Page 72 of My Instant Karma

19

THE CONFESSION

“What do you have to tell us?” Evan asks.

Still unsteady from their interrogation drug, my head wobbles when I try to look at him. Dante presses my body against his chest, and it’s the only thing keeping me upright.

“Maybe we should let her sleep this off before we get intoeverything,” Dante suggests.

“No. She might change her mind tomorrow,” Kurtis protests, rejecting the idea.

“Unfortunately, Kurtis is right,” Evan agrees.

“It’s fine. I’ll tell you now. So… I’ve been to the afterlife portal, where souls go,” I blurt out as fast as I can. “That’s it.”

“Oh, that’s it?” Kurtis exclaims. He claps his hands together and wanders dramatically in a small circle. “Well, I’mcompletelysatisfied. You?” He looks at Dante and Evan in disbelief.

“Kurtis, shut up,” Evan barks. “Tessa, explain.”

“When Kurtis died, I followed his soul to the portal between life and death. I pulled him back before he could go through.” I pause. My words are still slurred, and I’m having a hard time remembering what we are talking about.

“What happened to the energy vamp?” Evan asks.

“When he was draining me, I opened up my third eye, saw what he was doing to me, and then saw the souls he had taken before. I grabbed them from his being—draining and killing him. Then I took them all to the afterlife portal and sent them through, including the vamp.”

Dante’s hold on me tightens. Whether it’s due to concern for me or fear of me, I can’t say.

Kurtis’s mouth drops open. “Holy karma balls.”

“Yeah,” Dante and Evan say in unison.

“I wasn’ttryingto kill him, and I don’t even know how I found the portal again, but maybe once I saw it when I followed Kurtis, it was instinctual.”

“Or you are a psychopomp,” Evan says with certainty.

“Awhat?” Dante asks, clearly disturbed, but he doesn’t push me away.

“A Greek name for those who guide souls to the afterlife,” Evan explains.

My energy wanes, and I sink lower in Dante’s hold.

“She needs to recover,” he tells the other two. “We got enough of an explanation for now.”

Kurtis grumbles but consents by heading back to the house. Dante lifts me into his arms in a bridal hold. My arm flops down and sways as he traverses the uneven terrain.

* * *

Next thing I know, I’m in my bed with Dante standing over me.

“Did I just have a bad dream?” I ask, my voice weak.

“I wish. It felt like a nightmare.” He pulls the desk chair over and sits down. Interesting, he sees the need to create distance now. “How are you feeling?”

“Top of the world.” I smack my tongue to the top of my mouth. “And as dry as my wit.”

Dante chuckles, but he helps me sit up enough to drink some water I have in a bottle next to my bed. “Just a sip. I’m worried you might throw up.”

My head is slowly clearing, but it’s still foggy.

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