“I’ll buy the drinks, too.”
“See, we’re already compromising.” I sent him a blinding smile. “This is good.”
“This is ... something. We’re a work in progress.”
This time the smile Jack mustered was small but heartfelt. “We’ll get through this.”
I had faith he was right.
THE RESTAURANT I’D PICKED WAS quiet and romantic. By the end of the meal we were both feeling better. I did my best to explain why I needed to see Madame Brenna — without mentioning the magic, of course — and he listened without judgment. When I finished, I could tell he was still confused as to my motivations, but he was over being angry.
He held my hand as we crossed the street, our earlier strife seemingly forgotten. I knew it wasn’t completely behind us — it couldn’t be until I told him the truth and we muddled through that mess — but things were better. We understood one another on a different level. It was something of a relief.
We slowed our pace when his phone rang. He sent me an apologetic smile and released my hand before he started digging in his pocket. I took a moment to survey our surroundings. We were on a side street, and we were mostly alone. In a city the size of New Orleans that was rare ... and it immediately made me leery.
“Maybe we should head that way,” I suggested, pointing toward Bourbon Street. I could hear it several blocks over but I couldn’t yet see the bustling traffic.
“Just a second,” Jack admonished as he pressed his phone to his ear. “Hey, Leon. That was fast. Did you track down the woman I asked about?”
I kept one ear on the conversation and studied the alley to our left. It was dark and grimy. The ambient noise that accompanies any city had disappeared, replaced by an eerie quiet. I didn’t like it and sensed trouble.
“Uh-huh.” Jack obviously wasn’t paying attention to our surroundings because he was too busy listening to Leon. He turned his back to me and stared across the road, leaving me to watch the alley.
It was warm and muggy and the occasional bolt of heat lightning split the sky. It happened every night, although sometimes the heat lightning turned to regular lightning. The downpours that followed took the edge off the heat, so they were almost welcome. I had no doubt a storm was brewing tonight.
I wished for the heat lightning because the oppressive atmosphere hanging over the French Quarter was starting to get to me. In my mind’s eye, I saw zombies shuffling along the alley as they tried to make their way to us. There was no reason for me to believe that was a possibility ... and yet something inside told me that we were dealing with just that scenario.
“Well, that can’t be a coincidence,” Jack said. I couldn’t hear Leon’s side of the conversation, but I knew Jack would tell me once he ended the call. I wasn’t worried about whatever information Leon provided. I was worried about the alley.
“We need to move, Jack,” I said after a beat. “We can’t stay here.” I felt that deep inside. Something very bad was about to happen.
The sky flashed again, lightning illuminating the area. Movement caused me to stare down the alley, to where at least thirty bodies headed in our direction.
“Oh, my ... !” My mouth dropped open and I gave Jack another shove, this one more vicious.
“What is your deal?” Jack asked, annoyed. “Give me a second. Leon got some very good information. We owe him.”
“Leon is a prince among men,” I shot back, shoving Jack as hard as possible. I heard growls rolling up the alley and knew we were almost out of time. “We have to run now.”
“What do you mean?”
I gestured toward the alley as the first hand appeared on the brick exterior wall of some business I had zero interest in. The light wasn’t bright, but Jack could still see the problem. Worse, he could hear it. The zombies were growling and gearing up.
“We have to run right now,” I insisted.
Jack gripped my hand and pulled me with him as he started moving across the road. “How is this happening?”
“Madame Brenna,” I replied. “It has to be her. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Come on, Charlie.” Jack increased his pace. “We need to get out of here right now.”
“I believe that’s what I was telling you.”
“So, we’re both right.”
“Fine. I was right first, though.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Twenty-Eight
Jack didn’t move fast enough for my liking. It almost felt as if we were trapped in solidifying amber. The dumbfounded expression on his face as the first zombie spilled through the alley opening was straight out of a bad SyFy movie.
“Move.” I shoved him hard to push him away to the sidewalk across the way.
“Charlie!” He grabbed my wrist before I could move too far and dragged me with him. “What are you doing?”
That was a good question. “We can’t move that way.” I gestured vaguely toward the opposite side of the street. “That leads to Madame Brenna’s voodoo store. That’s where they’re coming from.”
He worked his jaw. Finally, he asked the obvious question. “How do you know that?”
I pointed toward the nearest zombie. He had a symbol on his wrist — either drawn or tattooed — and I recognized it from a book. The thing is, I saw it flash in my head moments before the zombie reached from the alley. The image was clear … and I’d seen it multiple times since arriving, including on a certain coin. “That’s Papa Legba’s symbol,” I explained. “But it’s not a complete design. I think that’s because she doesn’t want him to see what she’s doing.”
Jack was flabbergasted. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s been her the entire time.” I pushed him again. “We have to move.”
“Oh, we’re moving.” He made sure he had a firm hold on my wrist and tugged me after him. “We’re also talking. Tell me what you’re trying to say.”
I felt lost as I increased my pace. “Do you really think this is the time?”
