Chapter 28
LEONIE
The alpha didn’t object but it was easy to read his body language, even if I didn’t have access to the Blood bonds any longer. He wouldn’t take a single risk with our queen’s life. Not that I blamed him in the slightest. Her life was his priority.
It was mine too, but I would use my power to serve her.
She didn’t question me in front of her household or express any doubts in my ability, for which I was grateful. Though in the privacy of my own thoughts, I could admit some nerves to myself.
I hadn’t worked my own magic in decades. I very likely would be a bit rusty.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I crossed my forearms over my heart for a quick prayer.
Aisha, daughter of Yejide, daughters of Oya, I call upon you for guidance and strength.
Help me demonstrate our power for my new queen.
Help me protect her and her house from all harm.
I come to Your river, Mother Oya, with the souls of the unrest who have been disturbed.
Please guide these lost souls back to their eternal rest.
When I opened my eyes, only Shara and her alpha remained. Everyone else had gone to their stations. “I’m ready.”
Smiling, she held out a hand to me and we walked outside together, her alpha close on our heels. To the east, the sky had begun to change colors, though rather than turning golden, red streaked the horizon like a warning.
Overhead, Vivian’s phoenix shrieked. :I spot movement at the edge of the forest.:
:Me too,: Mehen said on the opposite side of the nest.
:Same,: another Blood said, though I didn’t immediately recognize his voice.
Startled that I could hear them again, I cast a quick side eye glance at Shara.
Her lips quirked. “I figured since we were going to battle, it’d be ideal for you to hear everything so you knew exactly what was going on at any one moment. So I opened up firewall access again, according to Nevarre.”
“Thank you, my queen. That does make it easier for me to know where we’re being attacked.”
:I’ve got two nearly at the blood circle,: Vivian warned.
:Let them cross,: I said. :I need to physically touch them to send them back.:
Rik swept Shara up in his arms and stepped backwards to put distance between us. “I mean no offense, Your Majesty, but if you’re going to get that close to them, I’m removing our queen from the battlefield.”
“I understand.” I nodded, not looking back over my shoulder.
Lifting my wrist to my mouth, I hesitated, fangs bared, intending to draw my blood.
But I didn’t want to disturb the beautiful marking where my hand had been reattached.
I switched wrists, biting higher than I normally would because of my jewelry.
Power filled me, a gentle welling like a natural fountain or spring, flowing up out of the ground into me.
Through me. Making me a tributary of Mother Oya’s river.
Cresting higher, the wellspring quickly overflowed, startling me. Pulling me under. Water rose over my head and I sank into unknown depths. Heart racing, I tried to calm my breathing. It’d never been this deep before. This dark.
:I’m here,: Shara whispered in my head. I felt her palm against mine, her fingers locked around mine. :You’re not alone.:
I took a shaky breath. Again. Trying to calm my nerves. :I need to touch the bottom, but it’s never been this deep before.:
:It’s a long way down.: Her voice echoed, the words stretched out beneath the water pressure. :I won’t let go. I’ll pull you back if you need it.:
Goddess. I kept sinking until finally I felt the river bottom beneath my feet.
Tipping my head back, I couldn’t see even a hint of light flickering down through the murky depths.
I worked my toes deeper into the mud, connected to the land of my ancestors.
My blood flowed in the river. My blood watered this land.
My flesh had been made in the shallows of the Niger.
A hand closed over my shoulder, and I bowed my head. :Thank you, Mother Oya.:
:WHEN YOU’RE READY TO CLAIM THE FIRST OF YOUR PROTECTORS, COME HOME, DAUGHTER. HE’LL BE WAITING FOR YOU ON THE BANK OF OUR RIVER.:
My heart ached with loss, remembering my alpha, Albin. Mama made sure to send me back to Africa so I could come into my power in our homeland and find my first Blood. Cyrile had joined us later in New Orleans. I hadn’t thought far enough ahead yet to even contemplate new Blood.
To be honest, I hadn’t even allowed myself to grieve them for fear it would bring me to my knees. My tears blended with the river water but I couldn’t take the time now to work through my loss. Not with the nest under attack.
Though yes. With Her blessing, I would go home to the lands of the Niger River to claim at least my alpha. Someday.
I heard the creaking of gigantic gates swinging open.
Power rushed through me, ruffling my hair and dress as if a great wind swept past me.
Grounded in the Niger River, I opened my eyes.
My arms held out, my palms up. My voice boomed.
“The Gates of the Dead are open. Come to me, spirits of the dead, and I will help you cross the river to eternal rest.”
The first two goules swung their heads in my direction.
