27. Twenty-Seven
TWENTY-SEVEN
Napoleon House was jumping. I was practically bursting, I was so excited. When I asked about seating on the patio the hostess made a face.
“It’s going to rain,” she said.
I nodded. “We’ll be okay. We like the rain.”
“You want to eat your dinner in the rain?” She looked dubious.
We wouldn’t be eating in the rain. I had enough magic to prevent that. Before I could come up with a serviceable lie — and it would be a doozy — I felt a presence move in behind me. It was undeniably a loa.
“We’ll take the patio for our party, and you’ll happily hand it over and not comment,” a female voice said.
Slowly, I turned to see Erzulie. She had Brigitte with her, and the smile the statuesque loa shot me was friendly, if a little feral.
“You’ve put it together,” she said. It wasn’t a question.
I nodded. “I think so.”
“You have. I can see inside your head. At least the big stuff,” she added. It was a serious situation, and yet she slid a look to Knox that had my stomach twisting. “All of the big stuff.”
I wanted to die. I didn’t even care if anyone covered my corpse.
“Stop,” Brigitte ordered her fellow loa, mischief in her eyes. “We have to deal with this first. The rest will sort itself out.”
“What are they talking about?” Knox asked.
“Nothing,” I replied. “Loas go off on tangents.”
“Yes, we love tangents,” Brigitte agreed. She looped her arm through Knox’s. “Come with me, my big friend. We’ll get settled on the patio, and you can tell me all about yourself as we wait for the others.”
“We don’t have time for that,” I argued, refusing to acknowledge the kernel of red kindling in my belly as jealousy. She had a husband. Why was she hitting on Knox?
Brigitte broke into a wide grin. Could she read my mind, too? “Baron and Papa will be late. That’s their way. We’ll order for them, but we cannot get going on the plan until they arrive. That leaves us plenty of time to chat.”
I followed them, my mouth open as outrage threatened to swamp me.
Erzulie fell into step with me. “Unclench, my dear. You’ll turn into the sort of monster that you hate if you don’t calm down.” She grabbed my arm and slowed our pace, allowing Brigitte and Knox to keep ahead of us.
“If you fight this too hard you’ll do damage, to yourself mostly,” she said, sounding like a fortune teller. “You feel you have things to deal with that are more important than romance. That’s how you phrase it in your head, correct?”
“I do have things more important than romance,” I insisted.
“You can’t shut yourself off from love. It will do more harm than good.”
“Love?” I scoffed. “I barely know him.”
“Yet. You barely know him yet.” She sighed, as if dealing with a petulant child. Maybe I was petulant, but I’d earned it. “You will know him better than anyone before it’s over.”
Why was she telling me this? Was she trying to make my brain collapse?
“You already know,” Erzulie insisted. “I know what you’ve seen. You might not get those flashes often, but they’re important. This is no different.”
“When I’ve gotten them in the past, they’ve been life-or-death situations,” I argued.
She cocked an eyebrow.
“How could this be a life-or-death situation?” I demanded. “It’s frivolous. It’s hormones.”
She shook her head and licked her lips. When she nodded, it was obvious she’d made up her mind about something. “There are some loves that transcend everything. I’m not telling you to fall for this man, head over heels, right out of the gate, but you must open yourself to the possibility.”
“Why? Why do you care?” That was the part I couldn’t wrap my head around. Okay, there were multiple things I couldn’t wrap my head around. That was the big one.
“Because you’re important to the city and you will play a part in what’s to come,” she replied evenly. “You have to open yourself to outside influences. That includes the shifter.”
“But … .” I was lost.
“But nothing.” She was firm. “I’m going to speak to you in a language that only you will understand.” Her gaze was so fierce that it caused me to shudder.
“If you do not open yourself to other things, to other feelings, you will never learn what happened to your sister,” she said.
My breath caught in my throat. Erzulie didn’t seem to care.
“Before you try to play a game with what’s to come, know that you must be sincere — to yourself and him — to achieve the outcome you’re looking for,” she continued. “There are things out there that you can’t yet fathom. It’s time to become what you were meant to. You’ve been floating far too long.”
That was an insult, and I didn’t like it. “I haven’t been floating. I’ve been working to help people.”
“Yes, well, that’s noble.” She slapped my shoulder a little too hard. “It’s time to help yourself.”
