Page 72 of My Karmic Destiny

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 justoff, 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 notonlybe 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, andearlier 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.”

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