Their eyes burned with the spark of life, furious and indignant at being forced back into their crumbling mortal bodies.
From the tattered remains of their clothes, I guessed them to have died in the Fifties.
With jerky, stiff movements, they turned toward me, moving with surprising speed.
My heart lurched, my stomach trembling. Not with doubt or even dread but I did feel a twinge of…
:Oh shit,: Vivian said. :I’m ready to tear them apart.:
Her phoenix swept lower overhead, trailing black and molten red flames in her wake. Her sharp beak and talons would indeed have no problems whatsoever destroying them to end their suffering, but anyone who honored these dead would never know what happened to their bodies. :I’ve got this.:
I think. I hope.
:Say the word and I’ve got your back.:
:Me too,: Shara said. :If there’s trouble, either drop to the ground or let Vivian grab you out of harm’s way. I’ve got flames ready to destroy them.:
I dabbed my index finger in the blood dripping from my left wrist. Standing firm as the dead raced at me in their lumbering, awkward gait, I lifted my chin and waited for them to come close enough.
The dead man was slightly faster than the woman.
As soon as he came within arm’s reach, I pressed my bloody finger to his forehead.
He jerked to a halt, wavering slightly back and forth. The woman staggered up beside him and I marked her forehead as well.
“By the blood of Oya, Mother of the Nine, you are freed from this spell. Return to your eternal rest and roam this earth no more.”
The burning light in their eyes blew out, and I felt their spirits flutter past me through the Gates of the Dead.
Their empty bodies turned and shuffled back in the direction they’d come, now just mindless corpses.
They knew only where their bones belonged.
The dirt of their grave and the stone that marked their resting place called them back like homing pigeons.
:Wow, that’s amazing,: Shara said. :Way easier than my method.:
:How many can you do at the same time?: Vivian asked. :Because there’s five closing in fast.:
I shifted my focus to the group she was worried about. I could wipe blood on my entire hand and then quickly swipe across their bodies, hoping to get their foreheads…
Or. New thought. Do I actually have to touch them at all?
The idea shook me to my core, because I wouldn’t have even contemplated such a feat in the past. With so many to send back, all advancing…
:It’s worth a try,: Shara encouraged. :You’re far stronger now than you’ve ever been.:
True. I’d never had to sink so deep into the river to find the bottom. All that power—gained from suffering—had to be good for something. Right? Besides, other than my blood, magic was all about the intention.
Closing my eyes despite the shuffling mad rush of dead people closing in, I focused on my blood. Then I willed my blood to mark the forehead of each of the dead. All of them. A mental fingerprint of blood pressing to their cold, gray skin. Opening my eyes, I shouted the same phrase again.
“By the blood of Oya, Mother of the Nine, you are freed from this spell. Return to your eternal rest and roam this earth no more.”
Fluttering spirits rushed past me. It’s working.
Relieved, I watched the corpses turn away from their target. Limping, shuffling, mindless, they returned to their graves.
Except for three. Eyes still burning with the fury of their spirit, the dead men didn’t advance any further. They couldn’t, not with my blood smeared on their foreheads. Yet they refused to cross the river to return to their rest.
:This happens sometimes,: I told Shara in the bond.
:It’s why research into the dead’s past is so important before a practitioner uses them in this spell.
These people remember being wronged in the past, and they refuse to return to the afterlife until the debt is paid.
Their hatred and desire for vengeance is strong enough to keep them here. :
:I can force them back,: She replied. :Though as you said, it’ll destroy their bodies.:
:I have a better use for them. Though this will destroy their bodies as well.:
I stepped closer to the three dead. They shook and trembled as I approached, not from fear, but with hatred. They burned with vicious thirst for violence. They would tear me apart if they could.
Which was why they made such ideal weapons.
I removed one of my bangles from my wrist. Small innocuous charms dangled from the gold, items that anyone could buy for charm bracelets at a jewelry store.
I selected a teddy bear charm and pressed it to my bloody print on the first man’s forehead.
“This lost, unrest soul is mine to command. So let it be.”
The light blew out of his eyes and his body crumbled to the ground. But instead of allowing his spirit to flutter past me through the Gates of the Dead, I trapped his spirit into the charm. I repeated the process for the other two men, and then stepped back. :These bodies can be burned now.:
A dark silent shape glided in a low pass overhead. :My pleasure,: the dragon said. Then he blasted the dead with flames. Far more than necessary. Writhing in the sky, he finally crashed with a heavy oomph to the ground. On his back. His wings still twitching.
:Is he okay?: I asked in the bond.
Vivian snorted. :He’s more than okay. He just nutted. Next time get a little higher in the sky, Mehen. So you can leave a crater when you crash.: