Chapter Ten
Detective Logan Grayson’s
Apartment
The French Quarter
Time: Twenty Hours Remaining…
T he entire walk there, Logan was torn. His brain was telling him that he was insane to even feel anything about a woman he just met, but his heart was telling him if he let the female vampyre go, he would never feel anything like that again.
What was this witchcraft?
At home, he had a woman. They’d just begun staying together at his place, and it was nice to come home to her after work.
They’d laugh, they’d watch the news, and they’d be a couple. To be honest, his relationship was fine.
But did he only want fine?
When Cerise kissed him, his whole world opened up, and he saw what he was missing. There was a passion there that had always seemed locked away from him. He’d never been able to fall that deeply into love.
With his current girlfriend, while he loved her, he wasn’t IN LOVE with her.
Apparently, there was a huge difference.
With Cerise, and just that kiss, he felt things he never did before, and he was curious. The problem with cops was that once their curiosity was piqued, there was no stopping it.
Oh, and that was problematic. If he planned on being curious, he owed his current girlfriend an explanation.
They needed to break up.
Technically, he cheated on her. He kissed another woman. Now, he had to pay the price for that with honesty. As a man, he had the ability to break her heart, and he hated that he was likely going to do just that.
Logan wasn’t stupid. He knew that she was thinking about a wedding, but he wasn’t, and he never had been. They’d discussed it, and he wasn’t the kind of guy who ever wanted to get married.
He liked his freedom.
Now, there was an issue.
Without a doubt, Laurie was a great girl.
They’d been dating for two years, and they did have a good time together. He met her when he was bringing in a victim to the hospital. She was an ER nurse, and he asked her out on a date.
She was blonde, blue-eyed, and, at the time, she tickled his fancy. The bottom line was that she was pretty and funny.
But Cerise…
When he opened his eyes, and she was there, the dark-haired beauty took his breath away. Staring into her eyes, he felt shit that he couldn’t explain.
It was like someone opened a locked door and let him see…paradise.
There was no doubt she was his soulmate, and that scared the hell out of him.
He was meant to be with her, and now, he was in a huge-ass mess.
After his partner explained what it was like being with a vampyre, he needed to know. That desire only grew.
Only, he wasn’t a bastard who slept with other women when he was with someone.
Already, he’d kissed someone else, and he had to own that. He and Laurie had a good relationship, even if they didn’t see each other all that much.
Thus, the moving in phase of their relationship. Only, now, he was itchy, and not in a good way.
Suddenly, Logan didn’t want her in his space. What he wanted was to be near Cerise, and only Cerise.
Could he rationalize it?
No .
Could he understand it?
No.
Only, it was what it was, and he had to deal with it.
When they were in danger, she’d put her whole body over him when those monsters were trying to destroy him. She protected him, willing to be hurt or die.
Their bodies pressed together had awoken his even more. Then, it had broken him when she told him goodbye.
God.
This was so damn confusing.
Yeah, he was curious, and this was likely going to backfire on him, but that didn’t matter. He owed it to himself, Cerise, and Laurie.
If he wasn’t the man meant for Laurie, he had to set her free.
Right?
Well, it looked as if he was about to make the biggest decision of his life.
It was reckoning time.
Walking into his apartment, overlooking The French Quarter , he could hear Laurie getting ready for work in the kitchen.
They tended to work different shifts, and she worked the afternoon and evening shift at the ER. As he walked in, and moved closer, one thing was clear.
He felt this aversion…
Maybe this was the universe telling him something. They rarely had time for each other. What if that was done on purpose?
Finding time for her had always been…difficult.
Sometimes, he’d swing by the hospital after work, and they’d have dinner on the intake ramp.
Now, after kissing Cerise, he saw the truth.
What he’d perceived as romance…
It had been struggling.
If he was attracted to another woman, and he absolutely was, before he went there with Cerise, he had to be honest with this one.
And that was going to suck .
This was going to get ugly.
Truth be told, Laurie wasn’t a push over. She was tough, and he was likely going to get his ass handed to him by her when they broke up.
Still…
He had to do the right thing.
Now with Cerise in the picture, he wasn’t entirely sure that Laurie was the right one anyway.
For two years, even though they had good chemistry, he never felt the need to propose.
That was because he was married to his job—that was until he kissed Cerise and felt that heat building from deep within him.
It was combustible.
Jesus.
He wasn’t aware that kind of reaction was possible. Yeah, he got hard with Laurie, and he liked sex, but with Cerise, he couldn’t fight that need. His whole body seemed to know her, and now, he had to face it.
