“Why did they attack our house anyway?” I asked.
“They were looking for you,” Ellie interjected. “But we wouldn’t tell them where you went.”
“Well, they don’t know where I went. But they know I’m back,” I said. “And we have to stop them. Where are Mikah and Oggie?”
“We thought they went to find you,” Ashley said. “They aren’t with you?”
“Nope. Haven’t seen them since I got back.”
“What was it like in Agwe’s world?” Ellie asked. “I want details!”
I shook my head. “I promise, I’ll tell you everything after we find Mikah and Oggie. The Bokors managed to collect the souls in Vilokan. It’s only a matter of time before they start fusing themselves.”
“So they’ll become like you and Isabelle?” Sauron asked.
I nodded. “Something like that. Only who knows what kinds of powers they’ll get. I faced one who had assumed Alexa Windstrom’s soul, and even with Isabelle holding the reins I couldn’t stop him.”
“Alexa,” Sauron said. “I still can’t believe she betrayed us, that she used me like that.”
“I believe she was bound to Kalfu by a bargain. I’m not sure how she got tangled up with him. But once he has someone under his influence…”
“He doesn’t let go easily,” Ashley said. “I had vivid nightmares for a week after he possessed me, and I was drunk at the time. It’s like he leaves a little curse on everything he touches.”
“Good thing you came with me to the reservation when you did,” Roger said as he put his arm around my sister. “It took some work, but his influence eventually lost its hold.”
“Speaking of curses… you guys won’t believe who I found in Agwe’s domain.”
“You saw Joni, didn’t you,” Roger said.
“How’d you know?” I asked.
“I’ve always known. I wasn’t the only person she left behind when the abandoned us for that world. But I also knew it was where she needed to be. I didn’t talk about it because, well, it was hard at first.”
“But it’s not so hard anymore?” Ashley asked.
“It isn’t. Because I’m not in love with her anymore.”
Ashley grinned widely.
“She’s also got a curse on her. Something she siphoned from a pirate named Anne Bonny.”
“Did you say Anne Bonny?” Mercy asked.
I nodded.
“Had a few run-ins with her myself. She’s more like a demon than a ghost. Cursed to an eternity in the seas as a pirate. Always plundering, never able to stop and enjoy what she acquires. It’s sad, really.”
“Well, she’s no longer a problem. But Joni absorbed that curse. Is there anything we can do for her?”
Roger shook his head. “I could try. But the kind of curse you’re talking about, and the way she siphons magic, it would take something more powerful than I can access.”
“That’s it,” I said. “Can you all excuse me for a minute? There’s something I need to do.”
Ashley cocked her head sideways. “Care to share?”
“I have to poop.” I lied. Sort of. I mean, I kind of had one up in the chamber, but it wasn’t quite ready to drop. Still, it was an excuse to get away. What I had to do, I needed to do alone. I admit, pooping wasn’t the best excuse, but it was the first thing that came to mind that no one would bother asking questions about.
“There’s a gas station around the corner,” Mercy said. “I’d let you use mine, but I don’t think you’d be able to get in.”
I nodded. Even as Mercy spoke, though, I could tell she suspected something. She had one of those looks in her eye.
I quickly walked to the end of the sidewalk and turned the corner.
A half second later, Mercy appeared in front of me, her hands on her hips.
“Fuck, you can move fast.”
“This is nothing. Should have seen how quickly Nico used to move.”
“Can’t imagine much faster. I really need to go.”
“What are you doing anyway?” Mercy asked. “And don’t say you’re pooping.”
I sighed. “I was the declared winner of the Trials.”
“Yeah, because everyone else was either dead or disqualified.”
I nodded. “I’m not saying I deserved to win, but I did acquire the victor’s prize, the same one given at the previous Trials.”
Mercy scrunched her brow. “You have Dumballah’s blessing?”
I reached into my bra and pulled it out. “I do. And I think I know what to ask for.”
