“Ah. So you were discussing the paranormal world with a human?”
“I was offering her a job as a modern muse. She wouldn’t have been human much longer.”
“Wouldn’t have been? Do you mean she didn’t accept the job?”
“She will. She’s just too busy at the moment, she said. Too busy setting up her new psychic detective business with her paranormal husband—and too busy working for you!”
“Ah. You must mean Dawn. She’s one of our stellar graduates. Imagine if we hadn’t helped her get out of that gang? She would have wound up in jail, just like her mother. And she never would have found that little girl.”
“Granted, it sounds like a worthy cause, but really, what if the human fails? What if they tell every degenerate they know about you and your enterprise?”
“First, they know we’re watching their progress. We’ll know if they’re backsliding. Plus they have regular check-ins with their karma officer.”
“Karma officer? What are they? The karma police?”
“More like probation officers.”
“Hmm… And this works?”
Karma smiled in earnest. “It works beautifully.”
“Well, stop it!”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. I never sanctioned this. Any new activity by my gods, goddesses, and muses needs to go through me.”
“That’s insane.”
“It is not. I’m setting boundaries.”
“Even when those boundaries are stupid?”
“Who are you calling stupid?” Gaia snapped.
“I didn’t callyoustupid. I called yourdecisionstupid. That isn’t personal.” Karma rose and placed her hands on her hips. “Now, if you want to get personal, Sister, you are not only a bitch but an impulsive control freak who lacks trust in anyone else. You even expect failure! What kind of mother is that?”
Gaia was taken aback. Tipping her nose in the air, she rose several feet in the air. “Well, thank you for your input. I need to go somewhere to be alone.” She disappeared in a whirlwind, and a sudden rainstorm bombarded the field of lavender.
* * *
“I’m sorry, Karma. Did I get you in trouble?” Dawn asked. The two of them sat at her small kitchen table, sipping coffee.
“No more than usual. Don’t worry. I can handle her. I’ve been doing this job ever since the first caveman screwed up.”
Dawn grinned. “Really? How did—you know what? Never mind. I have a more important question to ask you.”
Karma tipped her head. “Please, go ahead.”
“Mother Nature wanted me to do something for her. I said I was too busy. Should I have said yes? Do you think that’s why she got so mad?”
Karma took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she spoke. “It’s hard to say why she does anything. But if you’re truly too busy, you were right to say no.”
Dawn’s brow wrinkled, and she remained quiet.
“You’re not the first one to turn her down, you know.”
“I’m not?”
