Chapter 10

The alley was a narrow strip of darkness, the kind that threatened to swallow you whole if you lingered too long. I glanced at Juliet—well, the ghost riding shotgun in Juliet’s body. A surge of irritation burned like acid in my veins.

“Pauli,” I said, my voice low and commanding, “take Juliet back to a cell in the Underground. There’s a vacant one next to where we’re holding Muggs. Drop her off there.”

“You wouldn’t!” The ghost’s voice twisted Juliet’s features into something unrecognizable, a grotesque mask of indignation. “You cannot imprison me! I am the Emperor’s most loyal subject! When he hears of this, he will avenge me, I say! He’ll avenge me!”

“Can’t imprison you?” I huffed. “Tell that to my girlfriend, asshole.” I glared at the ghost through Juliet’s eyes with every ounce of vampiric menace I could muster.

“Right-o, boss lady.” With a quick flicker of colorful light, Pauli appeared on Juliet’s shoulders, curled the back part of his body around the silver chain binding her, and wound himself around her. Another flash, and they were gone.

I wasn’t sure if I was relieved we had Juliet or more worried about her. What could this ghost do to her in retaliation for locking it up? The ghost possessing Muggs had made threats before. So far, it had done nothing to him. That didn’t mean that either Muggs or Juliet were safe, though. But it was a slight relief to know I knew where they were.

I barely had time to process my conflicted emotions over the encounter I’d had with the ghost inside Juliet when another flash of rainbow light signaled Pauli’s return.

“She’s all locked up,” Pauli announced, still in snake form, dropping himself right over my shoulders.

I shuddered. “Get off! I’m not your ride!”

Pauli giggled a little, then flashed again and appeared back on Annabelle’s shoulders. She stroked his head gently as if he were her pet—what a strange friendship those two had.

“What we’re looking for is probably inside,” Sebastian said, casting a wary glance toward the door at the end of the alley. “But we have no idea what we’re walking into.”

“I might pick up a few things,” I said, focusing my enhanced hearing. It took several years before I could direct my ears like that. A vampire’s senses can be overwhelming to younglings. Over time, though, most of us adjust and learn to shut things out. By silencing what I didn’t want to hear, I could focus on whatever might be lurking inside the strange door. It was oddly quiet inside, but there were entities inside. What kind of entities? I wasn’t a hundred percent sure.

Whoever they were, they weren’t especially talkative. I didn’t pick up a single spoken word. Just motion. Shuffling. Eerie as hell.

“Well?” Annabelle asked, her fingers twitching nervously by the hilt of her dagger.

“Quiet. Too quiet,” I replied, straining to catch more details. “There are people—more likely, vampires—in there. But it’s strange how silent they are.”

“How many are we talking about?” Annabelle pressed, her eyes narrowing as she peered into the darkness.

“Too difficult to tell,” I said, shaking my head. “But they’re definitely vampires. Otherwise, I’d hear more heartbeats.”

“No heartbeats means no humans at least,” Annabelle added, a hint of relief in her voice. “Less carnage than before.”

“Not necessarily,” I countered, giving her a grim look. “No heartbeats just means the vampires in there are done with dinner.”

“Great.” Sebastian rubbed his right temple. “Can you smell blood?”

“Yeah,” I said, inhaling deeply and letting the myriad scents flow over me. “It’s in the air, but subtle. Not coming from near the door. Also, the shuffling I’m hearing is muffled, but there’s also an echo. It’s like the sound is coming through a long tunnel or something.”

“Perfect,” he sighed, reaching into his bag and pulling out a pair of sleek glasses. Donnie pulled out a pair from his jacket pocket as well.

“Night vision,” Donnie explained, slipping them on and adjusting them. He pulled out another set and tossed them to Annabelle.

“Thanks,” she said, donning the glasses. “These should help.”

“Hey, what about me?” Pauli hissed, his forked-tongue flickering.

