by Angie Fox
Nothing to do about it now.
I hitched myself onto my bike, rolled the throttle and punched the ignition. Couldn't resist it. I let myself have a little fun as I steered out into the street, reveling in the warm evening air against my skin. It felt good to get out of that house. It wasn't just the haunting. Something about that place didn't sit right. I couldn't escape the feeling that I was being watched.
Voices, music, and laughter clattered all around as I made my way through the crowded streets of the French Quarter, past bars, souvenir shops, and packed restaurants. I figured the address Carpenter scrawled out for me would lead to a bar or an apartment, maybe a safe house. Instead, I found myself a few streets beyond the emerging nightlife and in front of a voodoo shop on Royal.
Skeletons played cards in the display window, amid stacked displays of good fortune charms, Lucky Cat candles, and Heat Up The Bedroom linen mist. To celebrate after you won big at gambling, I supposed.
A metal, industrial sign over the door read: Voodoo Works.
The teardrop emerald at my neck warmed as I pushed my way inside the door. Flower petals and dirt sprinkled down from a green scarf bundled close to the vintage tin ceiling.
A caramel-skinned woman scooted around the counter. "Welcome," she said, pressing her hands to the skirt of her colorful orange and yellow dress, "how can I help you?"
I decided to take a chance. "I'm meeting a friend here," I told her, casually checking out a display of Wash Yourself Clean soaps.
"Carpenter," she said, lowering her voice, even though we were the only ones in the store. "He's in the back. I'll go get him." She began to leave and then paused, her bracelets jangling as she smoothed back her thick, black hair. "Thank you for your help with this."
"You know?" That surprised me. The necromancer had never struck me as one who would trust easily.
She wet her lips, nervous. "I've been watching Osse Pade. He has a business just down the street. Voodoo can be so beautiful, but he has taken a dark path."
She disappeared behind the green and gold curtain at the back and soon after, Carpenter emerged, tucking something into his pocket. He carried a small sack over his shoulder, and a dagger in his hand. "You're late."
"Sun's not down yet." That was the deal. "And why are you sharing our business with the voodoo community at large?"
He tightened his grip on the sack. "It's just Aimee, and she's the one who tuned me into Osse Pade in the first place." He kept walking, as if he expected me to join him. "If anything happens to me, go to her. She can tell you what to do."
I took a quick glance back at the woman in question. She peeked out from behind the stock room curtain as we made our way to the door. "She doesn't look like much of a warrior."
Carpenter gave me a long look. "Neither did you when I first saw you."
That showed what kind of taste he had.
The necromancer stopped in front of an old brown mustang parked out front of the shop. It had a bad paint job and a dented side door. "Let's go."
I stopped short. "If you don't mind, I have my own ride." I preferred the control.
"Suit yourself," he said, sliding in the driver's side and starting it up.
I headed to my bike across the street and saw Aimee watching out the window of the voodoo shop. She gave me a small wave, and I nodded back. At least someone knew where we'd be tonight.
The engine on Carpenter's car whined and clacked as it tried to turn over.
Just when I was wondering how he'd fit on the back of my bike, his engine caught and the mustang pulled out.
Good. I followed him close and tried to breathe through the caustic smoke coming out of his tailpipe. He really needed to get that car checked out.
The sun slipped below the horizon as I trailed the necromancer past the city limits and the levees, to where the houses grew sparse and the dirt roads skirted the swamps.
Insects screamed in the night, mixed with the croaks of bullfrogs. Gnarled trunks of cypress trees rose from the wetlands, their canopies dripping mossy leaves and tangling vines. More than once my headlights caught the reflective eyes of gators on the banks. I watched one turn and slip back into the water, ripples echoing out behind him.
Carpenter's car bounced and jostled like he had no suspension at all.
His tail lights flared red as he slowed. I stayed close behind as he pulled off onto a road I hadn't noticed among the trees and the underbrush. It was a wonder the old mustang even made it past the low-hanging branches. I drew my arms in close to my sides, glad for the leather riding jacket protecting my shoulders.
