Healing the Bayou (20 page)

The house was definitely big enough for all of us. With six bedrooms and apparently only his father living there, we could each have our own room and a couple spares left over. Samuel still wanted me to room with him though, and I agreed to as long as his father was gone. It would be a little too awkward when he got back.

Camille had packed a few of Vivian’s books along with some essential herbs and salts. I was glad for it once we were all settled in our new temporary home. Thinking back to the ceremony, I remembered how Marinette said she had nothing to do with my parents’ murder. Damballah had hinted Aunt Vivian was somehow involved. I needed to know the truth, and I vaguely recalled seeing a truth spell in one of the books during my endless hours of studying. It took some searching, but I found it.

“So basically…” Camille was reading over my shoulder, “you kill a goat, say a few incantations, and read the animal’s blood?”

“I thought you said healers don’t cast spells?” I asked Samuel. “This sounds more like witchcraft than Voodoo.”

“It’s a blurry line. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between the two.”

I shook my head. “I would rather not blur the line. I was still adjusting to being a healer without mixing into something I’m not.”

“Well, you could try summoning Erzulie Freda,” Camille suggested. “She’d probably only help if you promised to exact revenge after she tells you who is behind it, but I’m sure she would be able to tell you something useful.”

“I don’t know.” I hesitated. “I mean, I’m all for vengeance and getting what’s coming to you. But, after what happened with Mr. Mueller I don’t really feel comfortable risking anyone else just for the sake of being selfish.”

“We’ll keep the group small,” she insisted. “Just you, me, Samuel, and Jenny. None of us practice dark magic so I don’t think we have any chance of a rival Spirit making an appearance.”

“Who is Jenny?”

“She works with me at the diner. She practices too. We use her as Erzulie’s host.”

“We don’t have much of a choice, I guess,” I conceded. “Give her a call.”

* * *

We met Jenny that night in the field where we summoned Filomèz. She was a pretty eighteen-year-old girl with pale white skin and naturally rosy cheeks. I had to smile every time I looked at her because I thought of Snow White—my favorite Disney princess. She had long, dark, brunette hair that came down to the small of her back and she wore invisible frame glasses that her sharp nose held up well.

“I’m so glad I can help,” she said quietly. She was very shy and timid, and if I had met her in another way I would have never have guessed she was involved with Voodoo.

“If you’re scared…” I found myself repeating the same invitation to decline I had given to Mr. Mueller.

“I’m not scared,” she promised. “I’ve done this lots of times. But please don’t be mad at me if she saying something rude. Erzulie can be a bit of a twit.”

After laying out a pink blanket, Camille placed a gold bracelet and a bottle of champagne on it. A trail of pink candles were set up perfectly around the edges. I got the distinct impression that we were dealing with a diva.

She pulled the cover off of a small cat carrier that she brought with us. Knowing I would’ve backed out if she had told me what was inside she had kept me in the dark. It held a beautiful white dove that cooed musically, excited to greet his visitors. The poor thing had no idea what was intended for him.

“No, Camille.” I backed away from her, holding my stomach, queasy just from the thought of killing this beautiful creature. “I can’t hurt him.”

“Eliza, it’s not that big of a deal.” She rolled her eyes at my childishness. “You’re going to have to learn to sacrifice sooner or later. It’s part of your job as mambo to be able to fulfill these rituals when you’re called on and sometimes they get messy.”

“But isn’t a dove supposed to be a symbol of God or something?” I would take any excuse to get out of it.

“Come on!” She let out an exaggerated sigh. “Don’t think of it as a beautiful symbol of divinity. Think of it like a rat with wings.”

“I had a pet rat when I was a kid,” I frowned. “His name was Templeton.”

Ignoring me, she reached into the cage and pulled out the bird, clasping him tightly with both hands. She passed him over to me, and I grudgingly look him.

“Snap his neck.” She wrung her hands to mimic the motion. “He won’t feel a thing.”

“I’m sorry little guy.” I nuzzled him with my nose, and with one swift motion I jerked his head to the side.

I would never forget the way my heart was shadowed with guilt as his vertebrae cracked. He didn’t struggle, and at once his body fell lifeless in my hands. My eyes strung with tears. I would never forgive myself for this.

