Chapter 28
I’m nervous enough about today’s mission to Sabine’s that I grab Gran’s cards as soon as I open my eyes. My mind is still bleary from dreamless slumber as I shuffle the cards and lay out two from the top. The Moon and the Ten of Cups.
I slowly extend a finger toward the Moon. As soon as I touch the edge of the card, I’m thrust into a vision. Two masked figures stand before me, cast in shadow. Their cruel laughter echoes through the dark clearing as a chill settles over my skin. The vision fades as quickly as it appeared.
When the Moon appears in a reading, it can symbolize a hidden truth that needs to be unveiled. This vision took place in the very same clearing where Joelle is meant to stab me. But who were those masked figures? There’s still another piece to this mystery that I’m meant to uncover.
When I reach for the Ten of Cups, the vision is brief. There’s a flash of Joelle and me laughing, and then my room settles back into view.
The Ten of Cups is meant to show me my happily-ever-after.
Every vision she’s in leaves me more confused than the last. If this vision is to be trusted, then we have happy times ahead of us.
But how could that be when being with Joelle will lead to the end of my life?
Maybe these visions aren’t so accurate after all.
I lean back, stumped. For the first time, I wish I’d never been given this gift. Other people are able to exist in blissful ignorance, but I’ve been cursed with sight.
I stuff the deck of cards deep into the recess of my nightstand. I’ve had enough of these visions.
Orion meets me on the front porch with a granola bar. “Eat up,” he demands. “You’ll need the energy.”
I stare down at the packaging, not hungry in the slightest. “Where’s Gramps?” I’m worried he’ll ask what we’re up to.
“I saw him on the way out. He’s meeting with Chris’s parents and then headed to volunteer at a food bank.”
Gramps has been so busy lately, I have no idea how he’s still standing. As the future Queen, I should also be meeting with Chris’s parents, but I don’t know how I would be able to look them in the eyes. Their son died right in front of me, and even though I tried, I couldn’t save him.
Once we’re in the car, Orion plugs an address into his GPS.
It’s a thirty-minute drive to Slidell. I study his profile as we maneuver through the busy streets and onto the highway.
Ri’s been through a lot, but he seems to be handling it better than before.
I don’t smell alcohol on his breath or weed on his clothes.
His twists are tied up in a half pony, and his eyes are clearer than they’ve been in a while.
Once we’re on the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, I turn down the knob for the music. Orion’s completely relaxed. He’s got one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the center console. Unlike me, he has no problem driving over water.
“How are you doing with…everything?” I ask, gesturing with my hands.
His grip tightens on the wheel, but he doesn’t look away from the road. “With Gran, there wasn’t anything I could do. It was her own body that failed her.” His jaw clenches. “But I can get revenge for Chris. There’s an enemy I can face.”
“I’m really sorry.” I turn my head so he doesn’t see my lip wobble. “I couldn’t save him.”
Orion’s touch on my arm drags me back from the edge. “Hey, I was there too, remember? That was some dark shit.” He sighs. “We tried our best, and that’s all we can do.”
I choke out a laugh and wipe my eyes. “When did you get wise?”
He just shakes his head and turns the music back up.
I peer out the window until the GPS announces that we’re a few miles away.
“How do you know this guy, anyway?” I ask. “And why’s he got a boat?”
Orion keeps his gaze trained on the road. “He’s a friend.”
“That’s vague as hell.”
He cuts his eyes over to me. “We’ve made out once or twice. Is that enough information for you?”
I mime vomiting all over the floor, but he only shakes his head.
“He’s got a boat because his parents run one of those swamp tours for tourists,” he says. “He’s gonna take us and pick us up in between tours.”
“And he knows for sure where Sabine lives? You sent him the directions Aunt Roberta gave me?”
“He does.” Orion flips his blinker and merges into the other lane.
“Andrew knows the bayou inside and out. Once I sent him the directions, he said he had a good idea of which house it is. Not too many people live out this way. In his words, ‘Only the brave ones or the crazy ones, or a combination of both.’ ”
I rack my brain, trying to dig up a memory of Sabine, but I come up short. “Do you remember what she looks like? She was around when we were little.”
He nods. “I think so. I have these faint memories of Gran sitting in the kitchen with her after school. They would talk and prep food together. One day, she disappeared, and I never saw her again.”
I’ve always thought of my brother as being distracted, concerned only with his own life. But he has a memory of Gran that I don’t—a missing piece to the puzzle of her life.
Gran was a tough woman with high expectations. Sabine knew what it was like to let her down, and she suffered for it. Gran isn’t even here anymore, and I’m still terrified of disappointing her.
The idea of becoming Witch Queen has settled in my gut these past couple weeks. It doesn’t make my stomach roil and bubble as much as the night Gramps announced my ascension. Even though I may not live to ascend, I can still spend the time I have left helping my people.
I’ll be eighteen in a couple of days. I’m growing into a woman Gran will never meet.
I have to live my life on my own terms, not Gran’s.
Although her voice still lingers in the back of my mind, I’m going to put my own desires first from now on.
Meeting Sabine will be a solid step toward preventing more deaths, even if it flies in the face of everything Gran would want.
We pull into the parking lot of Gator Pride Swamp Tours and park near the back, away from the other cars. We grab our bags from the back seat—without coordinating, we both packed as if we’d be staying in the bayou for a few days. Like brother, like sister.
I peek inside my bag: water bottles, snacks, bug spray, sunscreen. I pull up my sleeves and spray my arms, legs, and neck before handing the can of bug spray to Orion.
He shakes his head. “The smell gives me a headache.”
“Trust me,” I say, prying his hand open and placing the can on his palm. “You’ll thank me later when you’re not dying of West Nile.”
