Chapter 1
The theater exploded with a standing ovation. From under the bright spotlight on the stage of the famous Sydney Opera House, she smiled at the audience. They obviously admired her. She wondered whether it was the allure of the limelight that made these people applaud whoever stood on the stage, playing the lead role in a famous play, or whether they truly prized her talent as a performer. She doubted it was the latter.
Other cast members had joined her on the stage to say goodbye to the night’s audience. Although The Woman in the Asylum had been one of the most successful and longest-running shows, no one knew what would happen with the next performance. It was the nature of the trade. The political and cultural landscape on this planet had changed so swiftly in the last decade. Everyone knew they should feel fortunate for what they’d been able to enjoy up to this point.
The curtain finally closed, irrespective of the amount of applause they had received.
She turned to go to her changing room.
“Casey,” a voice called from behind.
“Yes, Richard,” she answered without looking back. Richard was her talent manager and the director of the theater company. He was also the only one who called her by her first name.
He approached her. Under the dim lights of the backstage, he looked quite attractive. He was in his mid-fifties but could have passed for forty. Formidable, tall, and authoritative with a deep voice, Casey thought he’d have made a good performer. But he’d chosen business over art.
“This is our last show here. People would appreciate it if you gave the interview in your costume.”
She smiled. “By people, I take it you mean the press?”
He smiled back. “No, the press isn’t important. Your fans are.”
“Indeed. They pay our bills.” She nodded. “All right.” She gestured up and down her body. “I’ll hang around in this very comfortable outfit for a little longer.” The last scene had been a war scene, and she was attired in armor not designed for comfort. She frowned. “What else, Richard? What’s bothering you?”
He paused then shook his head. “Nothing.” He chuckled. “It’s nothing…it’s silly,” he muttered mostly to himself and turned to walk away.
“You’re worried about it, aren’t you?” she asked at his back.
Richard turned around. “About what?”
She approached him and touched his lapel. “The myth. Next week is the birthday of this theatrical company. And not only a birthday. It’s a centenary.”
“It was before our time, Casey. Plus, as you said, it’s a myth.”
“So did you think making me stay in this stage armor would somehow protect me?”
“Are you insane?”
“It’s not the press. It’s not the fans. I saw you ordering the records of the company and truckloads of books about its history last week. Did you just suddenly have an urge to find out what happens to this company every hundred years?”
Richard whirled around. “That’s ridiculous, Casey.”
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow. “All right. I’ll take this off then.” She tugged at her breastplate.
“Okay, I give up. Yes, you can take that costume off. But can you please be careful?”
“Careful of what? Dying a violent death?”
“It might be a myth, but it’s not a joke. What happened before happened to lead performers.” He narrowed his eyes. “So you knew this, and you still joined the company? You joined before me.”
“I didn’t know anything before this. I saw you digging for info last week, so I sneaked in and read the stuff in your office.”
He nodded. “So you don’t believe it. You think it’s a myth. Every hundred years, there have been accidents. Lead cast members have died tragic deaths. No one noticed because of the large interval between them.”
“Why did you notice?”
“I just had a hunch.”
She laughed. “You should never do serious business on a hunch.”
He shook his head. “It was really a feeling. I don’t know. I’ve just sensed some unusual, dark, and spooky aura around the place in the last few weeks. I’m not superstitious. But it just felt as if the place was haunted.”
She smiled. “Might be you’re reading too much into the current play.”
He nodded. “Maybe. But the play has been performed for a long time. The spooky aura has been here for only a few weeks. Why now?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t know you were that sensitive to the ambiance of the theater.”
“It’s not the ambiance, Casey. It’s the aura…”
She looked up, and from behind him and above, she swore she saw a shadow. A string of rope suddenly broke loose and hung down, and a stage light rail slid out of place slightly. She knew the rope was going to snap, and the steel rail would then drop down behind Richard. If she pushed him out of the way, she would be the one copping the hit. But if she didn’t, it would be his head that sustained the impact.
Chapter 2
“That should do it,” Mya whispered as she poured the last golden pitcher of warm, scented water into the bath. Rising, she took a step back to survey her handiwork and sighed in satisfaction.