“I really think that ... whoa!” Jack changed course fast. The second we hit the side street the lights went out. Before that happened, though, I caught a glimpse of more reanimated bodies moving in our direction. There was a second group and it was closing in.
“What do we do?” I asked, my heart rate picking up a notch.
“We keep moving.” Jack was firm as he dragged me away from the zombies. “Can you run?”
I nodded. “Where to?”
“Away from here.”
“She won’t stop sending them after us,” I argued. “If we keep heading toward Bourbon Street we’ll put other people in danger.”
“But ... .” Jack sputtered as his eyes went wide. “What do you suggest we do?”
“We can’t lead them out in the open.” That was true for a variety of reasons. “If zombies spill over onto Bourbon Street, what do you think is going to happen?”
“Panic,” he answered without hesitation. “People are going to panic and things will be worse.”
“Exactly.”
“But you’ll be safe. I can lock you in your room and then figure this out.”
“You can’t do this without me.” I was resigned to that fact. “We’ve got to find Madame Brenna and take her down.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“I have no idea at this point. We have to keep the zombies away from the tourist areas. I don’t know if they’re trained to attack anyone but us, but we can’t take that risk. There are children over there. There are elderly people. Even if the zombies don’t attack there will be casualties. You know that.”
“What I know is that you’re suddenly talking weird.” He gripped my hand tighter. “What is going on?”
I opened my mouth to answer, the truth on the tip of my tongue and ready to spill forth. That’s when another party joined the fray.
“He asked you a question, Charlie.” Madame Brenna’s voice was cold as she emerged from the shadows to our le
ft. I heard the zombies shuffling behind her. They were close, and probably all she needed when it came down to it. She obviously wanted to participate in this particular takedown. “Don’t you want to tell him what’s going on here?”
I narrowed my eyes and frowned. “What do you hope to accomplish by this? I mean ... what’s your endgame?”
“What makes you think I want the game to end?”
She sounded annoyed. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. I’m not going to let you steal it from me ... no matter how powerful you are.”
I could feel Jack’s gaze slide to me, but I didn’t risk turning from Madame Brenna. I could almost hear the gears in his mind working.
“Powerful,” he muttered.
Madame Brenna let loose a deranged laugh. “He doesn’t know, does he? He has no idea what you are.”
“I don’t even know what I am,” I reminded her. “How can he know?”
“Charlie?” Jack’s voice rasped. “What is she talking about?”
“I’ll explain later,” I said quietly.
“She’ll explain later,” Madame Brenna mimicked. “Oh, that is priceless. She’ll explain later why you’re being chased by zombies. She’ll explain later why she’s been lying to you.”
I hated that word. Lying. But it fit. I had been lying to him. I had been keeping the biggest part of myself hidden. That would all change now. I had no choice. Magic would be necessary to get us out of this.
Jack would see.
He would know.
The carefully constructed house of cards I’d built in my mind would tumble. There was no longer any way around that.
I drew a deep breath and risked a glance at Jack. He was watching me with unreadable eyes. I could feel the sense of betrayal emanating off him and it was strong enough to crush my spirit.
“It’s not like that, Jack,” I said hurriedly. “I didn’t lie to lie. I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Yes, Charlie,” Madame Brenna mocked. “What were you afraid of? Poor Jack, here, is a stalwart guy. He’s done nothing but stand up for you even when you were off running around with crossroads demons and secretly meeting with me.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise and shifted my gaze back to her. “How do you know about the crossroads demons? That happened in a dream.”
“I recognized Harley. I saw in your head today at the same moment you saw into mine. I had trouble understanding what I was seeing, but Harley is impossible to forget. She’s an old ... well, friend isn’t the word. She’s an enemy I’ve been hiding from. I know you’ve been working together.”
Something clicked inside my head. “Papa Legba didn’t tell me the whole truth,” I muttered, shaking my head. “He said he was looking for the person behind this but couldn’t see far enough. He didn’t mention he’d somehow lost you.”
I gnawed on my bottom lip as I worked through what I knew. “You made an agreement with Harley. You bartered your soul for something in return. I’m guessing it’s the magic you wield, which isn’t all that powerful.”
Madame Brenna’s eyes filled with fire. “It was powerful enough to raise the dead.” She lifted her arms into the air, causing the zombies to groan in unison. “I did that! Me!” She thumped her chest for emphasis. “I’m more powerful than you can imagine.”
I flicked my eyes back to the zombies. They were in a holding pattern, waiting for orders. The symbols on their wrists were clearly visible under the nearby streetlight, and I took a moment to really understand what I was seeing.
“That’s Papa Legba’s symbol,” I said finally. “You modified it with two missing bars. That’s to insulate yourself. You’ve made him blind to you so he won’t come calling on your deal.”
She snickered, a brow arching in amusement. “You’re smarter than you look.”
“I don’t understand,” Jack interjected. “What’s going on between the two of you? Why are you attacking Charlie?” The question was directed at Madame Brenna, but his eyes briefly locked with mine.
