out shakily. “She told me she’d been following the man that kidnapped you. Notified me where he’d taken you and told me to hurry. That’s it. Then she hung up. Which must have been not long before she entered the building on her own mission to save you.”
“My Tabby would never allow anyone to harm her sisters. She was more protective than Blessing and Sonia put together.” Mama Kerri sniffed and wiped at her nose with an old-fashioned handkerchief. “She always said if she didn’t have us, she’d have nothing. Which is why she would go to the ends of the earth to protect us.”
“And she did,” I whispered. “She gave her life for ours.”
Addy grabbed my hand and I held it so tight I could feel her heartbeat against my palm.
“My girl had a lot of demons but the one thing that gave her pride was us. We were the only good she could see in the world. It had been that way since she arrived here at thirteen years old. I can easily see why she’d make such a sacrifice. Her love was bigger than any drug that riddled her brain and body. And in the end, she did exactly what she set out to do. She gave it all up for the family she loved. As twisted and gut-wrenching as losing Tabby is for each and every one of us, her death was very noble. I’m going to choose to see my baby as a hero and I would encourage each one of you to do so.” Mama Kerri’s words were filled with compassion and sorrow, but she meant every word.
She firmed her spine and sat up in her chair. “You lost a sister today and I lost a daughter. That is going to take us a long time to accept. But let us feel comforted in the fact that she died doing what she loved. Protecting her family.” Her blue green eyes came to me, then Addison. “It would have been the same if it had been Blessing and Liliana or Sonia, Genesis or Charlie. I do not want the two of you taking this on as though it were your fault. It is the fault of a very sick man. Now, we have to set about healing. That alone will be hard enough without you two attempting to accept blame. You hear me?”
I licked my lips and nodded. “Yeah, Mama. I hear you.”
“Yes, Mama,” Addison reiterated.
“Okay, I’m going to go check on my grandbaby outside with Aunt Delores in the garden. You all have your beds here; I expect each of you to be in them tonight.” Her gaze scanned every woman and waited until they nodded or gave their own murmured, “Yes, Mama.”
“Now, I love all my girls with my whole heart. I loved Tabby, and together, we’ll find a way through this pain. Part of that will be putting my girl to rest.”
“I’ll help you with all the details, Mama Kerri,” Genesis offered.
Mama nodded. “We’ll set about looking at her place next weekend. We need this week to heal. I expect all of you to lay your heads down on a pillow in this house until I’m confident everyone is emotionally and physically okay. And that includes me. Okay, my chicklets?”
Again, each of us either nodded numbly or said okay.
“Jonah, I suspect you will be staying here with Simone?” Mama Kerri asked.
He perked up by my side. “I didn’t want to beg, but I would have.”
She smiled sweetly and that small smile was all it took for the emptiness inside me to start to fill up again with love. I didn’t have Tabby and would grieve her the rest of my life. But I did have Mama Kerri, Sonia, Blessing, Addison, Liliana, Charlie, and the man I loved holding me up.
We all had a long road to go, but together I knew we could make it through anything.
Even the loss of a sister.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
I jolted awake, my entire body so hot, sweat misted around the edges of my hairline and down my spine.
I was back there. In that basement. Addison tied up, blood pouring down her arms and dripping against the cold concrete floor. Her lifeless eyes open staring unseeing at the ceiling as her life source continued to drip out of her.
Tabby lay dead at her feet.
But that wasn’t how it happened.
Addy was alive.
I blinked against the darkness of the room while the familiar breath against the back of my hair