The bathing chamber was vast and lavishly appointed. Its spotless black marble floors, soaring golden archways, and sunken bathtub with gold inlay made it the envy of all the gods and goddesses who made their home in the House of Gods. Even they were forbidden to set foot inside this sacred place, and the intricate and breathtakingly beautiful black marble sculptures by the entrance had been enchanted by their creator to bar the passage of anyone apart from Ishtar’s handmaidens and herself.
“I see that my bath is ready,” said a throaty voice.
Mya spun around and immediately dropped to her knees. Before her, garbed in nothing more than sheer white silk and a tall, intricate battle helmet of hammered silver, was the goddess Ishtar, the legendary goddess of war and beauty—and, as of this morning, her new mistress.
“Well, don’t just sit there. Rise and help me undress,” Ishtar commanded, her voice steady and imperious.
Mya rose to do her mistress’s bidding, starting with lifting the battle helmet from Ishtar’s delicate black braids, taking care not to accidentally tug on any of them. Even among the gods and goddesses, Ishtar had a reputation for arrogance and a fierce temper.
“Ugh. Finally!” Ishtar exclaimed, pushing past Mya as she made her way to the black marble bath. She let out a sigh of relief as she stepped into the fragrant, steaming water. Closing her eyes, she eased herself further into the bath and leaned back against the tub’s gilded edges.
Mya quietly folded up Ishtar’s clothing and placed it carefully on a nearby marble bench before standing by the entrance alcove to await further orders.
“Mya, come and wash my hair,” Ishtar snapped in a rich, sensual voice.
Fumbling slightly, Mya scrambled to fetch another gold basin of scented water and hurriedly brought it over.
“Since you’re here now, and since you’re clearly not so good at being a handmaiden, I’ll take this opportunity to give you your first assignment,” Ishtar said as Mya gently washed her thick black locks.
“Yes, Goddess.”
“Observe,” Ishtar whispered, closing her eyes and languidly waving a hand over her bathwater.
The water frothed and bubbled then stilled to a glassy, mirror-like surface. It revealed a landscape of fertile green fields and colorful tents. Thousands of people bustled about, with women keeping watch over the meat roasting over glowing coals, men plowing the nearby fields, and children happily weaving in and out of the tents. A roughly hewn wooden likeness of Ishtar stood in the center of the vision.
Mya furrowed her brows. “I don’t understand. Nothing seems to be wrong here.”
“Tsk, tsk. You are so impatient. Keep watching,” Ishtar said.
Suddenly, one of the children screamed, and the scene quickly shifted. Masked black riders brandishing scimitars thundered into the quiet little village, their bulky black horses trampling anything and anyone in the way. Steel flashed in the air before coming down onto the shoulder of a running villager. Blood spurted to the ground in a shower of crimson, along with the man’s freshly severed arm. Another man attempted to set a fire to call for help, but he was immediately cut down. The man’s wife screamed and was quickly set upon by three more riders. They pushed her to the ground, held down her arms, and began to lift up her skirt.
Ishtar waved her hand, and the scene disappeared, the mirror-like surface vanishing into the depth of her bathwater.
Mya tried to suppress her horror at the scene, for showing concern might give the impression that she was weak, and then Ishtar might not give her the task that she guessed was related to the scene she had just been shown. Deep down, Mya just wanted to save those innocents. Having been trained in the art of war by her parents, who themselves were Ishtar’s vassals, an apprenticeship under the goddess herself seemed like the most logical next step for Mya to gain her full deity position. She had been waiting forever. Now might be her time to be given a meaningful task by the goddess.
“The Tribes of Gaixi and Wangi are hard-working and peace-loving, and their people have worshiped me for centuries. But the living conditions on Earth have become harsher, and that has turned them into savages. They seek to conquer their neighboring tribes for food,” Ishtar explained, rising from her bath and motioning for Mya to fetch a towel.
Once Ishtar finished drying herself, she said, “Your task is to make sure it doesn’t come to that. I simply cannot stand for any harm to come to a tribe under my protection. I don’t want to take sides, so you must have the leaders of both tribes sign a peace treaty. I’ll make sure to provide more resources so that they don’t have to slaughter each other for food.”
Mya nodded. She knew she could do this. “Yes, Goddess.”
“One more thing. Although stopping a war is the righteous thing to do, it doesn’t quite fit my portfolio. As you already know, I am the goddess of war.”
“Love and war, my Goddess!”
