“And this must be Sunny,” her uncle said.

Sunny stepped forward. “Good evening.”

She was quickly scooped into hugs from them both. “We’ve heard all about you,” Chichi’s auntie said. Sunny glanced at Chichi and she quickly shook her head. She better not have told them, Sunny thought. No one else needed to know of her doubling besides the four of them.

Sasha, Orlu, and Chukwu all received tight hugs, too. “Chukwu,” Chichi’s uncle said, cocking his head. “You are at the University of Port Harcourt?”

“Yes.”

Her aunt took his head in her hands and looked from one side to the other. “You heal up well,” she said, hugging him.

Chukwu frowned at Chichi, who only shrugged. “Thank you, ma,” Chukwu politely said.

“Come in,” she said. “All of you. We’ve been waiting.”

As soon as they stepped in, her uncle put his arm around Sasha’s shoulder and said, “Come, you and I need to talk.” Then they walked into another room.

Sunny was too busy taking in the spectacle that was the inside of their home to ask where Chichi’s uncle and Sasha were going. The house . . . could she call this a house? A greenhouse maybe. It was nice and cool inside, yes, but there were plants . . . all over the place. They hung from the giant chandelier on the ceiling. Vines wrapped themselves around the banister of the stairs. There were potted trees flourishing against the walls.

“Wow,” Chukwu said. “The house looks a lot bigger on the inside.”

“It’s the glass ceiling,” Chichi’s aunt said. They all looked up, and indeed in the large front room, the ceiling was made entirely of glass.

“This is my partner’s home,” Chichi’s auntie said. “I own nothing.”

“She and my uncle, they aren’t married,” Chichi said, moving closer to Sunny, so Chukwu wouldn’t hear. “Remember, we are Nimm, and Nimm women can’t marry.”

“Oh,” Sunny said. “Right.” She’d been wondering this very thing. The house was lovely, but it looked extravagant. Chichi’s mother lived in a hut and was proud of that. Still, even if she didn’t own it, it seemed odd for a Nimm priestess to live so lavishly.

“My uncle built it for her but more for himself,” Chichi said. “Did I tell you he loves flowers?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a place like this,” Chukwu was saying to Chichi’s auntie.

“Well, I’m glad to broaden your mind,” she said. “Come, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping, and then you can eat dinner.”

Sasha, Orlu, and Chukwu were to stay in a large room downstairs where every wall was taken up by a bookshelf. There was a large plush couch that curved into a horseshoe big enough for two of them to sleep on and a cot set up behind the horseshoe couch, which Chukwu quickly claimed.

“Why don’t you boys get settled down?” Chichi’s auntie said. “We’ll be right back.” She took Chichi and Sunny to a smaller bedroom upstairs. “You’re fine sharing a bed, right?”