by G A Chase
“I can control the physical projections. Just let me know what you need, and I can put together a team.”
“Again, the vaults don’t work that way,” he said with an air of exasperation that got on her nerves. “Your projects aren’t of the same dimension. It takes someone from my reality to retrieve a vault. Since Colin was briefly in charge of the World Trade Center—and his vault contains his possessions—he can locate that one. It would show up in whatever reality he was in at the time he ejected it.” He waved his pipe at the piles of folders. “There’s a reason the vaults are being opened by practitioners of the paranormal. Now, if you’re not going to help me, I have a ton of paperwork to work through and more agitated governments hitting me up by the minute. I’ll contact you once I find Colin’s vault. If you’re right about him wanting the box itself, I’d start searching downriver. It’s not like he could haul a closet-sized iron box around on his back.”
“I just need to understand what to do if I do find the vault. How would I get Kendell out?”
“You wouldn’t,” he said. “You might not even be able to see the vault, though with your enhancements, I wouldn’t hazard a guess on what you can and can’t do. Most people wouldn’t see the vault. They might even walk right through it. You’ll be looking for something that isn’t there, like a hole in reality. If you do somehow manage to locate it, you won’t be able to open it even if the batteries have died. They’re tuned to specific individuals’ DNA.” He again indicated all the files stacked on the tables. “That’s one of the reasons this is such a mess. Since he ejected these vaults directly, they aren’t locked the way they should be. Assuming he set the fail-safe correctly for his personal vault, only Colin and I will have access to its contents. If by some miracle you do find it, come back here and get me.”
And what if Colin realizes you’re all that stands between him and every paranormal object you possess? But Sanguine didn’t need yet another impending disaster to distract her from finding Kendell. “I’ll fly along the river with my helpers. If I find anything suspicious, you can bet I’ll make a beeline back here. Be ready for me when I return.”
44
Colin knew he’d set off a hornet’s nest of activity by abducting Kendell’s spirit. Negotiations often necessitated a certain amount of chaos. The process was like hitting a cue ball too hard on a pool table. The remaining balls’ random trajectories could end up blocking his progress. However, the upside was that he might reveal an unexpected weakness in his opponent through the random collisions.
Pissing off Sanguine so completely, however, was like causing a billiard ball to ricochet so hard it kicked the cue ball off the table. Any game of manipulation required a degree of true emotion. His strength had always been his ability to care but, when the moment was right, to jettison the connection as easily as throwing out the trash. This time, however, the garbage can wouldn’t empty. The danger had always been that he’d cram so much feeling into the limited space of his heart that love would jam itself tightly against the walls and refuse to leave. I’ve played the game too long.
Though time was against him, giving panic a chance to take hold of the team had its uses. He sat in his chair in the condo and watched the sun rise over the river. To be brutally honest with himself, he missed having Sanguine sitting next to him. In Annie’s body, she was a fun play partner, but arguing with her in person cemented his feelings for her like concrete that had been poured around his galoshes and left to harden—and having her storm off was like being thrown in the river to drown.
He picked up the drawing of the baron’s children and thought about the pipe tool in his pocket. From the moment Serephine had unintentionally killed herself with the pipe tool, he’d learned to isolate his love. But with Sanguine taking up so much space in his heart, even the hundred-year-old drawing brought tears to his eyes.
Enough sentimentality. Though he didn’t yet have the magic walking stick, he needed to attempt entry into the bank Baron Malveaux had called home. Maybe he couldn’t force Baron Samedi to come out into the open, but Colin’s presence would certainly put the loa of the dead on notice. Surprise attacks had their uses, but so did the apprehension of knowing an adversary was taking aim. Baron Samedi was resting too easily in Guinee.
Colin rolled up the drawing to bring with him. The pastel had no business in his condo. It only served to remind him of a life that had never really existed.
Out on the street, the wind swirled around him as if nature itself were in turmoil. How connected are you to this reality, sexy angel? And how can I use that to my advantage? Surely, you must find life boring after having commanded so much power in this afterlife. I know I do.