“Boa constrictors are nocturnal,” Annabelle said. “You’ll be fine. Just stay in this form.”

Pauli slithered under Annabelle’s arms and over her shoulders, his scales shimmering faintly even in the dim light. Better her than me.

Donnie took up the rear. He had a few throwing knives in his belt. He knew how to use them, too. A lot of years in his mother’s basement throwing them at posters of who knows what had refined his skill. You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but he was a decent fighter, all things considered. He was no Sebastian, but he could hold his own.

We stepped into the dark room, our footsteps echoing off the dusty floor. It looked like nothing remarkable at first glance—just another abandoned space that had seen better days. Dust hung in the air, particles catching the faint beams of light that shone in from the streetlights through dirty windows.

“Looks like nobody’s home,” Annabelle whispered. “Doubt that’s the case. You said it sounded like the noises were echoing through a tunnel?”

I nodded and pressed through a door barely hanging on its hinges. Through it, a steep stone staircase descended into darkness.

“Ah, there we go.” Sebastian stepped through first. “Down we go, then.”

“Wait,” Annabelle said, her hand gripping Pauli’s serpentine form tightly. “A small stairway like this. If there are vampires out and about and they come at us from behind, and still more meet us from below, they could catch us in an ambush.”

“Good thinking. Pauli?”

“I’ll be ready,” Pauli said. “I can get us out of here in a flash if it comes to that.”

“Remember,” I added, giving Annabelle a sharp look. “Wooden stakes are alright if necessary. Try to avoid using Beli unless there’s no other choice.”

“Understood,” Annabelle nodded, her expression serious. She knew as well as I did that unleashing Beli wasn’t totally off the table. If push came to shove and we had no other choice, she could use it. And with Muggs and Juliet secured, I didn’t have to worry about them being consigned straight to hell. Didn’t mean I wanted to see any of my team suffer that kind of fate.

And Mel was still somewhere out there. Moving at a distance. She wasn’t where we were going.

Donnie retrieved a wooden stake from his backpack and handed it to Annabelle. “Just in case you need it.”

Annabelle took the stake, twirling it between her fingers before slipping it through a loop in her belt. “Thanks.”

“Let’s move,” I said, and we began our descent down the stone staircase. The air grew dank and musty, the scent of blood becoming stronger with each step. The walls closed in around us, like we were navigating the bowels of some kind of stone monster.

“Dammit!” I cursed as I walked straight into a sticky spider web, the fine strands clinging to my face and hair. I hastily brushed them away, feeling a shiver crawl down my spine.

“Watch your step,” Sebastian said dryly, his gauntlet-clad hand pushing aside some of the webbing. “If there’s a web here, one of two things is most likely. Either whoever is down here in these catacombs has been here a while. A spider doesn’t take long to spin a new web, but we can safely assume there haven’t been a lot of people coming and going for a few hours at least.”

“You said it’s one of two possibilities?” I asked.

“Or there’s another way in and out of this place,” Sebastian said. “Other than this staircase.”

“Great,” I muttered, stepping carefully forward. The musty smell mixed with the iron tang of blood grew sharper, stinging my nostrils. “Just what we need. More surprises.”

Annabelle sighed. “This place goes almost as deep as the stairway into Vilokan in New Orleans.” She paused, her brows knitting together. “You don’t build a staircase going down this deep into the earth if you don’t have something big down there, something worth hiding.”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling a cool draft on my face. “I can feel the air flowing out from below. There’s definitely a large expanse down there.”

“Could this be where old Chinatown went?” Sebastian asked, his voice echoing slightly in the confined space.

“Hold up!” Annabelle suddenly grabbed my arm, her grip surprisingly strong.

“What is it?” I asked, peering into the darkness ahead.

“Do you feel that?” she whispered, cocking her head as if her ears were antennas trying to pick up a faint signal.

“Feel what?” I asked.

