Darkness at the Edge of Town (Iris Ballard #2)(12)

Not that I said any of that. Instead I stared at her like she’d just blown my mind, all huge eyes and open mouth. “I-I never thought of it like that.”

“And that’s what we do here. Open people’s minds. That’s it. That’s all we’re about,” Megan said. “To help you realize you’re more than what others want or expect you to be. You’re more than what others have done to you.”

“Th-That sounds nice,” I chuckled nervously.

“Someone hurt you, didn’t they, sweetie?” Helen asked.

“It’s that obvious, huh?” I asked in a small voice. Time to weave my pathetic yarn. “I-I-I just…I officially got divorced a few weeks ago. We’d been together since college. I even worked two jobs to help him through business school. I was a good wife. Perfect. I threw amazing parties. Chaired charity committees. Charmed every one of his business associates. But he…left me when he got his mistress pregnant. He…he’d decided years ago there wasn’t room in our lives for children. She just gave birth to his son, and I’m back in my hometown with an empty house and no clue what to do next.” I frowned. “At least I have my settlement money. It should last me a few years.”

I watched their faces as I mentioned money. Helen had no reaction, but Megan’s gray eyes grew slightly in size.



“You poor lamb,” Helen said.

Megan came over with our tea and sat right beside me, so close our knees touched. She even set down her tea and took my hand. I had to fight the urge to yank it away. “I am so sorry that had to be part of your journey. That he inflicted so much negative energy on you that it’s almost all I can sense. Your sadness.”

“You can sense it?”

“Oh, yes. I noticed it the moment you stepped out of your car. Your life force is so…dark. You carry so much melancholy. Regret. Anger. Fear. You think it’s your fault, don’t you? What happened with your husband? But it’s not. He wants you to think that. He was a vampire, sucking the life force from you and transferring his own insecurity, his own self-loathing, onto you. Into you. But just as I feel the damage, the burden he forced you to carry, I can also see the bright shining light that is your true self still in there. What happened wasn’t your fault, Carol. You only believe it because you just didn’t know any better.”

“I didn’t?”

“None of us do,” Megan said. “Most of us don’t want to. It’s just easier to go along with what others want us to be. But that’s not who you want to be anymore. That’s why you stopped here today. Your energy, your true bright light, recognized the same in this place. This temple is a place of healing. This house rests on a powerful energy center. You believe in energy, don’t you?”

“Of course. I took physics in high school.”

“We’re all made of energy. Us, the earth, the universe—we’re all made of the same energy. And some places, like some people, have more than others. This house rests on one such place. I guarantee when you leave here, you’ll feel better than you have in ages,” Megan said.



“I-I hope so,” I said, pretending to sip my tea. After that guarantee, I wasn’t sure she hadn’t put something in my drink to make me feel better that had nothing to do with energy.

“You will. Because the only constant about energy is it changes. It just depends on how you want it to manifest. You can change it, Carol. You can find happiness.”

“How?” I asked.

“You took the first step today, sweetie,” Helen said. “You came here.”

“As Mathias says, ‘The first step on any journey is the hardest and most important,’?” Megan said with pride.

Mathias at least knew to steal from the best. “Mathias? Is he your priest or…”

“No! Universe no! None of us here subscribe to religion. Religion was created to keep us little people down, just as the new religion of popular culture does now. It brainwashes us into becoming unquestioning sheep who spend our dwindling money on what they want us to,” Megan explained.

I knew there was truth to the rhetoric and even agreed with her, but we’d gotten off topic. “And this Mathias taught you that?” I asked, fake-sipping my tea.

“He did. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of his wisdom,” Helen chimed in.

“And not just his wisdom,” Megan said. “Everyone here has something to teach. Something to contribute.” She touched my hand again. “Even you. Especially you, Carol. I can tell. You should come to the gathering tonight. Just great people and great conversations around the fire pit in the backyard. You’ll enjoy yourself. I’ll make sure of it.”



I didn’t doubt she would. “I-I think I’d like that. What time?”

“Nine-ish,” Helen said.

Megan squeezed my hand and smiled like a little girl presented with a pony. “You’re really gonna come? You promise?”

“I-I promise.”

“Don’t let me down, okay?” Megan said as if the thought caused her pain. She was good. The thought of disappointing anyone would kill a person like “Carol.” I wondered if Megan was just naturally manipulative or if she’d been coached. Probably both.