He found it hard not to think about her. Without meaning to, he stopped at the confluence of white lines that delineated the parking spaces where he’d argued with her. He could nearly envision the differing events that had brought the two of them to that very spot just like the white painted arrows. I’ll see her again soon enough.
As Baron Malveaux, he’d heard many dead souls lament their plight as the result of being distracted at the wrong time. Baron Samedi wasn’t the type of spirit Colin would go against without his razor-sharp cunning honed to a clean edge. He walked through the parking lot without giving the markings another glance.
On entering the bank, he expected some form of recognition, but the workers toiled away like antique windup toys. Even the guard who stood watch to make sure none of the customers wandered into the inner offices looked more like a toy soldier than a real threat. Colin walked past him as if the man were made of stone.
“About time you showed up.”
Colin felt the familiar cold shiver run down his back at hearing his mother’s voice. He turned in to her office. “I didn’t think you cared what I did.”
“I don’t, but as you are the heir to the Laroque fortune, I try to keep tabs on what’s happening with you.”
Colin had dealt with enough of Kendell and Sanguine’s fake people to recognize a real human when he heard one. “And what do your spies tell you?”
“That you need my help.”
He was grateful she didn’t feel the need to rehash his recent history. The woman never did have time for discussing useless information. “If you know my situation, you’ll understand why I ask how it is that you’re here.”
“You and the old baron weren’t the only members of this family to consult with the voodoo priestesses. Delphine and I have an understanding: I don’t interfere with her activities, and she keeps me informed regarding threats to my dynasty. When I received the voodoo-doll invitation, I knew it wasn’t to a masquerade ball. She was sending me a warning. But it wasn’t until Kendell and Myles showed up here, looking to enter Baron Malveaux’s old office, that I knew something was up. That little guitarist and her dullard boyfriend aren’t the brightest when it comes to subterfuge. I can’t believe they’re your primary adversaries.” She held out her hands as if she’d never seen them before. “It didn’t take me long to figure out how to operate this little toy. Your being cast into hell represents a sizable roadblock to our future—and a potential benefit. As you hadn’t up until now tried to make contact with me, I assumed you had control of the game.”
He’d never cared for her patronizing attitude. “What makes you think I’m here for your help?”
“You’d be a fool to try to take on the living and the damned without assistance. And you’ve never played the fool.”
He sat opposite her behind the desk. “You know about Baron Samedi?”
She sighed in the exasperated way she’d done when he’d been caught lying as a child. The problem was never the offense, but his having been discovered was unpardonable. “First of all, if you had really intended on keeping your union with our ancestor a secret, you should have continued with business as usual. Changing your name and walking away from your responsibilities removed any doubt as to your true identity. Since losing is never something you’ve accepted—either as
Baron Malveaux or Lincoln Laroque—I knew the time would come when you’d challenge Samedi for control over Guinee. Personally, I find the whole escapade a waste of time and energy. Being a master of purgatory is like being a doorman at Walmart—eventually, you see everyone funneled through the gates.”
“My goal was never just to rule the afterlife. Being able to resurrect the dead, however, would give me a control over people that’s unequaled even by God himself.”
She pushed her chair back from her desk. “Interesting.”
“Why, Mother, that may be the first time I’ve seen you impressed by anything I said.”
She put her fingers together at her mouth as if figuring out how to capitalize on his idea. “You’re finally talking about something worthy of your heritage. A power like that would transcend wars, money, and politics. As the undisputed head of Guinee, would you be able to return people to life?”
“Not on its own. As you said, I did take over Guinee for a time. That victory was only the first step. Returning to life was where I failed. I came close, but possessing Myles’s body wasn’t sufficient. As you must have witnessed, inhabiting another person included too many pitfalls. Now that the baron and Lincoln are one in this body, I should succeed. But to move between dimensions, I need Baron Samedi’s cane. Once I have that, I can return to Guinee to reassert my dominance. Then, when I walk among people again, it will be as a god. Now, tell me how all your money is going to help, because I’m not seeing how you’re of any use at all.”