“It’s a magic. Something familiar.” Then her eyes widened with surprise. “Too familiar. It can’t be…”

“Voodoo?” I asked. I didn’t sense it myself, but that was the kind of magic Annabelle knew. it was a reasonable deduction.

Annabelle nodded. “Has to be.”

“Voodoo? In old Chinatown?” Sebastian sounded skeptical. “Isn’t Voodoo of African origins?”

“Lines aren’t so neatly drawn as they used to be.” Annabelle shook her head. “People mix practices all the time.”

“Agreed,” I added. “A lot of modern practitioners mix and match their arts. They’re eclectic. Which can be extremely dangerous when they don’t know what they’re doing.”

“Fantastic,” Pauli said, his snake eyes gleaming in the dim light. “So, we’re dealing with a bunch of amateur dead vampires screwing with magic they don’t understand. What could go wrong?”

“Stay sharp,” I warned, gripping my wand tighter. “We don’t know what kind of twisted spell craft we might run into next.”

As we descended further, the air grew cooler and more damp. The scent of mold mixed with blood. We finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and I couldn’t help but gasp at the sight before us.

“Chinese architecture,” Sebastian murmured, his voice filled with awe. “This has been here a long time. I don’t think they’re building like this in Beijing these days.”

We examined the ancient underground city all around us. Stone arches and intricately carved pillars stretched out into the darkness, illuminated only by oil lamplight and the occasional flicker of ghostly light darting across the ceiling.

“Stay close,” I whispered, raising my wand, ready to cast Recedo if any spirits got too close. A few ghosts flitted above us, but so far, they hadn’t noticed us.

“Let me lead,” Sebastian stepped forward.

“You’re not immortal,” I reminded him, grabbing his arm.

“Here, the last thing you want to be is immortal.” He nodded curtly, his eyes serious. Reluctantly, I nodded back at him, letting him take point.

“Keep your eyes peeled,” I instructed the team as we moved deeper into the underground city.

“What’s that?” Annabelle pointed toward a movement in the shadows ahead.

I narrowed my eyes to look, but before I could make out what I was looking at, a crowd of vampires emerged from the darkness. Their eyes glowed eerily, possessed, and their movements were unnaturally synchronized. Among them, I recognized Ian and Antoine, the former a vampire orphan who had been part of the Underground, and the latter the head of my security team. They looked at me with empty, possessed eyes, no trace of the vampires I knew.

“Mercy Brown,” a voice called out, drawing my attention. A vampire stepped forward, one I’d never seen before, his eyes glowing brighter than the rest. “What a surprise. The emperor will be pleased to hear you’ve given yourself up.”

“Given myself up?” I scoffed, brandishing my wand. “I’m here to stop you.”

“Brave words,” the leader sneered. “But futile. The Emperor’s power cannot be contested.”

“Guess we’ll see about that.” I raised my wand, ready to cast whatever spell I needed if the bastard made a move.

“Mercy,” Sebastian turned to me, his voice hushed but urgent. “This is too risky. If a ghost gets you, we’re all screwed. Let Pauli teleport you out of here.”

“Not a chance,” I snapped back, eyes locked on the leader. “I’m not running. I’m fighting.”

“Are you sure I can’t bring out Beli right now?” Annabelle asked.

I glanced at her, seeing the worry etched in her features. She had a point; the situation was rapidly spiraling into chaos.

“Not yet,” I sighed. “If it comes to that, do what you have to do.”

The ghosts inside the vampires that gathered around their leader started laughing, a chilling, synchronized chorus that echoed off the ancient stone walls. More vampires emerged from the shadows, their numbers swelling until we were surrounded. I recognized most of them—but only a few of them belonged to the Underground. The rest of my team, I assumed, was with Mel accompanying their emperor on whatever errand he was running.

An awkward silence settled into the tension separating my team from the vampires. I knew what that meant. It was the calm before the storm. Each side waiting for the other to make the first move and respond in kind. One thing was clear, though. We were about to throw down.

