Chapter 29

 

I didn’t have time to think. I couldn’t make up my mind before. I glanced at Kalfu, then back to Hailey. A green glow was pulsing in her eyes. That’s Isabelle in there, I thought. Suddenly I blurted it out. I don’t know why. Something about seeing Isabelle—well, the evidence of her presence in Hailey—compelled me.

“Mikah!” I shouted back to Bondye. “My second is Mikah!”

Kalfu laughed as he pressed his hands together. “A fine chance to exact my revenge, on both of you!”

“We’ll see about that,” I said. “How does this work?”

“You are the challengers,” Kalfu said. “We stand our ground. You stand yours. Unless you can displace us both, each of you crossing over to our respective positions, we will retain control. Both of you must succeed.”

“And if we fail?” I asked.

Kalfu shrugged. “When you fail, you will die. For I will not permit you to return to the realm of the living.”

I exchanged glances with Mikah. A battle to the death—I think that’s what I expected all along. Hearing it was true, though, put a sinking feeling into my gut. I didn’t want to die. But if I didn’t fight, we’d all die anyway. This was it. This was where we drew the line.

I raised my blade. “Come and get it,” I said.

Hailey raised her wand and zapped a spell my direction, I refracted it with my blade. She shot another one, and it hit my leg, dropping me to the ground.

Kalfu was already laughing. “I bet you miss your little bitch of a partner now, don’t you?” Kalfu asked rhetorically. Of course I did! Isabelle could heal this, she could even protect me. But Isabelle didn’t do this. Hailey clearly hadn’t figured out how to access her power.

One leg still limp, I struggled back to my feet as Mikah extended a hand and shot a barrage of lightning bolts at Kalfu. Kalfu’s body shook a little, but it didn’t even move him an inch.

“That tingles!” Kalfu said through his laughter as Mikah, his eyes narrowing with focus, turned up the amperage.

Still, the effect was marginal.

“Why don’t you give us a shot, Kalfu? Show us what you can do?”

“I don’t need to,” Kalfu said. “You are the challenger. All I need to do is stand my ground.”

I glanced at Mikah. He looked back. I mouthed her name—Isabelle. He nodded. I think he got the idea.

We both looked at Hailey.

“She’s in there, isn’t she?” Mikah asked her.

Hailey nodded.

“You realize,” I said. “She’s a girl a lot like you.”

“Dear lord,” Kalfu interjected. “You can’t talk your way out of this!”

Hailey bit her lip. “How so?”

“Hailey, don’t entertain them!” Kalfu insisted.

“No,” Hailey said. “I want to hear what they have to say. You said you need me here on my own accord, so I’m going to listen!” Hailey quickly rattled her head, as if to correct her tone, for Kalfu’s sake. “Plus, maybe what they’re telling me will help me get control.”

“Did she tell you about how she lost her family?” I asked.

Hailey just shook her head.

“She was born a slave. Her father tried to resist, and he was killed by her master. Then she and her sister were shipped off to another family.”

“What’s this have to do with me?” Hailey asked.

“The man who killed her father, that was my great-great-grandfather. I thought when she took over my mind, she’d hate me. I thought she’d want revenge. She had the power to kill me. She could have.”

“She probably should have,” Hailey said.

“Then finish the job for her!” Kalfu shouted. “Kill Annabelle Mulledy!”

“You do it,” Hailey said.

Kalfu huffed. Why didn’t he? Why couldn’t he? He hadn’t accessed a single power since we’d been here. He was letting Hailey fight this battle for him. I suppose, knowing I had no power to speak of, he figured Hailey could handle Mikah. He’d seen them both in action, and truth be told, it’s hard to know. But either way, all he needed to do was hold his own spot. He could sacrifice Hailey, get another second—if it meant he’d win, we’d be gone.

“He’s using you,” I said. “More than any slaver ever used Isabelle.”

“I don’t think…”

“He is. Think about it, Hailey! Why isn’t he fighting?”

“He can’t fight…” Hailey said out loud.

Kalfu narrowed his eyes and stared at the girl.

“Because if he does, the power he gained from my father will activate, won’t it?”

Hailey didn’t respond. She just stood there, gripping her wand.

“You realize what he’s doing? He doesn’t have to win here. You don’t have to win. He’s trying to use you to hopefully make good work of us. But if one of us eliminates you but can’t eliminate him, he’s still in charge! All he needs to do is find a new second to replace you. He’s throwing you on the front lines and gambling with your life, Hailey. Don’t you see it?”

“Don’t listen to her, Hailey! I’ve promised you the world! You can have it all!”

“Not a promise he’ll have to fulfill if you’re dead, by the way.”

I’d seen enough of Kalfu’s deals, his bargains, to know how he worked. He hadn’t bound Hailey to a bargain—he couldn’t if he was still going to use her as his second. But that was a technicality. He was manipulating her the same way he manipulated everyone.

“Let her take the reins,” I told Hailey. “Just relax and let go…”

“I can’t…”

“Yes you can,” I said. “Unlike him, I don’t break my promises. I’ll take care of you. Just let go of the reins.”

Hailey took a deep breath. She lowered her wand.

“No, you stupid…” Kalfu shouted at Hailey, but his words were interrupted as her eyes began to glow, fully green.

“Isabelle!” I shouted.

“Hey there, old friend!” Isabelle said, grinning through Hailey’s face.

A rage overtook Kalfu. “Hailey, you’re going to regret this! You can’t do it!”

A red glow overshadowed Kalfu—he was getting ready to use some kind of ability, who knows what. All it would take was one massive blow to knock us all off our positions, and he’d win no less. Not the way he wanted, but he’d win.

Before he could get it off, a pulse radiated through the air, a ripple of magic energies filling the space—the crossroads and all the air around us.

I looked around, Isabelle’s natural form floating above Hailey’s body as the girl collapsed to her knees holding her head. Alexa floating outside of Mikah’s body.

I wondered if what Legba said about hosts applied here, too. Once one has inhabited a body, there will always be a home there…

“Isabelle!” I shouted. “Quick, on me!”

Once the pulse faded, Isabelle darted toward me, her translucent form enveloping mine in a green energy. We had to move quick—before Kalfu released another pulse, this time intentionally.

“Beli!” I shouted. My soul blade formed in my hand. I charged after Kalfu.

He raised a hand—a force of some kind pressing against me. I tried to fight against it. My feet were sliding in the gravel beneath me as I struggled for traction.

“Mikah!” I shouted. “Do something!”

He didn’t have to—Alexa reclaimed her spot in Mikah’s body. She jumped right in and took over—Mikah gave her control. A full storm, something like a tornado, struck Kalfu. I didn’t need much, just a short window, enough to take two steps…

I felt the force release.

I charged Kalfu and plunged Beli directly into his heart—what had been Pauli’s heart. His body fell, it started to wither.

Kalfu screamed. His eyes glowed one more time. He released one last pulse before his body disappeared.