A Soul's Sacrifice (Voodoo Revival Series Book 1)

by Unknown

  Rhys touched my arm lightly. I let the shirt fall back into place.

  “Thank you for, you know, helping me out last night and taking care of me today.” My voice was so small. It didn’t sound like me at all.

  He leaned in and brushed the sweetest kiss upon my temple and hooked his arm around me, giving me a light hug. He steered clear of my back as much as he could. When he pulled back, he placed his hand on my lower back and guided me out of the room, ushering me down the stairs and into the kitchen where a steaming hot cup of coffee was waiting for me. Arlen followed behind us in silence.

  I took the middle seat at the table, allowing both men to sit on either side of me. Arlen had placed a pillow on the back of the chair that he had snagged from the bedroom so I wouldn’t have to lean back. I think he cared more than he would ever admit to. That stony impenetrable façade wasn’t as solid as he pretended.

  “So, you said you talked to Brad, um, before?” It made me a bit uncomfortable to know that Arlen had murdered him, likely in cold blood, even though the bastard dearly deserved it.

  “I did,” Arlen said simply, matter-of-factly. I looked to Rhys, thinking that maybe he would be able to expand on the topic, but he just shrugged.

  “I was busy trying to take care of you. It was touch and go for a bit, so I didn’t talk to Brad. I just helped clean up the mess afterwards.”

  I sipped from my coffee, unsure about moving forward with my question. The fact that they weren’t volunteering information easily about what Arlen had learned from Brad, set off some red flags. I sipped at my coffee, noting fondly that Rhys had prepared it exactly the way I liked it, with a bit of milk.

  “So, um, did you find out where they took Angie?” I didn’t take my eyes from my coffee when I asked. I didn’t want to see the pity that would be there when they told me that Angie was already gone.

  “Yes, they moved her shortly before we arrived. They knew we were coming. The plan was to kill us and take you back to Drake.” Arlen paused and gave a questioning glance to Rhys, who gave him a curt nod of approval to continue.

  “They’ve been holding up in your apartment while you’ve been gone.” He seemed uncomfortable and I couldn’t blame him. That wasn’t something that I would ever want to have to tell someone. In reality, I was nearly numb, it was like being violated all over again to have these vile men and creatures tainting a space that had been my safe place, my sanctuary, for so long. Something that the Baron Samedi had said to me was playing over and over again through my head, something along the lines of, Drake has a flair for the dramatic. Well, what’s more dramatic than leading the person you want on a wild goose chase only to be holed up in their apartment that was trashed because of you?

  “And Angie’s there? With them? But she’s alive, right?” I took a long drink of coffee to stop any more of my hysterics from leaking out. I couldn’t afford to completely lose my shit right now. It would have to wait until everything was done and over with and then I could properly visit a doctor and get some serious anxiety medications and a referral to a good shrink.

  “Yeah, Angie’s with them and she’s okay for right now,” Rhys said soothingly. He was stroking his thumb over the back of my hand. I was so grateful that he was there with me. I wouldn’t have made it this far without him. Or Mama Yansa. Damn, I missed that old woman.

  “But,” Arlen piped up. “There was a bit of sensitive information that was discovered.”

  “Enough, Arlen! Don’t. Let her heal! Let her focus on what’s coming. Don’t lay that shit on her right now,” Rhys commanded loudly. Whatever it was Arlen had to say had Rhys on edge and a tad bit frantic.

  “The girl deserves to know. If it was your parents” I cut Arlen off before he could finish.

  I shot to my feet. “My parents? What about my parents? What do you know that you aren’t telling me?” I kept eyeing back and forth between the two men.

  Rhys looked like he was about to strangle Arlen and Arlen was just as fierce. He knew exactly what he was doing. That tiny slip would let the cat out of the bag and he knew it. It forced Rhys’s hand.

  “Brad said quite a few things and we don’t know if most of it is even true or not. There’s no reason to get worked up over it.” Rhys tried to brush it off, but I wasn’t in the mood.

  “Spit. It. Out. What aren’t you telling me?” Rhys plopped down into his chair and buried his face into his palms.

  It was Arlen that finally broke the tense silence. “He said that Drake had said that you should’ve died along with your parents and that what had happened to them wasn’t an accident. You were supposed to be there. He said Drake’s idea had been in the works for almost fifteen years, no little girl was going to offset his plans.”

  “Answer me honestly now, please, Arlen. Are you saying that these people killed my parents? And that it wasn’t an accident at all?”

  “I am.”

  In a way, it was almost a relief, even though I’d never been so angry in my life. I’d spent so long blaming some kind of cosmic fuck up for ruining my life when it wasn’t even like that. I had been robbed of my entire family and the memories and future we could have eventually had together. Now, I had someone who I could place that blame squarely on. It wasn’t Damballah’s fault or some kind of fate decided by a higher power. No, some man who thought he could play God had decided my parent’s lives weren’t worth living because of his goals. My life too, for that matter. That we were somehow disposable.

