Page 4 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

“Oh, Bec. I’m sorry.”

“I’m terrified, Reuben. I’ve been with him for so long! It’s been years, he’s all I know, he’s all I remember... he’s all Iwantto remember. What... What am I going to do?”I knew she wasn’t truly asking those questions, just voicing them to get them out of her head.

“What’s going to happen to you is... you’ll be taken care of. You know that.”

“Yes. Yes I do.”

“How long does he have, Bec?”

“A year, maybe two, if he does the treatments. He won’t admit it, but I know he doesn’t want to do them.”

“You need to talk to him.”

“I know, but,” I could hear her fighting back tears. When she spoke again, her voice was small, which seemed foreign coming from the bold, bright creature that she was. “I don’t want him to fight and stick around, and suffer and be in pain, just because of me.”

“You need to talk to him, Becca Huxley.”

A deep breath, and a long sigh. “Yes Sir.”

“Good girl. Now go torture Benny, have a drink, and get laid or something. It’ll help.”

She laughed. “We both know I don’t get laid anymore.”

She hung up, and I looked at the clock. Six more hours of driving.

I listened to some music. I put on an audiobook of Abigail Rose’s new novel. I listened to Jase Black’s old podcast episodes,Leather and Lace.I stopped for a coffee, and then put on more music.

Frustrated and bored, I shut off the radio, and mentally went through my newest visions to update my friends.

I’d seen a vision of Sophie and Mark, two of my very best friends. Sophie was going to be confronted by a very painful person in her past soon, and I needed to warn and encourage her that she could handle it.

I’d seen a vision of the girl at our clubhouse who we just called Cat, because she had no name, facing her fear and following her passions again, even though she knew it was dangerous. I knew she was an artist and a dancer, but I wasn’t sure if there was something else she’d kept quiet about. A word of encouragement could make or break a decision like that.

I’d seen a vision of Matt Greenwood holding a dying girl in his arms, his heart breaking and his whole life changing because of just one decision that hadn’t been made yet. Matt was off saving the world in a Special Ops unit, so there wasn’t anything I could do other than pray.

And, of course, my beautiful mystery girl. My Destroyer. I saw her every night.

The visions had started when I was sixteen but stopped shortly after I’d chosen the trajectory of my life. I’d gone what some would call the worldly route. I left my church and my faith, took what I wanted, killed my conscience, and fed the Beast. I’d followed that path for much of my life until the accident a little over six years ago had forced me to confront my choices.

My legs still hurt sometimes when I thought about the months in physical therapy. But I could walk, which was more than I could say for the other people involved.

I shut the whole experience out of my mind.We aren’t going there right now. We aren’t doing this. What’s done is done. You made your choices. Grow up, move on, and keep pushing forward.

One thing was certain. My life had changed after the accident, and I’d learned my lesson.

Listen to the Master. The visions don’t lie. And if you love something more than Him, He’ll take it away to regain your attention... as a good Master should.

Igot back to Cullowheeclose to midnight. It was an easy drive all things considered, with light traffic and no bad weather. I hit a pothole I didn’t know was there, got detoured because of a rockslide on the mountain, and almost hit a deer and a bear cub, but I made it home alive.

When I pulled into my driveway, the outdoor light didn’t turn on, and the garage door wouldn’t open.

Shit. Not again.

Leaving the lights of my car on so I could see, I hurried across the porch and unlocked my door, flicking the switch by the entryway.

Nothing. Great.

Not wasting time, I checked the refrigerator with trepidation. Sure enough, as soon as I opened the fridge, the stench of rot and mold hit me.

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