Wyrmrider Vengeance: An Underwater Magic Urban Fantasy (The Fomorian Wyrmriders Book 2)

by Theophilus Monroe

  I nodded. "I am. Is he around?"

  Ramon reached around the corner. "He said if you ever stopped by to give you these. He's at Marie's."

  I took my sea silk pants from Ramon. "Thanks. Mind if I step in to change?"

  Ramon stepped back, gestured toward the stairway leading to the room where I changed before, and closed it behind me.

  I went up the stairs, glancing back over my shoulder at the French vampire who was practically drooling as he stared at me. I don't think it was my butt that had his attention. Probably my carotid artery.

  "Don't think about it, Ramon."

  Ramon shrugged. "I can think about whatever I like. You can't control my thoughts, mademoiselle. But my actions. Well, if I hurt you, Nico would end my existence. I might be compulsive, so far as vampires go, but I'm not a fool."

  "Good," I said, proceeding the rest of the way up the stairs.

  Technically, it probably made sense to stay in the dress. But it was now night. I could make my way through the French Quarter to Marie's without the same stares I'd garner during the day. And I was eager to get into my pants again.

  The only thing more comfortable than that was no pants. Not suitable in human form. I'd be back to my mermaid life soon enough.

  My seaweed bikini top was also still in the room where I'd changed before. Six months, the place had hardly been touched. I suppose the vampires who lived there didn't have any reason to use the room.

  I hurried down the stairs, vivified by my change of outfit.

  "Leaving so soon?" Ramon asked.

  "Sorry. Not that I don't appreciate your company."

  Ramon smirked. "Of course you don't. Nico will be glad to see you. He was worried after you and Odette disappeared from the boat."

  I cocked my head. "She disappeared? She wasn't on the boat when he came back out at night?"

  Ramon shook his head. "You'll have to ask him about it. He said he came out when the sun set to find both of you gone."

  I nodded. "Thanks, Ramon. Maybe I'll run into you again in the twenty-first century."

  "I'll look forward to it."

  Ramon closed the door behind me as I jogged down the steps from the house and down the narrow road leading to Marie's.

  Not many folks out at night. A few drunks. One of them whistled at me as I ran past him. He said something but his words were slurred, and I was running so hard I couldn't make out what it was. Probably nothing worth hearing, anyway.

  When I got to the pharmacy, or apothecary, what I knew as Marie's headshop. The door was locked. I knocked.

  Chad opened it. "Joni!"

  I cocked my head. "What are you doing here? I mean, in this time?"

  "Nico summoned Marie. I came along... because... well, I had nothing better to do. Other than sit around and play with myself."

  "Good enough reason, I suppose," I said, rolling my eyes.

  "Marie is expecting you. So is Nico. They're inside, in the back."

  I stepped through the door. Chad closed and locked it behind me.

  I walked behind the counter, through the beaded curtain, and into the back room.

  "Joni!" Nico exclaimed when he saw me. He ran over and hugged me.

  I hugged him back awkwardly.

  "Marie said you'd be coming tonight. I wasn't sure I believed her."

  I cocked my head. I looked around. Marie was sitting in the corner in a small rocking chair. She looked at me intently. "Good to see that all has happened as expected."

  I snorted. "As expected? Nothing so far has gone as you said. You told me to try and infiltrate Marinette's bokors. Didn't even get that far."

  "Of course you didn't, child," Marie said. "But if I told you anything else, well, things might not have happened as they did."

  I bit my lip. "Of course they wouldn't. You mean, you intended for me to find Odette? To get myself captured by the merlegion, for Marinette to seize King Conand and take his place?"

  "What I intended matters little," Marie said. "All I ever intended was to direct you the way you must go to learn what you must."

  "What happened to Odette?" I asked. "Nico, Ramon said she was gone from the boat when you came out after sunset."

  "We believe she used you the whole time to free Marinette. To give her a new host, unbound by the summons of the other bokors."

  "Well," I said. "If that is was the case. She succeeded. And apparently, she kidnapped Henry Campbell's daughter."