Mercy stared at me blankly.
“What, I’m not telling you. I wanted to do this alone.”
“Why won’t you tell me?”
“Because there’s a good chance it won’t work anyway. Agwe said that whatever blessing I ask for will only be granted it if accords with Dumballah’s will.”
“So what if he doesn’t agree. You think I’ll judge you for your choice?”
“I don’t care if you judge me, Mercy.”
“Then what is it?”
“I just want to do this alone, okay?”
Mercy stared at me—her red, beady eyes searching me out. She shook her head and in a moment disappeared.
I held Dumballah’s blessing in my hand, tracing the serpent’s form with my thumb. “Any idea how to activate it?” I asked Isabelle.
I think you just ask him… kind of like praying maybe?
“I was going to rub it three times and see if he popped out to grant my wish.”
He’s not a djinn… He’s a demigod, and an ancient one at that.
I nodded. “Well, here goes nothing.”
I lifted Dumballah’s blessing in front of my face. I stared at it and spoke out loud.
“Dumballah, if you are listening, I am asking for the ability to undo any bargain made with a Loa.”
I waited. It was a brilliant request, I thought. If I could undo the bargain Alexa had made with him, there might be a way to exorcise her from her Bokor host. And since it was also a bargain with Kalfu that cursed Anne Bonny, I reasoned that I could also undo that curse and free Joni from the burden. It was a way I could basically salvage this whole situation—free Joni and save Fomoria. Release Alexa from Kalfu’s bargain and save what was left of the Voodoo world.
Dumballah’s blessing glowed a golden hue for a moment, then faded.
Nothing happened…
“Are you sure? I mean, it did glow.”
I don’t think breaking bargains is something that accords with Dumballah’s will.
I put my hands on my hips and re-tucked the statuette in my bra. “Well, why the fuck not?”
Annabelle, think about it. A bargain is an agreement. To break one without consequence, even if a bargain is imbalanced and unfair… it’s dishonest. I don’t think Dumballah could ever allow that.
I huffed. “But it would solve all of this shit that we’re in! Can’t he just make an exception? Get off his high horse a moment and recognize what’s at stake?”
I don’t think blessing broken covenants is something he could get behind. The ends don’t justify the means, Annabelle.
“Says who? Some philosopher?”
I think it was Kant…
“How would you even know? Did we study that shit… ever?”
We had a semester on it at St. Bonaventure’s. You don’t remember?
I shook my head. Isabelle was the bookish one. More than once we’d aced tests because she recalled material I’d either forgotten or never absorbed at all since I was daydreaming during exams. It had helped me out before… now it was just annoying.
“Well let’s go back and gather everyone. We need to find Mikah and Oggie. If we can’t, we need to try to come up with a plan to stop Kalfu and the Bokors before they raise all those souls.”
I walked back to the front of Casa do Diabo in semi-defeat. Mercy’s smug look, discerning from my fallen countenance that my idea had failed, was exactly the reason I didn’t want her kn
owing about what I was doing to begin with.
“Everything come out okay?” Ashley asked.
“No, it’s like I need to get it out, but it won’t come.”
“Probably the buoyancy of being underwater messing with your bowels,” Ellie said. “I once went on a scuba expedition and couldn’t poop for a week afterwards. Makes sense if you think about it. Air in the gut gets pressurized, your body compensates… totally normal.”
I flashed Ellie a courtesy grin. “Thanks for the lesson. I’ll make sure to consume more fiber the next time I take a trip to an underwater kingdom.”
“Glad to help!” Ellie exclaimed, oblivious to my sarcasm.
“Does anyone know where Mikah and Oggie are?”
I looked around the group at a bunch of blank stares.
“They serious didn’t clue any of you in?”
Ashley shook her head.
“If we can’t find them, do you all know where Kalfu and the Bokors are hiding out?”
Pauli piped up. “In my vision they were in the woods somewhere.”
