Page 9 of My Karmic Destiny

We’ve had our ups and downs. Most of the downs were circumstances of Instant messing with our heads. But I was also torn up over Tessa, wanting her, but knowing I shouldn’t pursue her. I might have been a pain in the ass at times because of it. What no one realized is that every day since I’ve met that sassy, curvy woman, I’ve ached for her. My pathetic flirting was never an act or a prank.

I’m shaken from my worries as Tessa acknowledges my arrival.

“Hi.” She gives me a smile in greeting, and my whole chest glows with affection. I almost fall to my knees and offer to do anything she wants for another smile.

Instead, I choose the less psycho behavior. “Hey,” I say and notice Evan has already grabbed me a plate of lasagna.

Tessa lifts a bottle of wine in question for her to pour me a glass.

“Nah. I’m sticking to water for a while. I want to be clearheaded for when Karma comes back to work with our souls.”

“Ah, shit. Sorry.” She sets the bottle down and frowns at her plate.

Out of instinct, I reach out and clasp her hand. “Don’t be sorry. I appreciate you offering toserveme.” I give her a wink. I can still do this, be the silly flirt.

Dante glares at my hand touching hers, and I quickly remove it. In retrospect, I think playing nice with Dante will be better for us all in the long run.

And who knows, maybe Dante and Tessa will opt for an open relationship. That’s becoming more common all the time, especially amongst the supernatural circles.

After my close encounter with Evan’s cock earlier, I did a fair amount of research about polyamory. We could definitely swing a polycule, if they all agreed.

“So what did you all do today?” Tessa asks the three of us.

Evan and I share a secret look, and Dante narrows his eyes. Is he only reacting to our confrontation with him? Or does he know more?

“I’m sure it wasn’t anything compared to your day with Death,” Dante answers for us. Thank goodness he changes the subject instead of ripping us a new one in front of Tessa.

“Death’s a trip,” Tessa agrees and shovels a bite of lasagna in her mouth. After chewing, she adds, “All I did today was readmanuals on proper soul collection and procedures. I have to say, it was slightly boring, but much more thorough than the training I had with Instant.”

“Yeah, Instant liked her agents to be off-center and never knowing what was next or who to trust,” Evan agrees. “Sorry we weren’t more help in the beginning.”

“You did fine.” She waves him off. “Sure, it was a bit of a wild frat house vibe when I first arrived, but you weren’t that bad—mostly.” She smirks and shakes her head, likely remembering the pranks we tried to pull. Not that she often fell for our tricks.

“I wonder how OG Karma is going to run things now,” I say thoughtfully.

“She was a great mentor when I was a teenager. Although, I didn’t know she was a goddess at the time. I thought she was some wacky psychic teaching me how to read tarot cards and enhancing my psychic skills. She was wise and pretty cool.”

I give her a smile. “I look forward to it. Maybe I can become psychic like you.”

“Careful what you ask for. It can be a curse.”

5

DREAMING GODS

TESSA

There was a weird energy at dinner tonight, but I was too exhausted to delve into my psychic energy to decipher what’s going on. Idly, I wonder if they’re upset that I’m not in the band anymore. Do they think I’m better than them because I’ve moved on like a solo singer?

Nah. They know I have no control over that.

If I had my choice, I’d be hanging out with them all day. I missed Dante today while I was at work. And I’ve been missing Evan and Kurtis for a while now. They are good friends, and I never really had anyone before now I could truly rely on.

But I have my career path to walk, working for Death. I just hope I don’t have to move out of the karma house at some point and leave them behind.

After saying goodnight to the guys, Dante and I head back to my room.

Once inside, he holds me in his arms. “Is it stupid I couldn’t stop thinking about you today?”