Up From the Grave

by Jeaniene Frost

  I stared at them, watching them grow and lengthen until they formed into an older man in a business suit, the Ouija board jutting out of his midsection like he’d been cut in half with it.

  “Hi, Don,” I said with satisfaction. “Glad you could make it.”

  My uncle looked around in confusion. “Cat. How—?”

  “How did I yank you out of whatever afterlife corner you were hiding in?” I interrupted. “I’m friends with a medium, remember?”

  Don looked at the board protruding from his stomach, his mouth curling down. “Who knew these things actually worked?”

  “Make friends with others of your kind, you’ll learn lots of things,” Tyler said, squinting in Don’s general direction. Then his forehead smoothed. “Oh, there you are.”

  “No time for pleasantries, Don,” Bones stated. “You need to tell us everything you’ve been hiding about Madigan. My people’s lives depend on it.”

  Don frowned. “Your people?”

  “Tate, Juan, Dave, and Cooper,” I supplied. “They’re considered Bones’s under vampire law. More importantly, they’re our friends. You know they’ve been missing. Well, Madigan claims they were killed on a job, but he’s lying, which means they’re in serious trouble.”

  The air didn’t move despite the heavy sigh Don let out.

  “I wanted you to investigate their disappearance because I’d hoped they’d deserted their posts and were hiding from Madigan. Or were deep undercover, or even had died on a mission. Anything but this, because if Madigan has them, then by now, they probably are dead.”

  Only his lack of a solid form kept me from shaking him. “Or they’re alive, trapped somewhere, and expecting us to do something.”

  The look he gave me was so filled with sadness that I almost missed the other emotion flitting across his face. Shame.

  “When Madigan took over my old job, I feared he might try this, but I didn’t expect it so soon. I’m sorry, Cat. There’s nothing you can do. Neither can I. Madigan’s no doubt ghostproofed that building, too.”

  “What building?”

  The two words seethed with threat. So did the stare Bones lasered at Don. Both should’ve scared my uncle into answering with the truth. Instead, he sighed once more.

  “If you ever get close to Madigan again, kill him. You can’t save Tate and the others, but you can avenge them and save others like them if things haven’t progressed past that already.”

  Then, before I could ask him what the hell he meant by that, he disappeared.

  “Wait!” I shouted.

  Nothing. Not even a chill in the air remained. Bones swore, but I shoved the planchette at Tyler and tossed another thimbleful of Don’s ashes onto the Ouija board.

  “Bring him back. Now.”

  “Cat,” Tyler began.

  “Do it,” Bones said curtly.

  Tyler muttered something about how unreasonable vampires were, yet once again, he invoked Don’s spirit to return. He did, but after a few seconds of stony silence while I railed at him, my uncle disappeared. We repeated the same process again and again with the same result. It was the supernatural equivalent to being repeatedly hung up on.

  “Can’t you do something to make him stay?” I fumed.

  Tyler gave me a sardonic look.

  “I tried to tell you I couldn’t, Mr. and Mrs. Impatient, but you wouldn’t listen. There’s only one way to make a ghost stay if he doesn’t want to, and you remember what a pain in the ass that was. Besides, you really want to lock your uncle inside a trap?”

  At the moment, the idea held definite appeal. Knowing Don, however, he’d remain stubbornly silent even if we did lock him in an escape-proof ghost cell. Plus, making one would take too long. From the few bleak hints Don had given us, Tate and the guys were in lethal trouble. We had to act now, but I didn’t know what to do. Tyler was our expert, and he was out of ideas.

  “This makes no sense,” I continued to rant. “Don’s the one who warned us that Tate and the others were missing, yet now that we’ve confirmed Madigan’s got them, he’s refusing to help us! I don’t understand it.”

  Bones tapped his chin, his expression both furious and determined.

  “I do. Means Don would rather see people he cares about die than reveal what he knows about Madigan, but there is one person who can force your uncle to talk.”

