Page 104 of Lost

24

Zoey

“It’s super weird how much it looks the same, isn’t it?” Stevie Rae said when the three of them had stopped blinking spots from their vision and could see again.

“Yeah, it looks like home,” I said. Then I looked closer. “Well, almost.” The lavender fields were the same. The house was the same. With one major difference—from all the eaves on the porch, as well as the windows of Grandma’s house and the surrounding trees, hung strands of beads. Hundreds and hundreds of beads.

“Those decorations are beautiful,” Rephaim said.

“They’re more than that,” I said. “They’re made of turquoise—lots of turquoise.”

“A strong protective stone,” Stevie Rae said.

“Yeah, and see the bundles of sweet grass, sage, and…” I paused, studying the clusters of herbs closer as we approached the front porch. “Cedar. She has those hanging everywhere too.”

“More protection?” Rephaim asked.

“Yep.” I led my friends up the porch stairs and drew a deep breath. “She must be burning myrrh and frankincense in her fireplace with the wood.” I identified the distinctive scents easily, although smelling them drifting around Grandma’s house was a surprise.

“They smell good. What do they do?” Stevie Rae asked.

“Protect, but also cleanse the spirit and heighten intuition,” I said.

“Wow, Grandma Redbird brought out the big guns,” Stevie Rae said.

“So much turquoise and such powerful cleansing and protecting herbs! Your grandmother must feel she is in serious danger.” Rephaim said what I’d been thinking.

Please be okay… please be okay… please be okay…was the prayer to Nyx that played over and over again in my mind as I raised my hand to knock on the front door.

Which opened before I touched it.

Grandma Redbird was there—wearing a long, comfortable-looking skirt and a simple cotton shirt. She had a colorful shawl wrapped around her shoulders and her long dark hair, frosted with beautiful sliver, fell free around her shoulders. She stared at me through eyes huge and dark and filled with shock, and I suddenly realized that maybe Kevin hadn’t found her. Maybe she didn’t know about the Other World.

“Grandma, it’s me. I’m not a ghost. I promise.”

Like my words had flipped on a light within her, Grandma’s shocked expression changed instantly. She gasped and tears filled her eyes to overflow as her smile radiated such joy and love it was a benediction.

“Oh, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya! My girl—my heart—it is you! It is you!” She flung open the door then, sobbing and laughing at the same time, Grandma Redbird took me into her arms.

I inhaled deeply. It didn’t matter what world we were in or what version of my grandma this was—her scent, her touch, her love—they were all the same.

“I have missed you so much,” she said through her tears as she kept hugging me.

“I’m so sorry, Grandma. My death must have been awful for you.”

She laughed then, and held me out at arm’s length, using the end of her shawl to wipe her cheeks. “I think it was much worse for you, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya.”

I shuddered and nodded, remembering every instant of that Zoey’s death.Don’t say anything to Grandma about it. She doesn’t need to know the awful details I know. Ever.

Grandma glanced behind me. “A female red vampyre? She must be from your world, Zoeybird.”

“She is! This is my bestie, Stevie Rae, and her mate, Rephaim.”

“Greetings, Stevie Rae, and osiyo,Rephaim,” Grandma said.

“It’s real good to see you in any world, Grandma Redbird,” Stevie Rae said.

Rephaim looked clueless.