Page 70 of My Karmic Destiny

“William mentioned the social media stuff,” I remind them. “And we all had strange text exchanges with Tessa. So yeah, it’s possible that Instant is back.”

Dante’s quiet for a long moment, then he scoffs. “But why come back here and mess with us? Why not just take Tessa’s body and run?”

“Give us some payback?” I offer. “Itisher signature thing.”

“If we didn’t catch on, she could easily torment us, kill us, then go after Karma when she was powered up enough,” Evan guesses her intent.

“Fuck. Tessa was strong on her own. With Death, she is more so.” I shiver with the thought. “With Death’s powers at her fingertips, if a vicious god like Instant has the reins, then we’re screwed. She could kill us all without trying.”

“Wait.” Dante asks with hope creeping into his eyes, “Wouldn’t Death know that one of his people has been possessed?”

“I’m not sure if I want her to be possessed or not.” Evan rubs his chin thoughtfully. “If this is Tessa, then…”

“Then something’s really wrong.” I begin to pace. “She was borderline abusive just now.”

“I need to see this for myself.” Dante glowers at us. “I can’t trust what you’re saying.” Then he points a finger at both of our faces. “If you’ve hurt her in some way, and this is the result, I will end you.”

I raise my hands in surrender. “If I hurt her, then I welcome it. But I don’t think this is about us.”

27

NO WARM COOKIES

DANTE

So 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.

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