by J. N. Colon
Curses tumbled from his lips, and he quickly laid me back on the bed. My burning body sank into the mattress as Etie’s weight pressed into me. “You smell like gardenias and coconut.” He buried his face in my damp hair. “I want to bottle your scent and keep it in my pocket when you’re not around.” His mouth lowered to my neck, sucking and nibbling.
A gasp slipped out as I arched into his touch. I could scarcely breathe, and my heart was tapping out a frantic voodoo drumbeat. I was becoming lost in the fire surrounding us. Etie was like a drug, one I was soaring on. He had me high as a kite, and I loved every freeing moment of it.
I pulled his t-shirt off, my fingers digging into his back. For a moment, the scales of his snake came alive, moving fluidly against my palm. Etie let out a strangled groan and pulled back, staring down at me. His eyes were lit up with desire and magic.
“Cher, you are walking a dangerous line when you do things like that,” he growled.
I licked his sweet flavor from my lips. “I didn’t mean to wake it up.” I didn’t know much about the tattoo—called a koulèvkay—but it was connected to the darker part of Etie, and it was one of the more powerful things in voodoo.
His nostrils flared, and power pulsed from him. Once again, his skin was his own, smooth and hot. “You have more control over me than you know, Angeline.” His mouth covered mine again, leaving me breathless. His tongue swiped over my bottom lip before he bit it, sucking and licking. His movements were rougher than usual, taking control of my body. His fingers melded into my flesh, pushing me closer to the point of no return.
I was already addicted to this high he gave me. I never wanted to come down.
Etie shifted over me, grabbing my leg and wrapping it around his waist. His hips moved over mine.
Heat spilled through me, and my body began to tremble. “Étienne,” I pleaded. I wasn’t telling him to stop. I wanted the opposite even though it was dangerous. Something stirred deep inside, and when it finally surfaced, not everything was going to be left unscathed.
As it turned out, I was spot on. The lamp on my bedside table flickered and then exploded into flames.
Etie cursed and pulled away. His eyes widened at the burning lamp. “Sispann!” The fire quickly dissipated, a stream of smoke spiraling from the charred object.
“Oh my god.” I buried my face in my pillow, fighting back the tears.
“Ah, cher, it’s okay.” Etie rubbed my back, his voice still thick with desire. “It was an accident.”
“I can’t stop it,” I mumbled. “Things keep happening every day.”
Etie pulled on my shoulder, turning me over. “Look at me, Angeline.” His glowing eyes settled on my face, his expression so sweet it sent a pang through my chest. “I’ll help you get control, yeah?” His fingers gently brushed the damp hair from my face. “I promise.”
I bit my lip. “What if I hurt someone?”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I won’t let that happen. We’ll figure this out.”
I nodded and swallowed hard, choking off the words of protest clawing up. Etie was powerful and knew a lot about self-control, but he was a voodoo caster. Not a witch. How much could he really help me?
The heavy scent of herbs and aromatics assaulted me once again as I stepped into the occult shop in Monroe. Crystals dangled in the shop window, catching the fading sunlight of the late afternoon. This time I played it safe and drove to Madame Monnier’s. When my mother asked where I was going with my car, I told her Etie’s. I hated lying to her, but if she knew my real destination, she’d flip. So would Abuela.
My family had bound my powers and hid me in Carrefour to keep other witches from finding out I was this super powerful conduit. And here I was walking into an occult store with my powers no longer tied down by their spell. Nothing was protecting me.
I swallowed hard, glancing around the empty shop. Maybe this was a stupid idea.
A tinkling echoed, and the owner stepped out from the back, the beaded doorway swaying behind her. “Hello. Can I help you?” Her light blue eyes scrutinized me, her head tilting. “I remember you. You came in a few weeks ago and ran out after a few minutes.”
Blood swam into my cheeks. “Sorry about that. I had an emergency.” I was being stalked by a voodoo zombie.
“No worries.” When she smiled, tiny lines formed around her eyes and mouth. “What’s your name?”
“Angel.” I mentally rolled my eyes. Couldn’t I have come up with a lie? I was terrible at this incognito crap.
“What can I help you with today, Angel?”
I hesitated, wondering if I should leave. But the information this place could hold kept my feet from pivoting toward the door. Could looking around for a few minutes really hurt? My magic was currently tucked away and on their best behavior.
“Do you have any books on learning to control power?” I shifted awkwardly, my feet squishing in my flip flops.
Madame Monnier blinked. “Do you mean like controlling the weather or something?”
I chewed on my lip, thinking of the right words without giving too much away. “How to harness your own power.”
She tilted her head as she surveyed me, those blue eyes like drills trying to break the surface. “Sure,” she finally said, waving a long hand. “Follow me.” Her dark hair flowed behind her, swaying along the waist of her long layered skirt.
I shoved my hands in my pockets as she led me through the store. I’d seen Etie just a few hours ago, but my anxiety was quickly growing. Maybe it was the miles separating us, or maybe it was because I was doing something dangerous, something my alimèt wouldn’t like.
