by Tara Brown
I pause, freezing up a touch. “Boys like you always go for the neck first. Do you know why that is?”
He shakes his head, kicking and sucking his way to the swell of flesh bursting from the top of my dress.
“Because kissing is intimate and you don't want that from a girl, do you?” I shove him back hard, using the wind to push him hard enough that he slams into the wood on the other side. When his back hits with a thump he grunts, “Bitch!”
I nod slowly, walking toward him. “That is a fact. I am a bitch. Men like you have made me this way. Y’all hardened my heart.” I walk to him, tracing my fingers up his shirt, popping button after button. I look up into his cold stare and nod. “I thought you were different. I would have given you everything and you would have taken it and destroyed me.”
He shakes his head. “I’m going to—” I slap my hand across his lips, holding it there, using the force of the earth at my feet and the wind in my hair. I shake my head. “Don't talk darling, guys like you are better just not talking.”
His eyes burn but his body doesn't move. He can’t. I’m slipping venom into his veins, venom from my hate. I run my fingers of my free hand down his cheek, scratching slightly.
“Stop playing with him and do it before someone comes.”
I watch as Martin’s eyes shift to Marcus as he walks into the gazebo. Martin’s face pales as he realizes he cannot move. I have paralyzed him with my poison. I step back, pointing only the tip of my pointer finger at his heart. “I call on the souls and spirits you’ve hurt, to come to me with love and light. Flow through me into your heart so you feel their pain instead of twisted delight. Let every deed you have done find its way back to you from now until the day you die. So be it and it is.” I step back, blowing on my finger and winking at him. “When the paralyses wears off, you will feel every victim and the pain you caused them. For every person you hurt in the future, you will feel their pain and misery.”
“You should have killed him.”
A disturbing smile creeps across my face like the mist is currently doing on the grass. “Too easy. Death is simple. He will feel my rage and my wrath by the time he dies.”
Marcus steps into his face, pinching his cheeks. “You will forget who it was you saw at the gazebo and who you spoke to. You will remember nothing but her words, no names.” He steps back, pushing Martin’s face to the side.
I wave and turn on my heel, quite satisfied with my revenge.
“How did you come up with it?”
“A Clockwork Orange. It’s not out yet, but I made the mistake of watching it once in the ‘80s. Traumatized me for life, all my lives.”
“I loved that movie. I thought it was brilliantly done,” he chuckles.
I shake my head. “Of course you did.”
Chapter Sixteen
I don't know what to say so I lie. I’ve gotten good at telling them. “It’s a one-year position with Mr. Dragomir’s company. An intern position, to see if I like it.”
My daddy’s eyes narrow but Maria nods. “It’s a wonderful opportunity. You have to take it. Tell her, darling. Tell her she has to take it.”
My daddy shakes his head. “Scotland and England? That's so far from home. Honey, you are just in finishing school. You sure you want to do this? Women with careers are so—well, they’re—cold.” His eyes don't meet Maria’s, luckily. She is staring him down, and if looks could kill he’d be a pile of ash.
She ignores him and walks to me, squeezing my hands. “You need to do this. You know the South will be waiting here for you when you get back. We won’t even look a little different, except your daddy might finally be down that ten pounds he’s been meaning to lose.”
Daddy’s cheeks redden as he puts down the lemon loaf in his hand. She walks to him, kissing his cheeks as lovingly as I have ever seen done. I could cry but the black tears of a Blackwater witch would scare the poor man. He’d have a heart attack before he ever even got to enjoy his life.
I kiss him on the cheek too. “I love you, Daddy, and I’ll be fine. I swear it.”
He looks sullen.
I pull love and peace into myself, kissing his cheek and putting it in him.
I turn and walk to the back porch where the old dance floor is sitting. The pillars and bushes make it look like a ruin from Rome, not Baton Rouge.
Em is sitting out there with Greg. Neither of them is saying a word. She has her head on his shoulder, just staring past the property. She lifts her head, turning to see me. I wave but she doesn't. She gets up and runs back over to me. “I heard you’re going to Europe. Tell me you have room in that suitcase for me.”