“But … are you suggesting I’m going to find my sister?” My eyes narrowed.
“You were always destined to find your sister. I won’t tell you what you’ll find because that would be dangerous, and truthfully, the ending of that story is not yet set in stone.
I can’t see what will come. I can only tell you this.
” She took a deep breath and stared directly into my eyes.
“If you do not change things — not who you are but how you approach the world — you will never know what should have been, and that would be a shame.”
She stared into my eyes a beat longer, then moved past me. “Now come. I’m starving. There’s a storm coming. When it passes, we will have to create our own storm.”
She left me staring in her wake.
By the time I reached the patio, which had been spelled with some sort of invisible dome that cut off the outside world, I was still feeling shaky. I flashed a smile for Knox’s benefit anyway, but when I moved to sit on the other side of the table I was brought up short by Erzulie.
“This is my spot,” she said, grabbing the chair I reached for. “You should sit over there.” There was no mistaking which chair she indicated. It was next to Knox.
The shifter watched me with curious eyes as I gritted my teeth and moved to the chair she’d pointed out. Following her orders felt alien, yet I didn’t argue. She was a loa after all. She knew more … or maybe I just needed to believe that, given what we were up against.
Charlie, Jack, and Lex arrived next, and I was grateful when Lex sat next to me. I didn’t miss the look he shot Knox — it wasn’t a challenge as much as a warning — but I shoved it out of my head for now. The Knox stuff had to be tackled later.
“What’s going on?” Lex asked in a low voice.
“Order first,” Erzulie ordered. “We will start when Baron and Papa arrive.”
Under different circumstances I would’ve told her where to stuff her attitude.
Lex took a menu. “I will have the Sazerac and the hot pastrami po’boy with jambalaya.”
The server beamed at him in such a way that it made me wonder if she thought she was seeing the sun for the first time. Then she aimed the same smile at Knox, who looked less than impressed.
“I will have the alligator sausage po’boy with potato chips,” Knox replied. “I’ll have an iced tea to drink.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from reacting. That felt like a slap to Lex. When I darted a look toward my friend to see if he was going to react, he was grinning. Why was this funny? Nothing about this was funny.
When I looked up at Erzulie, I found her watching us. She shook her head in warning, telling me to let it go. Because it felt as if I had no other options, I nodded.
“I will have the Italian muffuletta,” I replied. “And a side of potato salad.”
The server turned to Charlie and Jack.
“I will have the pulled pork sandwich and chips,” Jack said, his hand moving over Charlie’s back. She was obviously excited by everything coming together. “I’ll have an iced tea, too.”
“And I’ll have the chicken salad croissant,” Charlie said. “I’ll take the potato salad and an iced tea as well.”
The server turned to Erzulie and Brigitte, who were in full makeup. She did a double-take. “And you?” she squeaked.
“Our husbands will be joining us,” Erzulie replied, not looking up. “We’ll order for them, too. They’re running a little late.”
“Of course.” The server looked as if she wanted to run and hide.
“Give them both fried catfish po’boys, and red beans and rice,” Erzulie said. “They’ll both have Sazeracs with their meals. And keep them coming. They’re drunks.”
The server’s eyes went wide, but Erzulie didn’t seem to care that she’d shocked the woman.
“I will have the hot roast beef po’boy and chips,” Erzulie added.
Brigitte, who hadn’t even looked at a menu, bobbed her head. “That sounds good to me.”
As soon as the server left, Brigitte pointed at Jack. “You have something to tell us. Do so now.”
Jack balked. “What about Baron and Papa? I don’t want to have to repeat the information.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Brigitte wrinkled her nose. “They probably already know. If they don’t, I’ll handle informing them.”
She said it with such authority that she couldn’t be doubted.
“Okay.” Jack blew out a breath and pulled up his phone.
“You were right,” he said, his eyes moving to me.
“When I went back a few generations I found all three victims had overlapping family ties. I can’t prove they’re descendants of Marinette for obvious reasons, but they did share common ancestors. ”
The news didn’t surprise me. It was the only thing that made sense. “What about Sabine? Did she share ancestors with these people?”
Jack nodded. “Yes. That was a good call because I never would have thought to look up her history.”
“You might have eventually,” I argued. “By then Brett would have slaughtered even more innocent people.” I lifted my chin and focused on Brigitte. “What is he trying to do?”
