Feeling sad, Warren? The voice in his head was not Kiara’s, however.
He turned around and there she was, Tonya, his wife. Only she was in her ghost-like state. “What are you doing here?”
Kiara touched down next to him. He wasn’t sure if she could see the apparition until he glanced at her. With parted lips, she stared at the specter. He wasn’t sure why, but she grew very pale.
Warren asked, “So you can see her? The ghost-that-isn’t-a ghost?”
“I can, but I’m confused.”
Tonya’s voice hit his mind. So, you finally found a replacement for me. To be honest, I thought you’d go for another blond, like me.
Kiara turned toward him more fully. “Is this your wife?”
“It is.”
“I don’t understand. I thought she was alive.”
“She is. The situation is complicated. What you’re seeing is a result of alter dementia, or so I’ve been told.” He extended his hand toward the apparition. “Tonya, I’d like you to meet Kiara. She runs a wolf refuge here in Savage Territory.”
Tonya moved slowly, a misty apparition in her blue shift with her blond hair floating around her shoulders. She tried to drift behind Kiara, to check her out, but Kiara pivoted with her, staring at his wife.
I’m Kiara. I recognize you from the dreams you’ve been sending me. Though the telepathic communication was directed at Tonya, Warren heard it within his mind as well. You’re the one from my dreams, right?
Now that was a surprise.
Tonya pressed a finger to her cheek and slanted her eyes skyward in an effort to strike a cute pose. Busted.
The truth was, his wife would never have behaved like this. Even as an apparition, her dementia was obvious, at least to him.
But what did either of the women mean. He addressed Kiara. “Are you saying my wife has invaded your dreams?”
“Yes, a recurring dream. A nightmare really. She’s been warning me away from you. She says I will put you in grave danger if I don’t leave Savage.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I.”
~ ~ ~
Kiara didn’t know what to think. Warren was married and his wife, though still alive, was able to appear in ghost-form. She was also the woman from her nightmares.
What solidified within Kiara’s mind was the certainty that forces beyond her understanding were definitely at work pushing her toward Warren. Yet other forces were trying to pull her away.
But what did it all mean? Was she to be warned away by Tonya? Or was it a trick to lure her out of Savage just when she was needed most.
As she stared at the apparition, Kiara knew the woman was a witch and that something wasn’t right with her. She just didn’t know what she was looking at.
Death pressed on Tonya, but hadn’t taken her yet. So, how was it the witch could appear as a ghost and why wasn’t she here in Savage alongside her husband?
Tonya faced Warren once more. He ground jaw and his silver scars jerked over the side of his head. He was not happy. You need to return to your home, Tonya. Please. He spoke firmly and though he was telepathing with Tonya, Kiara could hear their conversation easily.
I don’t want to. I’m bored to tears at the asylum.
She moved past Kiara and threw herself on Warren, which had the effect of thrusting all her misty vapors straight through him.
He grimaced. You know how much I hate that.
Maybe your woman would like it better.