Seems reasonable… I mean, if what she says about vampire cravings is true, then I’d say we should be grateful.
I took a deep breath. “All right, second question.”
“Shoot,” Mercy said.
“Why did you attack Nico?”
Mercy laughed. “I should have expected that question, I suppose.”
“He just wanted to die in peace. So what was it? Lust for his power?”
“Basically, yes. You realize that we don’t really feed on blood. It’s blood that carries with it a taste of the soul. It wasn’t his soul I was after, but a bit of those other souls who were leaving his body as his returned, as the Baron started to take over. I didn’t want those powers to go to waste, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d need them to fend of Kalfu.”
“Well that plan turned to shit almost immediately.”
Mercy nodded. “If I had acquired those powers, I’d have had a fighting chance against Kalfu. Now… it’s too late for that.”
“So you aren’t working with Kalfu now?”
“First, I agreed to two questions. But I’ll let that one slide. The short answer is hell no. Why the fuck do you think I’d be working with him?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Figured his bite might have turned you into something like him.”
Mercy rolled her red, beady eyes. “Kalfu’s bite isn’t like mine. Not everyone I bite will be turned, of course. Some will die.”
“And become zombies anyway.”
Mercy shook her head. “Only if I choose to animate them, and typically a vivified corpse is more of an annoyance than it’s worth. All that snarling, and the stench… who wants that?”
“But Kalfu’s bite is different?”
“Kalfu craves vampire blood—but when he bites us his aspect isn’t contagious. He doesn’t turn us. He just takes. Takes our power, takes whatever the souls we’ve fed upon have granted us over the centuries. I can’t speak for what happens if he bites a human.”
I suddenly felt a weight on my shoulders. “I can speak to that!” Pauli exclaimed.
Mercy cocked her head. “Did he just talk?”
“This is Pauli,” I said. “Long story, but they transferred his soul to this snake before Kalfu took over.”
“Intriguing,” Mercy said, narrowing her eyes. “Can I pet it?”
“Hells no you can’t!” Pauli protested. “What do you think I am, a two-dollar whore?”
Mercy smirked. “I’ll be damned. It is Pauli.”
“And as I was going to say,” Pauli said, hissing a bit on the s of say, “when Kalfu bit me the first time, he did infect me as a human. But not with his essence. It was his whole fucking presence.”
Mercy’s eyes widened. “So he can take whoever he bites as a host…”
“If he wants,” Pauli added. “I had plenty of time getting to know the fucker when he was rattling around in my head. If he doesn’t want to possess you, his bite will just leave a nasty wound.”
Mercy nodded. “At least we shouldn’t have to worry about him duplicating himself. But I do know where he is.”
“You do?” I asked. “Where is he?”
“I’ll tell you, after we go over the book. That’s the reason I’m here. I have to make sure you know how to read it, what it means.”
“You are here to help us out of the goodness of your heart?”
Mercy scoffed. “What heart? No, I’m here on admittedly mixed motives. In truth, if Nico didn’t make me promise that I’d see this through after his eventual death, I’d just as soon allow Erzulie to proceed with her plans.”
“Her plans?” I asked. “She intends to unite Vilokan through the Trials, by appointing a new High Mambo or Hougan.”
“That’s all bullshit,” Mercy said. “And the truth is in that book. I can show you…”
I took a deep breath and stroked Pauli’s neck. “All right. Pauli, go get Brayden, wherever he went. And get the book from wherever you took it.”
“Are you sure?” Pauli asked.
I shook my head. “Not really, but we need to find out how to read this thing, and if Mercy knows…”
Pauli disappeared, and a few seconds later Brayden appeared behind me, Pauli now draped on his shoulders for a change. Death Rites was tucked under Brayden’s arm.
“Thanks for watching the book,” I told him.
Brayden narrowed his eyes. “I’m not sure the queen would approve of sharing this with a vampire.”
“Turn the book to page two hundred thirty-five,” Mercy said.
I nodded at Brayden, who flipped through the pages. “All right, what are we looking at here?”
“I have the page memorized. You can check me as I recite it if you’d like—but Nico made sure I committed it to memory.”
“All right,” I said. “Go for it.”