My heart hurts, only a little bit is leaving home. The rest of it knows I have to sever the ties in a lot of ways. My life will always be dangerous. I will always be a burden to them, even though they don't know it. Her eyes tear up a little but I pull her into me, wrapping my arms around her and kissing the side of her head. “Miss me just enough, not too much.” I can’t cry. I have to be strong.
She nods, fully crying. She breaks off the embrace and waves backward, walking away from me. We don't love goodbyes, either of us. The good part is we actually get one this time.
I leave droplets of my black blood around the property and especially around the house. I kiss Maria goodbye in the front entryway before Daddy comes. I hug her tight. “Keep them safe for me.”
“Always.” She nods.
I smile. “I’ll need an invite to the wedding when she and Greg get married. Send it to—” She lifts my face and cuts me off with her thoughts. “We can hear each other, sugar. I’ll call you when I need you.”
I nearly cry. Her voice is motherly and sweet in my mind. Daddy comes out of his study, looking like he might try to be brave. “You sure you don't want a ride to the airport?”
I shake my head. “No. Marcus is picking me up. But I want you to promise you’ll just let Em do her thing. She and that boy are mad about each other. It’s the real kind, Daddy. No marriage bargains.”
He crosses across his heart. “I swear, my matchmaking days are long behind me.”
I lean into him, taking a long draw of the scent that will always be my daddy. When he hugs me back I am near to losing it, but there is a knock at the door. Maria gets it, smiling wide at Marcus, looking fine in his tight jeans and peacoat. At least he’s past the whole leisure-suit celebration. She looks back at me and nods. “You take care of my girl.”
He bows almost. “Of course, Mrs. Huntington.” He shakes my daddy’s hand. “Sir.” It’s weird seeing him be so polite but I made him swear. I told him I had a surprise for him after we said goodbye to Ramón and Grandmamma. But he only got the surprise if he was good.
He’s eager, clearly. He even takes my bags to the car where Henry is waiting with a big smile. I hug my Daddy and Maria again. When we get into the car I look back, taking one last look. “That's how my house should have looked always. Not rubble, destroyed by the fact I fell for the wrong guy.”
Marcus sighs. “Promise you won’t blubber and rehash all of this later over drinks?”
“Nope.” I shake my head. “I promise nothing.”
The drive over to the bayou brings us past the old trailer. I sense her instantly. She’s there, trapped behind the walls of the decaying hole that was once her house. “Stop!”
Henry gives me a look in the rearview but I nod. “Please. I need to free her, or at least give her the option. She can’t hurt me none.” He stops and I climb out, holding myself. The blackwater has crept from the swamps, trying desperately to take her back. The trailer is partly submerged. The cypress trees with the red moss seem worse than before and the stillness is creepy. It makes my spine tingle. Marcus gets out of the car, but it’s Henry who comes with me. He removes his bowler hat, clutching it to his barrel chest and takes my hand in his.
His dark eyes are sad, filled with regret of sorts. I don't understand how he could possibly know her at all. We walk, hand in hand, to the front door that
's only partially on. He pries it open, letting us see the real state of things. Grandpa is gone. I imagine she must have killed him. She has a thing with killing family.
I step in first, instantly hit by the dank smell of rot. I cover my nose as he steps inside after me.
Marcus shouts from the yard, if you can call it that. “This is a serious dump, Lorelei. I don't think you should go inside.”
She is inside, sitting on the couch in a pale nightdress. It has tears on the sides and she might be seventeen. I can see the faint bruising along her face and hands. She looks dead, more than dead. Drained. There is no joy in my momma. She is not a person anymore, as much as she is a shell.
“Momma!”
Her glassy blue eyes, filled with pain and glistening light drift my way. She registers me but doesn't move or speak. She holds herself, waiting for something but I don't know what.
