Chapter 17

 

Standing outside of Casa do Diabo gave me sense of déjà vu. It hadn’t been that long ago, just a few weeks, since I’d been standing here waiting for Pauli to come back—the human Pauli—with intel about my parents. What a difference a few weeks make. Since then I’d discovered that the vampire coven lurking within was led by Nico, who’d been a vampire for several centuries. All the while I’d thought he was still lost somewhere in Guinee. I hadn’t met Mercy yet. I hadn’t died yet… or come back to life. If Brayden and Pauli managed to get the doll Nico had used, the one that harnessed the power of the Caplata, the power of Isabelle’s sister, Messalina, and the one that was also vested with the Baron’s essence, would I be able to wield it? I technically had Samedi’s aspect somewhere inside of me, I just had no idea how to use it. Could I even access it, or was it expired once I used up my one-time lifeline? I suppose phoning a friend was out of the question—I didn’t know anyone who’d have a clue how something like this worked, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell just anyone that I had Baron Samedi’s aspect. With Ogoun’s aspect, particularly since it afforded me a dragon blade that could cut through the fabric of space and time, I was already too scary for most folks—the Loa included—to reckon with. And when people, or demigods, fear you… they don’t usually run away. They try to strike first.

I tapped my front teeth with my fingernails. It was a bad habit, one that I turned to when I was nervous. At least I didn’t bite my nails. Ashley did that—and it drove me nuts. Nothing grosser than finding chewed off nail clippings on the floor mat of the Camaro. Okay, it could be worse. I once left a booger stuck to a business card and left it sitting in the cup holder. No, I’m not a regular nose picker. But when you have one deep in there that’s fluttering around with every breath and won’t come out by blowing, what choice does one have? It was one of very few things, aside from tapping my teeth, that gave my nails an actual function.

Too much information. I know. But I’m prone to that when I’m anxious.

Suddenly Brayden appeared in a flash of rainbow-colored light.

“Something’s wrong with Pauli!”

Pauli’s whole body hung from Brayden’s arms, limp.

“Have you tried tickling his belly?”

“I’ve tried everything. He won’t respond. I think he’s still breathing, but it’s hard to tell.”

I took Pauli in my arms. “Isabelle, think we can help, here?”

Most likely… I still see his aura. He seems healthy. It’s like he’s in a trance. Maybe just a zap of a little healing magica?

I nodded and inhaled deeply, drawing in whatever of Isabelle’s magic I could muster. A familiar tingle spread across my brow, and a green glow emanating from my eyes reflected off Pauli’s luminescent scales. The tingle flowed down my shoulders, through my arms and fingertips, and into Pauli.

Suddenly Pauli jerked and instinctively coiled around me tightly.

“It’s all right, dude,” I said, gasping for air.

Pauli loosened his squeeze. “Thank Bondye, it’s you.”

“What was it?”

“A vision… I saw through Kalfu’s eyes…”

Pauli had mentioned that this happened before, but this was the first time anything like this happened since he told me about it, since I discovered he was a snake.

“See anything significant?”

“Someone else was in the room. I couldn’t make out who they were—a shadow, a form. Not sure if it was a man or a woman. But Kalfu told whoever it was, and I quote, ‘You must win and bring the boy’s soul to me.’ It had to be one of the competitors.”

“Well it can’t be Brayden, since he’s here with us.”

“I wouldn’t conspire with that devil anyway.”

“It had to have been one of the others.”

“It had to be Dudley,” I said.

“His nomination was anonymous,” Brayden added.

I nodded. “And since Kalfu has control over Baron Samedi, he could have used the Baron’s influence to manipulate him.”

“Are you sure it couldn’t be Sauron? Or Tressa?”

“I’d be shocked if it was Tressa. She’s the closest thing a mortal could ever be to Erzulie. Plus, she’s too busy with her stable of men to get involved in shit like this.”

“And Sauron?”

I bit my lip. “I just don’t think she’s capable. If for no other reason than that she loved Nico. She wouldn’t hand his soul over to Kalfu. Plus, we know Sauron was nominated by Alexa Windstrom. Tressa by Ellie Thompson. They had their reasons, each of them. All signs point to Dudley and whoever his anonymous nomination might have come from.”

“By the way, we did get the doll.”

“Another reason I think it has to be Dudley,” I explained. “Think about it, Nico used this doll to manipulate Baron Samedi in Guinee. He used it to run from him for what felt to him like a lifetime. If it can do that to Baron Samedi, maybe it will also affect a student who has his aspect.”

“That’s a big maybe,” Brayden said. “We’re in uncharted waters with this stuff.”

I nodded. “But if we’re going to trust Marie Laveau, I have to believe it’s going to work.”

“I hope you’re right. In case you aren’t, I’d better get to work on the doll I’ll be making for the second trial.”

“Who are you going to fashion it after?”

“That depends. Can I have a tuft of your hair and some toenail clippings?”

“Excuse me?”

“I won’t hurt you. But if I’m targeting you, people won’t suspect we have an alliance. Worst case scenario, I’m able to help you wield your doll if things don’t go according to plan.”

“This is just weird. Giving someone my toenail clippings.”

“People buy stuff like that from pretty girls off the internet all the time,” Pauli said. “Or pretty boys.”

“I don’t want to know what dark corners of the internet you’re accustomed to visiting, Pauli. But I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“Well I won’t be visiting those sites for a while. Can you imagine me trying to type?”

I shrugged. “You could use voice-to-text.”

“That shit never understands me! The last thing I need is to misspeak something on Twitter and end up getting myself canceled.”

“Twitter could never cancel you, Pauli.”

“Twitter trolls are vicious! Worse than real trolls, by far.”

“There are really trolls in the world?”

“There are not,” Brayden interrupted. “And lest we get too far off track, how about the hair and clippings?”

I face-palmed myself. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…”