Sebastian moved first, his gauntlet snapping out a wooden stake that plunged into the heart of an approaching vampire with precision. A random vampire, he’d been turned a decade ago, but I couldn’t remember his name. Never the sort who caused me much trouble before—but the ghosts were in charge, now.

I caught a blur out of my peripheral vision. “Donnie, on your left!”

A sickly green glow caught the opposite side of my sight. I spun around. “Recedo!”

The spirit recoiled. I turned back in time to see Donnie’s stake tumbling through the air to meet its target in another vampire’s chest.

What was going to happen to the staked vamps? Would the ghosts stay in control? That the stakes dropped them now meant that the ancient spirits hadn’t totally integrated with the hosts. If they had, not even a stake would drop them. It was good news. If we dealt with the ghosts, I could bring the staked vamps back later.

“Nice throw, Donnie,” Annabelle called out, clearly impressed despite the dire circumstances. For a guy who looked more suited for accounting—or plumbing—than combat, he held his own.

“Thanks,” he grunted, already preparing his next throw.

“This is pointless!” Sebastian shouted as he staked another vampire. “It’s just a matter of time before we’re overwhelmed! We need to find the relics!”

“Keep fighting until we get an opening!” I yelled back, though my mind raced with the reality of our situation. “It’s hard to play Indiana Jones and track down old relics when you’re under attack!”

“Recedo!” I cast again, barely fending off a particularly aggressive spirit. My focus split between protecting myself and attacking the vampires closing in.

“Mercy, watch out!” Annabelle’s warning came just in time. I ducked, narrowly avoiding the swipe of a butterfly knife aimed for my throat. I retaliated with a blast of magic, sending the vampire staggering back.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, a ghost lunged at me. I felt its cold, ethereal fingers brush my skin, and a shiver ran down my spine. Just as it was about to possess me, a flash of sickly green light illuminated the room.

“Stand down,” Mel commanded with a tenor to her voice that wasn’t hers. “The vampire queen is mine.”

“Like hell I am,” I spat back, glaring at her—or rather, at the ancient emperor occupying her body. “You forget, Emperor Qin Shi Huang, I sired the body you’re renting.”

“Do you really think your pitiful influence is stronger than my presence in this vessel?” The emperor’s voice oozed arrogance, his eyes glowing with malevolent glee.

“Let Mel go!” I demanded. “Or I’ll destroy you. One way or another.”

“Bold words for someone on the verge of defeat,” the emperor sneered. “I’ll let this body go—your friend will be free if you surrender yourself to me.”

I hesitated. My mind raced through possible outcomes. Could I trick him? Was there a way to save Mel without dooming myself?

“Mercy!” Sebastian’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Not happening.” He appeared out of nowhere, jamming a stake through the back of Mel’s heart with precision that only centuries of practice could hone.

“Sebastian!” I screamed, but it was too late. The stake pierced Mel’s heart, and she dropped like a marionette with its strings cut.

For a split second, I hoped the emperor would be vanquished. But the hope was dashed as the ghostly form of Emperor Qin Shi Huang rose from Mel’s body, his spectral face twisted in rage.

At least I knew Mel could come back. If I could get Sebastian’s stake out of her.

“Foolish mortals,” the emperor hissed, his ghostly form now floating freely, untethered by any physical vessel. He drifted toward me, waves of pure hatred flowing off him like a magic I’d never encountered before.

“Recedo!”

The spell hit him, but he barely flinched. The power behind his presence was overwhelming, suffocating.

“Recedo!” I shouted again

It barely slowed him down.

“Pauli!” Annabelle’s voice rang out, urgent and commanding. “Get Mercy out of here! Before that ghost takes her over!”

“On it, bitch!” Pauli’s boa constrictor form slithered toward me, ready to wrap around and teleport us away. But just as his magic started to shimmer, the emperor ghost sent a shockwave through the air. The force knocked Pauli back, nullifying his magic in an instant.

“Shit!” I cursed under my breath. “No choice, everyone. We have to run!”

We turned to bolt, but our path was blocked. The leader we had encountered earlier stood there, flanked by a horde of possessed vampires, their eyes glowing with malevolent energy. They were everywhere, cornering us like wolves closing in on prey.

“Sebastian,” I snapped, trying to keep the panic from my voice, “Any ideas?”

“Run this way,” he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me in a direction deeper into the underground labyrinth. “If we can find the relics and destroy them, we can end this here and now.”

“Recedo! Recedo! Recedo!”

I cast the spell behind me each time the emperor ghost got too close. It was like trying to swat away a swarm of bees with a feather—ineffective and exhausting. But what else could I do?

“Left here!” Sebastian directed, and we veered into a narrow passageway. I could only trust Sebastian’s instincts. But how did he know he wasn’t leading us into a dead end?

“Are you sure about this, Sebastian?” I shouted as we barreled down the passage. The walls seemed to close in on us, dank and oppressive.

“Not really,” he admitted, “But right now I’m running where the ghosts and vampires aren’t!”

“Great,” I muttered under my breath. “We’re screwed.”

“Look!” Donnie’s voice cut through the chaos. He pointed ahead, where two statues stood against the side of a building, guarding a set of double doors. They were unmistakably two of the terracotta warriors.

“Inside! Now!” Sebastian barked.

We didn’t need to be told twice. We burst through the door, slamming it shut behind us. The room was dimly lit, filled with ancient artifacts and scrolls.

But what caught my eye was the old Chinese man standing in the middle, dressed in robes that screamed antiquity. His long hair and beard gave him an air of timelessness, but there was nothing benevolent about the way he looked at us.

“Well, this just got better and better,” I grumbled.

“Shén shèng de guǐ dǎn,” he intoned, waving his hand. The door behind us sealed with a resounding thud, trapping us inside.

“Anyone catch that?” I asked, sarcasm lacing my words.

“Something about holy ghosts,” Annabelle replied, her eyes wide with alarm. Then she gasped, pointing at the floor. “No! That can’t be... it’s the veve that can be used to summon and bind Baron Samedi!”

“Of course it is,” I muttered. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Annabelle,” Sebastian said, trying to stay calm, “What are we dealing with here?”

“This guy is using voodoo. Of course he is. Because he’s using vampires as vessels. He had to tap into the Baron’s power to make this all work.”

“This must be the immortal wizard,” Donnie added. “I think we’ve just met the one who taught the emperor everything he knows.”

“Fang-fucking-tastic.” I gripped my wand tighter. “Just what we needed.”

The veve on the floor pulsed angrily, casting an eerie red glow that bathed everything in a blood-red light.

“Let’s take him down!” Sebastian roared, lunging forward, stakes at the ready. Donnie followed suit, his round frame surprisingly agile as he tried to flank the ancient sorcerer.

With a nasal cackle, the wizard flicked his wrist. A shockwave blasted from his hand, sending Sebastian and Donnie hurtling backward like rag dolls.

“Pauli, can you get us out of here?” I shouted, desperation creeping into my voice.

“Sorry, bitch, my magic’s still on strike,” Pauli hissed, coiled tightly around Annabelle’s shoulders, his serpent eyes flashing with frustration.

“Guess it’s up to me.” I unleashed a barrage of spells, each one more potent than the last, but the wizard deflected them with ease. My own attacks ricocheted back, forcing us to duck and weave to avoid getting fried by my own damn magic.

“Mercy, this isn’t working!” Annabelle yelled, her voice cutting through the chaos. She raised her hand. “Beli!”

The air surrounding her hand shimmered as the dragon-spirit dagger materialized, wreathed in green energy.

“Annabelle, what are you doing?” I screamed.

“Getting us out of here,” she snapped, not breaking her stride. “You got a better idea? ‘Cause we can’t best this guy.”

“Look!” Donnie’s voice rang out, pointing toward a series of statues lining the walls. Their stone-carved eyes pulsed with an energy that matched the ghosts outside, and those possessing my friends. “The statues... they have to be the key. We need to destroy them!”

Sebastian hurled his stake at one of the statues, Donnie following his lead with surprising precision. I fired off a concentrated burst of magic, aiming for the same target. The projectiles struck true, but the statues remained unscathed, as if mocking our feeble attempts.

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath, feeling the room grow colder as the wizard conjured a swirling tempest. Wind howled, whipping dust and debris into a frenzy, making it nearly impossible to see or breathe.

“Annabelle!” I yelled over the cacophony. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not inclined to stick around to see what that spell will do to us.”

“Agreed!” she shouted back. With a swift, practiced motion, she cut through the air with Beli, opening a shimmering portal in the middle of the chaos.

“Everyone, through the portal!” I commanded, grabbing Pauli and pulling him along. One by one, we dove through, leaving behind the malevolent laughter of the wizard and the pulsating veve that threatened to do… well… nothing good.

My feet crashed onto green grass, an otherworldly sun blazing overhead. It didn’t burn—because this wasn’t earth’s sun.

“We’re in Guinee,” Annabelle announced and glanced toward the sky. “And that’s Beli’s true form. He’ll take us back wherever we want to go when we’re ready. But we need to sort out what we’re dealing with before making another move.”

I sighed. Guinee. That’s what the vodouisants called it. To druids, like Muggs, it was Annwn. To others it was the Garden of Eden. I’d always called it the otherworld.

Bottom line. We’d skipped dimensions. Without Beli, we’d have no way home. But at least now we had a chance to regroup.

“Any bright ideas, anyone?” I asked.

Annabelle sighed. “We pay Baron Samedi a visit.”

I snorted. “I thought the wizard was using the Baron. Had him bound somehow.”

Annabelle smirked. “You forget, Mercy. When you skip realms, you also skip through time. Where we are now isn’t in sync with when the Baron is bound by the Chinese wizard. We can find the Baron here, somewhere, and maybe he can tell us how he’s being used to force the Emperor and his army into vampire hosts.”

Donnie was looking all around, his jaw agape. Sebastian, meanwhile, was seemingly unfazed by our paradisiacal surroundings. “Won’t that depend on whether we’re here before or after the Baron’s experience being manipulated by the wizard?” Sebastian asked.

“Not necessarily,” Annabelle explained. “The Loa, what you might think of as demigods or angels, depending on your belief system, aren’t temporal beings. They exist in time—but in every time. They also exist outside of any particular time.”

I chuckled. “No wonder your relationship with Ogoun didn’t work out.”

Annabelle winced. “Yeah, that was certainly a part of it. I mean, he could shack up with anyone at any time and always tell me that it was his ‘old self’ that did it, and why should I care, anyway, because his present self was always only with me. At that given moment, only.”

“Sounds like a semi-divine load of bullcrap,” Sebastian accurately remarked. “But whatever the case, if this Baron has the answers we need, I say we go find him.”

I looked all around. “Any guesses where we might find him now? Considering he could be anywhere, and nowhere, all at once?”

“Well,” Annabelle thrust her fists on her hips. “We won’t find him hiding under a rock somewhere. Thankfully, we have one of his own with us. There’s a connection between you and the Baron since he created your kind. Beli can use that to help us track him down.”

I bit my lip. “Great. A meeting with Baron Samedi. And I’m the secret code word to get in.”

Annabelle nodded. “More or less.”

Donnie was still looking around, awestruck. “This is the Garden of Eden?” You’d think he hadn’t been listening to anything we’d been talking about. I just nodded at him curtly. “Holy shit! Oops. I mean, poop! Is holy poop a thing? You can’t say shit here, can you? You’ll get the boot.”

I chuckled. “I don’t think that’s how it works. Just better not eat from the wrong tree.”