“You’re such a wimp.” Samuel wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“Shut up, ass!” I pulled away and rubbed the saltwater from my eye.

“Put him in on the sheet,” Camille instructed.

I laid him down carefully and joined the others, who were forming a small circle around Jenny. In unison, we chanted the call for Erzulie.

“
Erzulie Oh, kay la mande wouze, Erzulie Oh, kay la mande wouze. Erzulie Freda, Erzulie Dahomean. Si pa gen dlo, wouze avèk losyon ou.
”

The candles all blew out at the same time, and Samuel and Camille quickly tended to Jenny. Camille took hold of her shoulders, and Samuel lifted her by the ankles. Together, they carried her to the blanket, laying her down next to the sacrificed dove. She was awake and alert, but her breathing had slowed drastically.

A ray of white light fell from the sky, resembling a shooting star. Once it reached the ground it covered her body as if it was a shroud. She was illuminating from the inside out. Her mouth fell open, and she exhaled star dust.

One quick, sharp breath in and she ascended four feet high, parallel to the ground. Her body did not bend at all when she flipped ninety degrees, planting the weight of her body onto her feet again.

The light on her body dimmed, and as it did her new features became visible. She really hadn’t changed much, not in the face anyway. Her jeans and T-shirt had been transformed into an elegant, pastel pink gown with a long, dragging train. Each of her ten fingers housed a golden ring with various brilliant gems.

Her plump lips were pouted seductively, and her eyes smiled at Samuel. Swaying her hips with each step she took, she breezed over to him. Taking his muscular biceps into her grasp, she squeeze and flicked her tongue over her bottom lip, then brought her fist to her chin.

“Oh my,” she breathed, raising her breasts far more than necessary when she inhaled. “Aren’t you handsome?”

He cleared his throat and tried to keep from smiling.

“Um, excuse me,” I interrupted. I could feel my cheeks burning red with jealousy. “But, I’m actually the one who summoned you.”

“And thank you for that.” She didn’t so much as glance in my direction. “I haven’t had a mortal man in ages, and I daresay I don’t recall ever having one as yummy as this one.”

Was she serious?

I wiggled myself between them and smacked her hand away. “I didn’t call you here to watch you rub your skanky self all over my boyfriend, OK?”

“
You’re
his girlfriend?” she scoffed. “Oh, I get it. He’s into the whole power thing.”

“Hey, back off, hooker,” Camille lashed out in my defense.

I had to remember to give her a hug for that later.

“He’s a big boy.” She bit her bottom lip. “If he wants me to stop, he can say so himself.”

Samuel held his hands up defensively. “No disrespect, but I’m spoken for.”

“Pity.” She sighed heavy. “All right, Queen of the week. What do you want?”

“I was told you could help me,” I said.

She held her hand out and examined her nails—a not-so-subtle clue that I dulled her. “Maybe. If it’s worth my time. You’ll have to be more specific. And hurry it up—we’re losing moonlight.”

“Um, OK.” Brushing off her arrogance, I moved on. “Anyway, my parents were killed. Two sets of parents actually. My real parents and my adoptive parents. And I’m pretty sure someone has been trying to kill me too. I was hoping you could tell me who is behind it all?”

“Really? That’s all? Come on, at least give me a challenge.”

“Look,” I could barely breathe past my frustration at this point, “it’s probably meaningless to you, but this is
my
life. Whoever did this is going to pay, and I’ll figure it out with or without you.”

Light flashed across her eyes, and she suddenly looked very interested in what I had to say.

“You want to take revenge?”

“Of course I do! Whoever it is has taken everything from me. They deserve it.”

“Why didn’t you just cast a truth spell? That’s simple enough, even for an amateur like you.”

“I’m a healer. I’m not a witch. I don’t cast spells.”

“Tomato, tamato.”

“Are you going to tell me or not?” My patience was wearing thin. This bitch annoyed me.

“Mmm.” She rapped her fingers on her head. “Yes. But only because the perpetrator bugs me even more than you do.”

“Fine, whatever. Just give me a name.”

“Oh, I can’t give you a name.”

“What?” I squealed. “You have got to be kidding. Why am I even bothering to put up with your self-absorbed ass if you can’t give me a name?”