He stood up and left the woman’s office, grateful to have finally had the chance to tell her off. Her dominance over the son she’d never accepted as a man had ended. Good luck being one of those I resurrect.
The grand wood-paneled office was just as he remembered—no sign of Baron Samedi. With the help of Kendell and her team, Samedi had returned to Guinee.
“You might watch this seventh gate between life and death, but this hell is neither one. You were never welcome here, but I invite you back. Like boxers meeting before a fight, we should at least honor the niceties.” He fell into the plush leather high-backed chair and let the drawing of his kids unfurl on the desk. The room felt like home. He kicked his feet up onto the desk and closed his eyes.
“Hello, Papa.”
Though anything was possible in his private hell, Colin suspected he was dreaming his daughter’s voice. If so, he didn’t want to break the illusion.
Slowly he opened his eyes to ensure the spell remained. “Serephine?” His heart ached at the sight of his seven-year-old daughter standing next to her brother.
“It’s me, Papa. Antoine said now that Mother gave you the picture of us, we could come out of hiding, but only if you came to us. I missed you, Papa.”
He didn’t even want to blink for fear she might disappear. “I missed you too, my darling girl. What are you doing here?”
“We’re here to save you.” Her sweet, innocent voice brought back memories he’d suppressed long ago.
“Remember what we talked about, Sere.” Antoine’s tone made it clear that Baron Malveaux, in the form of Colin, wasn’t going to get off that easily.
She turned her trusting big blue eyes toward her brother. “But we’re here already. That must mean he’s better now.”
Antoine walked up to the desk and sat in the chair opposite Colin. Serephine joined her brother but remained standing slightly behind him as if needing his protection.
“Prove to us that you’re worthy of forgiveness,” Antoine said. “I want you to look into Serephine’s eyes while you make your case. You never could lie to her.”
Colin would have preferred trial by fire over having to look into his daughter’s trusting blue eyes. “What happened to you was my first true sin. I should have been able to protect you.”
Antoine drummed on the desk with his fingers. “You’ll have to do better than that. She didn’t die because you turned your back on her for a minute like an inattentive father. She killed herself over your deeds. That’s the ugly truth you refuse to face.”
“She died from the curse,” Colin said. “There was nothing intentional in how the blade slit her wrist. She was only a child.”
Like a human lie detector, Serephine’s face told a different story, though she remained silent.
Colin knew it was pointless to dodge the truth. “Maybe it doesn’t matter. My sins were the basis of the curse, and Serephine was the first victim. I wish I could say that if it were possible, I would have lived my life differently so the curse would never touch you—either of you. But that person I was didn’t see any roadblocks ahead, only opportunities for the taking.” He looked into the sky-blue eyes of his daughter. “I’ve seen what was possible in an alternate reality—one where I didn’t cause your death. But that man wasn’t who I was as your father, and I’ve had to live with that knowledge for far too long. I would move heaven and hell to have you back.”
Colin turned to Antoine. “As for you, I don’t even have an alternate reality to go on. Every man must one day surpass his father. You did so at an early age. I bear no credit for the man you became, only guilt for causing the drive that made you protect our family from the curse for so long. There are no words capable of carrying the sorrow that I feel for my actions. You spoke of forgiveness. My asking for it would imply the possibility of you giving it, but you’re not the only one who looked into the darkness of my soul. Even if you were such an advanced being that you were able to grant the ungrantable, I’d never be able to do the same. I am the judge who denies my pardon.”
Serephine came around the desk and kissed him on the cheek. She then opened the top drawer of the desk and removed a pastel drawing hidden underneath. “This is so you won’t forget. True forgiveness is a life-long journey, not a destination.”
He looked at the page covered in renditions of the young girl’s eyes. Each one seemed to stare straight into his soul.
* * *
Colin jolted out of his sleep in the office chair. “I was dreaming.”
