“An unrequited love can be a dangerous thing,” Brayden said.
I chuckled. “You have a pretty large vocabulary for a kid.”
Brayden nodded. “Spelling bee champion of the Gulf region, two years in a row.”
“No shit!” I said. “How’d you pull that off?”
“I got bored down here. Thought I’d try competing in something that normal kids do.”
I laughed. “Spelling bees aren’t exactly won by normal kids either. But I see your point.”
Brayden nodded. “I trust Pauli, who insists that you are the best one aside from me to win this thing. So I’m going to do what I can to see that you do.”
“In truth, I’m not really sure how much I want to win either. If the winner gets Dumballah’s blessing, I might have some use for that. But High Mambo? Not really my style.”
Brayden shrugged. “Not sure it is anyone’s style. But the queen chose you. If anything, learn from her—she has her own style. When she won, her role didn’t define her. She defined the role.”
I grinned. “Any chance you know a way to find her?”
Brayden shook his head. “If anyone knew, I probably would. You know, on account of my aspect.”
“Pauli said you can pretty much teleport anywhere in the world in an instant. Is that true?”
“If I can visualize it, yes. But I don’t know where Marie Laveau lives. No one does. Since I can’t see it, can’t visualize it, I really don’t know any more than anyone else does about where the Voodoo queen resides.”
“So strange,” I said. “You’d think she’d have a castle or some shit. Some place where people could go to petition her.”
“She has that,” Brayden said. “Her tomb. People all around the world visit her there, make petitions, and draw three x’s there. They come back and circle their x’s when she grants their request.”
“I’ve seen it,” I admitted. “But I just assumed all that was superstition.”
Brayden smiled widely. “There’s a fine line between superstition and truth in the world of Voodoo.”
I nodded. “Any idea what’s in store for the second trial?”
Brayden nodded. “I believe it will involve dollcraft. I can’t say much more than that. But we’ll want to focus on Dudley.”
“Since College Samedi can manipulate the souls of the dead through Voodoo dolls?”
Brayden nodded. “It gives him a unique advantage. We’ll be limited to constructing dolls of the living, more or less. But he’ll be able to call forth the spirit of anyone who has died to his aid.”
“Won’t that be utilizing his aspect and disqualify him?”
Brayden shook his head. “I’m not sure if that counts. Samedi’s aspect isn’t like ours. It isn’t a power you access. It’s more innate, more intuitive.”
I nodded. I actually knew that. I had been vested with the green Baron Samedi’s aspect for a few months now. It was what allowed me to come back to life, more or less, when I’d been separated from my body in the land of the dead. But I did have the ability to see ghosts. I didn’t see them often. In truth, there aren’t that many lingering around. Most move on. It’s one ability that supposedly comes with the Baron’s aspect—I hadn’t put two and two together, though, until the Baron himself gave me the chance to resurrect myself.
I took a deep breath. How much could I really trust Brayden, anyway? I trusted Pauli, so that was enough. “I actually have Samedi’s aspect. Don’t know what to do with it. But it’s there, somewhere.”
Brayden raised an eyebrow. “How in the name of Bondye did you get his aspect too?”
“Long story. But I’m sure you know some of what happened before. You know, with Mercy and Ramon. With Nico.”
Brayden nodded.
“I’d come back from the land of the dead in order to help Nico fulfill his bargain with Baron Samedi. Nico got his soul back in exchange for allowing the green Baron to utilize his body as a new host.”
“A new host? Baron Samedi has used the same host for a millennia or more. Rumor has it that his usual host had been a Babylonian.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Didn’t know that. Impressive.”
Brayden nodded. “So he was giving Nico his soul back… just to mount him.”
“He was going to allow Nico to be at rest, give him his soul back so he could die as a human, so he could rest in peace.”
“And then Kalfu happened.”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
“And you got the Baron’s aspect how?”
“The first time I brought the Baron back, the first time we fought Kalfu and imprisoned him inside of Pauli. He’d given it to me then, but I didn’t know it. Then when we went to the land of the dead, Isabelle took over… and my soul was lost.”
“Until the Baron brought you back, through the aspect he’d given you.”
I nodded.
“Well that’s something. But without a Ghede Loa to train you in it, I’m not sure what we can do. It’s like having a nuclear silo on your property without the launch codes.”
“An apropos metaphor, I suppose,” I said. “And I’m not exactly in the mood to go nuclear, either. Everyone already knows about Isabelle, which means…”
“It means you can’t trust anyone.”
I nodded. “Not the Loa anyway. They are all wanting to use the power she has for whatever their own agendas are.”
“And you aren’t worried that Oggie is manipulating you, too?”
“It has crossed my mind. But he’s saved me more than once. Until he gives me a reason not to trust him, I think he’s earned the benefit of the doubt.”
“If you say so.”
I put my hands on my hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Only that the Loa do not do what they do out of charity. If he is helping you, or has helped you in the past, he’s getting something out of it.”
