“You can do the same thing with empathy.” Her tone was scathing, but then she gave in a little. “I try not to. I really do. I stare over people’s shoulders or at the sky or something, and most people only … oh, I guess ‘flicker’ is a good enough description, either too self-contained or free of trauma or whatever. They’re easy to ignore. Sometimes, though, I run into someone like Kerry, who’s a supernova. I can’t help but look.”
“I know what you mean. After the incident with Gemma on the Appalachian Trail— Wait, do you know about that?”
“Every detail.”
“Who told you? Tara? Gigi?”
“No. Kerry.”
My eyebrows flew up. That story wasn’t one I’d want bandied about if I were Kerry, let alone share it myself. After thinking about it for a few moments, though, I nodded.
“That sounds like him. Straightforward and stripped of pretense. I’ve never met anyone so direct.”
“He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met, either, and not what I was expecting from someone with possession taint. He’s destroyed inside, no question, and morally bankrupt, but hewantsto be good.”
“For Gemma,” I muttered without thinking, “not himself.”
“Yes. I think that’s why he struggles so much. But hewantsit. That drive says more about him than his tattoos or his scars or his taint. At least, it does to me.”
“You admire him.” I smiled a little.
“Unlike Ms. Fey and others at the Sanctuary,” the frost was back in her voice, “I do not prescribe to the theory thatthe possessed are ruined beyond redemption and should be shunned for fear of the evils with which they may infect the rest of us. One, taint isn’t contagious and, two, the possessed are the ones who need the most help. They are the lost sheep who need saving, yet the Council has built up such a prejudice against them that they’re treated like lepers.”
“And the ‘ruined beyond redemption’ part?” I took my eyes off the road long enough to glance at her. “There is no denying that possession taint is a one-way ticket to Hell.”
“There are ways to be free of it.” Her mouth firmed up and her brow came down. “I know there are. Before this mission came up, Tara told me John asked Travis to research the absolution process, and Jax said he’d heard of Sin Eaters once and wondered if they could help.”
I was sorry to burst her bubble, but she and her friends were wasting time looking into those possibilities.
“Sin Eaters work with the dead, and absolution can’t work unless the person truly regrets their actions. The only avenue I came up with was a blessing.”
She was quiet for a few minutes, then asked me what I had wanted to say before our sidebar.
“Oh. Well, I usually need touch to use my empathy side skill, but not that time. It was overwhelming to be five feet next to Kerry.”
“He said you wanted to meet me. After he showed you the charm I made him.”
Her tone was even, but I wasn’t fooled. I kept my eyes on the road.
“It was beautifully done. Meticulous and elegant. I wanted to meet the person who would do that for a train wreck any other neph would steer clear of.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I smiled a little. “See that? We had a civil conversation as if we were friends.”
And those few words ruined it.
Her walls came up, and she turned her face to the window and didn’t say a word for the rest of the drive.
#
Chessie
I have never been, nor do I imagine I everwillbe, overly burdened by the need to show mercy. In my opinion, a philosophy of turning the other cheek has no place in a world of monsters. However, after what I did, I often wonder how much of a monsterIam.
One day shortly after Christmas, Kerry asked me about my sudden arrival at the Sanctuary. I told him the truth, and I did so deliberately.
“My mom’s latest husband thought we came as a two-for-one deal.”