He’d met the woman he was meant to be with for the rest of his life, and she was a vampyre.
Well, shit.
He was screwed.
There was no doubt in his mind that this was a mess.
Moving further into the kitchen, he caught Laurie off guard when she looked up.
“Hey!” she said, heading his way and going into his body to hug him. “How’s my cop? Long one?” she asked, knowing he hadn’t been home all night.
As she touched him, his body went tense, hating that contact. It was as if he couldn’t touch anyone else but Cerise without feeling…ill.
“You look like you’ve been in a fight. Are you okay?” Laurie asked. “Need a nurse to take care of you?”
God.
No.
Instead of giving him time to say anything, she kissed him, trying to lure him into a quickie before work.
And he wasn’t having it .
Well, his body wasn’t.
As her mouth touched his, he was acutely aware of how it wasn’t the same, and how it didn’t feel real. Instead, it felt like he was kissing a complete stranger.
Which was ironic because he’d kissed Cerise and she’d been a stranger, but felt like he’d known her his whole life.
Yeah, this was bad.
As Laurie’s mouth moved over his, he tried to kiss her back, but his heart wasn’t in it.
He didn’t like it.
Jesus.
Was what his partner said true? Was it real? Was Cerise his other half and he’d never be able to love anyone but her?
Was he meant to be with a vampyre?
As Laurie broke the kiss, she saw he wasn’t into it, and that worried her.
“Hey, what’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost and was ridden hard and put away wet on top of that. Do you need to go to the hospital?”
In his mind, he pictured Cerise riding him, and damn…
His body came alive.
Suddenly, he had the overwhelming need to hunt down his mate.
Oh, Jesus.
He had a mate.
In that moment, he knew that he needed Cerise more than he needed to breathe.
Pushing away from Laurie, Logan knew it was over between them. He was definitely attracted to another woman and in love with her.
This wasn’t fair to Laurie, and Logan knew the truth of the matter.
He wasn’t going to do her dirty. She deserved more than he could give her, and he couldn’t live a lie, pining away over Cerise for their relationship.
“We need to talk,” he said, finally speaking .
Immediately, she lifted a brow.
“About what exactly, Logan?”
He went there.
“Us.”
The minute he said it, Laurie’s eyes went huge, and her stomach dropped.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “What did I do?”
That was the problem.
She did nothing wrong except not being Cerise.
He stood there and tried to come up with a way to tell her it was over without hurting her, and there was just no way to soften the blow. This was one of those things, and it was going to suck for her.
“Laurie, I don’t think we should see each other anymore. I think we should break up.”
And there it was.
It had the effect he expected as he ripped that bandage off.
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand in shock.
“What? Why? We live together. You and I just started sleeping at each other’s homes for more than a night.”
He was honest.
“It doesn’t feel right to me anymore,” he admitted, and that was the truth.
Was it cruel?
He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t know how to do this any other way. If he pursued his relationship with Cerise, Laurie would be even more hurt when she found out.
He was trying to save her heart any way he could.
Logan believed in honesty and Karma, so he kept that path.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She didn’t back down.
“Why are you saying this to me? We can work on our relationship, Logan. We’re good together. Is it work? I can change my hours, and we can start a life where we’re together more.”
And that repulsed him too .
He didn’t want to work on a life with her. He didn’t want to tie himself to a woman who didn’t make him feel what Cerise did.
Now, he was putting it all on the line, trusting his gut, his heart, and his partner.
As he stood there, and Laurie moved toward him, Logan felt his fight or flight instinct kicking in, and he didn’t want to have a battle with her.
He wanted to find Cerise.
He needed to find her.
“Laurie.”
She moved even closer toward him, and he involuntarily backed up to put space between them.
That’s when she understood.
Tears filled her eyes.
“What’s her name?” she asked, point blank.
Well, it appeared it was true that when a woman knew, a woman knew. Waking up yesterday, Logan never believed he’d be in this situation.
EVER.
At first, he didn’t want to tell her to protect Cerise, but he’d seen the woman fight zombies in a cemetery. He was pretty sure she could protect herself from Laurie if the woman went off the rails.
Only, would letting Laurie know help the situation out?
No.
But she deserved it.
“I’m really sorry, but I’m in love with someone else, Laurie. I want to spend my life with her.”
Oh, and that did it.
Laurie gasped.
“What?”