His foot slid on the desk, causing him to momentarily lose his balance. When he set his feet on the floor and straightened himself up, he saw the old vellum sheet covered in drawings of Serephine’s eyes. This is still hell, and not everything is real. It would be just like Sanguine to mess with my emotions. Her manipulation of my feelings seems more plausible than meeting with my kids who have long ago passed into the deep waters.
Even though he gave himself a plausible explanation, the drawing tugged at the love he’d long ago set aside. He pulled an empty file folder from the bottom drawer of his desk, put the two pastel drawings inside, and stashed it away in the top drawer.
“She was a lovely girl.” Baron Samedi’s familiar voice roused Colin from his emotional contemplation.
“So you’re the one who conjured the ghosts from my past. It’s still a little early for A Christmas Carol.”
Baron Samedi frowned and tilted his head as if considering the comparison of Colin to Ebenezer Scrooge. “It’s not for me to say if you could be redeemed. As for the children, I didn’t so much conjure them as allow them into your reality. You’re familiar enough with time and dimension to not need an explanation. They were quite real.”
Colin picked the drawing back up from his desk. “And what am I supposed to learn from this?”
“I’m only the ticket taker at the movie theater. But if you weren’t here to see them, what are you doing back in the bank?”
Why would you think I would know about them? The yellowed vellum in his hands gave him the same feeling of peace as the pastel Fleurentine had given him. As she’d drawn both, he’d discounted his reaction to family sentimentality.
He reexamined the sheet. For some unknown reason, it reminded him of the plastic guitar pick. Time for this later. “Actually, I came to see you.”
The voodoo loa sat back in the leather chair opposite Colin. “I can’t imagine why.”
“Call it professional courtesy. I’m going to retrieve my can
e. Once I do, I’ll be coming back to Guinee to reassert my authority.”
Baron Samedi tilted his head and looked at Colin out of the corners of his eyes. “I’ve never known you to divulge your plan to an adversary.”
“I’m hoping to avoid any unpleasantness. I’ve taken over your world once. You know I can do it again. I’d prefer a cooperative approach this time. Guinee isn’t my final destination.”
The spirit unfolded his legs and leaned forward, elbows on knees. “What are you up to?”
“We have a common oppressor—Papa Ghede. He’s the one who set the rules of life and death a hundred thousand years ago. If I’ve learned nothing else in this hell, I now know death is not inevitable.”
Colin could practically see the wheels turning in Samedi’s mind. Overthrowing the supreme spirit wasn’t something to take lightly. “That’s why we’re meeting here in your hell, isn’t it? To wait until you’ve got the cane and then return to Guinee for the discussion would mean a one-way ticket to the deep waters—even for a loa of the dead. But again, why trust me?”
“I possessed that cane before, but I didn’t have full use of its powers. You and Myles unintentionally showed me what it could do. We first met because you used that cane to leave Guinee for your Mardi Gras vacation. I should have seen then how you traveled between dimensions. Then Myles played the same game to make me chase Kendell around from realm to realm until I ended up back where I started in this hell. I’m not asking you to retrieve the walking stick for me. All I want is your assurance that you won’t stand in my way. I know you’re the one who limited its use.”
The man’s dark eyes didn’t give anything away. “But if ruling Guinee isn’t your objective, what are you up to?”
Forming a collaboration always carried the risk of the prospective partner taking all the power for himself, but as the one making the proposal, Colin knew he’d have to honestly divulge his plan if he was to gain Samedi’s assistance. “You and the other loas of the dead guard the seven gates, making entry into the deep waters a rite of passage all people must endure. I’ve spent enough time in your world to know not everyone seeks that privilege. With your walking stick, it’s possible for a soul to move between dimensions. By using the cane combined with Delphine’s voodoo totem, Myles has not only proven that concept, but he’s also shown me that he can take others along for the ride. Of course, I can’t bring people back from the deep waters, but I could rescue them from Guinee. The loas of the dead have no right to block the path back to life. Humanity has suffered death long enough.”