Once we’re sufficiently covered and you can smell us from a mile away, I follow Orion up to the building and the rickety wooden dock.
A tall, lanky white guy stands on the dock next to a small airboat.
He’s wearing camo pants and a tan buttoned shirt with the company logo on the breast. A flicker of recognition causes me to stumble over a loose board.
It’s the same guy from the night Gramps announced my ascension—the one standing beneath the streetlight, whom Orion disappeared with.
There is clearly more to their relationship than my brother’s letting on.
Pontoon boats are tied up on either side of the dock. An older man with a beard stands on the deck of one of them. He throws up his hand in a wave. The movement gets the attention of the younger guy, Andrew.
“Orion,” Andrew says in greeting, slapping palms with my brother. “It’s been a long time,” he says with a wink.
“Yeah, two whole weeks. An eternity.” Orion points to the airboat. “Is it still all right for you to take us out?”
“Oh, yeah.” He holds up a clipboard. “I was finishing up final checks. I’ll run you down there real quick and then come pick up my private tour.”
Andrew helps us onto the airboat and takes a seat at the back near the giant fan. The steady rocking of the boat gives me a queasy feeling in my stomach. I glance over at my brother, but he and Andrew have their heads bent together, exchanging quiet words.
While he’s distracted, I study Andrew’s face, trying to place him.
He looks like a standard white boy. I’m not sure whether he went to our school.
I don’t know anything about this guy, but if he’s willing to do a favor like this, then he must be a good person.
Orion’s dated so many guys throughout the years, and none of them stick around.
He acts like he prefers it that way, but he’s got a brick wall up, so I can never tell if that’s the truth. I hope Andrew will be different.
Once we push away from the dock and Andrew starts the motor, all sound is blocked out by the whirring of the fan. We speed away from Gator Pride and into the bayou.
Orion’s relaxed, taking in the passing trees, but I am anywhere but in my element.
The smell of the musty water fills my nostrils, nearly sending the contents of my stomach up my throat.
As we stray farther from civilization, more wildlife appears.
Herons and pelicans search for fish, and gators sun themselves on banks and atop fallen trees.
I can’t help but study my brother and observe the way his eyes light up every time he spots a wild creature. He always was a big fan of the zoo, and this is like an exhibit on steroids. He’s too cool now to admit it, but he’s got a soft spot for animals.
Andrew shuts off the motor as we approach what appears to be a settlement.
At least five houses are perched on stilts along the shore.
A dock even more precarious than the one we just left extends out into the muddy water.
These houses look like they’ve weathered hundreds of years.
Actually, I can hardly call them houses—more like shacks with patchy roofs, some with shuttered windows.
Orion finally peers over at me. He visibly gulps down his apprehension. “I guess this is it.”
“Y’all sure about this?” Andrew asks. “ ’Cause if you run into trouble, there ain’t no cell service out this deep, and I won’t be able to come get you for a couple of hours.”
We are the dumbest people alive. This could literally be the beginning of a horror film where a pack of cannibals tortures us and eats us.
“Ri—”
“We can go back,” Orion rushes to say. “We’ll find information somewhere else.”
“But where? We know no one else.”
Despite being cast out, Sabine is our blood. She’s our cousin and was once a member of our coven. If we never do the things that scare us, we’ll never truly live. That’s a truth I’m beginning to understand.
“We’re going.” I’m looking at my brother when I say it, but Andrew’s the one who nods.
“All righty.” He pulls up to the dock alongside a rusty old airboat that’s seen better days. “I’ll be back soon. Try not to get yourselves killed.” His gaze is trained on Orion when he utters the last part.
Orion nods and grips my wrist, dragging me down the dock. Behind us, the airboat roars to life and swiftly fades away as our only link to civilization leaves.
“Do you know which place is hers?” I whisper, aware of the eyes peering down at us from doorways and windows.
Suspicious faces abound in a multitude of shades.
I wasn’t expecting such diversity out here in the bayou, but I suppose there isn’t one single type of person who chooses to live on the outskirts of society.
“Do you think somebody will give us directions?”
We step onto the marsh; the soil is squishy beneath my sneaker soles. A worn path splits off in both directions, leading up to the shacks. Orion nudges me. “We don’t need to ask,” he says. “Looks like she saw us coming.”
On the path to our left, a dark-skinned Black woman walks toward us.
Her black dreads, streaked with gray, hang down her back.
She wears simple brown sandals on her feet and loose woven pants with a white sleeveless top.
I imagined a woman near Gran’s age, but this woman looks to be closer to her midfifties.
She pauses a few feet away and places her hands on her hips. Her mouth is drawn in a frown, but she doesn’t speak.
“Sabine?” Orion asks. “Do you know who we are?”
I scramble to grab the envelope with the letter Aunt Roberta gave me, but Sabine stops me.
“Of course I do.” Her voice is scratchy, like she smokes ten packs a day. “I’d recognize the Broussard babies any day. Y’all both walk around with your mama’s face. Your daddy’s genes didn’t put up a fight.”
Her words crack loose a smile from both of us.
“Now, what the hell are y’all doin’ way out here? I know Zeke didn’t send you to bring me back.” She narrows her eyes. “Actually, I’m sure he’d have both your scalps if he knew where you were.”
She knows Gramps well. He sure would kill us if he ever found out we came to see her.
“You’re right,” I say. Her gaze snaps to me. I fight not to squirm. “We need to ask you about a topic he’s not too willing to discuss.”
“And that would be?”
Orion and I both speak at the same time: “Demons.”
“Oh Lord.” Sabine shuts her eyes and mutters something under her breath. She turns on her heel and walks back the way she came. “Come on,” she calls over her shoulder. “I need a drink.”