I expect her to do something eerie and frightening like suddenly jump up and lunge at us or vanish and appear at my throat. But she does something more unsettling, far more. She sits in the same position as Henry and I find our way into the trailer. She doesn't speak or try to hurt me. She sits, impotent and ruined. I think she was born this way, ruined.
Henry drops to his knees, startling me. Black tears drop from her blank eyes as she sees it. She shakes her head, looking away.
I place a hand on Henry’s broad shoulder. “What is this?”
It’s her eyes that find mine, not his. She swallows and smiles weakly. “He’s my family. My real family.”
I scowl. “What?”
She nods slowly, still staring as the blackwater drains from her eyes. “We were his.”
I don't understand, at all. Henry lifts his hands to mine and the trailer shifts. I scream, jumping back but the shift is so fast, roots shoot through the windows and doors, pulling the old wreck into the swamp. I try to turn, to run for the door but Henry holds me there. I scream as we slide into the water and sink quickly. The cold blackwater splashes across the floor, shoving me to the wall on the far side. Henry and Momma don't move, they stay right where they are. I’m panicking and trying to move but the water pulls and pushes, forcing me to stay against the wall. When the water is at my waist, I scream, “MARCUS!”
I hear him and then I don't and the water is at my chin. I lift my face as the cold, blackwater crawls up my face, submerging me with them.
I can’t swim or move. Suddenly, a light comes from the far side of the trailer and I see it. A black cat—a jaguar walks across the room. He stalks, like he’s hunting. A woman, a beautiful woman, stands out near the road where the jaguar walks. He circles her. I almost scream to tell her to run but he changes, becoming a man. He is the man standing in front of me, holding my dead mother’s hand. Henry lowers his face in shame, closing his eyes as the picture changes. The beautiful woman and him start to kiss. She looks so much like my momma, I can’t believe it. The light gets bright and the picture is gone. Then the woman is standing at the edge of the blackwater, staring into the bayou. She turns, revealing a massive pregnant belly. I notice suddenly her dress is torn and her face is thin. A man drives his boat to the dock where she is, a chubby man with a fishing boat. I recognize him instantly. It’s my granddaddy. He kisses her hand and rubs her belly, pointing at the boat.
She gets in and the light gets bright again. I notice my lungs aren’t hurting. I am holding my breath with ease.
The picture comes back; it’s the woman standing at the edge of the bayou. She just keeps staring out. She is thin and frail, and no matter how hard the man tries, she won’t come with him. She just stays there.
He takes the hands of the two little blonde girls. My insides clench. The light gets bright again and I see my momma is crying. Her black tears are becoming part of the blackwater around us. Her tears are so much darker.
The image comes back, revealing momma playing on the floor as granddaddy stumbles in the house. He’s drunk. He hits her in the back of the head and passes out on the couch. The trailer is filthy and so are the two little girls.
The light comes back and I’m crying too. I shake my head. “Momma!” She turns to me, cold as a dead fish. She whispers. “I can’t love you.”
I nod. I know that, and no matter how much of this hateful stuff I see, I can’t forgive her for it all. But it makes it easier to see why.
Henry swirls his hands in the water, making more light. She turns away from me and swims into the light, taking with her my love. I always hated that I loved her and I wanted her to love me. I hate that she swims away, into the light, still unable to love me—even once.
When the light’s gone and Momma is gone with it, Henry takes my hand and pulls me away from the light. He holds me and drags me to the door. We swim through the water, leaving the sunken trailer and all its horrors behind in the swamp. He pulls me to the shore, holding me to him. Marcus is there suddenly, lifting my drenched body into his arms.
I never explain the moment Henry and me have to anyone. He is my real granddaddy. So many things add up. Why I’m special, why I’m stronger, and why he’s always so concerned about me.
We get back in the car and I lean my face against the warm glass and watch as we drive away from the place the swamps took back. My momma is gone. She ain’t never coming back and there ain’t even a spot for me to say she once lived.
The little girl on the side of the road is finally free.
But I don't feel free with her. I feel numb.
