Chapter 9

 

I snuck through the door to the second-year apartments. Unlike first-years, who were stuck in common co-ed dormitories, the second-year students who chose to reside at the Academy had private rooms. Still, there was a second-year common room that you had to pass through to get to any of the individual apartments. There weren’t any rules against it, exactly, but it was widely known that first-years weren’t welcome in more advanced year living quarters. Still, I needed Mikah’s help. Even with Isabelle’s knowledge of candles and oils, we were at a loss to figure out a good approach to oust any of the other students.

The second-year common room was pitch black. Most rooms in the Academy were—even with windows, the blue light from the magical firmament that illuminated the Voodoo underworld wasn’t bright enough to light a room. I could have drawn on some of Isabelle’s magica—the green energies that would flood my eyes would be enough to see by. But I’d also give myself away—and I was trying not to get caught.

I tiptoed across a rug and stepped in something squishy. I shook off my foot.

Was that… pizza?

I nodded. Sure felt like it. We don’t exactly keep the tidiest dorm, but based on the foul odor that filled the room, I was reasonably sure we were much better housekeepers than the second-years.

Makes you never want to graduate first year, Isabelle said.

I smiled. I hadn’t actually planned on staying at the Academy for a second year anyway since residency is optional after the first year. If I could convince Pauli to room in with me, maybe he could just give me a rainbow ride back and forth from home to school. At least that was my tentative plan. It was a plan I was solidifying even as I tried to make my way through the clutter on the floor toward Mikah’s apartment door.

“What are you doing here, Mulledy?” a voice said.

I turned, and whoever had spoken illuminated his face with his phone light.

“Dudley?” I asked. “I was just looking for Mikah.”

“You aren’t allowed here. Even if the leech in your head is dating Mikah.” Dudley scrunched his nose, apparently disgusted by the idea.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be jealous.”

“You think I’m jealous? Please.”

“Well whatever it is, I need to see Mikah. It’s important.”

“A bit out of your league for tomorrow’s trial? Mikah was first in our class in Candles and Oils. Makes sense you’d be looking for him. In fact, I was expecting it.”

I shook my head. “You’re College Samedi. You aren’t a fortune teller. You couldn’t have known…”

Dudley smiled. “It’s common sense, Mulledy. Nico always said you were a slouch. Relied on Isabelle for your power. Relied on her again to pass your tests.”

“He didn’t say that to you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Of course I do. When he was a student here, he thought I was possessed by Kalfu. It was his attempt to force an exorcism on me to begin with that started all of this shit.”

Dudley’s eyes filled with rage. “Do not speak lies about the dead!”

I shook my head. “No lies. It’s the truth. But he had been tricked like the rest of us. And he also saved us in the end. Don’t get me wrong, I never liked him. When he was a vampire he was an even bigger asshole than when he’d been human. But in the end, he just wanted to rest.”

“And you think competing in the Trials called in his name honors him? When you’re the one who abandoned him?”

“I was trying to give him what he wanted! Even though he hated me and I didn’t care at all for him. I helped him get his soul back. I made him human again.”

“And you let him die.”

“I didn’t know Kalfu had taken over Pauli at that point.”

Dudley shook his head. “You and Pauli have always been hooked at the hip. How didn’t you know?”

I stared at Dudley blankly. “After Mercy accused Pauli, he was taken away. Locked up somewhere. I had no idea what was happening.”

Dudley huffed. “Well either way, there are only two of us who were Nico’s friends. I couldn’t care less about becoming High Hougan. But I do intend to ensure that Nico’s memory is honored by the Trials.”

“So you want Sauron to win?”

“That would be acceptable. Though don’t mistake me. I intend to win no less. The winner will have the privilege to shatter the vessel and to see Nico’s spirit pass to the afterlife.”

“That’s what’s motivating you? We could bust into Erzulie’s office right now and bust that pot.”

Dudley shook his head. “You’re a crass one, Mulledy. And foolish. That would not be honorable.”

“So doing what’s honorable, that’s what motivates you.”

“In College Samedi, honor is the highest virtue. We trifle in matters of death. It is crucial we honor the traditions.”

“Nico didn’t see it that way,” I said.

Dudley shook his head. “He was barely a first-year student before he was taken away from us. He was like a baby viper.”

I rolled my eyes. “A viper?”

“Any venomous snake, really. The venom they produce is powerful and deadly. But they cannot control their bite. When they bite, they don’t hold back. They inject every drop of venom they have into their victim. Nico was like that—he was strong, but he was young. He hadn’t learned to honor or appreciate his art.”

“Because he wanted to be College Ogoun from the start. He settled for Samedi.”

“Be that as it may, he was one of us.”

“Well, I still need to go see Mikah.”

Dudley shook his head. “Why would I allow that?”

“It isn’t up to you. And you can’t stop me.”

“Perhaps not. But how would it look if you forced your way past me in our dorms? There are cameras everywhere, you know. All Erzulie would have to do to have grounds to expel you would be to examine the recording.”

“Cameras? Where?”

“They’re up there.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Dudley shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. I’m telling you the truth. Do you want to test it?”

I sighed. “Fine, I’ll leave.”

Dudley turned off his phone and disappeared in the darkness. I shook my head. How could he see in this place? After my eyes adjusted to the little bit of light his phone gave us, the room seemed even darker now.

“What the hell,” I said out loud. “I’ve already been caught.” I pulled out my phone and turned on my light. I couldn’t see it before, since Dudley had kept the light shining squarely on his face, like a dad trying to scare his children with a flashlight under his chin. Muahaha! But this place was a regular pig sty. And Dudley was nowhere to be found.

How did he disappear so quickly?

“No clue,” I replied.

Make a mad dash for Mikah’s room?

I chuckled. “For some reason I suspect Dudley sees us, even if we can’t see him. Besides, I told him I’d go. I’m not going to go back on my word.”

How are we going to handle this trial without his help?

“Plan B,” I said.

Isabelle giggled with excitement. The library!

“No one should be so happy about going to a library.”

You don’t understand. When I grew up it was illegal for us to read. Going to a library… no matter how long I’m removed from that world, it still feels so rebellious to me!

I chuckled as I closed the door to the second-year common room and headed down the hall. “I guess I can see why you might feel that way. Isabelle—the notorious book reader of New Orleans!”

Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta’!

“I can’t believe you just said that.”