“Your parents, they weren’t nice people from what I’ve heard.” Aster shook her head. “I’m assuming you know that your father is dead. And your mother is in prison?”
“I do. It’s a favorite pastime of mine to go and visit her. She is most unhappy to see me.” Aster laughed hard. “Why do you think she has gone over the deep end? I bring her people to visit her, ones that have been dead for a long time. And I bring her the women that she and father killed. The children too, when I can. It’s not nice, I know, but those poor individuals need their peace as well. As for Father, he’s getting his own sort of trouble. I’ve seen him screaming through the night once in a while, but I never try to help him. He’s getting what he deserved.”
Billy returned then, and he smiled at her. “You’re going to have to help us, dear child. I need something from you, as do Aster and Connie here. But mine…well, mine will be a bit harder to do. So we’ll get theirs finished first.”
“I didn’t say I was going to help any of you.” Aster giggled and Connie smiled. “I mean, I’m leaving here and the sooner the better. I told you, Steele and I are finished.” Her body seemed to have a mind of its own, and she tried to get herself to stand. But she was too weak and her back was hurting a great deal.
“You’re dying, did you know that?” Kari looked at Connie when she spoke. “Soon, too, if you don’t get what you need. I have panther friends here and they are very worried for you. They said that the way you and Steele have been keeping parts of yourself from each other is killing you.”
“I’m fine. I’ve been under a great deal of stress and I’ve lost a few pounds. Once I get out of here, I’ll be fine and dandy.” Kari wanted to look away from Connie, who shook her head sadly, but she couldn’t. “What are they saying is wrong with me?”
“You need Steele to complete you.” Kari’s face heated up, and she looked away. “He’s not let you mark him, has he? He’s not allowed your cat to take any of his blood? Or has he marked you either? They said that your cat is dying and with her, you are too. What do you suppose is going to happen to him if you die, my dear?”
“He’ll be better off. And don’t tell me he won’t, either. You’ve not heard the way he speaks of us being together. He doesn’t want me. I don’t want him to mark me if he doesn’t want to.” Kari knew Connie was right. Her cat was ill, and she wasn’t getting any better. But right now Kari didn’t care if either of them got better. “He’s got his reasons.”
“He thinks that to claim you or you to claim him will mean that he will lose you much as he did me. That you’ll die simply because he loves you.” Aster stood over her own grave looking down at it as she continued. “He lost so much in such a short amount of time. And now…well, now he’s going to lose you as well, isn’t he?”
“He never wanted me.” Which, as true as it was, still felt like a spike to the heart. “He wants me to leave him so that he can get on with his life. He’ll be okay once I do. Both of us will.”
“He’ll never be okay again if you leave him. In death or out the door, as you are doing now.” Kari moved again, trying to adjust herself from the pain in her back, but it was too much. It hurt now to even breathe, and that was getting harder and harder to do. “You can no longer fight the pains in your body. The pain you feel now will only worsen until you are too sick to move. Then you’ll simply lay down and die.”
“Tell me what you want from me. Then leave me alone.” Her mind was bubbling over with thoughts and images. She hurt too. Her brain felt as if it were on fire. “Tell me. I need to get out of here. I need to—”
“I need for you to tell him you love him.” Aster’s voice sounded like it came from a long tunnel. “Kari, you need to tell him that you love him. It’s the only way to save you both.”
“I’m not worth saving.” Kari rolled to her side and felt her body shake. “So cold. I’m so cold.”
“Kari, listen to me.” This was Connie, and she tried to look at her. “Tell Steele that we need him to see his mother. He must see her before it’s too late. That is what I need for you to do for me. Please.”
“Tell him I love him and he must see his mommy.” Kari felt herself fading fast. Her body was simply too heavy to move. “Love and his mommy. I will.”
Kari opened her eyes again, and Billy was there. He looked so sad that she wanted to reach for him, but she couldn’t lift her arm. He touched his mouth to her forehead and everything went black. Then he spoke in her head.
He will come for you, love. And when he does, you will help me with my problem. You and he will be the best thing that has ever happened to any of us.