When we get to Ramón’s house, the guy who he was dating when he died is there. I instantly jump out of the car and storm to him. “You have five seconds to explain what you told the Whitlock family. Whit and Rydal. Scottish brothers? Vampires? Ringing any bells?”
He looks like he might lie but I slam him against a tree with the wind.
Ramón grabs my arm. “Lorelei, have ya lost your mind?”
I point at the guy pinned to the large tree. “He sold you out to the vampires. They was coming for your blood.”
Ramón’s head turns suddenly. “She telling da truth?”
The man shakes his head, gripping to the imaginary hand at his throat.
Ramón walks to the man. “See da thang about Lorelei is, she don't never lie to me. Not even when I beg her to.”
The man slumps, giving up fighting the wind. Ramón leans against the tree. “What did you tell them?”
He shakes his head. “They coming for you and her. They went home to get the rest of their family. All of them is coming.”
Marcus climbs from the car and storms across the dirt yard. He grabs the man and sinks his fangs into the man’s neck. He sucks him completely and then rips his heart from his chest. He drops the man and looks back at Grandmamma Holt in the doorway. “Pardon my trespass.” He passes the heart to Ramón and walks back to the car. “We leave now, Lorelei.”
I hug Ramón, not getting close to the bloody heart in his hands. “See you soon?”
He nods. “Kill them all, whatever it is that's hunting us.”
I wave to Grandmamma and run back to the car. “Was that completely necessary?”
“No, but it made me feel better.” He licks the blood from his lips. “Henry, if you please, take us to the train yard. Lorri is meeting us there.” He looks at me. “We can beat Whit back here. He has to get another witch to make another gateway—they aren’t easy.”
My insides clench as I sit back and pray my barrier spells will be enough to keep my family safe.
I wish I had gotten a chance to say goodbye to Angie but I didn't know what to say.
Chapter Seventeen
Lorri and Dorian wink us to the exact spot in the forest as last time. I suck the barrier spell in and turn. Lorri grabs my face, kissing me roughly, in a sort of erotic way. I have several seconds during the kiss I am convinced she isn’t batting on our team.
I kiss Landry again, groaning. He looks offended. Marcus smiles wide, accepting the kiss too easily. Dorian is the same but he kisses slowly, methodical
ly.
I need several deep breaths before I can walk afterward.
I wave a hand into the barrier and nod.
Lorri gives Marcus a shitty look. “Why didn't you tell us what you two were doing in 2012? We could have all remembered and gone after these guys right away.”
Marcus shrugs. “I didn't care.”
Dorian scoffs. “You were in it all for the witch blood? Typical Marcus.”
Marcus winks at me. We both know it wasn't ever about the blood. We also both know neither of us wants to talk about it. Dorian slings an arm around my shoulders. “You two an item?”
I smile at Marcus. “You and I both know his greatest love is himself.” I wink at Marcus.
“I have a feeling we were friends once upon a time.” Dorian shakes my shoulders. His bitter sarcastic charm brings a grin across my lips. “We did make out once.”
His obsidian eyes sparkle with delight. “How was I?”
“Started out amazing but then you tried to suck my soul and made a mean comment about me poisoning yours.” I shrug.
He laughs. “I did like you. I knew it.”
I roll my eyes. We trek to the door to the dungeon, the gate I once blew off its hinges. I close my eyes, pulling the power from the earth, the fire from the skies, and drawing on everything I have. My body rumbles with the clouds in the sky as they mix for me, creating the strike of lightning I need. Last time I used my orgasm, but I’m not exactly in a sexy mood this time. I feel the sky reflect in my eyes as I turn my head up and let the lightning strike me. It charges the spell I’m muttering.
Shuddering from the power Mother Earth has bestowed upon me, I pull the gate from the wall and look back. “Step to the sides.” I know they’re coming like last time. I press my back against the wall of the castle as a reddish-black cloud shoots from the opening in the tunnel. The souls blast from the hole, shooting into the sky.
