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Nikki cocked her head as if giving in, but paused when the waitress came back carrying a pair of drinks. Both women thanked her, then Nikki was right back, leaning over the table and dropping her voice, refusing to let this go.
"So why are we here?"
Dahlia took a drink of her tea. "It was Mei's dream. She wanted to destroy the Church. She was the one who realized this hunter's information could be enough to make that possible."
"So where's the hunter?" Nikki pressed.
Dahlia simply pushed her drink away and dropped her head to her hands. "Don't you get it? They killed Mei a week ago. Three days later, they summoned me and threw me into a cell. I had to kill my body to get out."
Nikki's next question was just a breath. "How'd you come back?"
"Thane called me. The hunter. He let me go and told me about this place."
Then Nikki reached over for her hand. "So why aren't you eating, Dahlia? You fought so hard to get here, and now it feels like you're giving up. Help me understand?"
"Because I don't want to replace Mei," she admitted. "We fed together. What man wouldn't want a threesome, right? But for us, it was more than that. She was my whole world. She made time feel like it was standing still instead of flying past. She was so perfect, and now she's gone, and I'm not ready yet. Not for any of this."
"And this guy? Thane?" Dahlia tried to pull her hand away, but Nikki held it. "He summoned you. That means he fed you. How does he fit in?"
"Mei thought it was cute that I liked him," Dahlia admitted.
"So keep liking him," Nikki pressed. "If he let you go, then he's helping. If you bring him here, then he'll help more. If we can figure out how to destroy the Church, you can get your revenge, but all of this starts in one place."
"Bringing Thane to Iowa," Dahlia grumbled.
"No, keeping you from wasting away to the abyss," Nikki corrected. "Eat first. Make it meaningless. Be a bitch and remember how you survived the Inquisition. For me, it was the Salem witch hunts. I was targeted because I was a slave, but I figured out how to not only live through it, but also how to make those fuckers pay. The irony is that while I survived the witch hunts, I still died because I was just a slave - but I ended up like this. So use the grief. Let the rage and the anguish fuel you, Dahlia. Make Mei's deathmeansomething."
Which sounded great, yet there was one glaring problem. "Isn't it too soon to move on?"
"You mean with this inquisitor?"
Dahlia nodded. "Thane. I like him, Nikki. I shouldn't, and I don't want to, but we keep finding ourselves thrown together, and I do like him. I'm just not ready to like him. That's why I haven't called him yet. I don't know what to say. I have no idea how to start that conversation!"
"Does he know what we're planning?"
She shook her head. "He wants to help, but I didn't tell him much. I didn't want it to get back to the Church, and what if he's playing me?"
"Do you think he is?" Nikki asked. "Dahlia, you've been alive long enough to read people. You know the lies, the reasons behind them, and what would motivate someone. Does your gut say this man is lying to you?"
"No," she breathed.
"Then call him. Make him prove himself if you want. See if he can handle living with us, because the things we have to do to survive scare off a lot of mortal lovers. But, while you're doing all of that, at least get as much information as you can. Call him, hun. As soon as you're fed and back home, make it happen. I don't give a shit if you cry your eyes out afterwards, pray to some long-forgotten god, or anything else, but we came here for a chance. You can't back out now."
"I'm just not ready," Dahlia tried. "I need a few days."
Nikki paused as the waitress walked over with their meals. Once again, both ladies thanked her, so the woman didn't stick around. The food looked good. It probably smelled amazing too, although her lack of vitality had allowed Dahlia to slip far enough away from reality that her senses were once again dull and nearly useless.
So Nikki picked up a leg of fried chicken. "That's an excuse, Dahlia. It's the thing that tricks us into giving up. Just one more day, then another, until we're so low on vitality that we can't even run from the Inquisition. It's a lie to make yourself feel better about wasting away. Besides, what would Mei have wanted?"
"She wanted me to live until the sun no longer shines," Dahlia mumbled.
"Alone?" the witch pressed.
"No," Dahlia admitted.
"Does Thane know about her?"
This time, she just nodded.
