by S. E. Akers
“’Dat be a powerful stone jou lost. Maybe jou can charm him out of another one? ‘Dough he very stingy with his stones…especially wit me! But I haveta admit, I don’t care ‘dat he always say no to tradin’ wit me. Just being ‘round him is like a cool drink of water on a hot summer day,” Ms. Lá Léo proclaimed as she stood in a daze, fanning herself with a lusty smile plastered on her face.
I ignored her remarks and stared lethargically at the stoneless silver chain. Please don’t let him try to contact me, I wished uneasily as my stomach rolled.
“I tired of waitin’ on jou!” Swiftly Ms. Lá Léo clasped her hand around my wrist and pressed it down on the counter. With one quick snip, she used the scissors to trim off one of my longest nails and placed it in the lining. “’Dere. Now jou only be needin’ three,” she assessed with a nod.
My scowl hardened as I looked at my nubby nail. No you didn’t, I brooded with a gruff grunt. Fearing what the mystical psycho would chop off next, I quickly removed my silver chain and shoved it inside. I still cherished Tanner’s gift, even without the stone. Since my desperation was mounting I pulled a stick of spearmint gum out of its pack. After all, I only chewed it because the smell reminded me of Daddy.
“What ‘bout ‘dis?” Ms. Lá Léo asked. “It was hidin’ in ‘de zipper pouch in jou bag?” Low and behold she was holding that damn lapis lazuli ring. Sneaky old Beatrix had snuck it in there.
“No way,” I said flatly.
“Wait just a second… I know ‘dis ring. It belong to the lapis lazuli Talisman,” she said aloud. “’De crazy Xcavare man wit ‘de white hair. Lazarus be his name.”
“It did,” I assured her with a glare and went back to searching for my last thing.
“Jou now claim his stone?” I nodded as I continued my search. “’Den ‘dis be a part of jou…a big part. ‘Dis be ‘de last thing jou need.”
“That stone will never be a part of me, so don’t give it a second thought,” I proclaimed with an adamant nod and shoved it right back inside where she’d found it.
“Jou be a very touchy girl,” Ms. Lá Léo griped.
My fingers felt something else hidden deep inside the pocket. I knew what it was instantly. Gallia’s diamond. I’d forgotten that I had tucked it in there. I hadn’t looked at it in months. I still couldn’t, so I zipped the pocket shut. I’d already used a diamond a one of my “things” — one from the original wand’s owner. Strangely, I didn’t think another would “count” and I really didn’t want Ms. Lá Léo to see it anyway, especially with it holding a bolt of lightning. She would probably bop me in the head with another spell just to get her grubby hands on it.
“Come on now. Hurry up wit ‘de last thing!”
Just one more “important” thing, I pondered as I stared at what items remained. Considering what was left, the decision wasn’t hard. I picked up my last item and tucked it inside triumphantly. I couldn’t have been prouder if I had just finished a thousand-piece puzzle in record time.
“What was ‘dat jou snuck in ‘dere?”
“A ponytail holder,” I announced proudly. “It’s my favorite,” I added as I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, ‘dat will do,” Ms. Lá Léo announced as she smacked her hands and rubbed them together. “Jou take ‘de needle and thread and stitch up ‘de seam. Jou do know how to sew, don’t jou?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“I be surprised, ’cause jou don’t be knowin’ much, girl,” Ms. Lá Léo cracked. “And don’t be makin’ a mess wit it. Do a slipstitch. Jou want to make it as inconspicuous as jou can.” I did as she asked and within a few minutes, I flashed her the inside of the bag. She inspected it thoroughly.
“Not bad. It’ll pass,” Ms. Lá Léo remarked blandly as she tugged on the seam. She took my purse over to the tapestry-covered round table and lit what was left of a white pillar candle. “Now I need to enchant it wit ‘de two charms. ‘De one ‘dat will protect jou, and ‘de other one ‘dat will hide ‘de items you place in ‘de bag.” She instructed me to place my hands on top of the bag. I half-closed my eyes while I listened to the foreign words she spoke as she waved her hands above it. I could feel a forceful energy infusing itself to the purse. In about a minute, Ms. Lá Léo stopped chanting and snuffed out the candle. She tapped her hands on the top of the table.