“Love doesn’t always mean peace, my naive little handmaiden. If you accept this task, you’ll be on your own, and you’ll need to take your own initiative. I don’t want my reputation damaged.”
“Yes, my Goddess.”
“All right, kneel.”
There was a spark of white light, and then her world went blank.
Mya gasped and awoke. She glanced around the small hotel room to gain her bearings. Her heart still thundered in her chest.
Why hadn’t she recalled this incident? She knew Ishtar had sent her on this mission to redeem her sins, and she was told she needed to save the innocent without killing the evil. But based on what she’d just dreamed, both tribes worshiped Ishtar, the goddess of war. If Ishtar commanded the tribes to go to war, there was no way Mya could make peace with one side without killing the other. Ishtar had made both tribes evil, so no matter how hard Mya tried to find a peaceful solution, she would lose.
But maybe it was just a nightmare.
Zach, a very sound sleeper, was sleeping peacefully on the bed. He was gorgeous. She still couldn’t believe she was with him. More than a thousand years had passed, and she had come to terms with the fact she would never be able to pay off her mounting debts with Ishtar. Zach was the best thing that had ever happened to her, and she was glad that, although he was still mortal, he had now become a person from the multiverse, and his lifespan would be a lot longer than that of a human.
Chapter 3
Leon opened his eyes and found himself unable to move any part of his body. But he could feel the blood running through his veins, and his heart was still beating. He was alive—just not quite as lively as he’d like. He had been paralyzed as soon as the gigantic black cat bit him.
He recalled the incident in the woods now. Zach had gone after Mya. He had been talking to Kirra, using his limited amount of English to try to get to know her better. He knew Zach would get Mya back, and then they would go to Eudaiz together. Eudaiz was the universe in which Zach was residing.
That would mean Leon would have to leave Kirra behind. She was human and had nothing to do with any other world other than this current one she lived in. He felt a pang of unusual sensation just thinking about the fact that he might never see her again.
He wasn’t an idiot. He knew he shouldn’t think about her—a human in another world—especially when he knew nothing about her. He made a mental note to ask Mya later about human courting rituals.
He tried to move again but couldn’t. It was strange that a bite from a cat could have such an effect. Usually, only poisonous snakes or scorpions would have venom poisonous enough to immobilize him. He was the head of the temple guard at the Babylonian court, for the Goddess’s sake. He’d give his body a bit more time to dissolve the poison before trying something else.
He heard footsteps above him and figured he must be lying in a basement of some kind. He tried to turn his head to the side to survey the area and found his neck had loosened up a bit. The footsteps above weren’t random but in rhythm, as if several people were dancing. The faint sounds of a musical instrument found its way to the basement. He squinted into the darkness and saw a line of light as if the floor had a crack which ran into a corner.
He heard laughter and maybe singing. He recognized the language. It was English. Similar to what Mya spoke. He tried to inch his shoulders up and found that his right shoulder moved. He smiled and tried his legs.
A beam of light poured in from a far corner as if someone had pushed the door in for a few seconds and then slammed it closed. A male and female voice murmured something. They laughed. She giggled, and it sounded as if they were kissing. He heard the sound of fabric tearing, and then the woman moaned in pleasure.
“Are you sure it’s going to work? He was supposed to announce it now,” the man said.
“Yes, of course it’ll work. Have I ever failed in any of your plans?”
“No. You’re very resourceful.”
“Is that all?”
“And smart. And beautiful…”
The woman chuckled. “And what do I get for having all of those good qualities?”
“Anything you want. I promised you half of the company. What else do you want?”
Silence.
“Come on, honey, don’t give me that look. I’m married.”
“For money!”
“Yes, but I still need that money. Can you be a bit more patient? Richard will announce his resignation. He’ll go away with that silly actress. And the rest will be history.”
Leon wriggled his body hard to see how much movement he’d regained. He tried to clear his throat to see if he could make a sound. He could feel it—his voice was coming back to him.
Then he felt a puff of hot air blowing into his face. He turned and saw the face of the black cat right next to him. Its eyes glowed green, and its teeth were bared. Its lips rubbed right against his face. And if he wasn’t mistaken, he heard it growl in Babylonian, “Hush, or be dead.”
Leon tried harder to move, inching his body away from the cat. Silent, my backside! he thought. I’d rather be dead than feeling your disgusting breath blowing into my face!
