“No one’s,” her daughter answered. Her eyes began to well up with tears. “I’m not in anyone’s dreams. I’m in mine, but there’s something coming. Something bad.” She shuddered, and Michelle held her tight.

“Oh, pumpkin, everyone has bad dreams. They can seem very real. You know the difference between real real and dream real, don’t you?”

“It isn’t like that,” Adesina said as she pulled away from Michelle’s arms and looked up at her. “This was a real place. And there were real monsters.”

The only real monsters since the virus had hit were people using the wild card as a weapon like they had on Adesina. Mark Meadows had been a monster. She was about to tell Adesina this, but three loud knocks on the front door rattled the door.

“What the hell,” Michelle said, getting up from the couch. Instinctively, a bubble formed in her hand. Three more knocks, and Michelle crossed the distance to the door in a flash. Another knock, and she flung the door open.

Standing in the hall was Hoodoo Mama.

“Joey!” Michelle exclaimed, the bubble popping in her hand. Then her eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Joey walked into the apartment, pushing Michelle aside. “Where’s my girl?” she asked. Usually, she’d have some kind of zombie—Joey had taken to calling them toe tags—trailing behind, but today was an exception. Michelle closed the door, then followed her through the dining area into the living room. Adesina smiled a real smile, and Michelle felt a surge of happiness.

“Aunt Joey,” Adesina said, though her voice was weak. “Momma didn’t say you were coming.”

“She didn’t know, niblet,” Joey replied. She gave Michelle a withering glance. “We were talkin’ last night, and she heard you havin’ a bad dream, and she didn’t come back and tell me if you were okay or not.”

“I guess I forgot.” Michelle knew Joey was pissed. She was happy to have Joey here, pissed or not.

Joey gave her an I’m-dismissing-your-lame-ass-excuse gesture, then went and sat next to Adesina. Michelle followed and sat on the other side of her daughter. “You didn’t have to come all this way,” Michelle said. “I know you’re busy taking advantage of the marks. You could have called.”

Joey snorted. “I did call. You never answered. And you always assume the worst, Bubbles. I don’t just fleece the marks. I’ve been takin’ care of other business.”

Michelle knew exactly what other business Joey was talking about. There was a rough justice Joey meted out on people who hurt children in any way. It was swift and brutal, and Michelle found she never could be angry with her for this. Screw a system that protects those kinds of predators, she thought. Michelle tried to work for a larger good, but secretly she was glad Joey did what she did.

“So what’s got you all tied into knots, niblet?” Joey asked. There was concern and softness about the question. Joey was rarely gentle like this. Joey was brutal and angry most of the time.