Limping slightly, I headed back out to the living room and handed the package to Devon. “She has to get that, man. If you lose that, you should go missin’, too. Because if I don’t find you and kill you, I’ll send her after your ass.”

His eyes dropped to my left hand, to the tan line showing the world what I was missing. “I promise.”

“Thanks.”

My yoga instructor, Wendy, was cool. I guessed she was in her forties. She was professional, reminding me of Kenna but in a completely platonic way, which was weird because there was nothing platonic about how I felt about Kenna.

Wendy was some sort of meditation guru. After the first few sessions, she’d found what triggered me into a deep state of whatever the fuck it was, and by the end of that first week, I had been able to do it on my own.

That was when I’d heard my Baby Girl.

“Hey, babe.”

My eyes had shot open, and my head had rushed straight into normal mode. I’d fuckin’ heard her voice as though she were right there next to me, talking in my ear. I’d been so fuckin’ stoked that I couldn’t get back onto that brain wave for another two whole days.

About fifteen minutes after Devon had left, Wendy showed up with Connor, and we got into the afternoon session. Even with my gimp leg, I was getting stronger, building up my muscles again. My energy was high, but now, I felt something more than that. I could control it rather than let it rage through me, like ration it out or something. I wondered what it would be like to get up on stage again.

I bet it would be fuckin’ awesome.

For ninety minutes, we went through the motions and then sat for the meditation. The music in my head was sweet, like flutes and acoustics—my trigger music—and I sank into a place that was warm, safe, and dark.

“I miss you, babe.”

“Hey, Baby Girl. I fuckin’ miss you, too.”

“Not too much longer now. We’re nearly halfway there.”

“I know. It’s fuckin’ crazy.”

“It feels…unreal.”

“It doesn’t feel right though, Kenna Baby. As good as this might be for us at the moment, it’s unnatural. I feel like I’m missin’ my right hand or somethin’.”

Being in this place, time didn’t really factor in. When I opened my eyes, Wendy was gone, and Connor was sitting next to me. When I looked over at him, something shifted in him.

He opened his eyes and looked at me. “That was a good one,” he said.

“Yeah, it was.”

“Your energy is really positive.”

“And yours stinks of dirty hippie. How long was that?”

He glanced out the door to the patio. “It’s almost sunset already. About an hour, I guess.”

I was dying to ask him if he went into a similar place when he meditated, if he talked to anyone in there, too. Then, I wondered who would be his inner voice, and I had a feeling I knew. Since I didn’t want to tell him I heard Kenna in my head, I kept my damn mouth shut.

Kenna

Inverness Airport wasn’t too busy. Alys and I took Gramps’s car to pick up Lili. I’d practiced on the country roads before venturing out into the more populated areas, but it was still weird to drive here.

Lili had called from Heathrow to let us know she’d arrived in one piece. “I have a surprise for you!”

“Sweet! What is it?” I’d asked.

“You’ll just have to wait and see!”

Parking the car, Alys and I headed into the baggage claim area and waited for our Pygmy to join us. We had a road trip planned, driving from Inverness to London and checking out everything in between. There were a few venues in London we wanted to see along with a tattoo convention.

Darren Wright would be at the convention. When I’d discovered this from a bit of social media, I’d called Sheri, who’d called Darren, who’d called me and offered to tattoo me. While on the phone, I’d told him what I wanted, and he’d thought it’d be a great piece for a convention. Since it would take some time, I would be the only one he’d have to worry about that day.

“Oh! I think I see her!” said Alys, craning her neck. “And…is that…”

Devon?

“I wonder what he’s doing here,” I mused, feeling my heart jump and race.

Devon had made his temporary home with the guys. He was supposed to be with Phil, making music, being supportive.

What is he doing here?

Alys and I waited as the two of them stood next to the baggage carousel, waiting for their luggage. Lili reached for her gigantic suitcase, but Devon beat her to it, lifting it for her. She smiled brightly at him, said something, and then headed over to us, pulling the suitcase along behind her. Squealing with excitement, she ran up and launched herself at us, and the three of us tightly hugged each other. Our trifecta had gone neglected for far too long.

“I’ve missed you guys so much!” Lili wailed.

“We missed you, too!” Alys laughed.

Devon walked up to us, a tired smile on his scruffy face. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I replied. “What…”

He slightly shook his head, still smiling. “Phil’s doing great. Really, really great, Kenna.”

My chest released some tension from around my heart. “Great.”

Tipping his head to the right, he asked, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Out of earshot from Alys and Lili, Devon dug out a black satin pouch from his jeans pocket. “Phil needed me to give this to you. Before you open it, I want you to not freak out because it’s not what it looks like.”

“What does it look like?”

Placing the pouch in my hand, I felt the crinkled rigidity of folded paper and something heavy. Before I started bawling my eyes out because I knew what that weight was, I dumped the contents into my hand.

The DiAblo.

“Oh…” I breathed softly.

“After he gave it to me, I admit…I had to look at it. I was dying to try it on, too, but I didn’t. If I had, I think Phil’s Spidey Sense would’ve kicked in, and he’d leave me looking like Jones. It’s quite beautiful.”

I could only nod. I didn’t trust myself to speak.

“It’s important that you read that,” he told me.

“Okay,” I whispered.

“I read it, too.”

My eyes snapped to his, fury flashing at him. “Why would you do that?”

Devon grinned. “Because I’m a nosy motherfucker, and if he was leaving you, I planned on staking my claim.”

“Pfft!” I snorted.

“Kenna, everything he’s doing right now is for you. No matter what he tries to tell himself, no matter what he’s trying to tell everyone else, he’s doing all of this with you in his head. I don’t want to say that he’s trying to be you, but he’s trying to live up to your level of understanding.”

“Wow. That’s the greatest compliment anyone could ever receive.”

“No shit. So, don’t freak out because he’s giving this to you. He wants it back. He’s planning on getting it back by earning it.”

My heart…he swelled with an emotion so intense, so all-consuming, that the tears I’d fought to hold back spilled over, and the dam simply broke. Devon pulled me into his arms and let his strength hold me up as I blubbered all over his shoulder.

When I calmed, he pushed me back, so he could look down into my eyes. “Bougainvillea is going to reopen when Phil’s finished with this. We’re going to put on a show in honor of X and make an announcement about NOLA’s Own. Sheri’s been working nonstop on getting everything ready. It’s scheduled for the day you come back.”

I nodded.

Gently, Devon kissed my brow above my Third Eye. “Maybe I’ll catch up with you ladies on my way back. Lili said you’re going to London?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll call you then. My next flight leaves in about an hour, so I have to get going.”