“My love, my love, ancient and yet unborn. Your soul seeks slumber, but they give it not. Your spirit deserves peace, but they withhold it for gain. The one who boasts of love seeks not to free you, but to bind you and all your magnificent power. Stall not the death rites. For your hope depends on one who is as she would have you become.”
I bit my cheek. I hadn’t even gotten to this passage before, and if I had I probably wouldn’t have understood it. But to know that these words were spoken to Nico illuminated their meaning.
“Are those words correct?” I asked Brayden.
“Her recitation is perfect.”
“I’m no stranger to this book,” Mercy said. “And what she speaks of… she seeks to imprison Nico’s spirit in the body of another. She wants to make Nico like you and Isabelle.”
“She wants to soul-fuse him in someone else?”
Mercy nodded. “So that they will inherit what power he still possesses in his soul. For the Baron released him even as I bit him. I did not possess Nico’s soul, for even a second, before Kalfu bit me. I only claimed the Baron… and through me, Kalfu got him.”
“So Nico’s soul remains intact,” I said. “And his powers…”
“Erzulie wants to trap his soul in someone else’s body. She wants to use his power against Kalfu.”
I took a deep breath. In truth, I wasn’t sure that Erzulie’s plan was all bad. I mean, it wasn’t that much unlike what Mercy had tried to do when she bit Nico to begin with. Claim Nico’s powers, turn them against Kalfu.
“So why do you care?” I asked. “I mean, if you were going to claim Nico’s powers yourself…”
“Two reasons. First, I genuinely want Nico to be at rest. It’s what he wants. But second, and just as importantly, if I thought Erzulie’s plan would work I might entertain it. But it won’t. Turn the page.”
Brayden turned the book one page over and read it aloud. “Should she who is two in one fail to see the death rites fulfilled, the one who claims my beloved will soon fall to the foe. The victor shall become the victim, a vessel to deliver my beloved’s power to the demon of the crossroads.”
“So whoever wins, whoever gets to absorb Nico’s soul, will soon be overcome by Kalfu…”
“It would be like delivering Nico’s power to Kalfu on a silver platter,” Mercy said. “Erzulie is the Loa of love, but she trifles in matters of death and war, the domains of Samedi and Ogoun. Her naivety will damn us all.”
I sighed. “So what would you have me do about it, Mercy?”
“You have to win,” Mercy said. “I suspect that Erzulie was not at all pleased to see you nominated for the Trials.”
“That would be putting it mildly,” I said, grinning widely.
“Because if you won, you’re already soul-fused to Isabelle. She needs a blank slate.”
“Not to mention, Nico never liked me, nor I him.”
“You could say that again,” Mercy said.
I cleared my throat. “I’m just saying, there’s no love lost between us. But I do respect him enough as a person…”
“And you feel guilty for damning him to centuries of life as a vampire.”
“That, too,” I said. “But that wasn’t all my fault.”
“He blamed you for it,” Mercy said. “But that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that you do whatever it takes to prevent his soul from being forced into another body.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “If Erzulie wants to do this why doesn’t she just choose someone and put Nico’s soul into them? Why bother with the Trials?”
Mercy smirked. “Soul fusing is traditionally a practice of the bokors. The trials are a way she probably hopes to save face. Vest the winner with accolades, grant the new High Mambo or Hougan some extra power, and do it all in the name of defeating Kalfu.”
“So she’s basically covering up her pile of shit with snow and hoping everyone finds it pretty.”
Mercy nodded. “The metaphor is crass, but not inappropriate. When you win, it will fuck up Erzulie’s face-saving plan. She’ll either have to honor the tradition and attempt to fuse him with both of you, or she’ll pull some shenanigans and try to fuse him to someone else. You need to win so you can force her hand. If she tries to fuse Nico’s soul to you, you can reject it and allow him to escape, you can help him move on. If she bails and tries to force him on someone else, she’ll have the whole of Vilokan demanding her head. That will give you an advantage to hopefully stop her in time.”
“So the winner won’t receive Dumballah’s blessing?”
Mercy shook her head. “The winner of the Trials will become Nico’s new host. That is, if she has her way and finds a reason to eliminate you from the Trials.”