He kept apologizing since this was on him. All he could hope was that Laurie would forgive him one day. He hadn’t meant for this to happen.
Logan didn’t wake up yesterday expecting to fall into any of this. It was chaos.
“I’m sorry. It just happened. ”
In that moment, the rage washed over her. Laurie went bright red, and he understood that.
He owned it.
There was no easy way out of this. Someone’s feelings were going to get hurt, and he wished he could carry that burden for her.
“We were going to get married and…”
Uh, what?
Wait.
Logan had to stop that then and there.
“No, Laurie, we weren’t. You were hinting at marriage. I honestly had no intentions on getting married even before this because I didn’t want to get married. We’re not one hundred percent compatible.”
Tears threatened to overflow in her eyes.
“And this new woman is?” she asked.
God.
This was horrible.
“Yes.”
Logan knew the truth. His soulmate was his perfect match in every way. She was a cop, and she made him feel things he never felt before.
Laurie was pissed, and rightfully so.
“So you led me on?”
“No. I just realized this isn’t working between us, and I don’t want to lie to you. I want to be honest because you deserve to know the truth.”
“After two years? We’ve been a couple for two LONG years! Everyone thinks we’re getting married and…”
He stopped that again.
“I have never told anyone that my intent was to marry you, Laurie. We were dating, and while I have enjoyed it, I never promised a wedding. In fact, I’ve said multiple times that cops are horrible partners.”
She seemed to ignore that part.
“But you’ve found someone else that you’re willing to be a horrible partner with? You found some other woman and now, here I am being dumped BEFORE my shift?”
He wished he could make this better .
“I’m sorry.”
Logan was willing to accept the responsibility of this one, but what she did next surprised the hell out of him.
Laurie moved at him, and slapped him so hard, his head nearly spun off of his shoulders.
Only, he didn’t fight back.
Logan would never put his hands on a woman. In fact, that she had done that to him told him all he needed to know.
They weren’t a match.
No one should put their hands on anyone else except to defend themselves.
It wasn’t lost on him that Cerise had her heart broken and still protected him. She had put her body over his and been shredded by those monsters when he’d hurt her, but still she didn’t assault him. Then, the woman he’d slept with and had a life with had opted to strike him.
Yeah, this was a bad situation.
“You should go, Laurie.”
Only, once more, she slapped him across the face, leaving a red mark.
Logan was willing to own the responsibility, but he wasn’t willing to be physically assaulted by someone for making a decision.
This time, he held up his cuffs.
“If you hit me again, I’m calling for an officer and arresting you. This is domestic battery, Laurie. Don’t make this much worse than it already is.”
She raged.
“YOU CHEATED ON ME.”
He stopped that.
“I didn’t cheat on you. I came to you before anything happened to be upfront with you.”
She clearly didn’t care.
“You said there’s someone else.”
That was a fact.
Logan tried to explain, even if he didn’t owe her an explanation—especially after she struck him in the face.
Twice .
“I saw her and knew. I didn’t have sex with anyone else, and I haven’t been sleeping around behind your back, Laurie. If anything, my only sin is being honest. Now, please leave.”
That was all she had to hear.
She grabbed her lunch bag, and put it by the door to take when she left. Then, she grabbed a suitcase she’d brough there with her things in it. When she packed, he stood there saying nothing.
His face hurt, his heart ached, and he was craving a vampyre.
Jesus.
What the hell was with this day?
This was a wild ride he hadn’t seen coming.
When her bag was packed, she moved toward the door.
“Can I have my key, please?” he asked, not trusting that she’d come back and do something stupid. He didn’t know if Cerise could be hurt by a human, and he wasn’t taking any chances.
God.
He was assuming she’d be moving in with him, and they had just met.
Logan had lost his mind.
Clearly.
In response, she whipped it at him so hard that he had to duck so he didn’t lose an eye.
Then, she laid down the law.
“Never contact me again. I never want to see your face. You’re dead to me, Logan Grayson! You led me on, and you’re an asshole!”
Before he could defend himself, since he hadn’t led her on, she slammed the door, and he sighed.
Yeah, that went about as well as expected.
Grabbing his key, that had gotten embedded in the sheet rock of his wall, he dropped it into his desk. Then, wisely, he locked the door, and chained it too. An angry woman was not a woman to play with.
He wasn’t going there .
Going into his room, he stripped his bed, shoved the bedding into the washer, and then ran it. Laurie’s scent was on everything, and he wasn’t quite sure why he needed to eliminate it from his room.
