27. No Warm Cookies
27
NO WARM COOKIES
DANTE
S o much for the peace and calm I acquired under Karma’s tutelage. If Tessa is acting as bizarre as Kurtis and Evan say, then I’m about to lose my mind with stress and possibly grief.
Tessa is my world. If Instant Karma is ripping it all away, then I will end the goddess myself. I don’t care if I die in the process.
I hold on to the thin, flimsy hope that Tessa is just freaking out over this polycule bullshit. If that’s the case, I’m grabbing her and running away so they can’t do any further damage to what I have with her.
But my instincts warn me that there’s something more going on.
Instead of running off, I sit on the edge of a lounge chair Kurtis brought out here for their date and stare at Evan and Kurtis.
I’ve never seen panic this clear in their eyes, not even when Instant trapped and attacked us.
I suppose the stakes are higher if Instant already has accomplished one of her goals—taking over Tessa’s body.
“If what you say is true, what are we going to do?” I ask. “If we go to Karma or Death, Instant might run. We may never find Tessa again.”
“That’s if Tessa can still be saved,” Kurtis blurts out.
Evan shoves him. “Shut the fuck up.”
Kurtis pushes back. “What! It needs to be addressed.”
Even if I fucking hate the thought of it, Kurtis is right. We need to consider that she’s already gone forever. At least for this lifetime.
Scrubbing my face, I groan with anguish, but I hold back the tears. “If Instant has consumed Tessa’s soul, then we destroy her.”
“We need to contact Death. He’ll know if one of his reapers has died,” Evan suggests.
“We can’t just reach out to him,” Kurtis pauses and then says, “Maybe we can call on the Barbie reaper.”
“Megan, yeah.” I stand up and rush outside the sacred circle so I can reach out to supernatural beings. “Megan! We need your help.”
We wait a few minutes, and I call again.
“Geez, keep your panties on!” Megan snaps when she appears in front of me, in her full pink glittering glory. “What’s so urgent you have to interrupt a reap?”
“Sorry, but it’s important.” I gesture for her to follow me into the circle.
She looks at Evan and Kurtis and then seems to sense the magic boundary. “Is this a trap? What’s going on? Where’s Tessa?”
“It’s about her. Please,” I beg.
She must see the fear in my eyes because she takes the step and joins us inside the silencing bubble.
“Explain. Now.”
We tell her what we know, and I finish with, “Do not go to Tessa with this. We can’t alert Instant if it’s her.”
“I won’t say anything, but I should assess the situation for myself before I go to Death to ask him about this.”
“Can I go with you when you talk to him?” I plead.
Kurtis and Evan chime in that they would like to go too.
“Fine. But Dante and I will see what’s up first, then come back for you before I return to the underworld.”
Megan steps out of our sacred circle and closes her eyes briefly. “She’s in Dante’s bedroom.”
“She is?” I gulp, suddenly nervous about what I’ll find. “Okay, let’s do this.”
“I’m going to let you go ahead. I’ll knock on your door after a minute.” Megan flicks her fingers for me to scoot along.
Using my new Karma powers, I transport back into my bedroom. I find Tessa under my covers, clearly naked.
“Hey, handsome. Where have you been?” she asks, trying to sound casual. But she’s off, just as Kurtis said. Her aura flickers around her head.
“Just working on a Karma job,” I say. It isn’t too far from the truth, I just hope she won’t be able to sense the deceit.
She sits up and lets the blankets fall down from her breasts. I keep my eyes on hers. Until I know what’s going on, it will feel like cheating if this isn’t really Tessa I’m admiring. She curls her finger in a beckoning motion. “Come here and give me some sugar.”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard Tessa say that. “Don’t you mean warm cookies and milk?”
She smirks and giggles. “You mean hot cocoa?” she corrects with our inside joke.
That knowledge could be explained away if Instant is probing Tessa’s mind. “So you do like my treats.” I play along. This would all seem like normal banter for us if it weren’t for the dread sitting in my gut.
“I sure do. Let me swallow your cream.” Tessa pulls off the covers and stands in front of me. She’s about to reach for me when there’s a knock at the door.
She glares at the intrusion and mutters angrily under her breath. Then she storms to the door, flinging it open without covering up or asking who it is. “Why are you knocking on my man’s door, Megan ?”
“I was looking for you,” Megan answers, ignoring the nakedness altogether.
“Why?” Tessa cocks her hip and waits for an answer.
“Allison was thinking of having dinner with a bunch of the Death crew. You can invite Dante along if you like.”
