Chapter 14
For the next ten minutes—although it might have been more, I couldn’t be certain—my head swirled in a sea of mystification. I somehow managed to maintain my composure; I didn’t leap up and crash through the locked door, escaping this craziness, even though I’d occasionally flirted with the idea.
Still, after formally introducing myself, I remained fairly silent, unable to tear my gaze off the woman. She fluttered around the shop like a jubilant butterfly on steroids, gathering objects and bringing them to the table, and all the while rambling on about birthmarks and spirits and places called Bhuvaloka and Paataal. Not countries, as I’d originally thought, or cities in some far-off land, but locations in the universe. “Nether regions and Hell itself,” she’d explained.
I’ll adm