“Jou are now as ‘dey say, good to go,” she remarked with a nod. “’Dis gris-gris is extra special. Ma finest I make yet. Jou better be glad I found out about ‘da lapis lazuli, girl. I spell it to conceal its energy too.”
“But I don’t wear it…ever,” I insisted.
“’Dat don’t matter,” Ms. Lá Léo argued. “Its power is a part of jou. Now ‘dat I know, I can sense it. It be faint, girl…but it be ‘dere if jou look hard enough!”
I tugged on my shirt. I guessed my subconscious needed to air my aura out after that alarming claim.
“No worries, girl. Jou safe. All of jou,” Ms. Lá Léo laughed as she rose from her chair. “Not even a tiger’s-eye can do ‘dat. ‘Dey can only hide ‘de power of one stone. Never, ever any more,” she stressed and then headed behind the counter. “I go make us some coffee while jou gather up jour ‘dings.”
I jumped up to collect my stuff as soon as she disappeared behind the beaded curtain. Granted, the promise of a magical, identity-concealing purse loosened a few knots in my stomach, but it was still something that until proven, remained to be seen. I carefully placed only my necessities back into my bag — hilt, serpentine, wallet, hotel key card, safe key, passport, iPod, camera, a compact, sunglasses, keys, the broken iPhone, and what was left of my pack of gum. Aside from that stuff, everything else was headed for the trash.
Just as soon as I’d finished with my organizing, Ms. Lá Léo reappeared carrying a sterling silver tray that held an ornate tea service, which she placed on the round table.
“Please, come sit down. Have a morning cup of coffee wit me,” she said sweetly and with a gracious wave.
I found her honeyed tone disturbing. I crept over to the table and sat down clutching my new bag. “Here is jou coffee, dear girl,” she cooed. “Jou take cream or sugar?”
“Both,” I mumbled as I studied her every move. Ms. Lá Léo’s decorum alarmed me the most. The gruff, combative voodoo witch’s etiquette would now make Emily Post look like an ill-mannered bum.
“Thank you for the bag,” I replied gratefully. I swallowed as much of my nervousness as I could. “So…What do I owe you?” I asked and then took a sip of my drink.
Ms. Lá Léo looked at me strangely and arched her brow. “Just a favor,” she replied nonchalantly.
“A favor? No diamond?” I replied, feeling somewhat relieved.
“’Dat be a very tempting offer, but ‘dis I also need. It too be an important ‘ding.”
“What’s the favor?”
She pointed to a small sack that lay on the silver tray. “’De contents of ‘dis pouch. It just so happens ‘dat jou are headed in ‘de direction ‘dat it needs to go. Lucky for me. So jou will carry it wit jou. Jou will take it to where it supposed to be.”
“Where’s that?”
“Catemaco,” Ms. Lá Léo stated casually as she watched me take another sip of my coffee. “It’s not far from Veracruz.”
“Why can’t you take it?”
“I can’t be a leaving Grand-mama, not when she be back to herself,” she insisted. “And it be too dangerous for me.”
“Dangerous?” I questioned.
“Jou wouldn’t know it to look at me, girl, but I may have made a few enemies over ‘de years,” she revealed coyly.
I caught myself before I spit out my drink. “Not you? I can’t imagine that.”
“’Dis pouch be safe with jou taking it. Not me.”
I looked at the tiny sack. I doubted it was drugs, but that didn’t make me feel any less of a supernatural mule. As much as I hated to admit it, I owed this woman, regrettably. Aside from coughing up a diamond, this was the only othe
r thing.
“But…what if I can’t get away from my group?”
“Jou not have a choice,” Ms. Lá Léo asserted with a sly wink. A sinking feeling came over me as I honed in on what was now a cunning smirk. “’De coffee,” she said with a victorious laugh.
I stared intently at the dainty cup sitting in front of me. “What was in it?” I grumbled slowly.
“Cream, sugar…and a little something special,” Ms. Lá Léo added as she leaned back in her chair.
“You ppp—poisoned it?” I blurted, my voice cracking with fear.
“No, silly girl! I laced it with a potion ‘dat will simply make sure jou be doin’ what I ask of jou.” Ms. Lá Léo cleared her throat. “Jou and jour duty are now bound to me. Bound hand and foot. If jou try to back out of our bargain, ‘den ‘de curse takes over and forces jou to.”