His legs moved an inch or so.
His voice came back.
He shouted for help. But before the sound escaped his throat, the cat sank its teeth into his shoulder. He blacked out again.
Chapter 4
Mya felt a warm sensation wash over her when Zach embraced her from behind. He whispered into her ear. “You’re brooding, my deity. Don’t worry about the jar or the potion. We’ll get it and bring it to the Goddess. We’ll pay off all of your debts. You’ll never ever have to think about Ishtar again.”
She turned and looked at him. There was no natural sunlight in the room because she had closed the door and all the windows in their cabin at the campsite to avoid any unwelcome animal guests. Under the dim light of the table lamp, she could still see Zach’s soft green eyes. They always warmed a shade whenever he looked at her, even before they had been in a relationship. He didn’t even try to hide it. He must know the effect of that look on the female species. She could only hope he didn’t use it on every female he came across.
She played with a strand of his dark brown hair. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Not a hundred percent…”
She frowned. “Get more rest then. We can’t go anywhere if you’re not a hundred percent.” She silently cursed the female lynx Elanora. The nasty, sadistic woman had peered into Zach’s mind, read his fatal point, pointed the gun at her to distract Zach, and attacked him where he was most vulnerable.
Well, not right at the point below his shoulder on his back, but close enough. Mya shuddered. If Elanora had meant to kill Zach, he would have been dead.
He kissed her on the lips and then gently eased away. “Let’s go.”
“No, I’ll go find Leon. You stay here until you’re a hundred percent again.”
He chuckled. “Why would you want me to deteriorate?”
“What are you talking about, Zach?”
“I’m at a hundred and fifty percent capacity.” He grinned.
She punched his chest. “Then let’s go.” She scrambled up, but he pulled her back down into his arms.
“Calm down, my deity. You can’t do anything good in the state you’re in now.”
“What state?” she said, on the verge of switching on her deity vision to check on Leon. She had refrained from doing so because Zach wasn’t in any condition to be left alone, and if she found out Leon needed help, there would be nothing she could do. “Where’s Kirra?” She spat out the question for no particular reason. It was just there, in the middle of her thought process for some reason. Well, it wasn’t much of a process, but at least it was something.
“Your mind is clogging up again, Mya. It happens whenever you panic.”
She pushed at him. “Don’t talk like you know me so well. Not long ago, you were still calling me Professor Portman.”
“And which part of that title isn’t correct?”
“The part—”
He interrupted her speech by kissing her until she melted in his arms.
“There. You’re calm now,” he said. “I know you’re worried about Leon. But he’s fine.” He glanced at his wrist unit. “And I know you want to switch on your deity mode so you can check on him. But I don’t want you to do that—I don’t like the look on your face when you’re in deity mode. It weirds me out.” He tapped his finger on the screen of his wrist unit. “The unit suggests that Leon’s vitals are healthy. Meaning he’s alive and well. Not only that, I know his location.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“You didn’t ask. Plus, I was busy kissing you.” He grinned again.
“How can you be so sure he’s fine? How can your unit tell? Is it psychic?”
Zach chuckled. “One psychic in this room is enough. I gave him some of my eudqi and appointed him as my successor, remember? So I got a sample of his blood and entered his data into the system. They track him, of course.”
She scrambled out of the bed. “You track him because eudqi is such an important energy source to Eudaiz. If anything happens to Leon, you don’t want your adversaries to sample the substance. You’d have to kill him—or so you’ve said.”
Zach stood up. “Yes, there’s that. But I do care for Leon. He’s my successor, Mya.”
“Really? So if you find Leon, and his blood or the eudqi has been taken, would you kill him?”
“If it’s already been taken, what good would it do to kill him? If I did have to kill him, it would be before the eudqi was taken. But that’s beside the point. There are many ways to take this. Why do you have to take it the wrong way?”
Mya waved her arms in the air. “I don’t know.” She whirled around. Something wasn’t right. Something was ticking her off. Calm down, she told herself.
Zach grabbed at her shoulders. “Mya, listen to me. You’re agitated and snappish. What’s happening?”
