…Gena and Nina dropped on their knees beside the grave to offer a pray to their gods for Fransa.

“Do not waste your time praying for her,” Jason told them. “She does not need your prayers for her departed soul.”

“Why?” Gena demanded in anger and surprise, still on her knees.

“Because she has not yet departed this life,” a quiet voice said from the shadows, and Fransa stepped into the light cast by the torches, still clad in her funeral robes. She had been unable to stay in the house alone. She was still afraid of the obeah, even though she knew he was a prisoner at the warehouse.

Gena screamed and collapsed over the grave. Makau paled and started forward, his hand reaching for his sword. He would send the spirit of the dead back to the grave.

Nina, Uma, Celania, the captain, and the slaves had all frozen like statues.

Jason stepped quickly between Makau and Fransa, staying his hand.

“Do not kill your daughter,” he said.

“She is already dead,” Makau snarled. “She should return to her grave.”

“I am not dead, Father,” Fransa said, holding her arms out to him. “I was rescued by the Warrior of Earth.”