Curse of Ashes by Amy Sevan

Author:Amy Sevan [Sevan, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-64197-119-5
Publisher: NYLA

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Free had a boatload of frozen homemade lasagna he’d been saving up for an easy dinner. It was their good fortune. Syd had no idea what he did to make the pasta dish so deliciously yummy, but there was no denying it was just that.

Katie sat between Syd and Dutch at the formal dining table. Jack was at the head of the table and Valentina and Free sat across from them. Conversation was in short supply, but it was mainly because everyone was either shoveling food into their mouths or pouring a glass of red wine, except Jack who stuck to iced tea.

Gerry did her best to encourage conversation. The weather. The city. The usual. Gerry chattered on, and Syd caught her eye. It would be a mistake to assume she was an older lady completely clueless about the tension that weighed down the air in the room. No. Gerry knew exactly what was up. Well, not exactly what was up.

She’d been punting out conversation starters like a star kicker.

Everyone had been dropping the ball.

“So, Katie, what brings you to Detroit, or do you live here?” Gerry asked brightly, taking a sip of wine.

Katie, who had been picking at her lasagna, looked up. “I—” she blinked and looked down at her food. “I came here for vet school, and to Detroit for a…a research project.” Her eyes welled with tears.

A look of alarm passed over Gerry’s features, but it was quickly replaced with levity. “Oh! Minnie, you shouldn’t beg from guests.”

Minnie had detected her bestie’s distraught vibe and responded by poking her head up and licking Katie’s hand.

“It’s okay.” Katie continued to stroke Minnie, and her tears evaporated. “She’s my dog.”

Gerry glanced around, now truly confused.

Syd shrugged and mouthed ‘later.’

Gerry took another, more generous, sip of her wine.

Valentina blotted her lips with a napkin. “Gerry, why don’t you tell the group about the buildings we toured today?”

“Oh, yes! Wonderful idea.” Gerry went into detail about the various sites, one in particular that she had high hopes of negotiating a good deal for the foundation.

Dinner finished up without further incident, though Syd wasn’t happy to see that most of the glorious lasagna remained untouched on Katie’s plate. She was too skinny to begin with.

As Dutch and Jack cleaned up in the kitchen with Gerry’s supervision, Syd escorted Katie into her father’s study and closed the door. It went without saying Minnie trailed along. Katie settled on the chaise and Syd settled herself in the straight back chair across.

“Katie, you should stay here.” She clasped her hands on her knees.

Katie said nothing, just pet Minnie.

“Katie, please—”

Katie stopped petting Minnie and looked up. The look on her face wasn’t scared anymore. Wasn’t vulnerable or soft. Her face had turned to stone, rock solid anger.

“What happened to me?” Her shoulders hunched. She looked small sitting on the chaise.

Syd looked away this time and found herself staring at the dog.

“Do you remember Dr. Blair Byrne? Does that name—?”

Pressing herself back into the chaise, Katie hissed.

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