Chapter 15 #2
Wind blasted the sides of the building, making a mournful, wailing sound.
“The sooner we get started, the sooner you can be on your way.”
Lissette had no idea how to make a reliquary. She’d seen a few. Each had been different, containing various items, none the same from one family to the next.
She couldn’t be certain whether they were magic, but étienne Benoit believed they were. If she wanted to get out alive with her grandmother, she had to make a reliquary or at least put on a show of making one sufficient to convince the mafia boss.
“I’ll need three candles, matches to light them and the container in which you will store the items that will symbolize the protection and bring you good luck.”
étienne nodded. “I have matches and candles for power outages and a container I had specially made for the Benoit family. Once the reliquary is blessed, I will move it to my family’s tomb in New Orleans.”
Lissette needed props for a ceremony, anything she could lay her hands on in a camp out in the middle of the bayou.
“I’ll need representation of all the elements: dirt for the earth; candles will represent fire; water for the lifeblood of the bayou; and we’re surrounded by wind.
Oh, and I’ll need salt for purification, pepper to banish evil and a bowl. ”
“We have salt and pepper,” étienne said and snapped his fingers at a man standing nearby. “Get the salt, pepper, bowl, candles and matches for our guest.” To one of the two men who’d escorted her in, he said, “You, go outside, take two cups and bring back dirt in one and water in the other.”
The man performed an about-face and hurried back across the building, slowing only to grab cups from a table where a coffeemaker had been placed.
Lissette nodded. “As soon as we have those items, we can begin.” She tapped a finger to her chin and lowered her brow as if in thought.
“One more thing,” she said. “We’ll need something personal, perhaps something belonging to the family, like a war medal, money clip or special coin—something passed down through the generations.
Also, a couple items that mean something to you, that you hold precious. ”
étienne smiled, dug into his pocket and pulled out an antique pocket watch. “This was my grandfather’s.” Then he dug in his other pocket and pulled out a coin and a rabbit’s foot. “And this is my lucky penny I’ve had since I was a boy and my rabbit’s foot I’ve had with me now for a decade.”
“Perfect.” She took the watch, the coin and the rabbit’s foot and turned completely around. “We’ll need space to conduct the work.” She walked toward the center of the room, stopping in front of étienne’s throne.
What better place to perform a show than in the center of the room? Her one-man audience needed to be impressed to swallow the bullshit she was about to feed him. “This will do.”
A man brought the bowl, candles, matches and crystal salt and pepper shakers. The candles were large, black and round. They’d burn long enough to impress the paranoid mafia boss.
The man who’d been sent out into the storm returned with a cup of bayou dirt that looked more like silt, as wet as it was, and another with water.
She arranged the candles in a circle around her and lit them one by one, murmuring a chant of nonsensical words to set the tone for a magical event.
She prayed étienne didn’t know enough about Voodoo to know she was out of her depth and making it up on the fly.
She set the bowl in the middle and arranged the salt and pepper shakers, the cup of mud and the one of water there as well.
Lissette raised her glance to Benoit, who eagerly watched her prepare.
“It is time,” she said in what she hoped sounded like a mysterious tone, like the palm reader who’d read her fortune in front of the Saint Louis Cathedral when she’d been a teen. “Please, you may take your seat.”
The mafia boss approached the throne-like chair, reached behind it and brought out an elaborate box with paintings of saints across the sides and top.
All the corners and feet were gilded in shiny gold.
He set the box in front of the circle of candles and then backed to the chair and sat. “I’m ready.”
Lissette shot a glance toward her grandmother, hating that her wrists were bound and she was gagged.
She wished she’d paid more attention during the Voodoo training sessions.
Not that it mattered. She didn’t have the full array of ingredients, notions and spells her grandmother kept in her pantry.
She just had to be convincing enough for Benoit to believe she’d done it right.
Then she had to believe he’d let her and her grandmother walk away.
With the weight of her grandmother’s life hanging in the balance, Lissette lifted her chin, schooled her face and met Benoit’s gaze. “We begin.”
Now came the hard part...reciting a believable spell out loud.
One by one, she lifted the ingredients, making up the spell as she went.
By dirt of this bayou
Where cypress trees stand,
Let the walls of this house,
Stay strong in the land.
Like water that rose
And water that fell,
Stay safe through the ages
Blessed by words of this spell.
