girl out.”
“As serious as sarcoidosis,” Jewel added, then quickly shook her head. “Nope, no. Bad example. That one isn’t really that bad, considering only one to eight percent of cases are fatal. Let’s go with as serious as … The Black Death.” She nodded her head vigorously. “AKA the bubonic plague. It’s the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history.”
“Okay, so we’ll go with that,” Sally said. “It’s sort of fitting. IJS is like The Black Death.”
“You do realize that as a concerned healer I will need to address this Black Death with Jen, right?” Rachel’s voice was completely serious, though Kara could’ve sworn she saw mischief in her eyes.
