Hours passed in a haze. Day was giving way to night once more. Remi lay on her side, naked and curled into a shivering ball. Numbly, she watched as a dust bunny drifted along a baseboard in the chilled breeze a broken window allowed to enter.

Although Remi's cheek pressed painfully into a piece of debris, she couldn't bring herself to care. There were so many cuts and bruises on her body that one more source of discomfort became nothing but an annoyance. It wasn't the loa's cruelty or even the cold that had Remi clinging to her current, insensible state. It was the sexual gratification Kalfu had given her.

Wincing, Remi pushed the thought from her mind. That way led to awareness, and she wanted to drift in this shock-induced amnesia a while longer. She wanted never to recall what Kalfu had done to her, made her do to him.

Again, Remi's mind shied away from the subject. Instead, she tried to focus her attention on which way the dust bunny would turn next. The setting rays of the sun illuminated it, but soon it would disappear from her sight. She wished she could vanish with it; then, all would be well. She wouldn't have to face Gideon after what she'd done.

No, a voice in Remi's head warned. She wouldn't allow her thoughts to turn toward remembrance of her time with Kalfu. Instead, she steered them toward her witcher.

A small smile formed in Remi's soul at the name. Gideon had hated all the others Breqlynn came up with, and rightly so. They'd been terrible.

Their mate bond told Remi that Gideon was worried. He'd felt what she did when Kalfu hadn't been touching her. It became the evil loa's favorite game, bringing her back to cognizance at the most inopportune times.

A tear leaked out of the corner of Remi's eye. It slid across the bridge of her nose before slipping off her cheek to land in the filth covering the floor. Memories of Kalfu bringing her to the edge of orgasm, then removing his touch as she came filled her with shame.

Stomach turning, a hard shudder racked Remi's body. It wasn't caused solely by the cold. The acid in her belly churned as she thought of the pleasure the evil being had given her. He'd told her he wouldn't spill his seed inside her. Kalfu said he was saving it for Ayida-Weddo alone. But he'd done just about everything else short of that and had her reciprocate.

Gideon likely felt Remi's climaxes through the bond. Another tear fell into the dust and debris. Kalfu had meant to torture them both, and he'd succeeded.

A bright, white lit the corner of Remi's blurred vision. Then, a beautiful voice filled her ears. "Oh, my poor child."

Shifting her tear-drenched eyes from the dust bunny, Remi blinked. Before her stood Ayida-Weddo. The loa's beauty and warmth washed over her miserable form on the filthy floor.

"He should hate me," Remi babbled. "But I don't feel that through the bond. Surely he knows what I did."

Crouching before her, Ayida-Weddo wiped another tear from Remi's cheek. Even though she knew the other woman wasn't real, was just a vision, she swore she felt the warmth of the loa's touch. It spread from her cheek and throughout her entire being. Perhaps hypothermia was setting in, Remi thought. Then, she hoped it was true. If she died, she wouldn't have to face Gideon.

"Nonsense," Ayida-Weddo huffed, having heard the thought. "That man loves you and knows Kalfu bears all the blame."

With those words, Remi finally broke. Choking sobs rushed forth, making her body jerk against the splintered, discarded litter on the floor. She felt much like that debris. Broken. Disgusting. Dirty.

Strong, comforting arms came around Remi then. She was lifted from the detritus and cradled against Ayida-Weddo's bosom. "That's it, child. Let your tears cleanse you."

As if the loa's words held the power of absolution, after a while, Remi found she was able to forgive herself. "I am so sorry for the trouble claiming you as my earthly daughter has caused," Ayida-Weddo murmured.

The wracking sobs stilled. Sniffling, Remi wiped at her eyes with the back of her hands. Ayida-Weddo moved back, and chin tucked, looked at her. Then, she stroked Remi's wet cheeks with her thumbs. "Kalfu will be punished once he's back in Ifè," the loa promised.

Sniffing, Remi told Ayida-Weddo, "Kalfu wants to trap you here on earth. In my body," she added.

A flurry of foreign, unknown words exploded from Ayida-Weddo. It didn't take a genius to know that whatever she said was a curse. Then, in English, Remi's loa mother continued. "I should have guessed this was that vile man's end game."

"You probably shouldn't be here," Remi murmured. Although she didn't want to be alone, she didn't want to make it easy for her tormentor to achieve all he wished. "Kalfu left with one of the shifters," she explained further. "He could return at any minute."

The one named Whit had come to collect Kalfu during one of their "worshipping sessions." There was an evil glint in his eye as he looked at Remi's nude form. The shifter knew that she'd cheated on Gideon. He didn't care that it hadn't been consensual. The only thing that mattered to him was that his enemy likely knew of his mate's infidelity and was being tormented with the knowledge.

Ayida-Weddo tsked. "You're probably right. I shouldn't be so near you." The loa shook her dark head. "But I can't leave you unprotected."

Bending forward, Ayida-Weddo pressed her lips between Remi's brows. A strange, almost trickling tickle filled her as the loa blew a breath across her forehead. In its wake, she received strength. Its power made her feel invincible.

"I've lent you some of my magic," Ayida-Weddo explained. "Be sure you use it wisely."

"I will," Remi promised.

"Good. Now, get dressed before you really do freeze to death," the beautiful loa ordered kindly.

"I will," Remi repeated. She felt as if she could go on, face Kalfu. And, more importantly, Gideon.

With another motherly kiss to the forehead, Ayida-Weddo left. Then, Remi was back in the freezing room. She still lay, wound into a ball, on the filthy floor. A shiver wracked her corporeal form. She was chilled to the bone.

Uncurling herself, Remi straightened. As she reached for her discarded pants, an intense sting on her outer, right butt cheek made her pause. Thinking the cause to be a handful of slivers that'd lodged themselves there, she twisted toward the faint light of the full moon.

Instead of splinters, Remi found a tattoo. It was an ouroboros, a snake biting its own tail. Within the circle it made was the black face of a wolf. Then, perhaps due to a trick of the weak moonlight, the creature within that looked like Gideon's beast winked at her.

"Remi!" Gideon called, distracting her from the new tat.

Twisting her torso about, Remi found her witcher standing in the archway off the hall. He seemed faint, like a ghost come to visit. "Gideon?" she asked, not believing her eyes.

Gideon's light blue eyes scanned the room. "Where are you?" he asked.