“I’m CURSED!?!” I raged.
“Calm down, crazy girl! ‘De curse will be lifted once jou complete ‘de task. But jou can’t speak of ‘dis duty to any other Talisman. And jou must go alone. Jou leave ‘de voice in ‘de necklace at home… And jou can’t see what be in ‘de pouch neither. I spell it so it can’t be opened until jou take it to ‘dis address. No peekin’ for nobody! ‘Dat for jour own protection too.” She waved a slip of paper in the air and placed it, along with the mysterious small pouch, into my purse. “No worries, girl,” the sneaky voodoo witch remarked as she raised my bottom lip back up to close my mouth.
I slammed myself back in my chair and kicked one of the table’s legs. “Son-of-a-Bitch!” I grumbled out loud.
“What is going on out here?” Padimae inquired as she stepped into the room. I was taken aback by her noticeably more youthful appearance. Now this was the woman I remembered from my vision. Perfect posture, thin-bodied, and brown skin that glowed. She was even wearing the same bone-crafted necklace with the skull hanging on its end from my dream. The snake was still moving too.
Padimae glared at her granddaughter. “Please tell me that you aren’t being rude to our guest, Lá Léo,” she voiced with a knowing scowl.
“No, no, Grand-mama,” Ms. Lá Léo replied in a timid tone.
“Ha!” I laughed. “A guest would imply that I was free to leave at any time and not slipped a poison that hexes me with a binding curse and holds me accountable until I complete an inescapable chore for the host,” I ranted in one long-winded breath. I turned towards Padimae. “Unless she coerces all the company she entertains?”
The look on Padimae’s much younger face could crumble a rock wall. “Lá Léo,” she grumbled, “Come join me in the back room…Now.”
Ms. Lá Léo shifted around in her chair. “Oh, ‘dis girl be crazy, Grand-mama. Don’t be believin’ a ‘ding she say.”
Padimae pushed back several of the beaded strings and pointed to the doorway. “Come back here this instant, you mindless, reckless witch,” she seethed. “My powers may be rusty, but I promise, my aim is still true!”
Ms. Lá Léo lowered her head as she rose from her chair. As she hurried past her grand-mama, Padimae gave her conniving grand-daughter a hard thump on her head. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?” Padimae raged to Ms. Lá Léo as they stepped behind the curtain. I still would’ve traded places with Ms. Lá Léo. A lecture or even a magical ass-whipping sounded like a walk in the park compared to being bound to a daggone curse!
I remained glued to my seat. After a good bout of stewing and shifting, I guessed I had around ten minutes until the sun would rise — until my supernatural sentence was up and my cell bars would officially open. Needing to stretch my legs, I rose from my chair. Just as I did, Padimae reentered the room.
“I want to apologize for the actions of my granddaughter, Shiloh. Her intention was an honorable one, but she didn’t understand the true nature of what she asked of you.” My stomach rolled, realizing that this sounded like more than just a “simple” favor. “I cannot discuss any specifics about the deal you were tricked into. I feel it would only be of hindrance to you, but I can do something to prepare you.”
“Prepare me?” I questioned nervously. “For what exactly?”
“For any obstacles you may face, young one. It will give you clarity and help heighten your guard.”
“How are you going to prepare me if you can’t tell me anything about this favor?” I asked.
“I want to read your cards,” Padimae replied with a smile as she removed the candle from the table.
“Tell me my future, right?”
“Yes, but the cards will also help you deal with any past or present struggles, ones that might cripple your mind’s response to what lies ahead.”
“I don’t know,” I replied warily. “What will I owe you?”
“Not a thing,” Padimae answered as she whisked the tapestry cover off the table. “It is a gift. A gift I give to you free and clear of any obligation or payment. Consider it a thank you for lifting my curse. It actually pales to the kindness you’ve shown me, Shiloh. You have given me back my life.”
“You look nice, by the way,” I complimented. “Exactly how I remember you from the dream.”
Padimae’s smile was so wide it made her eyes crinkle. “Thank you, child,” she replied as she ran her fingers through her white, split-end free, countless braids. “I freshened up more than my powers last night.”