No.
He absolutely knew. It was offending him. All he wanted to smell was Cerise.
Going into his bathroom, he dumped his clothes, and took a shower to wash away what was left of her perfume on his body.
Plus, he needed a few moments to regroup.
When he saw Laurie’s bodywash, he picked it up and sniffed it.
Immediately, the smell made him nauseous, and he wasn’t sure if that was his mind or something else.
Pouring it down the drain, he used his bodywash and cleaned up. He was trying to wash away the dread and the guilt.
It had been a long, out of control day.
When he got out, he dried off, grabbed some clean clothes, much more comfortable ones, and then threw the sheets into the dryer.
Then, he knew what he needed to do.
Logan had to find Cerise.
And that meant facing down the monsters to ask for help. Pulling out his phone, he contacted the one person who would help him.
His partner.
Now, he had to work his way through this mess.
Yep .
This was one hell of a rough week.
* * * T u e u r A n t i q u i t i e s * * *
Small Cemetery
Off Of The Beaten Path
Friday Early Afternoon
Oh, the things you had to do when you were trying to save the world. Apparently, they would go to any lengths, and that was clear as they showed up at Mambo’s grave.
They were insane.
Jolie needed to do this, and all while it was daylight with people wandering around.
That made it tricky.
Again, Rinnon had to do his thing, clearing the area of anyone who might get this on camera so that they could have a little bit of privacy.
This on the news…
That was the last thing they needed. Tueur Antiquities and their boss didn’t need to be on TV or in the media for that kind of publicity.
That was NOT the kind of attention they wanted or needed.
When they found the headstone with Mambo’s name, they were ready. It was all kinds of insane that they were standing in a cemetery with Death.
Jolie actually laughed.
“Amused?” Death asked, standing there in his reaping attire.
She gave him a kiss.
“I mean, come on. We’re standing above a Voodoo priestess with Death nearby. If that’s not amusing enough, there’s a demon God right beside me. I never saw this one coming a hundred years ago.”
Yeah, she had a point.
None of them saw this coming.
“I didn’t see it either five years ago,” Flynn admitted. “I can’t believe we’re about to be supernatural grave robbers. My the mighty have fallen on this one.”
Death actually laughed.
“The stories I could tell…”
But he wouldn’t.
That was the other part of his existence, and something they didn’t need to be privy to.
Tommy looked around.
“How about we get this done? It’s weird creeping around in a cemetery.”
I kind of like it, Rinnon offered. It’s my kind of place.
No shock there, Rinnon. I’d rather be home in bed with Jolie.
Is that an option?
No.
Drats.
Jolie could hear Flynn and Rinnon, but she wanted to get this done. Tommy was right. This had the propensity to backfire on them.
“How do I do this?” Jolie asked.
Death shrugged.
“The same way you raised Flynn’s parents.”
She stared at him like he’d lost his mind. She didn’t plan on doing that, so how was she supposed to recreate it?
“Uh, that was accidental. I didn’t try to do it. Now, I’m trying. Maybe you can just give me instructions?”
Death would do what he could.
Raising his hand, he touched her head, taking her back to that moment to show her what she was feeling at the time. When she saw it, she opened her eyes.
“See?”
She did.
They all got ready, and Jolie said the words she did in their living room that raised the dead .
“Okay, well, I wish Mambo was here.”
She looked around, and they waited.
But nothing happened.
This was going to be one of those things. They could tell.
She tried again.
“Wake,” Jolie said, staring down at the woman’s headstone.
Only, nothing happened.
Rinnon was getting impatient.
Just raise her, Death. This is your thing. We are wasting time. We have twenty hours left. We still have to get her to do the spell, find the sword, and then head to that dance-y place to find Mathew’s hunting spot.
I told you I can’t do it. There’s a hole in the fabric from our bullshit. It’s going to be a disaster if I use MY magick to bring a soul back.
“I can hear you both. Give me a minute,” she said, going to her knees. When she’d been on the couch, she’d been touching Flynn.
Maybe Jolie needed to make that connection. She recalled all that the woman had done for them, including bringing her back.
Granted, Jolie had come back as the harbinger, and still carried that deep inside her, but still…
They owed her.
Placing her hands on the grave, she pictured herself pushing energy into the cold ground, but nothing happened. They expected a zombie to push through the soil and appear.
It didn’t.
Only, all around them, the air changed, and that’s when they felt it.
The wind swirled, and behind them, the woman appeared.
That’s when Flynn got it.