  "As we knew she would," Marie said. "Had you not been here, had you not prevented the Campbell man from acquiring what he sought to end his wife's pregnancy, and had you not given Marinette the idea..."

  "What idea?" I asked.

  "To bring a girl, a child, who will eventually have your abilities to the bokors in the future."

  "Wait," I said. "Are you saying that Odette..."

  "She came here," Nico said. "All I can figure is Marinette must've brought her to shore. Once the child was born, Odette took the child and used our skull to travel through time."

  "She's in my time?" I asked.

  "She is," Marie said. "But that is not the time she brought the Campbell baby."

  I shook my head. "So they went into the future. But not so far into the future?"

  "She traveled to the year you were born, Joni," Marie said. "She brought her to the bokors of that time. Who do you suppose was behind the rise of the voidbringer? Who do you imagine now holds Marinette's aspect and has commanded the undead sharks to eliminate the wyrms before spreading their contagion to the rest of the world?"

  I shook my head. "Marinette said she intended for me to die... so a bokor could summon me and use me to conquer the seas."

  "And the caplata intended to do that... this same child, born here mere days ago, but now, in your time, your age and equal to you as a siphon."

  I shook my head. "But she doesn't have a dragon's essence. She isn't half-Fomorian, either."

  "But if they evoked you, the essence of the dragon is not a part of this body, La Sirene. It is a part of your spirit. Marinette hoped the child, the caplata who would be known as Nephtalie, might use you to command the wyrms as a part of their design. It is only since you managed to survive, however, that they intend to raise the sharks to defeat the Wyrmriders and eventually overtake the world."

  "Nephtalie..." I shook my head. "You're saying I have to go back to the future and fight against my own ancestor?"

  "Odette is with her," Marie said. "Though Odette is older now. She is frail in body but more powerful now than when you last met her."

  I sighed. "So what am I supposed to do? Kill them both? I don't think I can..."

  "No, child. This is not our way. You are La Sirene! Your potential, your power, is every bit as great as Marinette's. And you have a connection to Nephtalie by blood, by your common abilities, that you might leverage to influence the girl."

  I shook my head. "If what you're saying is true, Nephtalie probably doesn't even know she's a Campbell."

  "Oh, she knows," Marie said. "And she realizes her own father sought her life. Odette has raised her, and, in the mind of Nephtalie, she owes the caplata her life."

  I shook my head. "So Odette is basically her mom. I don't know how I could possibly convince her to betray Odette, to use Marinette's aspect to call off the sharks."

  Marie pressed her lips together. "The bokors and caplatas believe the only way to accomplish what they wish in the world is to force things into balance. They believe that darkness and light are balanced through power."

  I nodded. "Odette tried to convince me of the same. To seize the power, the connection, I have through Legba and to bend it toward my intention."

  "Of course she would, child," Marie said. "The bokors, the caplatas, are not unlike most of humankind. They all believe the path to a better world is through power. No matter the cost."

  I snorted. "You sure she isn't a politician?"

  Marie smirked. "An apropos analogy. Did you know that I was baptized, child? In my hu
man life, both the Voodoo Queen and a regular attendee at mass at St. Louis Cathedral."

  I shrugged. "I knew most Vodouisants were also Catholics. And you said that there's a whole Voodoo community that has taken refuge beneath the cathedral."

  "A place we call Vilokan," Marie said. "Many within the church find the presence of mambos or hougans in their places of worship an abomination. I suppose, in some ways, our practices are unconventional. Alas, people are prone to condemn what they do not understand."

  I nodded. "I can see that."

  "But I've encouraged young mambos and hougans to retain an open mind. To consider, what of the church we might learn? For no one tradition has a monopoly on truth. And no single tradition is devoid of it entirely."

  "And what do you find from the church that is worthwhile?" I asked.

  "The belief that power comes through love, through sacrifice. The image of the crucifix is, no matter what else one might believe about it, a simple truth. The true power for change comes through weakness, true healing is achieved through suffering, true life is embraced through death."

