Page 70 of Dark Surrender

There’s always a catch.

“Yes. Actually.” I bark an awkward laugh. “That’s exactly it.”

“Please listen to me when I say there is no catch. No strings. No shoe to drop. You get to live your life on your own terms.”

Wow. Okay.

“In this house.” I gesture to the whole place. It isn’t much yet, but it will be.

Kali grins. “Yes. Your house.”

Just hearing her say my house doesn’t seem real.

“Does it… Is it… ya know… hard to be in here?” I ask, wondering what it’s like, given Kali’s history with this place.

“Dark told you about Todd, huh?”

“Not a lot.”

“No, it doesn’t bother me. As long as it doesn’t bother you that he died in this room.”

“In this room?”

Kali inclines her head to the floor less than five feet from us. “Yep. Right over there.”

“No shit? Who did it?”

“My husband.”

That tracks.

“Sunshine.”

“Yep. You’ve met him.”

I pull a face. “Yeah, I have, and no offense, but once was enough. I never planned on meeting him again.” Ever.

Shaking her head, Kali chuckles. “And now you’re here.”

“Yes. Now I’m here.” It’s wild how life works, isn’t it?

Lugging armfuls of bags in through the front door, Cell huffs as she drops them right inside. “Damn,” she wheezes. “You weren’t lyin’ when you said you got stuff.”

“Cell, you can take more than one trip.” I laugh.

She looks at me as if I’m crazy. “Uh. No. I’m a woman, and so are you. You know we don’t do that. It’s all or nothin’,” Cell grunts dramatically, then grabs the rest of the stuff from the stoop out front.

Together, we unpack a pot, a pan, enough silverware for me, a tin of tea, mugs, some sheets, towels, random snack foods, and other odds and ends that Kali brought from her house, including a smudge stick, palo santo wood, a bottle of lavender oil, and a crystal dream catcher that looks similar to the one at Dee’s.

“Did you make one of these for Sola?” I ask as I set it on the kitchen counter next to the deed to my house that I refuse to look at just yet.

Kali places a bag of rice into my cupboard. “Oh. Yeah. I made them for all the houses for the women in Kings Cursed.”

“There’s one at my sister’s. It’s beautiful.”

Kali hums as if she appreciates the compliment before nodding to the one she made for me. “I added turquoise to yours for wisdom and healing. It also aids in communication.”

“So I’m gonna talk more?” I tease.