He stopped amid the tangle of trees, his headlights illuminating a rickety old dock. A small motorboat bobbed in the bayou.
I parked my bike facing the main road then went to join Carpenter, who had busied himself untying the boat. I tried to ignore the way my boots sank into the spongy earth. "Seems I'm going to have to accept a ride from you after all."
He glanced up at me. "Just don't fall out."
"I make no guarantees," I said, as he held the boat steady enough for me to climb in.
He tossed the rope in between us and settled in the back where the engine was. I barely heard the hum of it over the sounds of the night as we took off into the heart of the swamp.
His cloth bag lay at my feet. I nudged it with one boot, listening to something rattle against the metal underbelly of the boat. "What did you bring?"
I was smart enough not to open it. It could be magic relics or a powerful talisman.
"Alligator tranquilizer," he said, as I ducked under a low branch.
"Let's hope it works." I was up for anything that would make this go quicker.
It would be easy for a person to get lost out here, but the necromancer seemed to know the way. We passed a rickety old house at the edge of the swamp.
"That your summer home?" I teased.
He snorted. "Moonshine shack."
He weaved in and out of a maze of narrow tributaries. I kept careful track of them all.
"Here," he said, as we reached what appeared to be an island in the abyss.
He cut the engine and we coasted the rest of the way there.
"We get in, we get right out," he said, as the front of the boat bumped the muddy shore.
"Don't jinx us." I helped him drag it up onto the bank, my boots sinking in the muck. I took my long leather gloves from my coat pocket and left the jacket in the boat.
"Stay close," he said, drawing his knife. "There are booby traps in this swamp, as well as the odd pocket of quicksand."
I nodded, drawing on the gloves.
We set off through a break in the trees. "You come here much?" I asked, mirroring his steps through what appeared to be the only dry ground in a maze of marshland.
"Only when I have to," he said, sidestepping a gator. The thing opened its jaws and appeared ready to strike. I drew a switch star.
"Watch it," I warned.
He barely broke his stride. "It's not the one we want."
"Oh well in that case, let's not worry about it," I mused.
I followed him for several minutes, careful to skirt as much wildlife as I could, as we drew deeper and deeper into the swamp. Insects buzzed around my ears and my black leather pants and bustier dampened with sweat. If we didn't take care of this problem tonight, I was going to start shopping for something else to wear down here.
Carpenter drew up short, and pointed to an area dead ahead.
The protective emerald at my throat began to hum. That was never a good sign. It was infused with ancient griffin magic and set to help protect me under threat. The bronze chain thickened and I braced myself for the slide of warm metal against my skin.
I stood motionless as the liquid bronze slid down my torso, over my hip, reforming into—what? It had made itself into a breastplate right before I'd had a shotgun pulled on me. It became a metal helmet a moment before I'd almost gotten brained with a sword. I cringed to think what I needed now. I closed my eyes and w
ished for a big, alligator cage with thick bars and maybe a nice pointy fence around it.
Instead, the enchanted metal wrapped around my calf under my pants and boot, molding to my skin and cooling into what felt like an emerald-studded shin-guard.
I spotted light through the branches up ahead. Torches. I strained my neck to see around the wide bottoms of the trunks and saw some sort of shrine at the center. Movement flickered through the trees. Men.
"You didn't mention any guards," I murmured to the necromancer.
He tensed beside me. "There weren't any before."
Thick candles flickered in glass jars. They formed a circle around an immense white alligator resting on a blood red pillow. Its fat legs thrust out to the sides and its jaw rested on a large gold tassel at the edge.
"I've got this." Carpenter slipped off the path and into the water. He moved silently through the marsh, until he blended into the shadows. I didn't follow. I studied, and spotted the necromancer's target. A beefy guard flicked a cigarette out into the marsh. He wore tribal tattoos on his face and arms, along with a necklace of feathers.