Tessa’s shoulders relax, and she shakes her head. “No, thanks. I’m going to stay in with my guy tonight.”
“Okay, cool. Maybe I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“Maybe,” Tessa says, though it sounds insincere.
When Tessa turns away, Megan tilts her head ever so slightly, indicating she’ll meet me back at the circle. I can see it in her eyes. She senses something is wrong, too.
Once the door is closed, Tessa turns, hungrily taking in the sight of me. I’ve never felt more like a piece of meat. I’m worried that if I get too close, I’ll be in danger.
“Where were we?” she purrs.
“Um, Tessa… babe. I’m not really in the mood tonight.”
“What?” she almost screeches. Then her eyes narrow, and I’m worried she’s going to realize I know something’s wrong with her. “Is this about Evan and Kurtis?”
I figure that’s a good excuse, so I go with it. “I thought I could handle you being with them too, but I’m not so sure anymore. Besides, you’re demanding I perform right after you get back from ghosting me this week. This hot and cold hurts too much.”
“Whatever. I’m done with them anyway,” she says, dismissing them like trash. “I’ve always wanted you more.”
“That may be, but you’ll need to let me come to terms with what you’ve done. If being with them was just a fickle whim…”
“That’s not what I said.” She clenches her jaw.
I realize I can’t have her leaving altogether. I need her to stick around if we have any hope of dealing with this turn of events. “Can we have a proper date tomorrow night? To reset things?” I’m sincere as fuck, because that’s what I really want. But I want my Tessa back, not whatever this version is.
She gives in with a huff. “Fine.”
Without another word, she disappears.
I sigh, collapsing against the wall. That wasn’t Tessa—not the Tessa I know.
Popping out to the sacred circle, I find Evan, Kurtis, and Megan there. I cross over into the space and give them my assessment. “It has to be Instant. She’s never been good at faking being human. And it was like everything she said was just off , especially for Tessa.”
“Then we need to go to Death and see what the damage to Tessa might be. Find out if there’s a chance of rescuing her.” Evan squares his shoulders and looks at Megan.
The glam reaper nods slowly. “He’ll want to know that something’s happened. It might not even be Instant, though. There are plenty of fucked up gods who’d love to mess with you all.”
That comment sends a shiver down my spine. It might not only be Instant at play here. She might have several gods helping her to take her revenge.
“Behave down here,” Megan growls when we arrive in the underworld. “My ass is on the line.”
“Understood, ma’am.” Kurtis salutes her, earning him a frown.
Megan closes her eyes again, and within seconds, Death appears in his cloak, towering in front of us. Ice fills my bones with his unnerving presence.
Tessa told me he’s a caring god, but it does nothing to shake the feeling of imminent peril.
“Megan, what is the meaning of this?” His rumbling, eerie voice makes my skin crawl, my flesh raising into goosebumps.
“I’m very sorry to bother you, but I’m worried if I don’t tell you, you’ll be equally upset if my suspicions are correct.”
“Speak plainly,” he demands. His hood lifts as if he’s watching the three of us invaders. “I’ve shielded us and our conversation.”
“There’s a good chance that Instant Karma or some other predatory entity has invaded Tessa’s body,” she explains. “We’re worried that her soul is in jeopardy. It’s possible the world is in danger if her powers are used for evil.”
Death doesn’t move for several seconds. Then he finally says, “Her soul has not crossed over. If she’s been compromised, then her essence has been consumed or is trapped with the entity that’s taken her body.”
He looks to the three of us, his gaze like a thousand-pound weight. “What makes you think she’s been overtaken?”
None of us are jumping at the chance to engage with Death, but I tell him when no one else volunteers, “She’s been strange in our text messages, then not returning to us in the evenings, and earlier when she returned to Karma’s mansion, she wasn’t acting like herself.”
“Negative emotions can make one vulnerable to psychic attack.” He tilts his head. “Are you the source of her pain?”
“Maybe? But Tessa was fine with us in person when we last saw her,” Evan answers. “Tessa was worried that someone had been messing with our texts. She might have had upsetting interactions with someone else on the phone, thinking the worst, that it was us.”
Death sighs, and it’s the most weary sound in the universe. “Humans and your damn technology.”
“Will you help her?” I ask.
The temperature of the already chilly cavern drops several degrees.
“Of course I’m going to help my own agent.”
“Sorry,” I hurry to say. “It’s just that Instant really messed with us. It’s hard to trust.”
He hums deeply, making my teeth vibrate. “Ah, yes, that’s probably why Tessa didn’t come to me with her concerns.”