  “Who?” I wondered. Then comprehension dawned. “Of course! No one knows more about ghosts than Marie Laveau, and with all that grave power in her, there’s nothing she can’t make Don do.”

  I should know—I’d once experienced Marie’s abilities after she forced me to drink her blood. The memory made me shudder. Having a direct line to the other side was more power than anyone should have.

  Bones shot me a grim look. “What concerns me is what she’ll want in return. Marie does nothing without extracting a price.”

  That concerned me, too. The last time I’d seen Marie hadn’t exactly been friendly if you counted the fact that both of us had threatened to slaughter each other.

  “Hold on a minute.”

  Tyler stood up, a huge grin splitting his face. “Are you two talking about Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen of New Orleans who supposedly died over a hundred years ago?”

  “The very same,” I said, weary all of a sudden.

  Tyler clapped his hands with the pure joy of a child. “This is going to be so fun!”

  Now suspicion replaced my weariness. “What is?”

  He ignored me, scooping up Dexter and grunting at the dog’s weight. “Don’t worry, baby, Daddy’s not leaving you behind.”

  “Neither one of you are going anywhere,” Bones said flatly.

  Tyler looked at him as though he were the one who’d just lost his mind.

  “Boyfriend, let me spell it out for you. You owe me huge, and I’m cashing in. You have any idea what a big deal Marie is in the medium world? It’s like finding out Santa Claus is real and getting a first-class ticket to his workshop!”

  I tried logic even though I doubted it would work. “You don’t understand, Tyler. She’s dangerous.”

  An eyeroll. “I didn’t expect her to have spent the past hundred years knitting.”

  Actually, Marie did knit. She also could summon spectres called Remnants that cut through the living and undead with laughable ease, plus work enough black magic to blow up a city. And then there was her power over ghosts.

  Yeah, Marie was scary, all right. If I hadn’t fought and bled beside Tate and the others for years, I would reconsider asking Marie for help. If she agreed, she wouldn’t want to be compensated by money. No, she’d want something far more valuable.

  I met Bones’s gaze. The look in his dark brown eyes said he expected this to be every bit as dangerous as I did, yet there was no lessening of resolve on his lean, hard features.

  “They’re my people, raised by my blood or sworn to it, and no Master leaves his people behind when there’s a chance to save them.”

  I wasn’t Master of a line, but I agreed with every word. No real friend would leave their friends behind to die, either.

  “Looks like we’re going to New Orleans,” I said softly.

  Tyler let out an exasperated noise. “Can we quit talking about it and do it already?”

  Four

  The lights of New Orleans glittered like crystals against the dark waters surrounding the long bridge that led us into the city. Finally, we were here. It had been almost a day drive considering that we had to swing by our Blue Ridge home to pick up my cat. We couldn’t fly into New Orleans because of the garlic-and-marijuana satchels we packed in case Marie sicced her spectral spies on us. As for renting an RV instead of taking our car, well, this wasn’t the first time I’d gone on a road trip with Dexter. The dog’s farts could be considered chemical warfare, and the extra space gave me somewhere
to run.

  We’d just turned into the French Quarter when Tyler let out a blissful sigh.

  “There they are.”

  I glanced out the window. Ghosts covered the French Quarter more plentifully than plastic beads during Mardi Gras. They floated through throngs of tourists, hung out on rooftops, in bars, and, of course, drifted through the city’s famous cemeteries. The most remarkable thing about them was how many were sentient. Most ghosts tended to be repeats of a moment in time, unable to think, just endlessly acting out the same incident. Not surprisingly, a lot of those incidents related to their deaths. Death was a momentous event for everyone.

  But the ethereal residents of the Crescent City were different. Most of them were as lively as the people who were unaware of their presence. A few were pranksters. The young man who tripped and fell face-first into a pretty girl’s cleavage had no idea he’d been pushed by a ghost who chortled at the slap the chagrined boy received. Farther up the sidewalk, a pair of ghosts amused themselves by tipping revelers’ glasses upward so that expected sips turned into face-soaking splashes.

