Page 59

27

ROSI

I supposedI should’ve thanked Austin for being gallant when he offered to stay behind. Instead, I wanted to yell at him. In Spanish. It was Ila’s hand on my arm that made me stop and take a breath.

“Why are you so angry?” Austin furrowed his brow. “Don’t you want to stay together?”

“Of course I do! But you heard the ancestor—you’re needed. Do you really think it’s a good idea to ignore the warning of the spirit taking over someone’s body?” The moment those words crossed my lips, I felt weak in the knees.

My whole life had been spent hiding these very thoughts from others and tiptoeing around things to make them more palatable. Here I was, finally able to speak freely with others who’d witnessed things as well, so why was I filled with so much rage? The answer drained away the anger and made me want to sink to the floor.

I didn’t want to separate from Austin. I wanted to stay together as much as he did, but I knew that was selfish. The truth was, I was scared shitless, and I’d asked for this.

“I agree. Austin should come,” Cora said, and I could have hugged her for backing me up because I was so close to changing my own mind. “But, Rosi, you don’t have to stay here just because an old man told you to.”

“I’m not leaving Ila alone.” It wouldn’t be right. And I wanted to know what she wasn’t saying, because I had a feeling there was more.

“Ila must stay,” the spirit repeated. “Or it will confuse the tupilaq.”

I very much wanted to find out exactly why that would be. But I sensed Ila wasn’t going to be forthcoming in front of everyone else—especially her son.

“We stay, the rest of you go find it and figure out what needs to happen next,” I said.

Austin’s glare was made of ice, and I wondered if I’d somehow made a mistake by insisting he go when we both wanted to be together. But logically, it made sense. If logic could still play a part in any of this. He hesitated at the door even as Toklo and Cora headed out, Toklo, stopping at a case to the side of the room and removing a large staff or walking stick.

I hurried over to Austin, intending to kiss him good-bye for now. But when I touched the taught muscles in his arms, I stepped back. I’d never seen him so upset.

“I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to you,” he said.

Then my own anger flared once again. “This isn’t about you, Austin. I’m an adult. I am choosing to stay here with Ila.” And it was a damned hard decision too.

“Shouldn’t I get a choice too?” he asked, his eyes tornadoes that stole the air from my lungs.

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Neither does Ila.”

Aaahhh! This man drove me insane. I shoved him in the stubbornly solid chest and stormed back to sit by Ila, refusing to acknowledge him further. Didn’t he know how hard this was on me? We had to do what was best for everyone.

I didn’t look up again until the door swished shut behind him.

“He’s controlling,” Ila said.

“He’s used to making split-second, life or death decisions,” I said, dropping my shoulders.

“He’ll learn to let others take the lead. Thank you for staying, but you didn’t have to.” Ila patted my hand and smiled at me.

“You’re welcome. I know I wouldn’t want to be alone,” I said.

“You want to ask me about it.”

Nodding, I felt a blush warm my cheeks. She laughed at me, but it was a good-natured guffaw that finally had me relaxing all over. Having a bloodthirsty monster out to get me really stressed me out. That had to be what was going on with Austin too.

“You with all your questions. I should have figured you’d get it all out of me at some point. My husband says I should write a book. I don’t have the patience for it.”

“You might feel better if you tell me the whole story,” I offered. “I promise I’ll believe you.”

“I know.” Ila grinned then sighed, readjusting herself to face me comfortably. “It was my grandfather, not my great-grandfather that made the tupilaq.”