Chapter 2 #2
"And we need to understand how they've been corrupted," I interjected. "And by whom." There was no doubt in my mind that they had been changed to fit someone’s purpose.
The drive to the French Quarter gave me time to process what I'd seen in the vision. By the time we reached Café Du Monde, I had a theory that scared the hell out of me. We commandeered a large table in the back corner away from the tourists.
Marie arrived twenty minutes later, carrying her personal grimoire.
It was a leather-bound collection of spells and protective wards that had been in her family for generations.
She’d been our enemy not that long ago and it was still hard for me to trust her.
We all remained wary of her but used her when we could.
She was the Queen of Voodoo and the expert on her heritage.
She took one look at our photographs and her expression darkened.
"These symbols," she said, tracing one with her finger, "are from my grimoire. But they've been changed." Her dark eyes were troubled as she flipped through the ancient pages. "Here—this is the original protective ward. It was meant to keep spirits at rest."
I leaned closer, comparing the photo to the grimoire page while absently reaching for a beignet. At least crisis management came with good food. “Someone's inverted parts of it.”
“Precisely what’s happened. That changes it from protection to exploitation. Specifically, binding and harvesting," Marie confirmed grimly. "Whoever did this understands voodoo traditions and has corrupted them for dark purposes."
Lia stirred her café au lait thoughtfully. "The fake professor who visited the cemetery must have photographed your family's protective symbols and then perverted them."
"Professor Martin LeClair," Dre said, consulting her notes.
"He doesn't exist according to any university database," Phi added grimly.
"But why?" Dea asked as she unconsciously ran a finger through the pile of powdered sugar on her plate. "What's the endgame?"
Before anyone could answer, my phone buzzed with a text that made my blood run cold. It was an urgent message from Detective Payne. “Body found at St. Louis No. 1. Ritual markings. Need your expertise ASAP.”
"Well, there goes the rest of our afternoon," I announced as I showed them the text. "Detective Payne found a body."
"At St. Louis Cemetery?" Kota's eyebrows shot up. "That's tourist central. If there's supernatural weirdness happening there—"
"The mundane authorities will get involved," Phi finished. "This could expose everything."
I stared longingly at my half-eaten beignet. We'd been at the café for less than half an hour, and already we were being called away to deal with another supernatural crisis. That was exactly why I couldn't have nice things anymore.
"Can we at least get these to go?" I asked, gesturing at our food.
"Dani," Lia said in that tone that meant business.
“Right, right. Dead body trumps beignets. I get it. But I'm officially adding 'interrupted meals' to our list of hazard pay qualifications,” I replied as I stood.
Marie promised to continue cross-referencing the symbols while we dealt with whatever fresh hell awaited us at St. Louis Cemetery. The drive took fifteen minutes through French Quarter traffic. I used every second to mentally prepare for the worst.
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was the complete opposite of Lafayette No. 3. This cemetery was well-maintained. It was popular with tourists and regularly patrolled. Which made Detective Payne's presence even more concerning.
Wendell Payne met us at the cemetery entrance, his expression grim enough to make my stomach clench.
"The body was discovered this morning by a tour group," he explained as he led us through the maze of above-ground tombs.
"It’s an adult male, mid-thirties, no ID.
But here's the weird part. He's covered in symbols that were carved into his skin. "
“Carved?” Phi's voice was sharp. “Were they done pre- or post-mortem?”
The detective shook his head. “That's what we're trying to figure out. The coroner is baffled. The cuts are precise, almost ritualistic. Something feels off about the blood pattern.”
We reached a cordoned-off area near Marie Laveau's tomb.
Of course, it was near the most famous voodoo priestess's ancestor’s final resting place.
It was a target for most tourists and supernaturals visiting the cemetery.
Crime scene tape fluttered in the breeze, and uniformed officers kept curious tourists at bay.
"Where's the body?" I asked as I scanned the empty space within the tape perimeter.
Ray's face went pale. "That's the problem. It was here two hours ago. Now..." He gestured at the empty ground where a chalk outline marked where it had been.
"The body's gone?" Lia's voice rose an octave.
"It vanished. Along with most of the ritual objects we found around it." Detective Payne pulled out his phone and showed us photos he'd taken earlier. "There were candles, bones, some small bags filled with what looked like dirt and... other things. I think those are gris-gris bags."
My chest tightened as I studied the photo. "You’re right. Those are gris-gris bags. Just like the ones you saw in your vision, Lia."
Lucas was crouched near the chalk outline. His nose wrinkled in disgust as he looked over at us. "There's something here. It’s not human." He stood, brushing off his hands. "If I’m not wrong, it’s ectoplasm residue and connected to whatever happened to that body."
