LITMIR.BIZ

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she whispered even as she felt the air clog in her throat.

      The woman smiled broadly and widened her arms even more. “Well, hell. Come give your big sister Echo a hug!”

      Chapter 5

      The woman stopped a few feet short of Lilith. Her arms dropped to her sides. “Oh, that’s right. No hugging, is there? Oh well, we’ll just air kiss and call it a reunion.”

      The words made sense, but Lilith couldn’t decipher her tone. Nor did she understand the woman’s attitude. They were two women who were linked by a biological bond. They were relatives coming together for the first time. Yet Lilith could find no sign of the significance of this moment in the woman’s voice. She seemed cavalier about their meeting. Not relieved. Not happy. Not afraid.

      Nothing.

      “You found me,” Lilith realized. “How?”

      “Mummy’s little gift to me,” Echo told her. “I have to assume you got one, too. A special gift, that is?”

      “I…” Lilith’s throat locked up. “I do not think we should talk about this in front of others.”

      “Oooooh. A cautious little thing, aren’t you? That’s good. That means you’re smarter than I was probably going to give you credit for being.”

      Sister Peter stepped up to stand beside Lilith. She was touched by the sign of support from the sister, but still Lilith would rather Sister Peter not say anything. “Lilith, what is this woman saying? Is she your sister?”

      “The name is Echo.” Echo stretched out her hand to the nun but quickly pulled it back. “Oh, sorry. I keep doing that. This is a leper colony, right? Maybe I would do better not touching anything while I’m here. So, a nun? Wicked. Are you my sister’s friend?”

      “I am,” Sister Peter said.

      “Then you must know about her loss. Our mother—a mother we didn’t even know we had—is gone. Killed. I’ve come to grieve with the only family I have left. I’m sure you can appreciate that.”

      “Killed?” Lilith repeated, focusing on only that. Killed was very different from dead.

      “Yes,” Echo relayed. “It was awful. When I heard I was angry. So hurt. But it’s true. I had my people verify the information. Mummy was murdered by a woman named Allison Gracelyn. You don’t know her, but our two families have been at odds for years. Where Mummy succeeded in making something important of herself, Allison’s mother failed. Allison never got over that. She wanted revenge. More than that, she wanted to steal our mother’s empire. Something you must understand by now is quite…extensive.”

      Lilith said nothing, but she felt Echo’s eyes boring into her, studying her as if to learn something that Lilith didn’t want to reveal. She tried to focus on the story that Echo was telling her, but all she could think was…danger.

      “Or do you?” Echo wondered aloud. “In this backwater village maybe you don’t even know what…” She stopped herself and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m here. You and I are connected. Isn’t that amazing?”

      It should have been, but amazement was the last thing Lilith felt.

      “We must do something to celebrate,” Echo continued. “A feast and some wine. We can sit and talk. I want to know you, sister. Intimately. Just like I’m sure you want to know everything there is to know about me.”

      “Lilith, I must go and see to my duties,” Sister Peter interrupted. “You’re welcome to use the meeting hall to talk and get…acquainted. Also, I’m sure the monks would welcome your guests.”

      “Absolutely.” Sister Joseph beamed. “Please make yourself welcome. Any friend of Lilith’s is naturally welcome here. We’ll leave you to catch up. I am sorry for your loss. Both of you. Sometimes even those people who don’t play a large role in our life can still make a horrible dent when they leave it. God bless you both.”

      Echo clutched a hand to her heart. “God bless you, too, Sister. Thank you for those kind and meaningful words.”

      Lilith watched Echo watch the nun walk away. She watched her make a gesture behind her back and thought again that every word she said would have to be scrutinized for truth.

      “Nuns, huh?” Echo asked. “This place is crawling with them. Does that mean you’re one, too? Makes sense, I suppose, since you can’t ever let anyone touch you.”

      “No. I’m not a nun,” Lilith said carefully. Instinctively she knew that information was power to her sister and the less said the less power she might have.

      “We could leave here,” Echo offered Lilith. “I could snatch you up in my helicopter. We could find the closest piece of civilization and hope they have decent curry. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

      Lilith shook her head. She wasn’t going anywhere with this woman if she could help it. “I prefer not to leave the village. The meeting area is this way. There we can sit and talk. We have food, but no wine.”

      “Oh, well. Boys.”

      Lilith started walking in the direction of the lodge that was referred to as the meeting hall. It was where the sisters took their meals together. Prayed together. Where the elders in the village met to discuss issues. It was a simple single-room structure, but it would serve their needs. Glancing back over her shoulder, she could see Echo’s men following close behind, their faces strangely neutral as they passed many inhabitants who were covered to hide their faces or missing limbs.

      She’d labeled them as men of violence and instantly the label made her think of Tarak. But these men seemed different to her. Colder. Tarak’s face had never been so neutral. Certainly not when he was in the grip of the fever. And definitely not when he was looking at her.

      They reached the wood structure and Lilith led them inside. Sunab, daughter of one of the village elders, offered to feed the guests so that Lilith could visit with the newcomers. Lilith accepted the offer and together they sat at a long table. Echo on one side, Lilith on the other. Her men sat at the opposite end apart from the two women. None of them spoke.

      “So,” Echo began. “What shall we dish about?”

      “I am sorry…dish? I speak English. Sister Peter has taught me some idioms, but I am not familiar…”

      “Dish. Chat. Talk. Converse. I think we should start with Mummy’s gift. You got one, too. You don’t seem all that surprised by my being here, which means you must have accessed it somehow. Where is it?”

      Lilith smiled graciously at Sunab as the girl poured her a cup of water. She reached for it and took a few sips, watching Echo scrunch up her nose at the fruit and flat bread being offered.

      “There is another one like us,” Lilith said, avoiding the question. “Are you aware of that? Do you know her?”

      Echo focused her gaze back on Lilith. “Of course I know we had another sister. She was murdered. Sad that we didn’t get to know her. But she was also killed by that woman I mentioned. Not her directly. One of her minions. Still, Gracelyn was behind it.”

      “You make this woman sound dangerous.”

      Echo chuckled. “Allison Gracelyn is a very powerful, very bad woman. Her mother founded an academy where Allison now sits on the board. A school for girls. She trains them in her image. These pupils destroyed our mother, acting on Gracelyn’s orders. Then they went after our sister. Dangerous? Yes, I would say she’s dangerous. But that doesn’t mean I’m afraid of her.”

      “Of course not,” Lilith said. “Our sister. Who was she?”

      “Her name was Kwan-Sook. She was special like us. A real giant of a woman, if you know what I mean. But deformed. As an invalid she was easy for Gracelyn’s girls to eliminate.”

      Killed,

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