Even if Etie could help me, I might be better off finding the answers without him. Well, he might be better off. Messing with magic, especially my unstable powers, could throw off his balance. He struggled with it already, and he’d done a lot of voodoo to save me from my ill-fated deal with the baron. I couldn’t ask him to forfeit more of his peace. He’d done enough.
“So you’re a natural witch then.” Madame Monnier’s musical voice snapped me out of my worrisome thoughts.
I blinked, caught off guard. What the hell was a natural witch?
“I’m just looking. That’s all.”
She made a humming sound, unconvinced and pointed to a rack of books. “These are all about channeling a witch’s natural abilities. How to unleash them, how to steady them, how to hone them.” She picked one. Channeling Powers: A Beginner’s Guide to Opening the Third Eye. “Perhaps this one?”
I took it, staring at the freaky eye on the cover. “Um, maybe.”
The phone on the counter rang, and she excused herself. I put the book back on the shelf. I didn’t want to open anything else inside me. I wanted to tone the crap down.
I continued to browse the section, coming across more books on unleashing powers. This was harder than I expected. Everything was about freeing power, not controlling it.
“Did you find what you’re looking for?”
I jumped at the shop owner’s voice and dropped a book on using crystals to harness magic.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you.” She gave a little laugh as she bent and picked up the book, handing it back to me.
“That’s okay.” I placed it back on the shelf. “I’m a little jumpy.” Who wouldn’t be after being stalked by a dark voodoo loa and his spirits?
“Not finding anything?” A line formed between her thin brows. “Maybe if you told me specifically what you were looking for, I could help.”
I shook my head and gave her a polite smile. “That’s okay. I’m not really sure myself.”
Giving her too much information was going to get me in trouble, even if she seemed like a sweet lady.
She nodded. “Maybe you’ll know once you see it.”
“Exactly.” Or maybe this was pointless.
With a sigh, I went back to blindly searching the shelves. After another half hour, my eyes landed on a title that caught my attention, specifically a w
ord. A History of the Conduit. I snatched it, my heart thumping as I cracked it open. This was the first piece of info I’d found speaking directly about the very thing I was.
Conduits are natural witches who channel other magical beings’ powers, heightening them and borrowing them at will. It’s rare, but some are capable of permanently stealing the powers of others, keeping them as their own or destroying them.
Oh perfect. I was that rare kind. I would have been able to steal Etie’s powers permanently, releasing him of his battle of light and dark. Now that he bound our souls, that option was null and void.
I flipped through the next few pages until I came across a paragraph that sent ice through my veins.
Throughout history, many conduits fell prey to corrupted creatures. They were enslaved by covens practicing dark magic, forced to magnify their practitioners’ powers during ceremonies. Some had to bear children against their will to produce more conduits. It wasn’t until later that it was discovered most conduits didn’t produce more conduits. Their powers typically skipped at least one generation or more. But that didn’t stop the wicked people from trying.
Bile oozed up my throat at the thought of being raped and turned into a breeding machine. Did that still happen? Could that happen to me?
No wonder my family wanted to keep me hidden. But that didn’t make it right. I shouldn’t have to search for answers in a shop alone. But if I didn’t, the wrong person could find out what I was. And I’d be toast.
A cold tingle rippled down my spine. I glanced over my shoulder, expecting Madame Monnier to be standing behind me. No one was there.
I gnawed on my lip, my gaze traveling toward the dark windows. The sun had set over an hour ago, and nighttime was in full swing. I hadn’t planned on staying this long. My fingers tightened around the book, the first piece of real conduit information I’d found. If I bought it, would the shop owner realize what I was?
I could always steal it.
As I hesitated, debating my options, goosebumps exploded over my skin. Eyes were on me again, watching from deep in the shadows.
My head snapped around, searching. A dribble of cold sweat leaked down my nape, and my chest tightened. This was a bad idea. I was alone, miles from home. Baron Samedi and his spirits could be poised for an attack. Or maybe someone had called another vivankò from the grave. We never figured out who sent the first one after me.
A cold wind seeped through my clothes. Even if the door had been open to the street, it wouldn’t have made a difference. It was the dead of summer. This wasn’t anything natural.
Whispers circulated through the cramped room, and I recognized the familiar cadence of Vonduo. A lock of hair lifted off my shoulder. I squeaked and dropped the book, stumbling into a rack of candles.
“Is everything all right, Angel?” Madame Monnier called from somewhere in the shop.
My mouth wouldn’t work. I was frozen in terror. Was one of Baron Samedi’s spirits here?
“Do you need some help?” she asked, her voice closer.
An electric charge bubbled in my chest, and the lights began to flicker. My heart jumped in my throat. Oh crap. My powers had decided to make an appearance.
I bolted toward the door, running out into the street. Luckily my car was parked around the corner, and I didn’t have to wander around town for the bus station. I hopped in, my entire body trembling.
I yanked the keys out of my pocket and jammed the right one into the ignition. The car sputtered, and smoke drifted from the hood.