  Well, he was wrong. Now, I had every intention of making him pay dearly for it. Today was the day, after all. It was do or die time. My hands were shaking, and I was so confused because I didn’t know which emotion was the overriding one.

  “We will make them pay for everything that they’ve done, I promise.” Rhys’s hand on my shoulder and Arlen’s sympathetic face were some comfort, but I couldn’t find any peace within myself to retreat to. I was a rolling storm on angry seas, being tossed about in every direction with no way to steer myself ashore. I couldn’t find the solace and peace in the safety of Rhys’s touch like I had come to experience over the last week.

  “When is the ideal time for this ritual to take place?” I finally spoke up.

  I knew from Mama Yansa that most rituals had a specific time they had to take place based on the Moon’s position. It had to do with some kind of right alignment of cosmic energy depending on what you were trying to do. That night was the full moon.

  “It’s to be completed as the full moon passes its highest point in the sky.” It was Arlen. It was surprising actually. I hadn’t realized that he actually knew much about the rituals that took place under the practice of voodoo. Fae magic was completely different from ours, even though both were drawn from nature and the Earth herself. How much did the rest of the supernatural community know about what we did?

  “I don’t want to cut it too close. I’ll have to get to the apartment just after dark. They’ll be there then likely getting all sorts of preparations ready. I just wish Mama Yansa was here. She would be a huge help,” I bemoaned.

  Rhys tensed. I gave him a strange look because this was his adoptive mother, why would he get weird about her involvement? The old woman was one of the strongest people I know.

  “Is she still living out in the middle of nowhere trying to act like your average human?” Arlen asked Rhys.

  My eyes narrowed at Rhys when he nodded.

  “Normal human? What’s that supposed to mean? Isn’t she a normal human?”

  Rhys didn’t say anything. He just peered around uncomfortable with the questioning.

  “Mama Yansa? Oh gods no! That old Loa is far from human,” Arlen said, smacking his leg with a hearty chuckle.

  Loa?

  “Wait a minute! Did you say Loa?” I turned to Rhys demanding an explanation.

  “You didn’t know?” Arlen said, jaw slackened and shocked.

  Shaking my head. I hadn’t, had I? I could feel that she was powerful and she had told me herself that
she was much older than her appearance let on and she knew Marie Laveau personally. How had I missed it? She disappeared when the Baron showed up and said she couldn’t get involved with things like Drake, not directly, anyways. It was one of the restrictions of being a Loa.

  “Arlen could you give us a few? I need some privacy to talk to Maya.”

  Arlen nodded. He scoot his chair back and stood to swing his coat about himself.

  “I have some business to take care of anyways. I’ll be back here in about an hour,” Arlen stated, and quietly slipped from the residence, leaving us sitting in an awkward silence at the kitchen table. He was hesitant to begin whatever conversation he had intended, but eventually he broke the tense silence.

  “What did Brad mean, Maya? About belonging to the Baron Samedi now?” A rushed breath left me. I wasn’t aware that I had even been holding it in. I wasn’t ready for this conversation, but I doubted that I ever really would be.

  “It’s a long story really.” I was evading. I knew it and so did he. His earnest expression urged me to explain everything to him.

  “Okay, well, first, let me just start by saying you left me without any word as to what you were doing or where you were going. We didn’t talk about where things stood after everything that happened, you know?” My cheeks heated with a slight blush. “Mama told me about everything and I had to do something. I had seen you in the Spotted Cat with that girl and I thought the worst. I thought that I didn’t mean anything to you. It was just a one-night thing and you had moved on. But I guess I better start at the very beginning.” He seemed like he just wasn’t understanding. “The Baron came to me and gave me a choice to make. At first, he said it was just a simple choice between choosing to join him as his wife and rule the dead together or die. The other choice was to try to save everyone I cared for and all of the people of New Orleans, but I would die in the process. He said he had foreseen it all. It was a sure thing and I just refused him straight off the bat, but he was insistent that I at least consider his proposal.”

  He didn’t rush me or stop me at any time to ask questions. Rhys was thoughtful and supportive under the circumstances. He was patient as he waited for me to finish.

  “When he came back a few days later, he had two different contracts. Only, he was playing hardball and wasn’t going to leave my decision to chance. Samedi said that you’d had several brushes with death and he’d come to collect if I didn’t agree. If I agreed, then he would allow me to do what I needed when it came to Drake. Afterwards, I would belong to him.” Anger flashed in Rhys’s eyes. “Do you hate me now? I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t let him take you away! I could live through whatever he had in store for me as long as you were out there in the world and okay, even if I couldn’t be a part of your life anymore.”

  He scrubbed his face and looked at me again, a bit less angry but no less fierce.

  “No, I don’t hate you. I could never hate you.” He brushed the hair back off of my cheek and tucked it behind my ear. It was a unique mix of being tender and manly like only he could be.

  “I hate him though. You belong to me. You’re mine and I’m not going to let you go without a fight.” He placed a chaste kiss on my lips before urging me to continue.

