CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Grabby hands that hurt and bruise
Red vision and burning flesh
Fists unyielding to yielding skin
Eyes swollen, sharp coppery bite on my tongue
Violation needy and persistent
My soul is dark, never the same
The sun will always be black
—Black; Kyia Kossi
R
hiannon stayed at Kyia’s side over the long weeks that her cousin recuperated from her physical injuries. Laura and her assistant Janice worked tirelessly to mend Kyia’s broken, bruised and burned skin. Her rooms constantly held the smell of the stinky salve the First Surgeon used on Kyia’s damaged skin. Thankfully none of her bones were broken, though everyone knew it was her emotional scars that would take the longest to heal, if ever. Rhiannon’s necklace could do nothing to heal that kind of wound.
As the sp
