Mea Culpa by Rayvn Salvador

Author:Rayvn Salvador [Salvador, Rayvn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781648181429
Publisher: Lady Boss Press, Inc.

~Kholt~

* * *

When we got to Holy Cross, I suddenly felt a deep sense of sadness settling over me. Once I dropped Lark back at her car, the night would be over. And I didn’t want it to be over. I wanted to spend more time with her. I felt like nearly two decades had been stolen from me—from us. And for what? Power? Delusions of grandeur?

Lark had been absolutely right in saying that those in a cult didn’t realize it. I would have never, ever called the family that. Even when Turner had said it the other day in response to what Lark had told the team, I’d defended Balance of Light. Now, knowing the horrible truth of what they’d done to her, knowing there was more horror that I still didn’t know, I’d started looking at my life differently and through a different lens.

I’d never felt comfortable with a lot of the things Father Lionel and, by extension, Mother Superior—Dawn—and the lieutenants enforced. It’d just never sat right with me. But I’d always chalked it up to me being young and sequestered for most of my life. I’d figured that I hadn’t had a chance to experience the big world and, therefore, was simply too curious and perhaps naïve for my own good. Now? Now I knew that I was naïve, though in a vastly different way, and those trepidations were valid. My instincts were right, and the things that Father Lionel did in the name of faith and to uphold our so-called religious beliefs were the real evil there.

Lark seemed comfortable with me, but I’d still be leery if I were in her shoes. I’d still second-guess everything I did, wondering if I would run back to the people who’d almost killed her. Who had tried to take something so integral to who she was that I wasn’t sure she would have survived the separation. I would still be angry, and that anger would extend to anyone even remotely connected to those who’d made my life a living hell.

I wondered if we could get past that.

I looked over at her and saw her gazing out the window, seemingly deep in thought. She hadn’t let go of my hand, and I took that as a good sign. I caressed my thumb over hers again and saw her lips lift in a small, soft smile. Still, she didn’t look my way.

I returned my attention to the road and headed to the steamboat houses.

“Are you going to be okay driving home?” I asked.

“I’ll be fine,” she said and looked at me. “The alcohol is pretty much out of my system, I think. You?”

“I’m good. Beer doesn’t last all that long in me. That’s actually why I went with the Abita tonight and not something else. I wanted to make sure that I got you back safely.”

She glanced at the clock on the dash. “It’s not that late. Would you like to follow me to my place for a nightcap? I think I have all the fixings for café brulot diabolique.

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