“I don’t know. This…only happens when…” She looked at him. “Oh no… It happens when someone I’m supposed to save is on my list, but I couldn’t get to my vision to check…”
Zach blew out a breath. “Okay, then check. I really do hate to see you with those blank eyes, but I would rather see that than you whirling around not knowing what to do.”
“What if it’s Leon? What if it’s Leon that I have to save, but it’s too late because I’m here!”
“I told you he’s fine. Alive. If he’s now on your list to save, that’s great because we’re going to go and get him anyway. You, he, and I will go back to Eudaiz. Everything will be fine.” He approached and held her shoulders. “Now let’s check so that you can be sure and calm down.” He smiled at her.
She nodded and was just about to switch on her deity vision.
“Knock knock!” Kirra’s voice interrupted from outside the room.
Mya stopped and looked up at Zach. He gazed into her eyes. He knew her rather well now, and she didn’t need to explain.
“It’s Kirra. She triggered your anxiety, didn’t she?” Zach asked.
“I’m afraid so.” She hadn’t had a chance to check her vision, but as soon as the name came into her mind, her agitation eased. That was a sign that she had gotten to the right subject, the one who needed her attention. All she had to do now was to switch on the vision to find out the cause of death.
“Trouble,” Mya muttered.
“If she’s on the list of people you must save, then we will save her. How is this any different from the thousands of other lives you have saved over the years?”
“There are two lists. I’m supposed to save those on one of the lists, but I’m not allowed to save the people on the destined-to-die list. That’s part of the fine print in the Goddess’s agreement.”
“Sadistic b—”
“Shhh, you shouldn’t curse the Goddess.”
“I don’t belong to the world she rules.”
“Still, it’s not helpful, Zach.”
He nodded and sat down on the bed. “Let’s find out which list Kirra is on then.”
Mya switched on her deity vision.
The image hit her mind like a storm from hell—a sword pierced Kirra’s heart, and her body floated and spun in a whirlwind of fire.
Mya’s knees buckled. She switched back to her human vision and found Zach holding her. Tears rolled down her face. She shuddered then regained her footing. She could feel all the muscles in Zach’s body quivering. He had somehow connected with her emotion. He released her and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.
“It was bad, wasn’t it?”
She nodded. “I’ve never seen images before, just text. I’d get the information about the possible cause of death and the list the subject was on. But this time…all I saw was an image of Kirra. I don’t know which list she’s on.”
“What did you see?”
“She was on fire…floating. And a sword pierced her heart.”
“Anybody home?” Kirra’s voice drifted in again.
Zach opened the door to see Kirra standing outside with a smile as bright as the sunshine on her face.
Chapter 5
From the floor, Richard looked at Casey. He saw the reflection of the falling steel rail behind him in her eyes. Without thinking, he pushed her out of the way. It was strange, though. He thought she resisted his push. She saw the falling rail. But from his perspective, it was only a reflection in her eyes. Why would she want to stand in the way? But maybe it was his imagination. It was dark. He felt it hit him from behind and then the impact of his body as it hit the concrete floor. Then his world went completely dark.
One light stroke cut across the darkness. Another one. Then there was sound. He could hear people murmuring. He opened his eyes and realized he was in an emergency room. The concerned face of a nurse hovered above his own.
“How are you feeling?” she asked while simultaneously checking the tubes connected to his arm and the monitor next to his bed.
“How’s Casey?”
The nurse turned to look at him. He knew it was irrational to assume she knew who Casey was, but a strange nervousness stabbed at him, and he couldn’t think straight. Maybe Casey was famous enough that people would recognize her name.
“You have a mild concussion, Mr. Lane. But Ms. Anderson wasn’t that lucky.”
He sat up, but the nurse pushed him back down. “She’s in the critical unit. You can’t visit her, sir.”
He flopped back down, recalling pushing her out of the way of way of the falling rail. “How could her injury be that bad when I only have a mild concussion?”
“What injury?” the nurse asked.
“The falling rail. It hit me. It must have hit her. I mustn’t have been quick enough…”
The nurse looked puzzled. “You need to lie down. I’ll go and get the doctor.”
“No. Tell me what happened to Casey.”
“She had a heart attack. There were no other injuries the doctor diagnosed when you both arrived.”
“A heart attack? What about the rail? I mean—”
“What rail, Mr. Lane? Are you saying Ms. Anderson has other injuries we should check on? There’s nothing but a critical heart attack on her chart. Which is strange because the doctor said she has no history of a heart condition.”