The guard held a chain in his other hand. It led to a thick collar around the reptile's neck. He approached the gator, winding the chain around his palm, as if reeling in the beast.
The man turned at a sound from the trees behind him. "Brother Rebe?" he called.
No response.
I had a feeling Brother Rebe had met a necromancer.
I felt a nudge against my shin and turned to see a flash of alligator jaws. Sweet Jesus. I drew back as it clamped down on my shin. The guard yelled. I thrashed, my stomach going hollow as the gator dragged me down into the water. I drew a switch star, the blades on the flat disk churning the moment my fingers wound through the grips on the side. I slammed it directly down onto the gator's wide head.
It let out a grunt, its jaws slackening. I shoved it back down into the water as my free foot touched down on the muddy bottom. The gator sank into the warmth of the bayou as I worked hard to high tail it the other way. My fingers clutched the muddy bank, my weapons hand ready to strike again.
When I sloshed out of the water, I saw Carpenter several feet away on his knees. The guard stood behind him, digging a chain under the necromancer's throat. He thrust out a foot and the white alligator snapped at it.
"Attack!" The guard hollered, straining to finish the job on the necromancer. "Enemies on the island! Attack!"
I fired a warning shot and the guard dropped the chain. The tank of a man stumbled backward as Carpenter turned in one fluid movement to pounce on him, rolling to get his hands around the man's neck.
The switch star boomeranged back to me and I caught it right as the newly-freed white alligator rushed me. Damn, it moved fast, hissing the whole way. I might not want to kill a guard, but I sure as hell had no trouble blasting an already dead beast. I aimed and hit it in the forehead with a switch star, watching the blade burn through skin and bone, sinking deep.
The alligator shuddered, its legs stiffening as its momentum carried it another several inches until it came to a rest at my feet. Dead.
"Okay, good." I huffed. That was easier than I thought. I drew off my soaked leather gloves and stuffed them into my belt.
Now we just had to get out of here.
Drums beat in the distance. It sounded like the entire voodoo congregation had heard the guard's cries, and it wouldn't take them long to get here.
"We gotta go," I said, keeping an eye on the alligator, skirting around the corpse and stomping over the red pillow to see how I could help Carpenter.
I saw the marks in the dirt where he'd fought, but the necromancer himself was nowhere to be found.
Oh, geez. "Carpenter?" I hissed, although heck, they already knew our location. We had to run. "Carpenter!" I said a little louder.
I followed the scuff marks and broken branches. Blood spattered the ground, along with sticky-sweet smelling purple flowers. I picked up a handful and shoved it in my pocket, trying to see through the dark.
With every movement, every word, I was betraying my location to people who very well might want to kill me. "Carpenter?"
I stiffened as a low hiss erupted behind me.
My breath sounded shallow, even in my own ears as I turned and faced a very alive, very ticked, white alligator. The switch star hole in its forehead smoked, and oozed with thick, black blood.
Oh, frick. "You won't even stay dead for a demon slayer."
The undead alligator rushed me. I hit it with another switch star in the same spot, hoping to at least slow it down. This one glanced off the wound and ricocheted into the trees beyond.
The reptile clamped its jaws on the same fricking leg the other one had. Teeth met metal, the shock of the impact driving through me as I hit it with a switch star to the neck. It let out a high-pitched squeal and clamped down harder.
It twisted its head, knocking me to the ground. Then it was on top of me, jaws in my face. I grabbed hold of its mouth, like I'd seen them do in the roadside gator shows. These suckers had crushing bites, but the muscles that opened their jaws were weak. I held its mouth open, right over my chin, but I couldn't keep the up for long.
Then I felt it. The dark soul calling to me. The animal bucked, thrashing against my side. It began to climb directly onto me crushing me with its weight as the dark soul inched up its chest, and into the back of its throat.
Now or never.
I braced the jaws with one arm, knowing they would snap shut at any second. With my other hand, I reached right through the soft skin of its neck. The black soul nestled like an ugly black marble. I closed my fingers around it and yanked it out.