I lowered my head along with my laugh and strangely found my gaze helplessly locked on the antique wooden table that the tapestry cover had been concealing. It had symbols carved on its top, symbols that looked a little too familiar. They were the same ones from my dream. That piqued my curiosity, but my exchange with her granddaughter and Beatrix’s warnings regarding witches had me wavering.
“So?” Padimae asked. “Will you do me the honor of accepting my gift?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. Padimae waved her hand over the center medallion and knocked on it three times. A secret compartment dropped open to reveal a tarot deck hidden within one of the table’s sides. She fanned the cards out in front of me.
“Are you sure?” Padimae enticed with a wave of her hand. She picked up a card and displayed it on the table. “This is the Wheel of Destiny, fate’s personal card. It is telling me that I need to do this for you, Shiloh…and that you need to be open to hearing it.”
I studied the card meticulously. In each of its four corners lay the same Talisman symbols of the Guild that represented the elements. Even the medallion in the center was comprised of the five intertwined rings like the one from my dream and the same design etched on my hilt. With a flick of her finger, Padimae stroked the wheel-like circle in the center of the card. Magically, the two-dimensional image shifted and started to spin clockwise. Somehow the card was now life-like in appearance. I turned my bewitched gaze to Padimae. Oh she knew I was hooked, but the voodoo queen waited patiently for me to take my seat. And that I did.
“I thought you would come around,” Padimae grinned as she slipped the card back in the deck. With a quick shuffle and several cuts, she laid them out in the shape of another fan. “This is my personal deck,” Padimae revealed. “An ancient deck for mystical beings that only I know how to use. Even my granddaughter is not allowed into the room. When I pass on, this archaic divination will die along with me. I do not even trust my own blood with its power. I have seen less and less honor amongst our kind throughout my many years. This magic is too powerful to risk it falling into the hands of someone with even an ounce of greed.” Padimae looked deep into my eyes. “Are you ready, child?”
“Yes,” I nodded cautiously.
“Then give me your hands, young one.” With the voodoo queen serving as my guide, Padimae waved my hands over the chain of cards that arched across the table. “Can you feel their energy? Only a supernatural can,” she asked.
I nodded, utterly wonderstruck. As they crossed over each one, a powerful force pulsated from each of the paper cards that tingled the tips of my fingers and vibrated my hands.
“Good. Now the deck has impr
inted on you. Certain cards will call to you. They will be the ones linked to your path. When a query is made, wave your hand over the deck. The card that possesses the most energy is the one you must choose,” Padimae revealed.
I stared at the cards still slightly hesistant. “What do I ask?”
“Whatever your mind wants to know. Whatever your heart desires. Whatever burns within your soul. But the cards will only reveal situations in general, no specifics I’m sad to say. This deck is more powerful than any other on earth, but even it will not lay out a crystal clear path for the querent. Not as specific as the visions revealed from an emerald I am sad to say…but even the details of their premonitions can be tricky.” Padimae sensed my hesitation. “Would you like me to start you off?”
“Yes,” I nodded, feeling somewhat more at ease.
“Then let’s see if anything from your past plagues you.” Padimae motioned for me to draw from the ancient deck. She was right. One pass was all I needed for a card lying in the center to cry out. I slipped it out of the line and dragged it towards me. “Flip it over and place it on the table,” the voodoo queen urged.
With a flick of my wrist, I revealed the card. It was a picture of a blindfolded man who was hanging upside down from a tree. Just like the other one, magically, the man started to swing back and forth like I was watching a 3-D movie instead of a flat, motionless card.
“I sense you have struggled with something,” Padimae began, “Troubled by some lack of action…and I see you are still struggling. You are stifled. Is there something you long for that seems out of your grasp?”
The first shot out of her chamber was a direct hit. “Yes,” I mumbled as I thought about my frustration over finding Katie’s body and my latest missed opportunity up on the rooftop to get the elusive fire opal back. Padimae nodded and directed me to pull another card. This time my fingers hovered over one that lay next to last card on the right. I turned it over. My eyes widened at the hideous half-man, half-winged creature depicted before my eyes. Flames shot out of the creature’s mouth and drifted up off the card. I could even smell the smoke. A man and woman appeared to be chained to the being, unable to be freed.