“I need to see her.”
“All right. I’ll get the doctor. If he clears you, I’ll take you to Ms. Anderson.”
Richard nodded and sat back down while the nurse scurried out of the room. As soon as she turned the corner, he scrambled out of bed and scooted out the door. He followed the signs and made his way to the intensive care unit. In the room, Casey lay lifelessly on a bed.
He approached the bed, feeling helpless. He and Casey had only a professional relationship, but they had worked together for a long time, and he understandably had feelings for her.
He wasn’t sure if she had any feelings for him.
He heard a low growl behind him. Before he could turn around, he was picked up, and his face was shoved into a wall. He could feel the heat from the person behind him—it had to be a large and very strong man. A male voice with a faint accent growled, “So it was you.”
Richard tried without success to get out of his grasp and pull his face away from the wall.
“She hangs around because of you.”
Richard shrugged harder, managing to turn around and shove the man away. “You make it sound like the fact she’s lying there half dead is a good thing.” Richard pointed to her lifeless body. “If her lingering around like this is what you want, shouldn’t you be thanking me? Who the hell are you anyway?”
Richard looked the man up and down. Tall, strong, in his thirties. He had some resemblance to Casey. What that resemblance was, he couldn’t tell. But while it always felt to him as if Casey had a rainbow of light around her, this man was surrounded by a dark aura.
The man glanced briefly at Richard then turned toward Casey’s bed. He started pulling out the tubes and other devices monitoring her vitals.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Richard grabbed the man’s shoulder in an attempt to stop him from disturbing Casey. His shoulder didn’t budge an inch—he was incredibly strong. He glared at Richard and continued to do what he was doing.
Footsteps and the sound of medical staff rushing along the corridor echoed into the room. Richard pushed the man, but he swung his arm and flung Richard across the room. When the man had freed Casey from the tubes and needles, he picked her up and began to carry her out.
“Goddamn it!” Richard cursed and grabbed a chair from the corner of the room. Using all of his strength, he swung the chair at the man’s head from behind. The chair broke on impact. The man stumbled, turned, and dropped Casey back onto the bed.
When the man turned back around to face Richard, his eyes were bloodshot. Richard could tell he was hurt. He approached Richard slowly. Richard was tall, but the man was at least six foot six, and there were rock hard muscles rippling under those clothes. If he tried to land a punch on him, Richard didn’t think he’d leave any bones unbroken in his hand. But still he clung to the remnants of the broken chair and stood his ground, his body pressed right up against the man.
Richard swung a piece of the chair at him, but the man caught it midair. “She traded a life for you,” the man growled, “but don’t think I wouldn’t kill you.”
Richard yanked the piece of wood out of the man’s grip. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”
The man turned toward Casey. “I have to take her away.”
Richard stomped a kick at the man’s back. He stumbled again and turned around.
“Attack me one more time, and I’ll break every bone in your body.”
“Then come here and do it. I can’t let you take Casey. You have to let the doctors do their work or she’ll die.”
A doctor and two nurses rushed into the room and registered the situation. One of the nurses ran back out to call security. The man looked at Casey again. Richard saw nothing different, but the man seemed to panic. “No, don’t go.” He rushed toward the bed and grabbed Casey’s hand.
When he wasn’t paying attention, the doctor jabbed a needle into his neck. He staggered, the drug seeming to have a significant effect on him. He swayed. Then he turned around, kicked out the window, and jumped out.
The doctor and the nurse hurried toward Casey’s bed. In front of everyone’s astonished eyes, Casey’s body glowed and then disintegrated into thousands of shiny particles which soon vanished into nothing.
Richard leaned against the wall as he observed what happened. The world was a blur, and then it turned into darkness. When his mind was floating, he thought he heard Casey’s voice. There was an insistent echoing sound within a muddle of other noises, but her exquisite voice was the one thing he could never mistake for anything else in this world.
She sang to him. It was the song she had sung in her audition to join the company and take the lead role. There was one thing he had never told her—when he was considering becoming a part of this theatrical company, management had shown him the artists’ portfolios as their asset. He had watched their audition tapes, and as soon as he’d heard her voice, he made the decision to join the company.
He should have told her that before. Now she was gone. And he was sinking into a dark place.