“She already tried once,” I said. “And she prevented Tressa from being eliminated.”
“Of course she did,” Mercy said. “Tressa has her aspect; it would give her control. She has to be Erzulie’s favorite to win. Who are the other competitors?”
“Dudley and Sauron,” I said.
“Nico’s former mentor and his friend, a girl who loved him but he never loved in return. There are reasons why any of them might be best suited, from Erzulie’s perspective, to host Nico and his power.”
“But if I became host…”
“If it was possible to be soul-fused three ways, which is questionable, you’d be too powerful. What you can do already makes the Loa uncomfortable. You are the only one who could basically send them out of this world entirely, even while possessing their hosts.”
I nodded. “I’m a threat, that’s why she wants me to lose.”
Mercy nodded. “But that’s also why you’re going to win.”
“One more question,” I said, “if you’ll allow me a third.”
“Depends on the question.”
“How did you know I’d have the book?”
“Turn to the last page,” Mercy said, gesturing toward Brayden.
He opened it and began to read. “When the death rites are inaugurated, she who is two in one shall come into possession of this prophecy. May it guide her well.”
A tingle coursed down my spine. “Still doesn’t explain how the book ended up in the library.”
Mercy shook her head. “Nico had this book at Casa do Diabo. He’d just had it re-bound. That’s why it seems so new. I wasn’t sure why. He was always doing trivial shit that I never understood, so I didn’t think much of it. He must’ve had a plan to see the book fall into your hands. Someone must’ve taken it and brought it to the Academy. Someone who could get past the wards of both our house and those set up at the Academy.”
“Well that rules out anyone with Oggie’s aspect, since you all saw to it that we couldn’t get inside your lair.”
“And it couldn’t have been a vampire since we can’t get into Vilokan. There’s only one powerful enough to pull this off…”
“Marie Laveau.”
“I’m reasonably certain she retrieved the book from Casa do Diabo herself. Still, if she went to the Academy herself, someone would notice. She’s powerful, but she isn’t like your friends from Aida-Wedo. She doesn’t teleport like that. Whoever brought it to the Academy was doing her bidding. Someone on the inside who is keen to her plans.”
“Well at least that means we have a friend on the inside,” I said. “Mercy, before you go, the second trial has something to do with dollcraft. Any thoughts where in this book there might be something that would help?”
Mercy grinned widely, showing off her fangs, which glistened in dawn’s rising light—a sure sign that her departure was imminent. “Look at page one hundred and fifty-three.”
Brayden opened the book and began flipping through the pages. I looked back at Mercy, but she was gone.
“How the fuck did she do that? She said she didn’t have any powers left.”
Brayden shook his head. “Vampires move fast, most of them once they’ve managed to quell the craving and grow into their nature. As old as she is, that’s one skill she wouldn’t lose, no matter what Kalfu took from her.”
The vampires I’d staked before—even Ramon—were all consumed with bloodlust. I’d never faced off with one more advanced, with a vampire like Mercy. But one thing was clear—if she’d wanted us dead, or bitten, it would have happened by now. Knowing she could pull it off if she wanted to didn’t sit well with me. We might be on the same side now. She might be helping my parents overcome their own bloodlust. But I suspected she was only doing that so she had some kind of leverage with me. She needed me… she needed to use me, rather. When all this was over, when it was done, Mercy and I would become adversaries again. I’d have to be ready. After all, if feeding on a soul gave her power, I could only guess how much she craved whatever power she might get from both Isabelle and me if she could. For now, I had to focus on the Trials. Mercy and I had a shared interest in them now. Even taking down Kalfu. Eventually, though, she’d turn on me. I was sure of that. It wasn’t a question of if, but of when.
Chapter Sixteen
Brayden, Pauli and I stared at the page Mercy had suggested would help me in the second trial.
“None of this makes sense,” I said, flustered. I stood up from the table and straightened my shirt. Strangely, I wished Mercy hadn’t had to depart so abruptly. Not that I delighted in her presence, even a little, but she seemed to know what all this shit meant. I suppose meeting so early in the morning, combined with the fact that we were almost always in Vilokan after dark, had given her what might have been her only opportunity to confront me. That she had done it so close to sunrise—the sun was just starting to appear on the horizon when she showed up—suggested it was a risk she deemed worth taking. It was a wonder she’d stayed as long as she had.