“I don’t doubt he is. But people are like that, too. Not many of us help others out of the goodness of our hearts. Even when we do nice things, it’s usually selfish. We do it because it makes us feel better. It allows us to go on imagining that we’re actually good people when we know we’re just as shitty as anyone else deep down.”
“That’s a pretty pessimistic way to look at the world,” Brayden said. “You don’t think there’s more to it than that?”
I shook my head. “When you’ve been through the shit I’ve been through, you don’t tend to look at the world through rose-colored glasses.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to look at it through poop-colored glasses.”
I laughed out loud. “Poop-colored?”
“Shut up. It’s the first thing that came to mind. I’m still a kid, you know. I still think poop is funny.”
“Farts, too?”
“Hilarious!”
“Of course,” I chuckled. “Well I appreciate the alliance. I wish I knew a way to use the Baron’s aspect to even the score.”
Brayden shook his head. “He’s been training in his aspect for a while now. If you’re face-to-face with a samurai, are you going to try to take him down with your sword?”
I smiled. “Probably not. I’d need to go at him with something else. Draw a gun maybe. Like Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom.”
“Indiana who?”
“Never mind.” I grinned. “You probably wouldn’t like it. It has Voodoo in it, but it’s all stereotypical shit. But there’s a scene where some type of sword-wielding master is coming after Indiana and he faces off with him, draws his gun, and drops him in an instant.”
“Then I guess yes. Like Indiana Jones. That’s how we have to go after Dudley.”
“But if the rules don’t allow us to use our aspects…”
“We don’t need to,” Brayden said. “When it comes do dollcraft, it’s no secret that College Samedi excels beyond the rest. But that’s because they rely on their unique ability to construct dolls from the dead.”
“So you’re suggesting another a
pproach?”
“I’m suggesting we focus on the craft itself. We need to learn as much about dollcraft as possible and use the pure art in the most potent way possible. If only we could convince Mambo Hannigan to see us, maybe she could train us.”
“Or we could do some reading. I think I might have something that would help.”
“A book… on dollcraft?” Brayden looked at me incredulously.
“Not exactly. But it’s a pretty powerful book no less. But if we’re going to research it, we need someplace private to meet. Somewhere no one will find us.”
“How about your place?”
“The plantation?” I asked.
Brayden nodded.
“All right. You know how to get there?”
“Aida-Wedo, remember. Pauli knows my number. Text me a picture when you get there. Doesn’t matter what. Just a picture with enough space in it that I can get there. I’ll be waiting on the surface so I can get a signal.”
“Okay. Second trial is in three days. Meet tomorrow?”
“Sounds good,” Brayden said. “Six o’clock work for you?”
“Dude, you serious? I need some time to drive over there.”
“Not with Pauli, you don’t.”
Chapter Fourteen
Riding the rainbow with Pauli is an exhilarating experience—and I mean that without any innuendos implied. It’s like every bond between every molecule in your body is suddenly released… all the tension in your body gone, all the stress dissipated. It’s like one big “reset” button on your nervous system.
“Dude, that shit’s better than Ben Gay.”
Pauli looked at me expressionless—which was kind of the look that accompanied any emotion he might express in boa constrictor form. “Are you really going to lob one up like that so easily?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ben Gay… how can I not crack a joke about that?”
“Obviously you didn’t think of a good one; otherwise, you’d just say it rather than quip about how you could be making a joke of it.”
“You caught me,” Pauli said. “But I’ve always Ben Gay.”
“See, your jokes are weak today.” I shook my head. “Let me snap that photo so Brayden can fly here. Ashley and Mikah should be on their way in the Camaro.”
I snapped a picture of the front porch of my family’s plantation home. Seconds later a beam of light illuminated the steps and Brayden appeared on top of them.
“Dude, how you can do that from just a photo?” Pauli said. “I bow before you, Master Brayden.”
“How does a snake bow, anyway?” I asked. “I mean, you don’t have a waist. So how do you know where to bend?”
“I just kind of nod my head,” Pauli said, moving his head up and down. “See, like this.”
I smiled widely and looked back at Brayden. “So, you ready to take a look at this book?” I held it up in front of my face.
Brayden’s eyes went wide. “How in the world did you get that? The quill of Laveau…”
“It’s what she made with Dumballah’s blessing.”
“No. I mean, yes. It is. But that’s not what I was going to say. Years ago some of her writings fell into the wrong hands. The Bokors who stole it tried to use what they found to their advantage—but as the story goes, when they followed what she’d written, it took them to a final prophecy, one that led them directly to their own doom.”
“Well, I think she intends for me to have this. I didn’t steal it.”
“Then where did you get it?”
“The library.”
Brayden looked at me incredulously. “No, really.”
“I’m serious. I picked it up off the Voodoo shelves at the library.”
“That makes no sense. A book like this would be guarded, protected. She wouldn’t allow it to simply go into circulation at the Academy library.”
“Which is why I believe she intended for me to find it. The book talks about me, about Isabelle. She gave me the candle spell I used during the first trial.”
“Can I take a look?” Brayden asked.
