The Protectors

by April Hollingworth

  Power flares to life, the ground shakes, and everything goes deathly quiet.

  “I call on you, Marie Laveau, to come forth and help us on our quest,” Selena calls out. “I call on you to help find and return the entity released by your descendent Jayden.”

  “I’m a Voodoo Prince,” mutters Jayden in annoyance, which everyone ignores.

  “I call on you, as a necromancer of the first order of Helios, descended from Margaret Holden, of the necromancer’s Holden line.”

  A colorfully dressed woman steps from the dark shadows of the burial site into our circle.

  One of the first things I notice is the strength of her character shining through. This woman is powerful. She has gorgeous caramel skin and beautiful ebony eyes, and a turban covers her hair. Full lips turn slightly upward in a partial smile, though her gaze is assessing and filled with curiosity.

  When she finally speaks, her accented voice sounds like honey wrapped in sugar, beautiful to listen to, yet it’s the command in her tone that catches my attention.

  “Now who are you, and why have you disturbed me?” Marie Laveau asks, stepping directly in front of Selena.

  “I am your descendant, Voodoo Prince Jayden…”

  “You are no Voodoo Prince; my magick don’t be part of you. I’m not even sure if we be related, boy. Though you do look a bit like my cousin,” Marie grudgingly informs him, before turning away, effectively dismissing him.

  “I am Selena. I am the one who called you,” Selena says, before Jayden or any of his followers can utter another word. The rest of us allow Selena to be spokesperson. After all, she is the necromancer and unless any of us are directly spoken to, it’s best to stay quiet.

  “I have called you to ask for your help in fixing”—turning to look at Jayden, she points at him—“his blunder. Apparently, he tried to call you forth and instead released an entity of unknown name or origins.”

  Sudden stillness takes hold of Marie. “You released the demon Solomon?” she roars in fury, scaring the crap out of me at her sudden volume.

  Solomon, as in King Solomon, was he a demon? I thought the story was he captured the fallen angels?

  “I’m sorry, Solomon who?” Selena asks, sounding just as shocked as I’m feeling.

  “You be knowing the one. I can see it in your eyes. Yes, he be a demon of the first order and captured the angels who fell. Imprisoned them and almost created hell on earth. That part of the story everyone left out.”

  “How can we stop him? Send him back to…”

  “You can’t. You need to track him to capture him, and he’s gone!”

  “What if we have a way to track him? Will you help us capture him?” demands Selena, with a hint of hope in her voice.

  “It takes a unique magick to track…” She pauses to look once more at us. Her brow furrows as she smells the air around us, her eyes flickering between our group, once more taking us all in. “If you can track him, I’ll help you,” she finally agrees.

  Chapter 14

  I feel the tension in my shoulders loosen. Deep down, I know we can’t get rid of Solomon without her help. Though at the same time, I wonder how much of what she’s told is the truth. Is the entity really Solomon from the Bible, or is it something else entirely?

  I sense she believes what she said, yet something about what I felt and have been told isn’t aligning within me. Reminding me of the game Chinese Whispers. By the time the story goes around, it’s changed drastically, though still holds a tiny bit of the original.

  I turn to look at a dejected-looking self-proclaimed Voodoo Prince. He’d believed he was directly linked to Marie. He’d believed to such an extent that he landed himself and us in this mess. Yet one look at him, and the Voodoo Queen knew he was only distantly related to her.

  So, who had told him they were related by a closer blood link?

  “Jayden, who told you about your relationship to Marie, and what made you think it made you a Voodoo Prince?” I finally ask, as there’s no point wondering when I haven’t the answers.

  “My mother told me.” His answer comes out in such a sullen voice I almost laugh.

  Seriously, is he sulking?

  “So, let me get this straight; your mum told you were related the Voodoo Queen, and what, you declared yourself a prince?”

  “No,” Jayden hotly denies. “My mother told me we are directly descended from her, and that I am the next Voodoo Prince.”