“Doesn’t really narrow it down enough… need more details.”
“If only I could have another vision, but I can’t control when they happen.”
“That’s it!” Roger piped up.
“What’s it?” Ashley asked.
“A sweat lodge,” Roger said. “It may help Pauli have more visions.”
I shrugged. “Worth a shot. You up for it, Pauli?”
“Sweating? So nasty!”
“It’s a sacred practice,” Roger said. “And I promise it is not as nasty as it sounds.”
“Trust me, it’s an amazing experience,” Ashley added. “Like nothing else.”
I was with Pauli on this one—the whole idea of putting a bunch of people together in a small room and forcing them to sweat just sounded disgusting. But I try to have an open mind—especially about traditions that are valued by other peoples. At this point, we’d been through so much, asking Pauli to sweat a little didn’t seem like a major ask.
“Worth a shot,” I said. “We have to find where Kalfu and the Bokors are hiding out if we’re going to have any chance of stopping them. And Pauli, if you see any details at all that might give us a strategic advantage, even the smallest thing could make a difference.”
Pauli nodded. “Fine! But not in these clothes. I just salvaged them, and I don’t have another change available.”
“Shorts and a towel around the waist is what most men wear,” Roger said. “I’m sure we can find whatever you need.”
“I don’t really sweat in my snake form. We’ll have to do this in my human form. Only problem is I haven’t had any visions yet while shifted. Do you think it will work?”
“I don’t see why not,” Roger said. “The connection you have with Kalfu is due to your soul being dislocated from its natural body, correct?”
Pauli nodded. “That’s the theory, but who can say for sure.”
Roger nodded. “Presuming your theory is correct, you are just as removed from your natural body no matter what form you take in this body. I see no reason why it would not be possible for you to continue to have these visions in human form.”
“All right,” Pauli said. “If there’s any chance it might work.”
“My Jeep is around the corner,” Roger said. “We have lodges set up at the reservation.”
“Cool,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
Roger looked at me, narrowing his eyes. “I’m not sure you should be with us.”
“What? If Pauli goes, I go.”
“True that!” Pauli exclaimed.
“Can you behave, Annabelle?” Roger asked. “No snide remarks or disrespectful jokes. The ritual requires peace and calm.”
“I wouldn’t disrespect your traditions, Roger. I’m kind of offended that you’d think I would.”
“I just know that you usually use levity to deal with things that make you uncomfortable. This is not an experience that will likely be comfortable for you… not for the first time. But you’re right. I know you would not disrespect our traditions intentionally, and I’m sorry for suggesting you might.”
“I promise, I won’t say a word. I’ll just be there for moral support.”
Chapter Eighteen
My mom and dad, Ellie, and Sauron stayed with Mercy at Casa do Diabo. They’d been well there so far, and as much as I hated to admit it, it seemed that Mercy had been uncharacteristically hospitable toward them. We didn’t need them for the sweat lodge ceremony, so it seemed wise to leave them where they’d been safe so far—going out anywhere, it seemed, was a risk. Kalfu was searching for me. I was a bit unsure why the Bokor we encountered in Vilokan hadn’t tried to take me with him. Perhaps he was afraid that bringing me along might compromise his primary mission to deliver Kalfu the souls of Vilokan’s fallen. Still, he’d had a chance, and for whatever reason he’d passed up on it, only giving me vague threats that Kalfu still intended to claim me, somehow… eventually.
At the very least it had the effect of haunting me no matter where we went. I was always looking over my shoulder, expecting to see the Bokor, or even Kalfu himself. So far, nothing.
Truth be told, I was pretty sure Kalfu was looking for me as much as I was looking for him. Though it’s also true that he probably knew I’d be looking for him and he could just rest on his laurels, spend his time acquiring as much soul power as possible, to better guarantee his chances when I eventually found him. That basically meant I felt the pressure to locate him as soon as possible—the sooner I could locate Kalfu, the better chance I had to somehow stop him. As much soul power as he was garnishing, only Isabelle’s power could give him access to the groves of Guinee and the Tree of Life. It was what he wanted the first time we’d met him on the gravel road. All signs suggested he hadn’t been dissuaded at all from his goal.