  Tyler laughed when he saw that. “I hope I don’t come back after I die, but if I do, I’m moving here where the party never ends.”

  Bones slanted a look at him before returning his attention to the narrow streets. “Wouldn’t recommend that, mate. New Orleans isn’t the most haunted city in the world by chance.”

  Tyler shrugged. “So a lot of people get murdered here. I’d avoid the grumpy spooks.”

  “That isn’t what he means.”

  I whispered the words. We were now deep in Marie’s territory and the Queen of New Orleans had spies everywhere.

  “Marie’s power draws ghosts to her, and once they’re caught in it, like insects in a web, most of them aren’t strong enough to leave.”

  Instead of taking it as the warning it was intended, Tyler smiled.

  “You have got to introduce me to her. It’ll make my life.”

  Or your death, I thought cynically, but kept that to myself. Marie was selective over whom she granted an audience. She might not even agree to meet with me and Bones, so I doubted she’d squeeze time into her schedule to chat with an unknown fan.

  “Bloody hell.”

  The growled words snapped my attention away from Tyler. We were almost at Bones’s town house, yet he was staring down the street with a resigned expression on his face. Was he just now realizing the RV would never fit through the space that led to the parking garage?

  Then I saw the tall, wide-framed African-American man standing in front of our town house, staring back at us as though he’d been waiting all night for our arrival.

  “Shit,” I breathed.

  Bones shot me a glance that said he was in complete agreement though he didn’t speak as he pulled up next to the man and rolled down the window.

  “Jacques,” he greeted the large ghoul coolly.

  “Bones. Reaper,” he replied, addressing me by my nickname. “You may leave your vehicle with me. Majestic is waiting for you.”

  “Ooh, you have a doorman?” Tyler sounded impressed. “I don’t know why you live in that hillbilly hideaway instead of here.”

  “He’s not a doorman,” I said, cursing to myself. “He’s Marie’s right-hand man.”

  Tyler glanced at the ghoul with more interest. “Really? I thought you hadn’t called her to tell her you were coming?”

  “You thought right,” Bones said, getting out of the car. Neither of us bothered to bring our weapons. They were all useless against Marie.

  Tyler glanced at Jacques again before meeting my gaze. You’re fucked then, aren’t you? ran across his mind.

  My smile was brittle. Marie always granted safe passage to and from a meeting, but once our audience with her was over, all bets were off.

  “That remains to be seen.”

  Bones handed the RV’s keys to Jacques before giving a different set to Tyler. “Go inside. We’ll be back later.”

  If he had any doubts about what would happen after our meeting, they didn’t show in his tone. I squared my shoulders and adopted his confident attitude. So Marie’s spies had found out that we’d crossed into her city. On the bright side, now we wouldn’t have to wait to see if she’d agree to speak to us.

  On the negative side, I doubted she’d sent someone to fetch us immediately because she’d missed us, but there was only one way to find out what she wanted. I forced an unconcerned tone as I turned to Tyler.

  “Don’t have too much fun while we’re gone.”

  He gave a pointed look at the massive ghoul before replying.

  “I’ll save that for when you’re back.” Then to Jacques he said, “You’re not driving this thing anywhere until I get my dog and her cat.”

  As a rule, cemeteries didn’t bother me. They were filled with dead people, and as I’d known since I started hunting vampires at sixteen, truly dead people couldn’t hurt you. It was the living and the undead you needed to worry about, so it wasn’t walking among the thousands of remains in Saint Louis Cemetery Number One that made a shiver creep up my spine. It was the knowledge of what lay beneath the crypt of the cemetery’s most famous resident.

  Marie Laveau’s tomb would be easy to find even if I didn’t know where it was located. Over six feet tall, it had several sets of dark X’s scrawled onto its whitewashed sides. It also always had offerings in front of it despite grave-tenders cleaning it on a regular basis. Tonight’s contributions consisted of unlit candles, flowers, coins, beads, hard candy, pieces of paper, and a pair of iPod headphones. I ignored all the tributes as I stepped up to the front of the crypt and rapped on its top square.