  "Not so religious myself," I said. "But I can see why that might be a compelling idea. But how often does that work? I mean, Jesus died, right?"

  "Some believe he rose again. But nevertheless, his example of sacrifice sparked a movement that changed the world. A message that was lost soon after, no doubt. Once they claimed conventional seats of power, even the empire itself. This is often the path that leads one such as Odette to the bokors."

  "That wasn't always her belief?" I asked.

  "No child," Marie said. "I should say, she learned much from me at one point. But she lacked the patience to see that change could occur through love and peace. She insisted it must be expedited through power. But does peace ever come by way of war? No more, I should say, than one becomes chaste through fornication. One cannot establish justice through injustice. Hate cannot conquer hate. This is not balanced, child. No matter how the bokors might imagine it so. It is the opposite."

  I bit my lip. "She calls me child all the time too. Must've gotten it from you."

  Marie shrugged and smiled wide. "Or I, from her. The point is simply this. If you wish to thwart Odette and her protege, your ancestor, you will do well not to fight her fire with fire."

  I shrugged. "Water's more of my thing. You know, if you haven't noticed."

  "Indeed. And water is to fire as love and sacrifice are to power and dominion."

  I snorted. "So, is there a clear way to boil that down? I mean, give me something practical. Tell me what I need to do to get Nephtalie to call off the sharks. Surely you aren't saying she just needs a hug."

  "Consider what it means to be a queen. Some monarchs use their authority to oppress, to compel their subjects into subjection and obedience. But this is not the kind of queen I am. And I should hope it is not the sort you'd aspire to be. A good queen does not rule over her subjects. She rules beneath them. She serves them, provides for them, cares for them, even honoring her subjects more than whatever honor she is due."

  I stared at Marie blankly. "That still didn't answer the question. What, exactly, do I need to do? How do I stop Nephtalie?"

  "Bad questions can only accommodate bad answers, child. Perhaps stopping her is not what is required."

  "So I'm supposed to help her?" I asked.

  "In a way, perhaps. But you are a queen, and now, as even I am, a Loa. When one petitions you for help, as a child who asks a parent, it is your responsibility to help them in the way they truly need it, not necessarily in the way they'd have it."

  I grunted. "You're really not going to give me a straight answer, are you?"

  Marie laughed. "Such an answer, which you think you need, is not in truth what you require."

  "Got it," I said, rolling my eyes. "Well, I suppose I can go back to the future at any point. You know, since there's a lot of time between now and then. I need to meet up with Agwe and one of the wyrms before sunrise."

  "Very well," Marie said. "Chad and I must depart. But Niccolo can assist you when you're ready."

  "When I'm ready?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.

  "Hello, McFly," Marie said. "When you're ready to go back to the future."

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  I had some time to kill. I had my answers—sort of. But I still didn't know what the hell I was supposed to do.

  "Frustrated?" Nico asked.

  I shrugged. "A bit. Is Marie always so obnoxiously cryptic?"

  Nico laughed. "Even in bed. I mean, trying to get her to tell me what she really likes..."

  I grinned. "Let me guess. What I like is not the question. Pleasure comes not from what one likes, but from discovery, from a willingness to give from the other even as one gets it hard... harder... yes, harder!"

  Nico chuckled. "Something like that."

  "Must be difficult," I said. "Being with her."

  "She's not actually so bad," Nico said.

  "No, that is not what I meant. I mean, she's dead in your time. Now, she only comes to visit you through whatever host she has in the future."

  Nico shook his head. "She doesn't have a typical human host. She did die, indeed, but her body remains her own."

  I bit my lip. "I suppose if Marinette could form a new body from a shrunken head, it's not a stretch to imagine she could reanimate her own body somehow."

  "It's not as though some haven't tried to bind her," Nico said. "But I believe Legba's aspect has helped her. Those who would draw her through the crossroads into another host..."

  "They have to convince Papa Legba to allow it?" I asked.

  "I'm not sure if it's so much as they must contend with Marie's mastery of the crossroads to coax her out of her body and into another."