Through wind of the storm
That bends the tall pines,
Let those who would hunt them
Lose the scent of the line.
By smoke and by flame
Three candles burning as one,
Let the dark keep its distance
‘til the burning is done.
With salt of the sea,
Make hearts pure and clean
Leave the past build the future
And time in between.
By pepper, I scatter
What stalks at his back.
Turn round on the water,
Turn round on your track.
With this coin, foot and watch
Passed from hand unto hand,
From grandfather to father
To the man where I stand.
Three generations,
and more, it will keep.
What was owed to the dead,
Let the dead take and sleep.
She opened the box and placed the coin, rabbit’s foot and pocket watch inside.
Now dirt, water, wind,
Now salt, pepper, flame —
Stand still. Close your eyes.
And let it burn in your name.
Palming the tiny bottle of Everclear, she twisted off the cap like she was doing a fancy wave. Then she splashed the alcohol into the bowl, lit a match, and tossed it in.
At the same time as the bowl burst into flames, the wind slammed into the building, lifting the tin roofing enough to slap down hard in a thunderous crash.
Benoit screamed like a girl, jumped out of his chair and dove for the reliquary.
Lissette flung the last of the Everclear into the bowl, making another burst of flame.
Gunshots rang out.
For a moment, Lissette almost believed it was part of her spell. Reason set in quickly, and she dropped to the ground, looking around for the source.
Footsteps pounded, men shouted and more shots rang out.
Afraid for her grandmother, Lissette crawled on her hands and knees to where her grandmother had been.
She wasn’t on the bed or nearby.
Fear streaked through her like the lightning in the storm outside. Lissette sat up.
“Don’t move, or I’ll shoot you.”
Lissette froze at the sound of Benoit’s voice. The cool barrel of a pistol pressed to her temple.
“You did not come alone,” he accused.
“I swear I did,” she said.
“Put down your gun, Benoit,” Xavier’s voice rang out. “We’ve already taken out your men. It’s only you.”
“Ah, the lover has come to the rescue.” Benoit chuckled. “Just in time to see his ex-con girlfriend take her last breath, because that’s what will happen if you don’t back off.”
“It’s over, Benoit.” Xavier stepped into the light. “Your luck, like your predecessors’, has run out. The curse has caught up with you, and you can’t escape.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Benoit said. “I have my own reliquary. I’m free of the curse. I will not die like the others before me.” He nudged Lissette’s temple with the gun barrel. “Get up. You and I are going to the bunker to wait out the storm.
“There’s a bunker?” Lissette asked as she pushed herself to her feet. “On the island?”
“I’m not stupid. When I built this place, I knew it would flood. I built a waterproof bunker that would withstand a Category five hurricane. It’s where you and I will be when the hurricane wipes out the rest of the camp.”
“What about the others?” she asked, her gaze going to Xavier and his team.
“It’s too late for them. The hurricane is upon us.”
As if to reinforce Benoit’s words, the wind ripped off a roof panel. Rain blew sideways into the building.
“Now,” Benoit said.
“No.” Lissette didn’t move.
“Come, or I’ll shoot you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I guess you’ll have to shoot me. I’m not going with you, and I’m not leaving the people I love to die in the storm.”
He stood behind her, holding the gun at her head. “Then you will die with them.”
Lissette caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye.
On instinct, she dropped to the floor.
A gun went off.
Benoit fell, landing on top of Lissette, warm liquid soaked into her clothes. She tried to move, but the man was a dead weight, pinning her to the ground and making it difficult to breathe.
Dead weight.
Benoit was dead.
“Lissette,” Xavier’s voice called out.
Benoit’s body lifted away from her.
A moment later, she was in Xavier’s arms.
“Are you hurt? Did he shoot you?” He held her away from him, his face going pale. “All this blood. Where are you hit?”
“It’s not mine,” she said.
Xavier pulled her into his arms again and held her for a long, exquisite moment.
“Grand-mère,” she said, pushing him back.
“I’m here, mon cher,” her grandmother said.
“Oh, thank God,” Lissette cried.
Xavier smiled down at her. “She was the one who saved you. She swept Benoit’s legs out from under him.”
“I only distracted de man,” her grandmother said. “Your man did de rest.”
“He’s not my man,” Lissette murmured, her cheek pressed to Xavier’s chest, but oh, how she wished he was.