  “We’re here, Majestic.”

  The grinding noise began at once. I jumped back and watched as the cement block where I’d stood pulled back to reveal stygian darkness. All of the offerings that had been over that area fell with a wet thudding sound into the blackness beneath.

  No voice told us to enter. None had to. This was as much invitation as anyone got from Marie. I had to give it to the voodoo queen. She knew how to maximize her version of home-court advantage.

  I was about to jump into the hole when Bones stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

  “I’ll go first, Kitten.”

  I didn’t argue. This wasn’t a slap to my feminism—it was good battle strategy. Bones might not have mastered his telekinesis, but a little ability to control objects with your mind was a lot better than none. Marie was also unaware of his new power, so if things took an unexpectedly lethal turn, we had the element of surprise.

  Bones jumped into the pit, landing with a small splash about twenty feet down. Nothing underground in New Orleans could stay dry forever, even with the impressive pump system Marie had beneath the cemetery. I jumped in next, glad I had on boots so that whatever squished beneath my feet didn’t end up splattered on my skin.

  The hole above us closed at once, plunging the tunnel into as near to complete darkness as was possible for vampire vision. There was only one way to go, so Bones headed deeper into the tunnel, and I followed. We had to walk single file to avoid touching the walls, and I wanted to avoid them for more reasons than their layer of spongy mold. Madigan wasn’t the only person who loved booby traps. Marie had rows of long knives hidden in these walls, and one flick of a switch would send them shooting out to julienne whoever was unlucky enough to be in their path.

  After about thirty yards, we came to a metal door with hinges that should have been rusted, but they didn’t let out a creak when we opened the door. Then it was up the short staircase to the windowless room that I guessed was inside one of the larger, communal crypts. It had no apparent exit aside from the way we came in, but once more, appearances were deceiving.

  Take, for example, the handsome African-American woman in the recliner across from us. Manolo Blahniks peeked out from be
neath her fuchsia skirt, its bright color repeated in the string of gemstones that hung over her black sweater. She’d gotten a haircut since I last saw her, its dark length now ending at her chin instead of her shoulders. The flattering new ’do framed creamy mocha features that were both ageless and lightly lined.

  The closest I could come to pegging Marie’s age when she’d been made into a ghoul was fortyish to fiftyish, but there was no mistaking the years in her gaze. Those hazelnut eyes held knowledge that would intimidate the most lauded of sages, and I didn’t let her soft smile fool me. It was more warning than welcome, pretty though her seashell-colored lipstick might be.

  “Majestic,” Bones said, calling her by the name she preferred.

  That lush mouth curved further. “Reaper. Bones. What brings you to my city?”

  Her drawl was pure Southern Creole, smoother than butter and sweeter than pie, yet as usual, Marie didn’t bother with false pleasantries. That trait we had in common.

  Two unoccupied chairs were the only other furniture in the small room, but I didn’t sit. This wouldn’t take long.

  “We’re here to ask for a favor if you’re capable of doing it.”

  Marie’s brow rose at my challenging statement. Bones gave her a bland smile, yet his shields cracked, and I felt his approval threading through my emotions. Now, at least, she’d hear what the request was, if only to prove that she could do it.

  “What is it?”

  “We need to question a ghost who keeps disappearing on us,” I said. “Can you make one stay if he doesn’t want to?”

  She bent down and picked up a glass of wine I hadn’t noticed before. Must have been hidden behind the fold of her skirt. The sight of that red liquid brought back a rage-inducing memory of the last time the three of us had been in this room: Bones pinned to the wall with Remnants gutting him from the inside out and Marie refusing to call them off until I agreed to drink her blood.

  Knowing Marie, she’d chosen to bring that glass because she wanted us to remember. As if I could ever forget.

  “I can do that without difficulty,” she replied as she sipped her wine. “Though you take a risk admitting to me that you can’t.”