Rage boiled in my stomach. Nico had told Ramon to attack her? All as a part of some kind of sadistic test to see how good Annabelle really was? I wanted to rip Nico’s head off.
“You were testing me?” Annabelle asked. “To do what, exactly?”
33
NICO PROCEEDED TO retell his whole life’s story to Annabelle. I’d heard it a thousand times and wanted to crawl into one of the crypts and take a nap. Not that crypts are comfortable. But it would have been better than standing there and listening to Nico drivel on.
I was still pissed. I couldn’t believe he’d used Ramon like that after all these years he’d kept Ramon around. He’d become a friend to me, more than a friend. Obviously I didn’t love him. But fuck… I felt something for him. At the very least he soothed my loneliness, and with Nico’s plans to become human and die in short order, it was going to be a lonely existence without Ramon at my side. Provided, of course, Edwin didn’t go to heaven. Then all would go to hell in a handbasket regardless.
“I need you to go to hell and retrieve the baron so that he might fulfill his bargain to make me human again.”
Annabelle looked at Nico curiously. “You’re telling me that vampires exist because of me. Because I didn’t save you from Guinee…”
Nico nodded. “But at least, in this small way, you might atone for that error.”
Annabelle paused a moment, brushing a stray brown strand of hair from her eyes. I had to admit, while I despised her—probably from all the years of hearing Nico badmouth her—she wasn’t at all hard on the eyes. I could see what Nico was doing; he wanted her to do what he asked out of a sense of duty. She struck me of the sort that would find that more motivating than threats or coercion—my own brand of coercion aside. Of course, he still had her parents. We knew about her sister and family. We had leverage even if the goodness of her heart wasn’t enough to compel her to go along with the plan.
Annabelle had barely agreed she’d do it when her pesky friend, the one who’d bitten Ramon and could apparently teleport himself, appeared on a flash of rainbow-colored light, wrapped Annabelle in his arms, and disappeared with her.
“Well fuck,” I said.
“You have to admit, that is a pretty kickass ability that Pauli kid has.”
“That’s not what concerns me about him,” I said. “He bites vampires.”
“In the Voodoo world, possession is common,” Nico said. “That’s one way they leverage the power of the Loa. They call it being mounted.”
“Mounted?” I asked. “That sounds dirty.”
“It does, but it’s nothing like that,” Nico said. “The Loa who mounted Pauli isn’t one I think he invited. I believe it’s Kalfu—a crossroads Loa with a particularly nasty streak. If I’m right, he’s basically like what Baron Samedi is to us. Only rather than hunting humans, whatever he is under Kalfu’s possession hunts vampires.”
“Well isn’t that delightful,” I said.
“And worse than that,” Nico said, “if he bites us, I think he’ll steal our abilities, even as we acquire abilities by tasting the souls of humans. Just be glad you don’t have any abilities he might crave…”
“Yeah,” I said, biting my lip. “Good thing. But Ramon didn’t have any abilities, either.”
Nico shook his head. “Snakes bite when they feel threatened. Perhaps that’s why he bit Ramon.”
“Because Ramon is a threat?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“Or perhaps he just had a craving he couldn’t control, and Ramon was the first vampire he’d encountered in some time.”
I nodded. That made more sense—I was pretty sure Ramon didn’t have special abilities. I’d have known about them if he did. Of course, one would think that Nico would know about my compulsion ability even though I’d hidden it from him fairly effectively. Either way, what bothered me the most wasn’t that Ramon might have abilities. It was that in the span of a few hours, I encountered two new people who posed a threat to me personally. Annabelle had her blade. And this friend of hers apparently had a taste for vampires.
AS HE’D PROMISED, Nico managed to get me a sponsorship at the Voodoo Academy. I didn’t intend to see it through, of course. I was going there for two reasons. First, to learn how to bind Edwin’s soul to the fetish. And second, to see to it that Annabelle took me to hell, where now I had more on my plate than binding Edwin and saving myself. I had to save Ramon, too.