“Charlie has something I need,” she replied. “I wasn’t born with magic, but I was meant to have it. Born magic is so much greater than taken magic. You have no idea. Charlie was born with magic. She’s the single most powerful being I’ve come across. I need that magic and she won’t give it to me. I tried to take it this afternoon, but she fought me off. I won’t give her a second chance to do that.”
The explanation clearly wasn’t enough for Jack. “Charlie?”
I felt sorry for him. This wasn’t how I saw my secret being revealed. “I wanted to tell you.” Tears pricked the back of my eyes. “For some reason, from the moment we met, I wanted to tell you what I was. But you couldn’t take it. You don’t believe. Even now you’re trying to rationalize a way to explain all this.”
“You still should’ve told me.”
“I should have. I shouldn’t have let this go on as long as it has without giving you the option to walk away.”
This time I was certain I recognized the emotion flitting across his face. It was annoyance.
“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not going to run?” he gritted out. “You’re not going to scare me away. For crying out loud, suck it up and be an adult. Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours and we’ll work it out together. Don’t hide things from me!”
He was enraged. I didn’t blame him. Because I had underestimated Madame Brenna we were in a deadly situation that was going to take both our brains and my power to get us out of. It was hardly an ideal place to find ourselves as our relationship blew up.
“That’s so cute,” Madame Brenna sneered. “Even now he clings to you. He wants to protect you. He doesn’t realize you’re ten times stronger than he is. When he adjusts to that new reality, his ego won’t be able to withstand it. He’ll walk away.”
Something about the way she said the words caused me to remember the scenes I’d seen in her head. “Is that why you left your husband and abandoned your child?”
She balked. “Who said I abandoned my child?”
“I saw it. When you were getting a look at the dream I had about Papa Legba and the conversation I shared with Harley, I saw you as a child. I saw the other kids bullying you. I saw your husband. I saw how unhappy you were as a mother. I also saw you abandon your son.”
“That is not what happened,” she seethed, fury lighting her features. “I didn’t abandon my son. I had to leave him for a bit because his father wouldn’t let me take him and I didn’t have the standing to win a custody battle. I never left my son’s life.”
“Not even when he became a cop, right?” Jack challenged, taking a more proactive stance in the conversation.
I jerked my head in Jack’s direction, confused. “What do you mean?”
“That’s what Leon called to tell me. He found out Madame Brenna’s real name. It was Brenda Thibodeaux.”
And that’s when the final pieces of the puzzle slipped into place for me. “Oh, geez.” I shifted from one foot to the other, antsy. “I should’ve recognized him in the memory. He still looks the same in a lot of respects.”
“He got more genes from me than his father,” Madame Brenna agreed. “He was always a beautiful boy.”
“A beautiful boy you abandoned as a child.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t abandon him. I couldn’t raise him the way I wanted because of his father. That wasn’t my fault.”
“What do you know?” Jack whispered. He’d moved closer to me now. It wasn’t exactly a protective stance, but he wasn’t recoiling at the idea of being near me either.
“Just small things. I was in a hurry to get out of her head. She tried to trap me earlier. I should’ve realized then that she was behind this. I thought she could help. She knew Myron, after all. I figured that was an indication that she was on our side.”
“You were shaken up when I first saw you,” he mused. “I thought it was because you were afraid Laura was going
to convince me to break up with you. I’m guessing I was wrong on that.”
“I was shaken,” I agreed. “But I didn’t think Laura would force you to break up with me. I was afraid you would be angry about the lying.”
He practically exploded. “I am angry about the lying!”
“And you have a right to your anger.” I meant it. “I didn’t mean to fall for you. I just wanted to learn some information from the group when I signed up, maybe dig and find a way to track down my parents. I thought hiding in plain sight was smart. I don’t want to end up on a gurney being dissected because people are curious. You don’t even believe in supernatural beings. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
The look on his face was pained. “I want to shake you.”
“That’ll have to wait. We need to deal with this first.”
He straightened his shoulders. “Fine. We have a lot to talk about.”
“Yeah.” Sadness threatened to overwhelm me before I snapped back to reality. If he was going to leave there was nothing I could do to stop him. I was better off knowing now than when I’d completely given my heart to him. I might not recover from that blow.
“You’re going to deal with me?” Madame Brenna laughed. “Do you think I’m going to allow that to happen?”
“I don’t see where you have a choice,” I replied, calm despite the overwhelming emotions battering my heart. “I can’t let them continue wandering around. You’re controlling them, so ... I’ve got to shut you down.”
“And you think I’ll just let that happen?”
“I think it’s already over and you simply don’t see it.” I took advantage of the fact that she tilted her head back and laughed like a cartoon villain — I was expecting it, after all — and shoved Jack as hard as I could toward the alley across from where we stood.
Momentary confusion split his face, But he let me lead.
We raced into the alley. I knew it wouldn’t be long before Madame Brenna gave chase. I picked the alley for a reason. It was narrow and surrounded by businesses. Two of the buildings were undergoing construction, which meant they were empty. Nobody lived in the edifices as far as I could tell, and that was important for what I had to do.
The Undead Uproar Page 27
