Page 58 of Dragon 7

"Twenty minutes." He leaned his head to the side. "How do you feel?"

I assessed my body. I was breathing. My skin was warm. The deep grinding pain that had hollowed me out in the forest was gone. My thighs ached, but it was a faraway ache, dull and slow, like the memory of a bruise more than the bruise itself.

Did the ritual work? Was the. . .sacrifice. . .enough?

I pulled my hand out from under the blanket and tried to touch my throat. Instead, my fingers brushed the front of my robe and stopped on Reo’s soul pin.

And somehow. . .I mentally left the room and went somewhere else.

In my head, a large bedroom appeared.

The bedside lamp was the only light.

Reo sat on the edge of his bed in a dark blue robe, whispering a prayer as he held the soul pin between his thumb and finger.

Once done, Reo lifted the pin to his mouth and pressed his lips to it. His eyes closed. His jaw tightened. He held it there a beat longer than I expected.

“I love you, Mom.” Then he set the pin on the nightstand, turned out the light, and lay down in the dark.

I came back to my body and gasped.

The cot beneath me. The lantern. The wood ceiling. Yoichi's face suddenly closer than it had been. "Tora? You looked like you. . .were about to pass out again."

I yanked my hand off the pin like the metal had burned me.

"Tora.” Yoichi leaned back. “What about him?"

“Reo. . .I saw him praying to his pin.”

“You were touching it.”

“I was. . .”

“I imagine he did pray to that pin when he had it.”

“Yeah. . .” I panted. “But. . .it just felt so real. Oddly real.”

"Like you were there?”

“Yes. . .”

“Interesting.”

“Why did I see that? What was that?”

Yoichi turned his head and spoke to someone behind him. "Get the doctor."

A man in scrubs straightened up from a cot down the row and walked over.

In the background, Deja kept on going. “Any other questions?”

"I want a nice man like in the romances I watch," a thin woman spoke in front of Deja. She had this dreamy expression on her face. "I want someone who gives me flowers and does nice things. I have a crush. His name is Izumi, but he is not like this."

"Master your femininity and this Izumi will give you everything," Deja bobbed her head. "See. A man will spend money on you, even if he barely knows you. And he will do that for you, if you make him feel a certain kind of way. This is beyond looking good and smelling nice. That's basic shit. I'm talking about being soft, playful, and hard to fully access. This creates obsession. Also. . .make him feel needed but not controlled. And the most important thing. . .know your value and don't over give."

Jesus, Deja. You need to write a book.

I made a note to tell her that.