  “Well, your mama lied to you. You are not directly descended from me and are most definitely not a prince…” Marie Laveau denies, with a swipe of her hand through the air as if to empathize her point.

  “But she showed me the family tree,” Jayden shouts at Marie, sounding and looking as if he’s about to burst into tears.

  I’m beginning to wonder if he was accidentally swapped at birth. Maybe with a distant cousin…I turn to look at Jezebel. One thought bounces around my head, and I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing. When my eyes connect with hers, she gives her head a nod.

  Could he be the True Prince that Archibald and the other man were on about? Holy shit!

  “Enough.” Swiping her hand through the air, Marie effectively stops any further comments. “I don’t care what you were told or seen, your blood says it all. The point be your ineptitude at spell-casting, not your blood!”

  Turning to Selena, she stares at her for a moment before once more looking at the rest of us, as if searching for something. “How do you plan on tracking?”

  “Candi caught his trail. We’re hoping she can catch it again and follow it,” Selena replies from where she’s still sitting on the ground.

  “Once you find his trail and have tracked him, call me, and I will come.”

  “How do we catch him?”

  “You don’t, necromancer; that be my job. You call me from wherever you are when you find him. Just take a bit of the soil here, and I will come.”

  A second later, she turns and walks back into her tomb. Selena closes the connection, and T.T., Felicity, and I pull our magick back into ourselves, releasing the protective circle.

  “Well, that was different,” Nancy mutters. She waits while her sister collects some soil and ties it into a handkerchief and then helps her up. Once Selena is standing, she turns around to face the rest of us. “So, how do we proceed from here? Do you think you can track it, Candi?”

  “I think so,” I reply, frowning, as I ponder the feeling of the connection. A shudder slithers down my back, as if icy fingers are trailing patterns over it, as I remember the way the entity felt.

  Turning to the group that brought us here, I ask the question that had filtered through my head. “Who is your cousin that was born the same day as you, and does he live on the bayou?”

  Profound silence greets my question, as Jayden does a wonderful impression of a fish out of water, gasping for air. Just when I thought I’d rendered him mute, he finally answers. “How do you know my cousin lives on the bayou, was born the same day as me, and is a male?” he demands in a slightly strangled tone.

  “Because I’m a genius,” I answer with the straightest expression I can manage. It doesn’t last long as a grin escapes. “Only messing, I’m not. A simple matter of deduction really.”

  “Apparently, not that simple,” mutters Victor from directly behind me. I turn around to look at him and can’t help the warm feeling that spreads through me at the sight of him. Damn, I’ve got it bad.

  “Oh, right.” Suddenly realizing that the only one who probably deduced the same reasoning I did is currently a jaguar so isn’t talking, I quickly explain my reasoning. “Well, when we were on the bayou earlier, someone with untrained power tried to attack us. When I was on the dock, I overheard a couple of people talking about a Voodoo Prince. Later, when Jezebel and I went back, we heard about a True Voodoo Prince. It probably was the same people, now I think about it…”

  “Wait, I didn’t attack anyone on the bayou. In fact, I rarely go there,” exclaims Jay
den in annoyance.

  “Uh-huh, I didn’t think it was you. Marie also said that you weren’t from her direct bloodline, though you have her blood in you, just more distant…”

  “I’ve already told you…” Jayden interrupts me once more.

  “Would you let me finish,” I growl at him, turning quickly to face him and flashing some fang.

  “Shit, her eyes just turned violet,” someone from his group mutters.

  With a huh of annoyance, I continue, “With everything that has been said, it sounds like you were swapped at birth with your cousin, who I’m presuming was male and born on the same day and place as you?”

  “Yes, he was,” Jayden finally whispers, as his shoulders hunch in on himself.

  I wonder if he’d guessed that his cousin is the true Voodoo Prince. He must have been able to tell who was more powerful.

  “My uncle was always so happy to see me…”

  “I think you all need to have a little chat. Find out the truth,” I quietly say, feeling just a little guilty at my part in the bombshell that has turned into his world.

