Chapter 26

 

To contest the crossroads, Legba told me, all I needed to do was make physical contact with Kalfu. What happened after that… well, he didn’t offer much clarification, which, frankly, was mildly unsettling. He said the terms of the contest would be set on contact—that there was no way to predict what would unfold, but that I could rely on my friends as my source of strength. More than once I’d had to dive into the “unknown” and trust that things would work out. But before, I’d had Isabelle and Beli at my side—now I had to enter this unknown, this contest with Kalfu, alone. My friends, Legba said, would be my source of power. I knew how to leverage their power in the battle itself—as his legions met ours on the plantation grounds. But when it came to the contest over the crossroads, I was basically going into it blind.

Legba said I’d have to choose a second. Who made these rules, anyway? God, or Bondye as most of the folks in the Voodoo world call the Almighty, most likely. All kinds of rules—and not just in the Voodoo world—exist without explanation. Why does gravity make things go down, not up? Why do some plants thrive in sunlight while others prefer the shade? Why do men have nipples? There aren’t satisfactory answers to these questions. It’s just the way things are. And, frankly, in spite of my lack of understanding, I didn’t have room to question the hows and the whys. This was the lot I was given—and I’d have to choose a second. Pauli would be the obvious choice. He was my best friend. I trusted him more than anyone, and he’d never let me down. But Kalfu inhabited his real body—did that mean Kalfu could influence Pauli somehow? Legba had said that the obvious choice is not always the right one. Maybe that’s what he meant. Then there was Ashley. I trusted her, too. And we’d seen and been through a lot together. But she was a Shaman—err… Shawoman, rather. Her abilities were pretty impressive when on the defense, but Kalfu and Hailey held the crossroads already. This was an offensive operation. Mikah was a possibility. He loved Isabelle—would that be a strength or a liability when we faced Hailey, who had Isabelle within her? Not to mention, as much as I know he had to do it, and as much as I knew it must have torn him apart inside, he was the one—under Kalfu’s control at the time or not—who utilized the ability he’d gained by being soul-fused to Alexa Windstrom to execute Oggie. I wanted to see past that, but I just couldn’t. How could I face Kalfu with him at my side? There was Mercy. That wasn’t happening. Whoever I chose, if by some remote chance we managed to succeed, would have responsibility over the crossroads for God knows how long. Putting a vampire in charge of that—one who might outlive me in spite of the fact that I had whatever magic came with being the Voodoo queen now sustaining me—just wasn’t a good idea. Not to mention, she might be able to handle Hailey, but she was no match for Kalfu. No more than a mouse is a match for a snake. Any option I considered had its plusses and its minuses. I’d have to make a choice—if I could even reach Kalfu to begin with.

One step at a time. That’s what I told myself. It’s something Isabelle would have said if her soul were still fused with mine. To initiate the challenge, either Legba or someone possessing Legba’s aspect would have to make physical contact with Kalfu. And he was in the process of bringing all kinds of supernatural nasties into our world and had probably already surrounded himself with a diabolical protectorate of some kind.

I’d studied all the war texts over the last few months with Oggie. Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Clausewitz’s On War. I tried to retrieve Oggie’s editions from his old office, but the books were so water damaged that all but some of the innermost pages were impossible to read. Still, I remembered enough to know that to strike down a general can give an army a great advantage in battle. But it was also nearly impossible. A well-placed arrow, shot with some luck, might do it. But more often than not, you had to fight your way through a whole army to even get an open shot at a general or king. Unless the enemy’s army made a foolish move that left his rear or flank exposed—then you could take advantage.

Kalfu wasn’t a battle Loa—not like Oggie. That had to be why he felt the need to demand Oggie’s sacrifice in his bargain with Mikah. He knew Oggie would give us an advantage. The sacrifice wasn’t for nothing. So many lost souls in Vilokan whose abilities might have been fused to Bokors. Sure, Kalfu managed to acquire the latent powers of those who had Samedi’s aspect, who’d become vampires, but that was only a fifth of the power he might have gained had it not been for Oggie. He knew, he trusted that Mikah and I would do what we needed to do, that we’d find a way. And we did.

But now we had to take the battle to Kalfu—the only way was a full-frontal assault. Keep his troops locked in conflict with whatever force we could muster and hope, pray even, that at some point we could find an opening on his sides or to his rear. Somehow I’d have to get to him. It would take something of a miracle to pull it off, but there really wasn’t any other way. And if we somehow pulled that one off, I’d need a second dose of the miraculous to figure out how to defeat Kalfu. Even with the powers I had before, it would have been hard to take him out. I could breathe underwater. I could see dead people. I could fight pretty well. My aspects gave me those abilities. Legba’s aspect wouldn’t be good for much other than contesting the crossroads—only after I somehow pulled that off would his powers really become useful. Too little, too late.

I sat in my old dormitory room—staring at the four walls, pondering everything I’d been through in such a small amount of time. Letty nuzzled her face against my knee. I scratched her behind the ears. “Here goes nothing, girl. If I don’t see you again, try to keep Ashley in check, all right? I mean, I know she’s the big sister. But she’s lost too much. If she loses me…”

Letty howled. I hugged her, and she licked my face. I love my dog, but I don’t kiss back. Kisses from her. Hugs from me. That’s how our relationship worked. I wiped the slobber from my face. She didn’t have a home—and I wasn’t going to stick her in the old academy kennel. She’d have to wait here. Hopefully I’d make it back to her. If not, someone else would find her. At least, presuming we had survivors at all… I almost slapped myself for the thought.