I quickly looked to Pauli, and he nodded—more like moved his head up and down. He either had no neck at all, on account of being a snake, or he was nothing but head and neck. Either way you look at it, nodding was awkward.
I opened the front door to the house and gestured for Brayden to walk in. Pauli teleported himself to the top of the kitchen table. I set the book down and opened it up.
“Check this out,” I said as I pointed to a passage on the page following the candle spell and read it aloud. “The victors twice shall unite in pursuit of overcoming the favored thrice.”
“The victors twice. Do you think that’s about you and me?” Brayden asked.
“Since we established an alliance. It also would suggest, though, that the other three might be united, too.”
“The axis of evil!” Pauli interjected, doing his best, though still horrible, impersonation of a former president.
“How do you even remember that?” I asked Pauli. “We were basically babies when he was president.”
“I saw the Dubya movie,” Pauli said.
“So you might as well have been there,” I said, smiling.
Brayden was still staring at the page. “There’s nothing here that says we will succeed. It doesn’t say we’re going to beat them. Only that we will unite trying to beat them.”
“Well the way I look at it, Marie chose me to compete for a reason. I assume she wanted me to win.”
Brayden shook his head. “Or she wanted you to compete so that you could lose, or maybe she just wanted you to expose Erzulie’s bias and fraud to all of Vilokan, which you did already. I don’t think we can assume anything about what the Voodoo queen’s intentions were.”
“I’m not assuming anything, other than that she wants me to win,” I said. “However, she wanted me to have this book. I followed it, and things worked out the first round.”
“She might be done with you now.”
“Seems like a lot of effort to go to just to embarrass Erzulie. I have to think there’s more at stake than what has already happened for Marie Laveau to go out of her way to nominate me, then to somehow arrange that I’d discover this book at just the right time.”
“You’re probably right,” Brayden said. “I’m not saying she doesn’t want you to win. I’m just suggesting that we shouldn’t assume she does either. That might not be her end game here.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “But the book has gotten me this far. I’m not about to start questioning it without good reason.”
“The title has to mean something… Death Rites. Why would she call it that? I mean, the Trials are in honor of Nico, but that’s just a formality. They weren’t called because of him. They were called to unite Vilokan against Kalfu.”
BANG!
“What the fuck was that?” I asked out loud. I didn’t really expect Brayden to know—but Isabelle might.
I don’t sense anyone out there. Maybe the wind?
BANG!
“That’s not the wind. Someone’s throwing shit at the front door.”
I stood up and stormed toward the door and threw it open.
I gasped.
Her long dark hair. Her heels. The look in her eye that said “I own you.”
I called Beli’s name, summoning my soul blade in my right hand. I didn’t know what she wanted, but I was pretty sure she wasn’t stopping by for a glass of sweet tea. “Mercy. What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
“Unless you can help my parents, there’s nothing we need to talk about.”
“It’s about the Death Rites.”
I squinted my eyes and looked back at Brayden. Pauli slithered around the book and teleported away—this wasn’t a book that should fall into the hands of a vampire. Especially not one as insidious as Mercy Brown.
Chapter Fifteen
“How do you know about Death Rites?” I asked, still gri
pping my soul blade, ready to swing if she tried to get too close.
“Nico knew about it. He’s in the book… his picture.”
“That shirtless man that Marie drew on every other page is Nico?”
Mercy took a deep breath. “Nico and Marie, they were lovers.”
I rolled my eyes. “Vampire Nico and the Voodoo queen were lovers? You have to be shitting me.”
“I’m as serious as I am dead. You need to know what it means. What Erzulie is really planning.”
I willed my blade to turn into a stake—a form Beli loved to take when in the presence of vamps. I wasn’t going to go after Mercy, but I wanted her to know that I could.
“You don’t have to fear me,” Mercy said. “My powers are gone. Kalfu took them when he bit me.”
“But you’re still a vampire.”
“And technically one of your classmates, if Erzulie hasn’t officially expelled me yet.”
I bit my lip. Technically, as far as I knew, she hadn’t been expelled. But the Shaman’s ward, the one Ashley cast to protect Vilokan and the Academy from Kalfu, would also exclude vampires. She was as good as expelled, even if Erzulie hadn’t specifically indicated it. “What do you have to say?”
“Put that thing away, come out here with the book, and we’ll talk.”
I took a deep breath. “Before I decide if I’m going to hear you out, you have to answer two questions for me.”
“Anything,” Mercy said. “I’m not sure my answers will satisfy you, but I’ll tell you the truth.”
“First, what have you done with my parents and why haven’t you allowed them to see me.”
“That’s two questions.”
“Consider it question 1A and 1B.”
Mercy smirked. “Your parents are fine. I’m helping them tame their bloodlust. So, you should be grateful. Let them feed unrestrained and hunters would be on them faster than flies on shit.”
“And why haven’t you let them see Ashley and me?”
“Because taming a new vampire’s bloodlust requires emotional detachment. Any surge of emotion—love, lust, anger, hate, whatever—can trigger a craving.”
I coughed twice over my shoulder, indicating to Isabelle that I wanted her opinion.
Death Rites Page 8