Maybe Mikah could help…
I huffed.
“If boy genius over here can’t figure it out, fat chance he’ll know what to do.”
“It’s worth giving Mikah a shot,” Pauli said. I sighed. I kept forgetting he could hear Isabelle.
“He’d be here with us if we didn’t have to depend on rainbow travel to get here at the butt crack of dawn,” I said.
“If I hadn’t suggested six o’clock,” Brayden calmly said, “the vampire never would have found us.”
“I thought you didn’t trust her!” I threw my arms in the air.
“I don’t. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t have valuable information. So long as she shares our goals, I think we can rely on her information, even if we can’t trust her.”
I nodded. “Well, the only way we’re going to get ahold of Mikah is if we get our asses back to Vilokan.”
“Don’t rub it in!” Pauli protested. “I can’t get my ass anywhere on account of not having one.”
Brayden cracked a grin. “I think that’s the answer!”
“Pauli’s ass?” I asked.
“Or my lack thereof?” Pauli added.
Brayden shook his head. “No, look at this drawing. The one of shirtless Nico.”
“Looks like something from a steamy romance.”
“But look in his hand.”
“It’s a doll. Like the one he made in class.”
/>
“You were there, I wasn’t. But correct me if I’m wrong. Nico had a Voodoo doll when he went into Vilokan that he could use to manipulate Baron Samedi, correct?”
I don’t like where this is going…
“Me neither, girl!” Pauli added.
Brayden squinted—being the only one in the room who couldn’t hear Isabelle was probably mildly awkward for him. “This drawing implies that he might have still had the doll when he came back to earth. Supposing he held on to it…”
“For centuries?”
Brayden nodded. “If Marie Laveau drew a picture of him holding it, he at least had it that long.”
“Or she was just using a little artistic license.”
“I don’t think so,” Brayden said, pinching his chin. “Laveau’s quill, whatever she wrote with it was prophetic. There wasn’t room for her to be artsy with it. These drawings are not just about her infatuation with Nico’s man chest. It has to have meaning, significance. I’m sure of it.”
“And you realize the one place where the doll might be, right?”
“Casa do Diabo,” Pauli said. “And seeing as though you can’t go in there, I’m guessing you want me to do that for you. Again.”
I shrugged. “Brayden could go with you this time. Both of you can teleport.”
“Worth a shot,” Brayden said. “Vamps don’t scare me.”
“Fuck me sideways,” Pauli cursed.
“How would one do that, exactly?” I asked. “You know, on account of the fact that your whole body is like one big cylinder. Is there really a sideways at all?”
“You’re the one who spotted my cloaca hole, bitch! You should know!”
I laughed out loud. “Fair enough.”
Chapter Seventeen
Standing outside of Casa do Diabo gave me sense of déjà vu. It hadn’t been that long ago, just a few weeks, since I’d been standing here waiting for Pauli to come back—the human Pauli—with intel about my parents. What a difference a few weeks make. Since then I’d discovered that the vampire coven lurking within was led by Nico, who’d been a vampire for several centuries. All the while I’d thought he was still lost somewhere in Guinee. I hadn’t met Mercy yet. I hadn’t died yet… or come back to life. If Brayden and Pauli managed to get the doll Nico had used, the one that harnessed the power of the Caplata, the power of Isabelle’s sister, Messalina, and the one that was also vested with the Baron’s essence, would I be able to wield it? I technically had Samedi’s aspect somewhere inside of me, I just had no idea how to use it. Could I even access it, or was it expired once I used up my one-time lifeline? I suppose phoning a friend was out of the question—I didn’t know anyone who’d have a clue how something like this worked, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell just anyone that I had Baron Samedi’s aspect. With Ogoun’s aspect, particularly since it afforded me a dragon blade that could cut through the fabric of space and time, I was already too scary for most folks—the Loa included—to reckon with. And when people, or demigods, fear you… they don’t usually run away. They try to strike first.
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