“We can’t be certain,” Brigitte replied. She looked surprisingly serious for a loa. “We can theorize that the loss of Marinette’s powers created a vacuum in their line and he’s looking to shore things up, but that’s not how things usually work.”
“How do things work?”
“The magic is in the blood already, in a dose that can’t be changed,” Erzulie explained. “Marinette’s line should be set in stone. The problem is, we can’t know what she was up to before she died. For the last few years she was a bit of a nut.”
“Is that a clinical term?” Lex joked.
Erzulie looked at him in a way most females didn’t, as if he had no power over her. Lex gulped and slumped in his chair. “Just joking.”
“People are dead, and a terrible human being might be trying to recapture Marinette’s magic,” Erzulie replied. “This isn’t the time for jokes.”
“Right.” Lex shot me a worried look. “She’s not going to shrink my manhood?” he whispered.
The urge to laugh bubbled up, but I contained it. “Probably not.”
“No one cares about your manhood but you,” Erzulie replied, giving him a dark look. “Trust me. Now, be quiet. The adults are talking.”
Lex frowned, and I worried he would say something obnoxious. Brigitte stopped him with a soft smile.
“You have a good heart,” Brigitte said. “You have a part to play in the bigger story as well. We are not playing out your part at present, however. So, shh.” She pressed her finger to her lips and gave him a significant look before turning to me.
“This is what we believe happened,” she continued. “Marinette has a line, and much of it runs through this city. We all have similar lines. Centuries ago, we created offspring at an alarming rate because we thought it was fun. We did not think about the ramifications.”
I wanted to know about those ramifications, but that conversation would have to wait.
“I cannot speak to this Sabine specifically,” Brigitte explained. “I wish I could, but there are too many offspring. I can say that it wouldn’t surprise me if the Axeman was in Marinette’s line.”
“We don’t know who he is either,” Erzulie said. “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. He’s dead and gone. He’s not the one behind what is happening now. Someone from his line is, and that is the individual we need to worry about.”
“Brett,” I said. “It must be him. He’s lost his mind.”
“It’s likely that Sabine made her husband promise on blood — Marinette’s family blood — that he would protect the offspring,” Erzulie said. “You were right about that, too.”
How did she know I was right? I hadn’t said much. Unless … of course! She’d seen it in my head. I needed to stop being surprised by the abilities of the loa. They were not normal paranormals.
“I don’t know why the father wanted the statue, unless Sabine always coveted it.
” Erzulie looked momentarily thoughtful.
“She probably tried everything to stave off death and was grasping at straws at the end. It doesn’t matter.
” She waved her hand. “The husband broke the blood promise on what day?” Erzulie’s eyes landed on me.
“You were probably one of the last people to see him. When was that?”
“The afternoon before the first murder,” I replied. “We went to the bar that night after talking to him in his office. I’m not sure where Archie went, but my instincts say home.”
Brigitte bobbed her head. “He went home, broke the blood oath, and his son left him dead on the floor. Then he went out that night to start taking control of his destiny.”
“But why?” Knox interjected. “What does he hope to gain by killing other members of Marinette’s line?”
“When Marinette’s magic went to an outsider, her line may have felt the loss,” Erzulie replied. “My guess is he’s trying to regain the magic he feels he’s owed.”
“To what end?” Knox was all business. “What does he want?”
“What does anyone want?” Erzulie held out her hands. “Greatness. What is his dream?”
“To be a famous jazz singer,” I replied. “But he’s terrible.”
“Then that’s what he wants. Not to be terrible.”
“And he thinks killing these people will strengthen his blood and get him what he wants in return?”
“The symbol on the walls is close to the one that was created by followers to revere Baron,” Brigitte replied. “It’s not exactly the same, because that symbol is meant to revere Marinette.”
“If she was such a terrible loa, why would anyone revere her?” Jack asked.
“Not everyone is opposed to violence and bitterness,” Erzulie replied. “Obviously.”
I nodded. It made sense. “We need to figure out who Brett is going after tonight and stop him.”
“There are too many possibilities,” Jack interjected. “Tons of them. I looked, hoping there would only be a handful.”
“Leave that to us,” Brigitte replied. “That’s what Baron and Papa are figuring out now. They will show up with a location.”
“And then what?” I asked.
“We will put an end to all of this,” Erzulie replied. “Once and for all. Marinette’s line must be ended. There is no other choice.”