Page 79 of My Karmic Destiny

Kurtis clasps the sides of my face and kisses me hard. “Fuck. I love that you would do this for our girl, but I fucking hate that you might be lost to me if you do.”

Stunned by his passion, I stutter a promise. “I… I’ll do my best to make it back to you.”

I make myself comfortable on the tent’s rustic style bedding. I briefly imagine what it might be like to spend the night here with Tessa and Kurtis…ifwe get her back.

No. I can’t leave room for doubt.

“Ready?” Kurtis asks.

Karma’s powers give us the ability to put someone to sleep and into a dream cycle so it will be much quicker than doing this naturally, and hopefully before Instant figures out we’re missing from the mansion and where we are, and what we are up to.

“Ready.” I nod and close my eyes, focusing on creating a plan once my dreaming turns lucid.

Using his Karma gifts, Kurtis’s warm fingers press over my brow, and I’m gone.

In an instant, I’m dreaming about taking Tessa and Kurtis on a date together. We end up back at the tent.

Before I can get swept away by the fantasy, I recognize this as the dream it is.

I call out to Hypnos. “God of Dreams, Keeper of the Little Death, Hypnos, please hear my call and answer my questions.”

I repeat my plea and suddenly I’m in a dark cavern.

“Hello, dreamer.” A tall, dark-haired god greets me with a cautious expression. “You’ve come for your mate?”

“Is Tessa here?” I ask, glancing around into the surrounding darkness.

“No. She’s fighting and losing the battle for her life.” Hypnos sounds concerned. Perhaps he wishes for her to win. Could this Greek god give a shit? Not likely, but maybe he does if he has a stake in the battle.

“Can’t you help her?” I demand rather than ask.

“No. But you might be able to.”

“How?”

He gives me a sad smile. “Belief. Prayer. But to your personal goddess—Tessa. Give her the power of your faith. Give her your thoughts and your love. Your devotion. It might tip the scales in her favor. She might feel it.”

Might. Hypnos has his doubts.

But perhaps he’s right. I had the same idea earlier. Sheisa descendant of a god. And sheisour goddess, isn’t she?

“Anything else I can do for her?” I ask.

“Distract Instant. She isn’t as powerful as she was before Death vanquished her. It’s why she’s targeted you and the other two. She intends to slowly consume your souls to keep herself powered up. To keep Tessa’s magic alive.”

Shit. I realize the reason Instant collected us and placed us all on the same team was a setup for this very thing. Instant wanted to steal Tessa’s body and soul for its power, and then claim our souls to keep it going.

But Tessa thwarted the goddess before she could do that, setting her back to almost nothing. Unless she can reclaim us and finally win.

“You’ve been helping Instant come back, haven’t you?” I question Hypnos’s intentions. “Why should I trust you now?”

“Because Tessa gave me hope that my love, my mate, is out there. For that alone, I owe her a favor.” He shrugs and his darkwings ruffle behind him. “And I never cared much for Instant anyway.”

I glare at the intriguing and baffling god. He’s a dubious ally, but I sense what he just said was true… at least for the moment.

“Thank you.” I nod my head in appreciation. I don’t need to piss off the god connected to my soul every time I sleep.

“Go, save your woman, handsome dreamer.” He gives me a wink. “I’ll see you soon.”

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