“No. It was the rogues.” Both their hands froze on my skin.
“What did you say?”
“Rogues, they made a camp in the caves. I don’t know if that is all of them, but the encampment was big.” I winced as she taped up my back. “I found Aurora. The wolf who tried to take over my father’s pack, she was the one that hexed me. I was able to break the spell, but then she found me.”
“Aurora? How?” Toya moved to my arm and started over, pouring pure fire onto my arm.
“No, it wasn’t Aurora.” I gritted my teeth so hard I could hear them grind. “I don’t know who she was. I just know what she was. She was like me, gifted with power, probably an ancestor of mine. But she spirit walked without anchors, and she lost her shell, her body.”
“What? That’s possible?” Wendy gripped the pillow under my head.
“Yeah, and she was left to wither in the dark, until she saw me, and decided to take my body instead.”
“Holy Goddess.” Wendy’s fingers twitched in my hair.
But Toya just nodded. “As I read more about spirit walking, I learned about the Mara.” Toya wiped my arm and caused me to hiss again.
“The Mara?”
“It means bitter soul. It’s like what you explained. A lost soul, whether they lost themselves while they were still alive, or after they died, and they wander, looking for a life to take over. If you had read more about it all, you would have been prepared.”
“Hey now.” I pulled back, but she pushed me back down.
“Lay down. I want to check your head.” Toya pushed again and Wendy helped her part my hair. “Amy.” She hissed as she saw the damage.
I laid back down, but huffed out my breath. “I read that book, inside and out.”
“There were a few pages stuck together. I don’t know why.” Toya tapped a page. “Wendy helped me figure it out.”
“I had to use a tiny bit of water around the edges to release the pages from each other. Then I used a blow dryer to dry them again.”
“Seriously?” I hissed as Toya’s fingers brushed against a chuck of my scalp. It burned.
“There were a few pages of explanation, and a few other spells that I don’t understand.” Toya got up and started to walk away. “Stay down.”
I chuckled softly. “She is demanding.”
“She was worried.” Wendy’s voice was soft. “Really worried because you screamed for us, you screamed our names and I think this was the first time she couldn’t do anything about it.”
She came back with a brush, a comb, a spray bottle and some scissors. “What’s that for?”
“Babe, your hair has been yanked out and cut in spots. I’m going to do my best to fix it in a way that no one will notice the bald spots.” Toya pulled me up and made me lean forward so she could sit behind me on the sofa. She brushed the tangles out of my hair. “You scared me.”
“You scared us,” Wendy corrected.
I nodded as Toya worked, but her hands froze when a phone rang. Wendy and Toya looked at their phones but I recognized the ring. “Wendy, can you go grab my lock box? It’s my spare phone.” She nodded and ran to my room.
“Who could be calling you?” Toya continued.
“I don’t know, but not many have the number.”
The ringing had stopped by the time I got the lock box open. I grabbed it out just as it rang again. I answered, putting it automatically on speaker. “Hello?”
“Amy?” The soft voice had my inside clench.
“Lynn?” I hesitated. “What’s wrong? Why are you calling me? How are you calling me?” A little panic set in. “Your call-”
“Is secure.” She finished, but her voice was still soft. “Your father gave me a phone to connect with you if needed.” I breathed a sigh of relief until my brain caught up to her words.