"Mine, mine, mine." It seethed. It struggled to bury itself in my skin. It wanted inside me.
The reptile had gone limp. I shoved it away, struggling to my knees as I hurled the black soul across the bayou. Birds erupted from the trees as it broke into dozens of blackened shards and escaped out into the night.
The alligator lay gray and dead at my feet.
Holy Hades. I'd let loose another black soul out into the world. Carpenter would have some more clean-up to do, but at least the voodoo cult wouldn't be able to get it back.
I'd done my job. I'd rid them of their prize. Now I just had to worry about finding the necromancer. And more. I stiffened as I saw lit torches in the distance, heading straight for me.
Chapter Six
The torches drew nearer. I braced myself, focusing my strength and my will. No getting around it, I was rusty when it came to the power of levitation. It was the one ability I'd never felt comfortable with, and as a result, had never truly mastered. My stomach felt heavy and my toes tingled as my feet lifted from the ground.
Ignore the wobble.
I rose as quickly as I dared. I had to escape and get my bearings.
Shaking, I grabbed hold of a thick tree branch twenty feet up and managed to swing a leg over the rough bark. It wasn't pretty, but I was up there. The branch crackled under my weight and my heart gave a jolt. Maybe I was too used to falling out of trees during levitation training.
There wasn't much time to dwell. I sucked in a breath as four shirtless men charged into the clearing carrying torches and machetes. Red and yellow paint streaked their faces and bodies.
The leader wore a thick stripe of purple down the bridge of his nose. He skirted the body of the fallen alligator, his breath coming in harsh pants. A charm made of bones and feathers slapped against his chest. "Brother Bode said he saw a woman. Spread out and search."
I clung to my tree branch, trapped, hoping to Hades none of them thought to look up.
One of the men passed directly under me. He stopped at the watery edge where I'd killed the alligator. "I smell death."
Who were these guys?
I strained my neck to see out past where they'd come. Thick foliage blocked much of my view, but I could make out enough. I clutched the bark in shock when I realized Carpenter hadn't simply led me to an iso
lated island on the bayou. Darkness stretched past the clearing below, but not far beyond it, a massive circle of torches blazed.
If that was the Alligator Man's congregation, we'd parked ourselves right in their backyard.
The men below me moved with ease as if they knew this part of the swamp well. Voices drifted up from the dark. "I have his boat."
"Leave it." The man with the bone necklace ordered. "We already have him."
Oh geez. They stopped directly below my tree, circling together as they planned.
"I see no girl."
"Perhaps Brother Bode saw a spirit."
Drums began a hard, steady beat in the large clearing ahead. Voices echoed over the bayou, in a French dialect I'd never heard.
"Come. It has begun. The ceremony is more important."
"The girl?"
"If she indeed exists in the mortal plane, she is of no use to us. We have the necromancer."
The leader stalked toward the massive circle of torches beyond the trees, toward the hard beating of the drums. All but one followed. The last man paused over the dead alligator. "Shall we take the vessel?"
The man in the bone necklace turned. "No. Give it back to the earth. It has served its purpose."
He took a long look over the clearing before he led them away. I counted four as they retreated and kept an eye on them until I could only make out torches, and not people.
The biker witches would have held back one or two witches, just in case. I didn't trust these people to do any different. Unless I really didn't matter to the church.
"Ha," I said under my breath. Let them count me out. They'd realize their mistake soon enough.
As long as I didn't fall out of this tree.
I drew upon my power and jumped, levitating just enough to make it to a thick branch, high on the other side of the clearing. I landed with a thud, my palms burning as they scraped against bark. I winced. It was better than taking my chances on the ground.
I leapt two more trees until I reached a small land bridge over the bayou. It was too far to jump, so I lowered myself carefully down on to the marshy ground and crouched low.
Aye-yay-yay! Voices shouted from a large clearing ahead.