  “I didn’t have a choice. It was your life or mine, so it was simple. I chose you. He gave me some sort of quill filled with my blood so I signed it and so did he. We have tonight at least.” I tried to sound hopeful, but I knew my voice faltered. I didn’t want to leave Rhys, now or ever, but maybe this was best.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll think of something. I won’t let you go.” I got up and moved over to him. I perched myself on his lap and curled into his warm embrace as my face burrowed into the hard planes of his chest.

  “What can we do though? He said it was binding. If I broke the contract that it would result in my death. I don’t like it but I don’t see a viable way out.”

  “Shhhh,” he said, stroking my hair. “Don’t worry about all of that right now. Let’s focus on getting you better and how we are going to go about tonight.”

  I’d forgotten the harsh reality of what was waiting for me in the ruins of my old apartment. Only momentarily, but still. It had been a nice reprieve. I sat up and gazed into the depths of his dark chocolate eyes. He meant every word he said. He really believed that we would be able to stop the Baron from taking me with him in the morning. I acquiesced, and moved on to the topic of tonight.

  “We need the cover of darkness, but we can’t cut it too close to when the ritual is set to begin. I don’t want to take any chances of him being successful. I need you to promise me something though, Rhys.” I considered him and held his face between my two hands. “I need you to promise me that if it comes down to it, you’ll take Angie and get yourselves out. Don’t look back and don’t come for me. Just make sure everyone is safe and out of harm’s way.”

  He pulled back from me looking stricken. “You know I can’t do that. I won’t leave you behind.” He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me a bit in his frustration. I saw the desperation in his eyes, but I knew what had to be done and I couldn’t have anything standing in my way when it came time for it. Angie and Rhys would have to get out and be somewhere safe.

  “Please? I need you to do this for me. Just make sure you and Angie can get out. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  He got up and placed me in the chair where he had been sitting and started pacing the room.

  Arlen reappeared in the doorway at that very moment with a darkened face. He had heard what I’d asked of Rhys and glowered at us. Rhys let his arms drop to his sides.

  “He will do it. If things go south, they will get out. I’ll give you my word on that,” Arlen said. He was austere about it, yet it wasn’t without sentiment. It would have to do.

  “Thank you, Arlen. That means… so much.” I wiped away the tear that had found its way to my cheek and took a deep breath before anxiously pulling my hair up into a messy bun piled high on my head.

  “They’ll know that we’re coming and they’ll be ready for us,” I said.

  “His other creatures have been seen out and around the Quarter. I think they’re standing guard and waiting for the shit to hit the fan,” Rhys added.

  I wrapped my arms around myself, hoping it would help relieve the feeling in my chest wanting to either explode or cave in on itself. I wasn’t sure exactly which I was feeling.

  “We just have to get past them.”

  A sudden thought dawned on me. I remembered seeing a really old city blueprint on my landlord’s wall when I had on occasion been in the office paying rent or taking care of other matters. I lived in one of the older buildings on the block and there were underground tunnels all over the city linking the original structures. Maybe we could slip past them undetected that way.

  “Hey, hold on, I think I have an idea!” I relayed the information to the two men and they agreed with the plan.

  “I can’t believe I’d forgotten about those,” Arlen explained.

  “You knew about them?” he nodded. “I helped to build them. The entrance to the one you speak of though is off of Jackson Square. Pirate’s Alley to be more specific. It has magical wards and people feel uneasy around it so they try to steer clear. Weird things happen or so the humans say. That’s why they have so many stories about it being haunted and what not,” Arlen explained. “Only the rougher crowds tend to brave it. Scare tactics, you know.”

  “But you know where the entrance is and can get into it?” I asked, trying to clarify.

  His response was something resembling a grunt.

  “Okay, once we get in, I need you to get Angie and get her out. Don’t worry about me, just get her out and take her somewhere safe. I’ll take care of Drake,” I directed Arlen.

  “What about your strength and your magic? Have you thought about what will happen if you go in there as weak as you are right now? You won’t stand a chance,” Rhys countered. He was rig
ht but I had no other choice in the matter.

  “I know, but it has to be me. You’ve heard everything that the Loas have said and the prophecy. I’m the one that has to end this and make everyone safe. I won’t be able to do all of this without you though. I need you there with me tonight,” I pleaded, knowing that he would submit to my request.

  “And what am I supposed to do? Just sit back and watch the shit show from the sidelines?” Rhys’s tone was rising, reflecting the unsteady emotional state beneath the stony façade.

  “No, you’re going to help wherever you can whether it’s distractions, Bacalou, or any of those zombies that Arlen said Drake have running around. I can’t do this alone, but Drake has to be mine.”

  My magic had increased slightly since I’d regained consciousness, but it wasn’t anywhere near where it had been. I would need all the help I could get.

  We finished laying our plans for the evening now that we knew there was another way into the apartment building. I had every vial and jar that I’d taken from Mamas house laid out upon my bed, collecting everything that might be of some help to me. The men left me alone for the most part. Arlen had just left to finalize some business. He was a very private man, or Fae, I guess. Rhys came in occasionally to transfer small bits of his energy to me, it was supposed to help kick start my own, but it wasn’t working as well as we had hoped.