  I nodded. "She seems to have a much better handle of Papa Legba's aspect than I do."

  Nico laughed. "It wasn't always the case. When she was but still a mortal, when she first acquired his aspect, she was underwhelmed. It seemed as though she'd acquired nothing at all."

  I nodded, following Nico out of Marie's shop and onto the streets of the French Quarter. "I can relate. How did she figure it out?"

  "I can't say for certain," Nico said. "But I should say it wasn't until shortly after our former friendship turned romantic."

  "So it was love that opened her up to Legba?" I asked.

  Nico shrugged. "Perhaps. Or, it may have just been vulnerability. As the Voodoo Queen, in her day, she had a lot on her shoulders. When I first met her, she was already known for traversing divides. As a creole descended from white colonial settlers, black slaves, and free people of color, she had a gift it seemed to build bridges. She brought Voodoo and Catholicism together. She advocated for people of color. But when the war came, when emancipation did not grant the kind of freedom to people of color, she hoped it would, when the church turned against Vodouisants and tried to dismiss Voodoo as an uncivilized, barbaric, tribal sort of paganism, much of her work went underground. She was under a lot of pressure to help freedmen and women, Odette among them."

  "But not all of them, like Odette, followed Marie's path?" I asked.

  Nico nodded. "I did what I could. I mean, as a vampire, one would think my methods might be more akin to the ways of the bokors. But I'd lived long enough, I'd seen enough history. I knew enough of the trials that would still plague people of color to realize rising up, trying to exact vengeance on the oppressors, wasn't likely to secure the sort of future for her, or for me, that those like Odette hoped for."

  "So you and Marie found something in common?" I asked.

  "The lessons I'd learned through centuries of trying to tame the monster within, and the lessons she'd learned trying to protect freedmen and women... I'll simply say we found a common desire to rise above what the world expected we should be. To the rest of the world, those who know of my existence anyway, I was Niccolo the Damned. To Marie, I was Nico, her beloved. And with me, she found she could be vulnerable."

  "Beca
use she was with a vampire? I'd imagine sleeping with a vampire required a certain vulnerability."

  Nico chuckled. "There was that, I suppose. But also a willingness to simply trust someone else. To realize that power restrained is greater than power channeled in vengeance. As our relationship grew deeper, it seemed, she grew more and more in tune with Papa Legba."

  "It sounds to me like she changed you as much as you changed her," I said.

  Nico nodded. "That is certainly true. Before I was a vampire, I'd already had Baron Samedi's aspect. But as a vampire, I become something of an extension of the Baron's influence in the world. Where I went, it always seemed, he was lurking there, watching. Extending death, itself, which is the Baron's realm, into the world of the living through the emergence of the undead."

  "I can't imagine what that must've been like. Never dead. Never really alive."

  Nico nodded. "Marinette is attempting to do for the Petro Loa what Baron did, through me, for the Ghede. She's looking for vessels, like Odette and Nephtalie, who can become emissaries of power and revolution."

  "And she's using zombies to accomplish it?" I asked. "Why zombies? That seems more like what the Ghede would use. I mean, zombies aren't that unlike vampires, right?"

  "Zombies, which can come from the Ghede as much as from the Petro Loa, are merely corpses, vessels through whom the one who commands them can extend his or her power. And power is the language of the Petro, of Marinette."

  I shook my head. "But isn't Agwe a Petro Loa, too?"

  Nico nodded. "He is one of the few who belong both to the Petro nanchon, or nation, of Loa and also the Rada. Papa Legba is, for instance, one of the Rada Loa."

  "Wouldn't that make me the same?" I asked.

  "It would," Nico said. "Though simply because you are a Petro Loa, it doesn't follow you must use power in the same way the bokors do. But it also makes sense why, as a Petro Loa, those who've harnessed Marinette to their purposes might also want to subdue you and Agwe. As one of the Rada, you also offer a connection to Legba and the crossroads Marinette cannot access."

  "Because I'm a queen with Legba's aspect," I said.