“And now,” she pointed to Samuel, “I understand the attraction. You’re a feisty little midget.”

“OK, you know what?” I massaged my aching temples to chase away the pounding headache surfacing from having to tolerate her. I was through. “Crawl back into whatever portal you jumped in to get here. We’re done.” I turned my back to her and walked away.

“It’s really pretty obvious if you think about it.”

I stopped walking and hung my head, trying to collect myself enough to work through the little riddle she was about to weave for me.

“I was watching when Damballah was presiding,” Erzulie said. “He put all the pieces on the table for you.”

I thought back to the conversation we had, but so much of it was a haze. My hunger had taken pieces of my memory, and I just couldn’t figure it out.

“I can’t…”

“Yes, you can,” Samuel said sternly. “Think about it, Eliza.”

“You know, don’t you?”

He had betrayed me. He’d known all this time who was intentionally putting my life in jeopardy. Who stole my chance at a normal life right out from under me.

“I couldn’t tell you.” For the first time, tears swelled in his eyes, but I wouldn’t let myself be swayed by them. He couldn’t manipulate his way out of this one.

“You’re supposed to be my protector, right? My guardian? By not telling me, aren’t you pretty much aiding whoever it is?”

“No, Eliza. I’ve been protecting you as best as I can. You’re alive, aren’t you? After everything, you’re still alive.”

“How could you not tell me?” I shook and sobbed uncontrollably, falling to the ground. The pit of my stomach was in knots and I couldn’t even look at him.

“You don’t understand.” He begged me to listen. “It’s a spell. She was starting to suspect I knew, and she cast a spell. If I even drop breadcrumbs I will die on the spot, and if I’m not here I can’t keep protecting you from her.”

Something about what he said clicked, and it all came crashing down. Who else was close enough to him to know he was catching on? Who else had such close access to me they could track my every move from the time I was an infant? Who else but—

“My aunt Vivian.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Now you’re going to leave me,” Erzulie cried. She shivered and shook, crying hysterically.

I, on the other hand, had stopped wasting my tears the moment I realized my aunt was behind my death sentence. Filled with far too much rage, I couldn’t let myself feel wounded. My hands were shaking so badly my fingers were going numb, tingling from the vibration.

Samuel was trying to calm me down. He rubbed my neck and sat with me for a bit, not saying anything at all. I didn’t expect him to. I had learned to accept he was a man of few words. I could feel his concern and that was all that I needed.

Camille was in shock. She hadn’t even begun to figure it out either, which to be honest, made me feel a little better. At least I wasn’t the only one who didn’t see through the rouse.

“Why the hell is she the one crying?” I asked about Erzulie. I would regret it later. I always regretted when I was unkind to someone.

“It’s part of her departure.” Camille ignored me. “It happens every time.”

Seeing it was bothering me. Camille took Erzulie by the shoulders and helped her to breathe deeply before she hyperventilated.

“Easy, easy,” she repeated over and over until one final breath was calm enough for Jenny’s body to expel the Spirit’s light. An orb of white jumped from her tongue, and Camille had to support her body for only a few moments until Jenny recovered herself. If all possessions were so peaceful, I might enjoy them more. The violent ones made me wary of the whole process.

“Are you all right?” I asked her, halfheartedly.

“I’m fine.” She ran to my side and hugged me tightly. “I can’t even imagine how you must feel right now, but I’m here for you.”

“You heard it all?”

“Of course I did! I was right here.”

“Oh.” I didn’t think I was ever going to understand all this. “I thought once the spirit came in that your soul had to leave to make room or something.”

“No, I was there with her.” Jenny crinkled her forehead as though she was the one with the decision to make. “What are you going to do?”

It was a good question. Ever since that lame detective Richie told me that the conditions surrounding my parents’ death was suspect, I had been planning. I thought it would be easy to go mob-style on some stranger and hire a hit man, but death would be too easy for Vivian. And I couldn’t kill her anyway—she was still family.

Remembering that fact made it seem even more sickening. For a woman to murder her own sister, and then keep coming after her only niece, she had to be one twisted, sick monster. It didn’t matter what her reason was behind it. I hadn’t done anything to this woman and she had taken every opportunity to rip my soul to shreds. She had to suffer. I had to hit her where it hurt the most.