Chapter 24

The desert winds were howling. I watched them gracefully carry sand from one place to another under the luminous glow of a striking full moon. It wasn’t the only thing that had my attention. My eyes were oscillating between the golden sandy lands and Madame Long’s hut.

Elaine and I were to stay at her friend’s hut while Madame Long was crashing with someone else. As I couldn’t catch a mere second’s worth of shut-eye, I had just exited the hut to arrange my thoughts and make sense of the day’s events.

Madame Long’s words about Desmond being protective of me were stuck in my head like a song. He cared for me regardless of my awful behavior. By now, he had saved me multiple times. Protecting me from Madame Long wasn’t even part of our contract. Why was Desmond going out of his way to take care of me?

There was something more meaningful than just a contract between us. Unrecognizable and unnamed feelings were playing a game with our minds and hearts.

An apology was in order before we could