  “Yes. Yes, I think you’re right, though why…”

  “Any questions you have, your family, all of them will be able to answer,” Selena reassures the dejected-looking man, who suddenly seems very young and unsure of everything.

  With a nod and slight motion of his hand, he indicates to his group it’s time for them to go. Turning around, he takes one step away from us before pausing and turning back. “I’m sorry for causing this…” Looking uncertainly around as if searching for a word, he finally says, “Mess, for lack of a better word,” before turning around and walking off into the shadows of the surrounding tombs.

  Chapter 15

  Exhaustion ripples through me, and I feel myself sag. Strong arms circle my waist from behind and pull me back into a firm chest, holding me strongly against him.

  “I do believe we should all go and get some sleep. Finding this entity will be best left for tomorrow when everyone is more awake and at their strongest,” Victor informs us, before shifting me slightly so he can pick me up, looping one arm around my back and the other under my legs.

  I do what any strong-willed knackered woman does. I fling an arm around his neck and snuggle into him, gifting him the pleasure of carrying me, while I take the opportunity to rest. I feel a fleeting kiss brush the top of my head right before darkness claims me.

  ****

  “Sophie, I’m telling you she is the one!” I shout at my pacing sister, wishing she would stay still and just listen to me.

  “She can’t be. I refuse to believe this ridiculous war brought on by your fanatical group can…”

  “Can what?” I ask in a tone as tired as I feel.

  “Can have merit. What does it mean, what possible difference can she bring to the world?” Confusion and wonderment battle in equal measure across my sister’s expressive face, while a hint of fear resonates in her voice.

  “I don’t know, to be honest,” I admit. My sister comes to a screeching halt and stands there swaying back and forth for a second while she gapes at me.

  “You don’t know? How is that even possible? You and Father hunted and murdered—”

  “Executed,” I interrupt, frowning at my impertinent sister. After all, she knows I was only doing my job.

  “Murdered,” she growls at me in such a furious tone while glaring daggers at me, I actually feel concerned she might attempt to harm me.

  “You are a murderer, and you murdered them!” she bluntly informs me, standing with her hands firmly on her hips and a fierce expression I never thought she was capable of on her face. “So don’t pretend the fact that it’s your job changes the name of what you are or did!”

  “You’re right.”

  “What?”

  “I said you’re right. Don’t make me repeat myself, Sophie, because I won’t.” I can’t help the little half smile that flitters across my face for a split second. After all, it’s not often I render my sister speechless.

  ****

  I feel myself fly out of my body, where for a split-second I hover over Victor, who is about to cross over the threshold of Jezebel’s door with me firmly in his arms. The others, I notice, have either already entered or are about to enter her house.

  I know I’m dreaming, or at least I think I am. Just in case, I whisper a spell of protection over my body.

  Let none other than I enter my body.

  Keep me safe; keep me linked,

  Let no harm come to my spirit or form.

  The next thing I know I’m flying through the inky black sky, lit by sparkling stars, heading straight back to the cemetery. Once over the tombs, I fly in a vertical line until suddenly I zoom off after a faint trail of putrid green and black.

  I’ve never seen anything like it before and would rather not see it now, never mind follow it! Apparently, I have no choice in the matter as my speed increases, shooting me through the night, making me feel like a demented comet after a…Oh, is this the demon’s trail I’m following?

  At this startling thought, I dive sideways and feel as if I’m about to lose some spiritual lunch. I’m positive I can feel my stomach somersaulting. What feels like thirty minutes later, I find myself hovering over a building on Bourbon Street. The only reason I know where I am is because I spot a sign telling me.

  In confusion, I stare at the roof of the building, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do now, as I am not in control of this…dream? Am I dreaming, or is this actually happening? As if my spirit form was waiting for me to ask, it suddenly decides to sink through the roof into the building.

