I had a woman to come home to, and she'd already bled for me.
The least I could do was survive.
And then, the elevator shuddered.
The cables groaned.
And somewhere close, in the Depths, either my father was waiting, or a well-planned trap.
Either way. . .I will survive it.
I just hoped to God that it would be true.
Chapter thirty-five
Measuring Time
Nyomi
"I just know one thing, Nika." Deja tugged gently at a section of my hair. "You need to get them people back those champagne glasses you took from the flight."
Nika rolled her eyes. "Man, ain't nobody even asked about those glasses now. Those are my glasses at this point."
Everyone laughed.
All of the Fangs had been hanging around the whole time, watching everything with fascination. Yoichi and Satoshi sat in chairs by the door and had put their guns up.
Rin remained by the wall, in clear eyesight of Deja.
Kaoru was closer to the viewing area where he could glance down and check the theater every few minutes making sure no threats entered below.
Regardless, the Fangs looked intrigued by the hair braiding process and our conversations.
"You are so cheap." Deja combed through the hair. “Like you are just drowning in a poverty mindset. If you switched to an abundance mindset, you would actually be attracting money.”
Nika rolled her eyes. “Here you go with that white people shit—”
“Girl, it’s about energy, not about white people.”
I chuckled.
Deja had been working her magic on my hair for over an hour now. Her fingers moved in a smooth rhythm, parting, pulling, and weaving.
She'd decided on goddess braids.
"You're becoming a goddess," she'd told me earlier. "So you need goddess braids."
“Goddess braids?”
“They’re like the stylistic evolution of traditional box braids.”
“Okay.”
“The base is the same. You know. Individual sectioned braids installed with extension hair, but the defining feature is the left-out curly human hair throughout the style. With that addition, it creates more movement and softness.”
“Then, let’s go with it.”
“Perfect.” Deja clicked her tongue softly, let go of my hair, and got in front of me, studying my face. “Hmmm.”