“She was cremated like my parents. They can’t come from the ground. They had to be put back together from the ashes. She’s not in this ground. ”
Not far away, the deceased woman stood there, and when Mambo opened her eyes, the second she saw them, she pointed.
“NO.”
Oh, it was a little too late for that, now wasn’t it?
Jolie got up from the ground, and put herself between Mambo and her men just in case.
Was it crazy?
Yes.
Did she care?
No .
Truthfully, they didn’t know what they were bringing back, and she wanted to protect the men she loved.
Just in case.
This could, after all, be part of Fate’s plan.
“I can’t believe this,” Mambo said, shaking her head in exasperation.
Well, some things didn’t change.
Apparently.
“Yeah, it’s us. Surprise!” Flynn said, sarcastically. “Who else would be raising you from the dead?”
Mambo began pacing.
“What have you done?” she asked, looking around and running her hands down her body. “I died. I shouldn’t be here. I was at peace.”
Well, that answered the question of whether or not she was in a good place or bad. There was that, at least.
“I necromanced you back to living,” Jolie admitted. “We owed you one.”
Mambo stared at her in horror.
“ NO! NO! NO! You know not what you’ve done, Cher!”
Oh, she was aware.
Only, what choice did they have?
“We need your help,” Flynn said, moving forward. The second he got closer, Mambo gasped as she felt what was living in him.
And she dropped to her knees .
Well, that surprised the hell out of him, and Flynn looked around.
And that’s how it should be. That’s what I’m talking about. She felt me and knows. Let me out. I want to enjoy this moment.
You’re ridiculous. Keep your ass in there.
Come on. Throw me a stone.
BONE . It’s ‘throw me a bone’, and you did that once when you tossed a literal freaking bone.
I’ll behave. I’ve been in here for a while. I need to shake out my wings, and she actually kneeled. When am I getting this again?
I kneel all the time before you, Jolie admitted. It’s called giving you head.
And I do appreciate that, Little One. Want to…?
Stop! I’ll let you out.
Flynn figured there was no harm. Mambo didn’t have a bag of annoyingly painful herbs to toss at him, so...
Plus, truth be told, she came back in pretty good shape. Maybe the fact that his parents and Mambo had been cremated was the reason they weren’t rotten and cuckoo.
It’s a coincidence, Death whispered through his mind. We need to watch her and wait.
Yeah, I don’t like coincidences.
And yet, here we are with one. Go figure.
It was clear Death was in no mood.
Taking a chance, Flynn set the demon God free, and when he morphed, he was living his best life. They all heard the wings shake out, and the demon God do his thing.
Be bossy.
“Get up.”
Mambo did, and when she looked at him, she couldn’t believe it.
“You carry a God inside you, Flynn Brogan.”
Rinnon shook out his feathers, again, and his family rolled their eyes collectively.
“I am that God. Flynn is my subpar vessel so you can speak directly to me. I am Rinnon.”
HEY! Subpar my ass !
He was ignored.
“Yes, Rinnon,” Mambo said.
From inside himself, Flynn could smell something rotten, and he called his demon God out on it.
Are you using compulsion on her?
Maybe.
Jesus Christ.
HEY! I saw what she did in your memories, and it was not pleasant. Consider this my kill switch. She’s not human now, and I…
What is she?
The same thing your parents are—zombies.
Flynn had a massive headache.
Just get her to help us.
Well, that he could do.
“We need your help, Mambo. In exchange for it, we’ll allow you to live.”
Wait! Don’t make that promise! We don’t know…
Only, it was too late.
“For how long?”
“Years.”
Well, they screwed up on this one. Maybe letting Rinnon out was a bad freaking idea after all.
You can’t make that promise.
Death hasn’t stopped me yet, so maybe I’m doing good when it comes to this.
Or he’s death and does shit like that all the time. You know…seal your own fate kind of a deal? Flynn asked.
Well, that was anyone’s guess.
What mattered was the woman wasn’t trying to kill them, and they needed her help.
“What do I have to do?” she asked, clearly under a little compulsion. Mambo was NEVER this easy to convince to help.
“I need someone who can do Voodoo to find me an artifact. That’s all. Oh, and maybe a spell that protects my vessel from being attacked with Voodoo so I can get out. He has limitations. ”
I’m going to pull you back down in here and lock you in with your LIMITATIONS , old dude. Then, I’m not going to let you out the next time we have sex. Keep it up. You’re being a pain in my ass.
You don’t have to be feisty.