The Academy was like something out of the movies—how they’d managed to get such materials—marble, stone, and the like—into here when the whole place had been established in the middle of the slave era was beyond me. Perhaps they had some wealthy benefactor.
A wealthy abolitionist who supported their cause. The place was like a blend of colonial architecture with a few African elements—especially the art, the totems, that decorated the place. Oddly, though, there was a lot of pink here that seemed out of place. With my heightened senses I could tell the paint was fresh. Someone had recently redecorated and has a nauseatingly affinity for all things pink and girly.
“This is Maman Brigitte,” Nico said.
I nodded and extended my hand.
“Pleased to meet you, Mercy Brown,” Maman Brigitte said as she gripped my hand. As a vampire my skin is cold, but there was a chill to her touch that impacted even me. She was, after all, one of the Ghede Loa, the wife of Baron Samedi.
“Nice to meet you, too,” I said. I hated formalities. I knew who she was. She knew who I was. We were a couple of badass semi-divine bitches. We respected one another on that account.
“Nico says you need assistance to bind a soul to a fetish,” Maman Brigitte said.
“I do,” I said. “Presuming that Annabelle bitch can open the gates to hell and get me there.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Brigitte said through a thick Haitian accent. “Though Nico has told me of the bargain he has exacted with my husband. It will fall on you to ensure that nothing interferes with my husband’s return.”
“Understood,” I said. Though, if I’m being honest, the prospect of the baron himself—the father deity of vampire-kind—walking the Earth was mildly spine chilling, even for me. And the fact that he intended to wear Nico’s body as a flesh suit was even more disturbing. Still, it was the only way I could save my own ass—and Ramon’s.
It still made my black blood boil every time I thought about how Nico had so casually used Ramon. Sure, Annabelle was far from a friend, but truth be told, what would you expect someone to do if they happened to have access to a weapon that could easily vanquish vampires and they got attacked? I’d hold her accountable for it. Somehow. Eventually. Someday, when she was no longer of use to me. Nico was the one who I truly blamed.
“To bind a soul involves some dark Voodoo,” Maman Brigitte said. “The stuff of the Bokors and Caplata.”
I smirked. “Dark shit is right up my alley.”
Maman Brigitte pressed her lips together. She was a beautiful woman, so far as death goddesses go. From what I knew, any of the Loa who had bodies, like Maman Brigitte, were possessing humans. Willing humans who, for whatever reason, were forfeiting their lives to the Loa.
Or they allowed themselves to be possessed on account of some kind of bargain, like the one the baron made with Nico. So while the body she inhabited was not perhaps Brigitte’s natural form, her beauty was more attributable to the way she carried herself, the way she dressed her body, and the dark mystique that accompanied her person.
Her skin was black as night, her hair in dreadlocks falling to the middle of her back. She wore a dark eyeliner—much like I often did—which gave her a sort of charisma that fit her status as a death goddess. “The fetish itself must be imbued with something of the essence of the one whom you desire to capture.”
“His essence?” I asked.
“Something of his remains, dear child.”
I pressed my lips together. I still had Edwin’s urn. “Will ashes work?”
“Yes, dear.
You must combine them with jojoba oil and dress a burning candle while evoking a Ghede Loa.”
“Like you?” I asked.
“Indeed, or the baron himself. Though I am, admittedly, more accessible. Once you do that, you must then pour the wax over the item or fetish in which you wish to house the soul you intend to claim.”
“Then what do I do? When I finally find his soul in hell?”
“Present to him the vessel, dear. A human soul is not meant to exist apart from a body. With his essence blessed by the Ghede and imbued in the totem, he will be drawn to it as if it were his own body.”
I couldn’t do the ritual yet. I had to retrieve Edwin’s ashes. That’s not the sort of thing you pack in your bags for the first day of school.
Apart from preparing the fetish, all I had left to do was meet Annabelle, avoid her pesky friend who had a taste for vampire blood, and go to hell. Getting there wasn’t the challenge—I knew I could just compel Annabelle to make it happen if I had to. But now I had three distinct missions that I had to carry out in hell—and fulfilling any one of them I imagined would be a challenge. I had to bring back the baron somehow. I had to capture Edwin’s soul. And I had to save Ramon.
Two of the three Annabelle would know about—but capturing Edwin’s soul? I couldn’t tell her about that. If Nico’s vampiric abilities didn’t work in hell, mine wouldn’t, either. I couldn’t count on the fact that I could just compel Annabelle to do what I wanted once we got there.
There was a risk, of course, that she’d double-cross me, take me to hell and leave me there. But Nico and I had leverage. Her parents were still in Nico’s thrall. Still, if she knew my intentions with Edwin, I hesitated to believe she’d be on board with the plan. How far would she really be willing to go in order to save her parents? I didn’t know her well enough to find out.
The look of horror that fell on Annabelle’s face when I was introduced as one of her classmates was priceless. When the Academy headmistress—another Loa named Erzulie, the supposed Loa of love (gag me with a spoon)—introduced me, Annabelle predictably protested.
“But she’s a vampire!” Annabelle said, her jaw dropped.
“In the Voodoo world,” Erzulie explained, “we do not discriminate against the dead.”
I laughed out loud. Clearly, not that I could blame her, Annabelle wasn’t thrilled that I was going to be a classmate. Sure, I only intended to attend this joke of a school for a few days, if even that long. But Annabelle didn’t know that. Still, I had some work to do. And since I could literally cease existing at any minute if Edwin found the light, I’d have to get right to it.
34
I ALLOWED ANNABELLE a single night to rest on the fact that she and I were now classmates. Not to mention, while the sun was down I had to make a run back to Casa do Diabo to retrieve Edwin’s ashes. The trip didn’t take long—I run fast, and the entrance to the Academy was a mystical door hidden in the side of the cathedral in Pere Antoine Alley, only a few blocks away from my home. I made the whole trip in less than an hour’s time.
I’d been assigned to a dormitory, an open single room that I shared with Annabelle and her other classmates. I reclined on my bed. Not that I was going to sleep. These were my waking hours. I don’t think a single person slept knowing I was on the prowl.
Could you blame them? I was sure more than a few of them were quite delicious. Not only were they human, but they all possessed the aspect of a Loa corresponding to whichever Loa had sponsored them into the Academy. I was, I had to admit, mildly curious how their blood would taste.
The last time I’d seen Annabelle, she was kissing my shoe—albeit under my compulsion. But I could tell from the way she’d looked up at me in that moment… it was like she pitied me. She was searching for something good.
She was the sort, I suspected, who didn’t believe anyone was purely evil. She wanted to find a spark of goodness, something that with a little tinder could become a flame. All the time I’d spent convincing Alice that I wasn’t purely a monster, trying to elicit her empathies and trust, would come in handy now.
I just had to present myself to Annabelle as something more than a monster. It was a risk—but if I revealed my ability to her, my compulsion, it would go a long way to establishing enough trust.
I also had Pauli to deal with. He shared our dormitory, and while I made everyone else uneasy, his presence had the same effect on me. He’d tossed and turned all night, clearly consumed by nightmares. The Loa that possessed him was getting more of a foothold. The fact that he’d bitten Ramon once meant it was just a matter of time before he came after me.
Annabelle tried to ignore me as she got up and began getting dressed. I followed her with my eyes the whole time. I didn’t want to approach her in front of everyone else. I wanted to wait until I could get her alone.
As she left the dormitory, I quickly snuck up behind her.
She seemed to sense my approach. “What’s your problem?” Annabelle asked.
I shrugged. “Bark like a dog.”
Annabelle barked. “What the fuck?”
“Sing ‘I’m a Little Teapot.’”
She did so obediently—I didn’t command the gestures, but she did them anyway. I smiled widely, making sure she got a good view of my nail-sharp incisors.
“How are you doing that?” Annabelle asked.
“Pick your nose.”
I laughed as she inserted her index finger into her left nostril.
“How the hell?”
It was time to come clean. These were harmless commands, a simple way to show her what I could do. All at once I’d given her a reason to fear betraying me—I could make her do anything—but also a reason to believe I had good intentions. Otherwise, why would I tell her what I could do? “Vampirism comes with unique abilities. We don’t all have the same ones. One or two new ones come in every century or so.”
“So you just tell people to do shit… and they do it?”
“Every time.”
“What does Nico think about that?”
“Nico has his own share of impressive abilities. But this one is relatively new. I haven’t felt obligated to let him know about it. Not yet.”
“Does it work on him?”
I shook my head. “He’s my sire. He might be the only creature in the universe who can resist my commands.”
“So that whole scene in the mausoleum…”
“When you kissed your goddess’s shoe?” I smirked.
“I’m not calling you that.”
“You will if I tell you to.”
“But yes… that happened because of your abilities?”
“Of course,” I said. “Nico thought you obeyed because you felt guilty about what you did to him.”
“I do feel guilty about that…”
“But that’s not why you obeyed my command. That was all me. But here’s the thing: I can’t control you every hour of the day. I’m simply here to ensure you’re not dissuaded from your task.”
“To bring the baron back?”
I nodded. “Stay the course and I’ll leave you alone. I’ll be a fly on the wall. Get any other ideas and it would be a shame for your friend, maybe your sister, to suddenly become suicidal.”
“You bitch… You wouldn’t…”
I shrugged. “Would you rather I make a meal out of them? Your sister looks quite… delicious.”
“Touch her and I’ll stake you in a second.”
I laughed. “You’d have to get close to me first. And as you probably figured out, I don’t need much sleep.”
I could see I was getting under her skin. But I didn’t want to leave her that way. She needed to fear me, yes. But she also needed to believe I’d only use my compulsions against her if she forced my hand. “As I said, Nico doesn’t know about this ability. But now you do.”
“Why tell me about it at all?” Annabelle asked.
“Because if we’re going to do what we need to do, it’s important we trust each other. Do
n’t take my threats for granted. I will follow through with them if, and only if, you betray me. If you reveal to anyone else that Nico is back. So long as we’re working together, you have nothing to fear from me.”
Annabelle bit her lip. “And once we complete this fool’s errand to hell, you’ll leave?”
I nodded. “You have my word.”
Annabelle nodded and proceeded down the hall—probably off to begin her day’s training with her sponsoring Loa.
In the meantime, I still needed to deal with Pauli. He was the wild card. I couldn’t hurt him, that would make working with Annabelle even more difficult. But if she believed—if everyone believed—that Pauli had attacked me as he’d attacked Ramon, she wouldn’t blame me for what happened.
With Annabelle out of the picture, I cornered Pauli—a beautiful, flamboyant boy who had a keen sense of style and clearly valued his own appearance. I leaned against his wardrobe as he primped himself in his mirror.
“What do you want, bitch?” Pauli asked.
I smiled. “Go to the headmistress. Tell her about your craving for vampire blood. Confess to her you attacked me in the night. Tell them to restrain you until you can get your cravings under control.”
Pauli nodded and immediately left the dormitory to turn himself in.
I didn’t know for sure what they’d do to him. But he was out of my hair for the time being.
Meanwhile, I had an appointment with Maman Brigitte. It was time to prepare the fetish.
I was able to secure the candle and oil from the Academy’s supply shop—apparently Candles and Oils was a standard first-year course. I didn’t require sleep, but I’d grown accustomed to sleeping during the day. For vampires, sleep isn’t the same as for humans. It’s more like a deep meditative state. It helps clear the mind.
Thankfully, the Voodoo world was underground. It struck me that the whole place would make a fantastic lair for vampires. Even better than Casa do Diabo. There was no sunlight in this place. Technically, the Academy was just one part of the Voodoo underworld.
Gates of Eden: Starter Library Page 89
