Chapter 23

 

How much more could I fucking lose? No Isabelle… now no Beli. Those were my two biggest advantages—if I wasn’t relying on Isabelle to take the reins or give me a good dose of magica to get shit done, my trusty soul blade was what I turned to when things went south. What was I without Isabelle, without my blade? I was just an average girl, I guess. One with a few neat little tricks up her sleeve. I had other aspects, but I never grew into them. I never learned what they could do for me—because I’d leaned so heavily into Ogoun’s aspect, into the abilities I had with Beli in hand.

I stormed out of the gymnasium. I couldn’t stand to even look at Mercy right now. She’d always looked down on me, as if I were some kind of inferior creature. But now, without my blade that I could use against her in a pinch, without Isabelle, she was right. I was nothing. Yeah… I was the Voodoo queen, but I was a sham queen. Marie Laveau chose me because of the shit I could do… with Isabelle and Beli! Now, I didn’t even deserve the title.

“Come now,” Legba said, “you still have me.”

I’d almost forgotten I was still gripping Legba’s shrunken head by a tuft of his hair.

“What’s that going to do for me?” I asked.

“I’m the Loa of the crossroads, dear child! And you are a Voodoo queen! You have my aspect!”

I shrugged. “All true. I still don’t know what that means.”

“Do you know why I was the Loa who was headmaster over the Academy for all those years?” Legba asked.

“I don’t know. Seniority?”

Legba chuckled. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose that’s right! It’s because I could control which Loa would come and go, which would have access to the Academy and this world, and which would not.”

“A power Kalfu also holds, if I remember correctly from my studies.”

“Indeed, Miss Mulledy. But Kalfu opens the crossroads to any Loa who wishes to pass through. Good or evil, it makes no difference. Any who might serve his purpose can and will join him.”

“So you’re saying this army he’s amassing… will consist of evil Loa?”

“Most likely, amongst other things.”

“Then why hasn’t he brought all these other creatures and such out yet? Why now?”

“Because until now his goal was to wrest Isabelle from you! The young witch has been deceived.”

“Ya think?” I asked. I didn’t mean to be rude, Legba was giving me advice. But sarcasm is sort of my go-to when I’m standing in the wake of shit hitting the fan.

“He is bringing these creatures here not to take over the earth because he’ll have a jolly good time doing it. Though, I’m sure he’ll derive some pleasure from all the bloodshed. He’s doing it because in order to bring his army into Guinee, he has to bring them here first.”

“You know, these details would have been helpful to know during our first little brainstorming session…”

“I did not see what his full plan was until the young witchling spoke. But now, it makes sense.”

“How is he going to get his army from here into Guinee?”

“If you cannot cut the portal for him, he’ll have to make it through bloodshed.”

“Through bloodshed?”

“Enough lives lost in a single day and the veil between worlds will be torn. Too many souls passing between here and there…”

I took a deep breath. This world had known some bloody wars. Think of when the atom bombs dropped at the end of World War Two. Think of all the battles, all the lives slain at the hands of other men. And never before had the number of lives lost been enough to thin the veil between earth and the eternal realms. What Legba was talking about, it had to be something on an unfathomable scale. “How many lives are we talking about?”

“At least half of humanity. Gone in one day. That’s his plan.”

“Holy shit… How do we stop it? I mean, does Hailey even realize what she’s helping him with?”

“The girl is likely clueless, and telling her won’t likely do much good.”

I nodded. “She is headstrong, and trying to convince a headstrong teenager she’s wrong…”

“Sounds like something you might know from experience,” Legba said.

I smiled. “You could say that.”

“So I think it’s time you learn what abilities come with being the Voodoo queen. You need to learn to wield my aspect. That is the only way, now, that Kalfu can be stopped.”