Yoni performed that night with more nuance, more sensitivity to the audience than ever before. She was glorious. I wondered if Veek were in the audience somewhere . . . but why should he be? I was the one obsessed with her, not he. I had not seen him since meeting that remarkable vodou woman and, omigod, Ashurbanipal! Veek’s roommate! Veek was a continuous explosion of surprises.
I would have to seek him at the botánica, then.
The thought of him enhanced Yoni’s show for me. My blood beat like the sea under my skin.
I hoped that wherever he ended up, my Veek would find contentment. He seemed beset by persons who wanted to change the course of his life to suit themselves—that vodou woman, my father. Jake, who had died, had determined Veek’s life for him while he lived, and somehow he still exerted some influence from beyond the grave. I have given her your leash. What leash? And that spooky lwa who possessed Jake at the end—Baron Samedi? What was that about?
Perhaps it was the thought of Veek’s uncertain future that drew my attention away from Yoni. The throbbing in my blood receded, as if I were losing both her and him at the same time. It made me sad.
But I knew exactly where Yoni was. And I knew where she soon would be.
I had a message for her.
I slipped through the standees near the stage and made my way to a side exit.