"The veil between worlds is thinnest here," Adèle projected to us. "This location was chosen deliberately."
"For what purpose?" I whispered aloud so my sisters could hear as I sent it back to our familiar.
"To anchor something between life and death. The body was likely a sacrifice. A battery to power whatever ritual was being performed," Adèle explained.
Detective Payne was looking between us with that expression cops got when they knew they were out of their depth. "I don't suppose you have any theories about where a dead body might walk off to?"
"Unfortunately, we might," Lia replied diplomatically. "We need to examine the scene more closely. Can you give us some space?"
He nodded and moved the other officers several feet away while we investigated.
The six of us knelt where the body had been.
I let my senses expand despite the psychometric hangover from my earlier vision.
The echoes I felt here were stronger than at Lafayette Cemetery.
The victim’s pain and terror turned my stomach.
I couldn’t imagine how Dea felt. As an empath she was sensitive to emotions.
She was also the one of us that could speak to ghosts.
I nearly puked when I felt the purpose and intent behind the act.
"Whoever did this is escalating," Dea gasped as she stood up. "The cemetery symbols were preparation. This was the real ritual."
"But what were they trying to accomplish? And is his spirit still here? Is that how you know?" Phi asked.
Before Dea could answer, my phone rang. Cyran's name flashed on the screen. I had a sinking feeling that our day was about to get even worse. "Bad timing," I muttered as I answered. "Hey, Cyran. We're kind of in the middle of a crime scene, so—"
"Dani, I need you and your sisters to accelerate your research into the old families." His voice was unusually tense and cut through my attempt at diversion. "Something's been brought to my attention that can't wait."
I put him on speaker and grabbed Lia. Jerking my chin, I pulled her further away from the cops as the others followed. When the leader of the Light Fae sounded worried, it was time for everyone to pay attention. "What kind of something?"
"The reunion I mentioned? The families involved have a shared history. They did a ritual during the yellow fever epidemic of 1853. They bound something, Dani. Something that should never have been bound."
My blood turned to ice water. "What kind of something? And could it have to do with the dead body that vanished from a crime scene today?"
“It was an entity from beyond the veil. It fed on death and disease,” he explained. “It grew stronger with each life the epidemic claimed. The families worked together to imprison it, but the binding required specific anchors. Symbols carved into strategic locations throughout the city.”
I looked at my sisters, seeing my horror reflected in their faces. This was connected to the crap we’d been looking into all morning. "Cyran, I think someone's been tampering with those exact symbols."
"Then we may already be too late. The entity was bound using the deaths from the epidemic as a power source. If it's been feeding on the ghost energy from Baron Samedi's rifts..."
"It could be strong enough to break free," I finished as my mouth went dry. "How long do we have?"
"I have no idea. The original binding was set to weaken over time,” he began, “assuming the entity would eventually starve without a food source. But with all the supernatural disturbances we've had in recent years..."
"It's been snacking," Kota interjected grimly.
"Yeah. I'm sending you everything I can find about the families involved and the original ritual," Cyran continued. "But you guys need to understand. If this entity breaks free during the reunion, when all those bloodlines are gathered in one place..."
"It'll have a buffet of the exact families that imprisoned it," Lia concluded when he didn’t finish. "Perfect revenge and a power boost all in one."
“We will be in touch,” Dre promised and then hit the button ending the call. “Why can’t these cases ever be simple? We seriously need a vacation.”
Nodding in agreement, I said, “We need to schedule time to do the Camino de Santiago. There isn’t going to be a great time to go given how complicated life is now, but we need to do it.”
“We will set aside the time. For now, we need to stop another power-hungry asshole,” Kota replied.
“That asshole’s been using Baron Samedi's accidental dimensional damage to harvest ghost energy," Dre pointed out, getting us back on track.
“They perverted Marie's family protection spells to create spirit traps.
And now they're using all that collected power to free some kind of death-eating monster that was locked away over a hundred and fifty years ago. "
"That about sums it up," I said as I stared at the empty chalk outline where a murder victim had been lying just hours ago.
"And we don't have long to stop it before it turns Cyran's reunion party into a supernatural massacre," Lia added.
"Also, accurate," Dea muttered.
"Anyone else miss when our biggest problem was choosing between vanilla and chocolate wedding cake?" Dre asked.
"Every damn day," I muttered. But even as I said it, I knew that wasn’t true.
Admittedly, the supernatural crises had completely derailed my dreams of elegant parties and happy celebrations.
But I just couldn't deny that we were good at solving these problems before they became catastrophic.
We'd saved the city before, and we'd do it again.