  I’m also pretty damn positive it gave me a mental gag, so my screams couldn’t be heard outside of my terrified head, where they bounced like ping-pong balls on steroids.

  “Calm yourself, Candi, and watch,” Hecate’s voice whispers in my skull, soothing me. With a gulp, I nod in understanding and take a deep shaky lungful of air. I only then remember I don’t technically have any lungs, which for some reason makes me want to laugh and eases my nerves.

  Hearing squeaking and moaning, it takes me a second to realize I’m in someone’s bedroom, and they’re currently having sex. I don’t know where to look, as the mirror facing the bed reflects the bobbing pale white ass and the stick legs embracing it, as they bounce away on the rickety bed.

  Suddenly, I’m moving toward a wall. Sadly, it’s the wall with the bed and frisky couple. With a shudder and an apology, my spirit self passes through them. Going by the heave-worthy squeal of completion, I do believe they liked it. As for me, I just want to go cry in a corner!

  “Hecate, I do hope that’s not what you wanted me to watch!”

  “No child, prepare yourself, and remember what you hear.” Hecate informs me with a good deal of amusement lacing her voice.

  We pass quickly through the room with a single occupant in it. As if sensing something, the man looks around uneasily, before going back to the book in his hand.

  Passing through his wall, we enter a room with two men in it.

  My spirit form slides up the wall and into a corner, where I watch in fascination as a large muscular man, with buzz-cut military style hair, stares at a scrawny, pimpled teenager, who looks about seventeen years old, if he’s lucky.

  Two things grab my attention straight away. The first is the simple yet obvious matter that the man looks terrified of the kid. The second is the worrying fact that the kid has a demon lurking inside of him.

  Red eyes stare with molten fire from the kid, while a putrid green and black cloud oozes from him, as if unable to contain the demon’s essence inside the body. Going by the tendrils of nastiness escaping him, I recognize the demon Solomon from the cemetery.

  I’m tempted to crow in delight, except for the fact I really, really don’t want him to notice me.

  “I can’t take you. I can’t leave the country. I’m sorry,” the terrified man warbles in an exhausted voice, as if he’s been having
the same conversation for hours and doesn’t believe he can hold on much longer.

  “You will take me, or you will find someone who can!” Solomon hisses at the unfortunate man.

  “I don’t know anyone who can,” the man whines while wringing his hands together.

  “You have until tomorrow to find someone. Or you will take me yourself to Paradise Falls. No more excuses. Now leave me, and don’t return unless you have someone who can fly me, or it is time for you to fly me to Ireland!”

  I watch the man turn around, and somehow refrain from gasping out loud. Emblazoned on his cheek is what I’m presuming is the demon’s mark of ownership. As he retreats quickly from the room, I float up and out of the roof.

  The image of the peacock branded into the man’s cheek causes a shudder to reverberate through me. If that symbol means what I think it does, then the demon isn’t Solomon, the king known for being just and honorable, but the demon Adramelech.

  Maybe the confusion over his name is simply because he was mentioned in The Key of Solomon. One of the most feared of the Kings of Hell. Crap, and he’s heading straight for Paradise Falls.

  Chapter 16

  The journey back to my body is just as daunting as the journey away from it was. The relief I feel when I arrive above Jezebel’s house is immense, though soon turns to confusion when, upon sinking into the house, I find my body surrounded by my friends and lover, who is shaking me by the shoulders.

  “Maybe we should slap her face, see if that wakes her up?” a frazzled-sounding Jasmine asks.

  “Candi, wake up!” Victor thunders in response giving me a harder shake. I’m positive I feel my teeth rattle. Before anything else can be done to me, I shoot into my body and sit up with a horrifying gasp of “Aghhh,” making everyone around me jump, and a few of them scream in shock.

  “Sorry about that.” I can’t help the note of glee or the big-ass grin that spreads across my face.

  “Fuck’s sake, talk about doing a zombie-coming-back-from-the-dead impression!” exclaims Nancy, placing a hand over her heart as if to calm it down.