Return of the Hunters (The DeathSpeaker Codex Book 4) (14 page)

Nyantha said that the barrier between the land of the living and the world of the dead existed all around us, and that souls could cross on their own if they wanted it badly enough. And she’d told me I was a conduit between those worlds.

Obviously, it worked both ways.

You there?

“Yeah. I’m here.” I held a hand out as Zoba stood with a menacing scowl. “I’m the DeathSpeaker, remember?” I said to him. “She contacted me.”

His features relaxed into shock.

Told ya we’d haunt your ass.
I could hear the smile in her voice, and I didn’t even mind the pain of hearing her speak.

“Yes, you did say something like that,” I said. “Is Rex…with you?”

He’s right here, keepin’ watch.
The tone of her voice darkened.
Ain’t got long.
He
cain’t find out we talkin’ to you.

So Legba was keeping an eye on them, even in death. The idea horrified me.

They still weren’t free.

Zoba made an urgent sound, and I knew what he wanted. “I’ll tell you everything when she’s done,” I said. “Promise.”

He seemed to accept that reluctantly.

Listen, I need you to pass a message to Zoba,
she said.
Tell him Legba never did plan to collect him. He was always gonna take me and Rex, right from the start.

Startled heat pricked my eyes, and I hated the bastard more than ever. “All right,” I said. “I’ll tell him.”

Thanks, cher. And for all you done, for our family. You an honorary Duchene now.

“Yeah, I haven’t done anything yet. But I’m going to.” My throat tried to close on me. I clenched my fists until the nails dug in. “You two aren’t spending the rest of eternity attached to that monster. I’m still going to free you.”

A soft sob echoed in my head.
You really think you can?

“I
will
,” I said. “I’ll find a way.”

After a long pause, Senobia said slowly,
Might be we can help you out. I think—
She broke off with a quick, indrawn breath.
Gotta go. Back when I can.

I felt her presence vanish, and most of the pain along with it. But I had plenty of my own left. And Zoba was looking at me expectantly, with a mixture of hope and misery.

So I gave him the message.

He stared at me. A fat tear welled in his eye and streaked down his tattooed cheek. He made a low, heartbreaking sound, and then threw his arms around me.

I hugged him back. “We’re getting them out of there,” I said. “And somehow, we’re going to put that son of a bitch out of commission for good.”

The chilling noise Zoba made said he agreed.

C
HAPTER 23

A
s small as this village was, it seemed a lot bigger when every single person who lived in it was packed into T-Sam’s house.

The viewing had started at noon. Hours later, the crowd that turned up almost immediately showed no sign of dispersing. They filled the house, the porch, the small strip of front yard and the dock. A bunch of them had gathered on the keelboat. The mood was surprisingly animated, almost boisterous—except when Reun or I got anywhere near a group. Then they were subdued and mistrustful.

I knew it was nothing personal. We just weren’t from their world.

I’d already paid my respects to Senobia and Rex. Their bodies had been washed, dressed in white, and laid out on a wooden table in the main room of the house. They’d been placed side by side on a bed of dried reed grasses, surrounded by a circle of alternating pink and white water lilies. Their hands were linked together. His right with her left. And their expressions were peaceful, even though their deaths were anything but.

It hurt to look at them.

I made my way through the house and out the back door, where there weren’t so many strangers. The only occupants of the open back yard were three kids, ranging in age from five or six to about ten, and Reun.

When I came out, the kids stared at me for a minute, and then filed silently into the house after I cleared the door.

Reun was sitting on a stone bench facing the swamp. He looked back in time to see the last of the kids vanish, and gave a slight smile. “You’ve frightened the children,” he said.

“What can I say? It’s a gift.” I crossed the shaggy patch of grass and took a seat next to him. “So…this sucks.”

His brow lifted. “An interesting way to phrase it.”

“Yeah, well I’m kind of at a loss for words.”

“As am I.” He looked out over the trees and weed-clogged water. “If we do not stop Legba, your promise may kill you,” he said quietly.

So he was thinking about that. “Well, we’re going to,” I said. “At least I am, and whoever else is with me.”

Reun frowned. “Denei cares for you,” he said. “She’d not—”

“This isn’t about me, now. It’s about them. Rex and Senobia.” I dropped my gaze to the ground. “He still has their souls, and I’m not letting him keep them.”

“I share your concern.” He waited until I looked up. “But I am not certain he
can
be stopped.”

There it was. The huge, glaring problem I didn’t want to think about. Taeral had warned me. I remembered brushing off his claims, thinking this guy couldn’t possibly be as downright evil as he thought. But he was right. Nothing we’d done had even slowed him down on his way to casually slaughtering a pair of innocent kids. Legba was a true monster.

And I wasn’t sure I’d live long enough to hear Taeral say
I told you so.