We pulled into the reservation, and Roger gave a two-fingered salute of a sort to a man walking alongside the road. It seemed like a different world here. I’d only been to the reservation a handful of times through the years. Roger usually came to us. Ashley, though, had spent several weeks there learning Shamanism. She was waving at people as we passed by, too. We were in their element now.
I instinctively looked over my shoulder again—still paranoid about being pursued.
“Kalfu can’t enter the reservation,” Roger said as he turned his head toward my spot in the back of his Jeep. “And I don’t think the Bokors would dare try.”
“Stranger things have happened,” I said. “Just want to be ready in case.”
When we arrived at the sweat lodge, Ashley took me into a small building where I was given a native ceremonial dress—we both changed into them and met Pauli and Roger, both with their waists wrapped in towels, at the entrance to the lodge.
“We call this sweat lodge the alaksha, and on the inside the anuka.”
“Beautiful,” I remarked. “What do those words mean?”
Ashley grinned. “Alaksha means place of sweating. Anuka just means inside.”
Roger smiled. “Using these terms helps connect us to the tradition. The Choctaw have practiced these rituals for more than a thousand years.”
“Must be something to it,” I said. “You don’t keep something going that long if it’s bullshit.”
Roger grinned. “It’s definitely not bullshit.” We went inside the alaksha—into the anuka.
“The ritual consists of four parts,” Roger explained. “Before we arrived, I had the anuka prepared. The rocks in the middle are hot—do not touch them.”
Roger looked at me, narrowing his eyes.
“What? I’m not a moron,” I said. “I know what they’re for.”
“I will pour hot water on the rocks to create steam.”
“Like in a sauna,” Pauli said.
“Precisely. Each of the rounds will be more intense than the last. During the first round—the round of cleansing—you are encouraged to pray for yourselves.”
&n
bsp; “Wait,” I said. “This is a prayer thing?”
“You can pray to the god of your own understanding,” Roger said. “The Creator is vast and may be addressed through whatever terms accord with your beliefs. The first round is about prayers of cleansing. In your Catholic tradition, Annabelle, it may be a time of confession. It’s a time to release all impurities of both body and soul.”
I bit my lip—confession was something I was accustomed to. I’d sweated more than once in the confessional—the priest on the other side of the screen. But this was a very literal sweat. That wasn’t something I was used to.
“We believe that the impurities of the body and soul are not altogether unrelated,” Roger explained. “Sweating purifies your body, which should aid you in the purification of the soul through prayer. This is a very personal time—you need not share your prayers aloud.”
“And there are three more rounds of this?” I asked.
Roger nodded. “In the second round, you will pray for one another. Once we are cleansed, we are in the proper place to consider the spirits of our friends, or even our enemies. In the third round, I encourage you to focus on healing—you will feel your body restored. But this is also a time when we heal our souls. Finally, in the last round, we focus on gratitude. We give thanks to the Creator.”
“In which round will my visions kick in?” Pauli asked.
“There’s no way to know for sure. But as you are purified, as you reach beyond yourself to others, as you heal and gain a sense of gratitude, you will be in a prime condition to experience the most your soul can offer. You should find connecting to your body more natural… at least that is what we are hoping will happen. Any variety of unique and powerful spiritual experiences can occur in the anuka.”
“All right,” I said, cracking my knuckles. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Roger rolled his eyes before grabbing a pitcher of water and pouring it across the rocks. The steam sizzled, the air thickened. With Agwe’s aspect, breathing in steam felt like nothing compared to breathing underwater. Still, I could feel the clamminess on my skin. I wasn’t sweating yet—but it was just a matter of time. There’s a reason they call this thing the alaksha.
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