Oh, but I do.
Mambo thought about it, but it was not really her choice. Rinnon was in charge, and doing his thing. Granted, he was making her think she had a choice.
Maybe he wasn’t as clueless as they thought.
From where Mambo stood, she was much calmer.
“That seems harmless enough. What is it that we’re working against?”
Rinnon had a question first, even though she said she’d been at peace.
Things lied.
Unfortunately.
He needed to see if she was telling the truth.
With a wave of his hand, he added that to the compulsion.
“Be honest. While you were dead, where were you?” he inquired. “Asking for a friend,” he said, pointing at Flynn’s body.
She considered it.
“I was somewhere peaceful. It felt like floating, and I was happy as I relived my past memories and was able to enjoy the good moments.”
He would take that since she now couldn’t lie to him. That meant she wasn’t in Death’s dungeon being punished for eternity.
I could have told you that, Death offered. I know everyone who is there.
I like to make sure. Call me crazy.
Since she answered their question, they could trust her to help them.
“We need your help because we have a necromanced vampyre who now has an antiquity that can control other vampyres. So far, he hasn’t been able to use it on us since all of Jolie’s vamps are marked by me. Once he figures out that, he’ll pick new targets. He wants soldiers to destroy this whole world for Fate. ”
Mambo sat on a stone and listened.
“We have to find an antiquity that also allows an individual to necromance on a permanent level.”
She looked at Jolie.
“How can she do this then?”
Death explained and moved closer.
“It’s a spell. It will wear off.”
As he was standing right in front of Mambo, she gasped, and nearly fell off of the tombstone, as she scrambled away.
“What happened to you?” she asked, chanting something for protection that she remembered.
Only, Jacques wasn’t having it.
With a wave of his hand, before she could get the incantation out, he sealed her mouth.
“Don’t,” he said, his wings also shaking out. “I don’t like when Voodoo witches make attempts at me. I will get mean, and if you think I’ll use our alliance from over a year ago to control me, don’t bet on it. I’d smite my own mother.”
“Death,” Jolie said, calling his name. “She has to be scared. We brought her back, and she’s learning on the fly. Be merciful.”
He glanced over at her, and the swirling red went back to the serene green. It took a second, but honestly, there were only three individuals who could get him to slow his roll.
Jolie.
Flynn.
And Rinnon.
In that order.
“She saved you,” Death said, focusing on Mambo, “but your mouth stays sealed just in case. We’ve been burned by Voodoo before.”
The woman’s eyes were huge as she tried to open her mouth, but couldn’t.
“Stay calm,” Jolie warned Mambo. “Just hear us out, and we won’t hurt you. I promise. ”
Luckily for Seth and Tommy, they were opting to stay back and keep their mouths shut.
Rinnon continued.
“Anyway, we need to find the sword. A rogue vampyre is looking for it, and if he gets it, he will necromance EVERY dead thing he can to kill off people.”
Jacques could see it in The Book of The Dead , and that was exactly what Fate wanted. She wanted to kill off everything to play God.
That was why going forward, he was going to have to take risks that he knew would upset his family.
What choice did he have?
Stopping Fate was paramount. If Fate couldn’t beat Rinnon in this, she’d kill every and anything she could. That was the last thing they needed.
After hearing them, Mambo pointed at her mouth because she wanted to talk.
Death waved his hand, and it unsealed.
“I said I’d help. Just keep your distance. I am uncomfortable with Death. It makes me anxious.”
As should everyone be.
Only, that was his burden to carry.
Rinnon put his arm over Jacques’ shoulder and tucked him under his arm in a sign of solidarity.
“Mambo, let me make this perfectly clear,” he said. “If you try anything that will hurt myself, my vessel, my woman, or my mate, I will get mean. I may not have all of my memories back, but I do know how to send you right back to Death. This time, though, you will go to Deaths’ dungeon for an eternity of torture.”
She got the picture.
And it wasn’t pretty.
“I will help you, and my price will be some time with my son. That’s all I want. I want to make sure he’s okay, and that he’s not suffering.”
Rinnon held out his hand.
Well, Flynn’s hand.
“Then, it’s a deal?”
She signed her fate .
“It’s a deal.”
And just like that, they had their Voodoo priestess, and were ready to stop Mathew.
Only, now, Mambo had to hope and pray her son wasn’t terrified when he saw her.
Oh…
And that he still had her things.
What this demon God wanted was a massive spell that would take everything she had.
They would be lucky if she could pull it off.