Chapter 10

 

I pulled up to my family home—we had more than enough space for Pauli, and I wasn’t about to force him to go back to his mom’s basement. My driveway, though, had turned into a parking lot. Oggie’s Hummer, Roger’s Jeep, and Mikah’s moped were all parked on our circle drive.

I quickly spotted Oggie, who was standing outside on my porch.

“Hey there!” I said. “What brings you by?”

Oggie glanced at Pauli. “Is he doing well?”

“I don’t speak for him,” I said, rolling my eyes. It was not customary for another student to converse with a Loa of another college. I’d done it, of course. But I sort of had a pattern of rebelling against tradition. Growing up in Catholic girls’ schools, I suppose I’d had enough tradition in my eighteen years to last a lifetime. “But yes, Oggie, he’s fine. More or less.”

“You went back to Casa do Diabo? Mikah called me. He was freaking out. Your sister apparently wasn’t thrilled either.”

“Pauli busted in, checked on my parents. They’re fine. Don’t remember much, nothing since I was a kid, since before they were bit. But they have a supply of donated blood to pacify them.”

“And who is running this coven?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I lied. It wasn’t that I couldn’t trust Oggie—but if he knew what I was doing for Nico, he’d try to stop me. He’d get involved… might get other Loa involved, too. And if Nico got any idea that I wasn’t following through with his plan, I was reasonably sure he’d stick to his threat. He’d enthrall my parents to kill Ashley. It wasn’t something I wanted to risk.

“You took a risk going there,” Oggie said. “I assume you used Pauli to get in?”

“He went in, checked on my parents. Confirmed they are alive and not a danger to anyone.”

“And is there any evidence that the Baron has returned?”

I shook my head. “He isn’t there. Not that we could tell.”

“Very well,” Oggie said. “We’ll discuss this matter later. There is actually another matter that brings me here. Would you invite me in?”

I smiled. I forgot that, like vampires, a Loa required an invitation to enter. I’d already invited Pauli, by effect, when I told him I’d have a room for him. I wasn’t sure if the same rule would apply to him, given his unique condition, but I had it covered no less.

As I walked through the door, my sister lunged at me and wrapped me in her arms.

“What were you thinking? You had me so worried, going there alone.”

I smiled. “I wasn’t alone. I had Pauli. And we handled ourselves just fine.”

“What did you find out, about Mom and Dad?”

“They’re fine… better than fine. For some reason when their vampirism was awakened it restored their memories. Sort of. Everything prior to when we were attacked.”

“So they think we’re still kids?”

I nodded. “They didn’t see me. Pauli talked to them.”

“They’re fabulous,” Pauli said. “A bit bloodthirsty, but not at all murderous.”

“Why wouldn’t Dad answer his phone?” Ashley asked.

“They think it’s nine years ago. They had no clue what that contraption was, much less how to answer it.”

“Hello, Isabelle,” Mikah said, looking into my eyes.

Tell him I said hi!

“She says hi.”

“You’re both okay?”

I nodded. “I invited Oggie inside. He said he has something he needs to talk about.”

“It impacts all of you,” Oggie said. “Except for the Shaman.”

“Don’t mind me,” Roger said, lifting his bottle of Budweiser toward us as a sort of toast.

Oggie nodded at him, then looked at Mikah and then me.

“I have good news and bad news, but I’ll tell you the good news first.”

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s hear it.”

“Marie Laveau is reopening the Academy. All of you, Ashley included, may resume—or in her case, begin—your studies starting tomorrow.”

“That’s fantastic!” I said.

Oggie was not smiling. “But the matter was not decided in our favor. Sogbo has returned, and his newest initiate swayed his opinion in favor of Brigitte and Erzulie.”

“Sauron.” I sighed. “I should have known.”

“And the new headmaster?” Mikah asked.

“Erzulie,” Oggie said. “The queen wished to give the honor to Sogbo, but he declined. It seemed that Brigitte had escaped punishment already by the skin of her teeth. And Aida-Wedo sided with me. Majority rule determined the new headmaster, and Erzulie was the only candidate who remained.”

“That’s the bad news?” Ashley asked. “I mean, she’s my sponsoring Loa!”

Oggie glanced at Ashley and then looked at me directly. “This will probably result in some favorable treatment for your sister. But it will radically change the culture of the Academy. Erzulie’s ways are….”

“Unconventional?” I asked.

“To put it kindly,” Oggie said. “But that is the least of our concerns. I suspect that Erzulie intends to fulfill her commitment to Maman Brigitte.”

“To bring back Baron Samedi?” I asked.

Oggie nodded.

“But how? If he’s still in Guinee…”

“Papa Legba governed the crossroads. As headmaster, Erzulie inherits that right. She can open the gates and allow any Loa to pass through. With her love spell already compelling the Baron to seek a path back, she need only open the gates once and he’ll be back. If she hasn’t done it yet, she will undoubtedly do it soon.”

“Which is tomorrow, when classes resume?”

Oggie nodded. “I hope you have a handle on your gen eds. Because you aren’t going to have much time to study this semester.”

“Isabelle has that shit down,” I said. “She’ll help me pass the tests.”

Mikah shook his head. “That’s not even fair.”

I shrugged. “Being possessed has its advantages.”