I was about to mention my encounter with Senobia last night and how she’d said that her and Rex might be able to help, when I realized something was wrong. It took a minute to figure it out. “Reun,” I said. “You hear that?”

He cocked his head a bit. “I hear nothing.”

“Yeah. And that’s exactly what we
shouldn’t
be hearing.” I’d more or less tuned out the ongoing noise and chatter of the big gathering behind us. But now the house, the whole area, was completely silent.

We got up and ran for the back door at the same time.

The silence was courtesy of Legba. The son of a bitch actually had the stone balls to come to the funeral of the people he’d slaughtered.

He stood at the foot of the table in the main room, looking at the bodies with an air of smug possession that made me sick. The remaining four Duchenes were the only ones anywhere near him—everyone else had pressed back along the edges of the room or crowded into the small kitchen where the back door led into. They were all terrified of him.

He hadn’t seen Reun or me yet. He was too busy gloating.

Denei took a step toward him, holding the others back with a warning gesture. “Why are you here?” she said roughly. “Ain’t you hurt us enough already?”

Legba gave her an indulgent smile, and I wanted to rip it off his face. “I have simply come to pay my respects to my children.”

“They ain’t yours. They never were.” Denei’s throat worked. “They mine.
Ours
. Our babies.” She shivered visibly, and whispered, “How could you? You…you
monster
.”

His face darkened. “Watch your tongue, child, or lose it as your brother lost his.”

I bristled and started pushing through the crowd. Unstoppable tyrant or not, I had a word or two for that bastard.

Gideon. Hold up, hoss.

This time the voice in my head was Rex. “Hey, kid,” I said under my breath. “Glad to hear from you. But now might not be the time—”

You need to listen.

I stopped. “All right. I’m listening.”

You done scared him. Back at Boko, near the end there,
Rex said.
He thought you was Samedi.

Christ. I remembered him looking startled, whispering that word. But I still had no idea what it meant. “Who’s Samedi?”

A few people near me shot narrow-eyed looks. I ignored them.

Baron Samedi. The god of the dead.

“Why the hell would he think that?”

On account of you callin’ his souls. They ain’t supposed to answer to anybody ’cept him. Plus, you changed how you look.
I sensed, rather than heard Rex laugh.
You was all got up like a walkin’ corpse. Gave Legba quite a nasty turn, you.

“What…” I started to say. Then I remembered Reun telling me that I’d lost my glamour. I’d only seen my true form once, in a mirror. And I did kind of look like a corpse. “Um. One problem,” I muttered. “I’m not actually this baron guy.”

Don’t matter, hoss. You ain’t gotta be Samedi. He scared ’cause he don’t know what you are, and you
done
something to him. Nobody ever touched him ’fore now. So jes’ be you, only bigger. DeathSpeaker yo’self all over his ass.
He paused for a few seconds.
Voodoo’s all about belief. You make him believe in what you are, and you got the power over him.

It sounded so simple, I almost didn’t believe it myself. But I’d try anything at this point. “All right,” I said. “I guess I’ll be the DeathSpeaker, then.”

You’d best do more than guess. You get the power, you take him down. And we all go free.

The pressure left my head. Rex was gone.

I drew a bracing breath and focused on what was happening outside my head. The mute crowd, the Duchenes in the main room with Legba rubbing his power in their faces. Pouring salt in the wounds he’d opened—just because he could.

I dropped my glamour.

Tight packed as it was, the crowd around me parted almost instantly. So Legba wasn’t the only one who was afraid of my glamourless self. I headed for the main room, trying to appear more confident than I felt.

Legba didn’t even notice me until I walked up next to Denei. Then he did a startled double-take. “You,” he said. “This is not possible.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re not welcome here.” I did my best to tune out the Duchenes, who were all staring at me like I’d just lost my last marble. “And I think you should leave now.”

He leaned forward slightly and looked at me for an uncomfortably long time. Finally, he shook his head and flashed that smug, infuriating smile. “No, child. You are not Samedi.”

“You’re right. I’m not,” I said. “But you don’t know what I am, or what I can do.” I took a step toward him. “Care to find out?”

The smile ticked away by degrees. After another long hesitation, he said, “We will take up this matter again soon, no? My children are in mourning, and should be allowed to grieve.” His hands folded on his cane. “But I would warn you against trying to bluff me. DeathSpeaker.”

With that, he turned stiffly and crossed the room, then walked out the front door. It slammed shut behind him.

The silence held for another minute, until I restored my glamour. Then everyone started talking at once. Denei grabbed my hand in both of hers, and I could feel her shaking. “You scared him off,” she said breathlessly. “Not for good, but still…” Her eyes met mine. “How’d you know to do that?”

“Rex told me.” I cut a glance at the table and managed a small smile. “It’s a start,” I said. “We’ve still got some work to do, but…I think we can take him.”

Now I just had to convince myself that I believed my own words.

C
HAPTER 24