Use the money for your nephew. See that he has everything he needs.
As temptations went, it was a good one, but she knew better. “Tell me how to help him or I will crush these beads, and no one will speak with you ever again.”
Then who will tell you how to make money?
“Who will lessen the weight of your boredom?” Taking a deep breath, she set the beads down. It was her indication that she was done speaking, but as usual, he pressed the connection, trying for more time together.
You have an illness, Sandra Chen. Pick a new acolyte now before my knowledge is lost. Let me talk with someone new.
Horror filled her at his words. Her immediate reaction was that he lied, except she knew he couldn’t. Mind-to-mind communication prevented that. If he said that she had an illness, it was the truth. But an illness could be something as simple as a cold.
“There is no acolyte to teach except Walter, and he is too young.”
I could make sure that you survive. I could take away the pain. Let me join with you. We will share your body. I will keep you healthy.
“I will not use you for my own gain,” she stated. Then she returned the necklace to its case and put it away. Tomorrow she would try again to learn more about Walter’s gift. Meanwhile, she had a shop to run and a life to live.
One month later, she found a lump in her breast.
Over the next twenty years, she saw doctors, drank special teas, and became a cancer survivor. She walked in a parade and even ran a marathon. She cheered as Walter grew into a fine man, a creative artist who published a manga comic that became a favorite in Asia.
She didn’t tell him when the cancer came back. She didn’t want to diminish his excitement when his manga got picked up to be a live-action television show.
The only one she talked to was Sand. He explained in detail the progression of her disease. And he told her how he could stop it, if only she let him share her body.
She said no. Every night, she said no. It was forbidden.
We can share your body, he whispered.You have a strong will. You can keep me from doing anything terrible.
“How? How do I stop you once you are inside me?”
Say no. I will not be able to do anything that you deny.
He could not lie, and she did have a strong will. She could deny him long enough for Walter to return from China, where his show was about to start filming. She could then pass the necklace on to her nephew.
“Can I cast you out when I am done with you?”
Yes. If that is what you truly wish.
She thought about it, but she could not get past her uncle’s first rule when working with the necklace. She could not use the demon for her own gain. Taking away her cancer would be her gain and was therefore forbidden.
“No.”
She put away the necklace. She put away the necklace the next night too. And the night after that, but her cancer got worse.
And then even worse.
You cannot let my necklace fall to anyone. You must live long enough to teach Walter the rules.
She didn’t speak. She hadn’t the strength. She lay on her bed with the necklace in her hand because the demigod was her only companion. She thought of Walter, across the globe and completely unaware that he was special. She thought of the necklace lost among her possessions with no one to know what it was. What if it was thrown away because no one knew it was connected to a demigod? What if the wrong person picked it up and began to talk to Sand? What if…?
“No,” she rasped. She would be strong.
She was strong until the moment the pain overwhelmed her. A single moment when she cared for nothing except an end to the agony. And in that moment, she faltered.
“Yes.”
The pain faded instantly. Her body strengthened, as if she were a young girl again. And then she realized she’d been wrong. Sand wasn’t just bored. He had an agenda. And task number one was to bring Monkey back to possess Walter.
What a fool she’d been. Why hadn’t she prepared her nephew ahead of time? He was completely defenseless against a demigod.
In the end, she only hoped he’d forgive her.