What the hell?
Tiny sparks of electricity crackled over my hands. One jumped off, hitting the car radio, frying it.
I cursed and scrambled out. My own damn powers were sabotaging me!
A dry rustling echoed down the street as a figure appeared around the corner. Ice melted over my shoulders. I was so screwed.
Chapter 6
Oh god. Someone was headed straight for me. Was it another vivankò or, even worse, a baka? Someone could have put a gris-gris bag in my car to call the voodoo demon.
I wasn’t going to find out which unnatural creature—if one at all—was stalking me.
I turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, trying to put as much distance between that thing and me as possible. Once I was somewhere safe, I’d call Etie. He was going to give me an earful, but I’d rather get lectured than attacked.
My flip flops slapped the sidewalk, calling attention everywhere I went. Why couldn’t I have worn sneakers? I should have known I was going to be running for my life again.
A loud moan seeped through the darkness behind me, sending ice over my back. Tears pooled in my eyes, turning my vision watery. I glanced over my shoulder. Something moved through the darkness.
Before I turned around, I smacked into a warm, solid mass. A scream tore from my mouth. Hands clutched my arms, stopping me from slamming to the concrete.
“Evangeline? What business you got here?”
I jerked out of the man’s grasp, hitting the brick wall of the building. I hadn’t seen him since that night in the graveyard, and he was just as intimidating as I remembered. “Henri.”
The moonlight eerily glittered in his dark amber eyes as they scrutinized me. His full lips tilted down. “You here alone, girl?” He glanced around, searching the darkened street. “Not a smart idea.”
“Who asked you?” I slapped my hand over my mouth, silently cursing myself. This was the big bad voodoo guy everyone in Carrefour feared. People said if you stood close enough, you could hear the screams of those he’d hexed and see the flames of hell in his eyes.
They were exaggerating, but it still painted the man in a terrifying light.
Etie’s father reached for me, drawing his hand back when I flinched. “Easy there. I’m just trying to make sure you’re all right. That boy of mine would have my head if anything happened to you in my presence.” The silver snake ring glinted on his finger, giving the emerald eyes an ominous glow.
What was with voodoo and snakes?
“W-What are you doing here?” My heart was going a hundred miles a minute, and so loud he could probably hear it.
“Visiting a friend. You?” His gaze flickered behind me. “What you running from?”
“Did you send something after me?” Bumping into Henri Benoit in Monroe was a pretty big coincidence, especially just as something began chasing me. We didn’t know his motives or why he so easily helped save me.
His brows dipped in his dark caramel face. “Why would you say that?”
I shrugged. “You’re a voodoo caster, and I heard Vonduo right before something started following me.”
He slipped by me and peered around the corner. His shoulders stiffened. “That ain’t my doing, girl.”
Against my better judgment, I scurried to his side and peeked. My lungs seized as the outline of a figure still moved through the shadows.
“This has Baron Samedi all over it.”
My eyes widened. “How do you know?”
“I just do.” He jerked his chin in the opposite direction. “Did you drive here?”
“Yeah, but my car isn’t working.” A grimace crossed my face. “I kind of fried it.”
“Come on, then. I’ll take you home.” His fingers curled around my arm.
I had no choice but to let Etie’s father pull me down the dark street. It was either him or whatever the baron had sent to haunt me. In this situation, Henri was the least dangerous option—not by much though.
Henri’s dark eyes continued to flicker in my direction as he silently drove toward Carrefour, trees whipping by on the narrow highway. I shifted uneasily in the front seat of the sedan, my pulse still racing. Being in close quarters with the man who had used Etie—made his struggle that much more difficult—had me on edge. He also knew what I was. What was stopping him from using me to gain more power?
The tattoo on his upper arm sent chills through my gut. A skull atop a snake-wrapped cross was the mark of Louange le Noir.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and my heart doubled when I checked the screen.
“If that’s my youngest, you better answer. He’s your alimèt. He knows something happened.” Henri’s body stiffened. “He’ll only get more worried if you don’t answer and we don’t need that.”
How was Etie going to react when he found out I was with his father?
I reluctantly pressed the green answer button and put the phone to my ear. Before I could even get one word in, Etie’s frantic voice flew over the line.
“Angeline! What’s a matter! Where are you? Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’m fine, Etie,” I assured him, my muscles as tense as stone.
“Something happened. I know it.” He took a deep breath. “I’m leaving Chickarees right now. Where are you?”
Oh shit. “No. I’ll come to you.”
He paused. “Why? Where are you?” Suspicion was already swirling through his voice.
“Nowhere. I’m fine.” He was going to be so pissed. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. Bye.” I quickly hung up before he could ask more questions. I slumped against the seat, my chest tightening.
“You sure me dropping you off at Chickarees is a good idea?” Henri asked.
“Me being with you in any way is the opposite of a good idea.” There was no point in denying it.
He grumbled something in another language. “I guess Étienne and Bastien told you all the terrible things I did before their mama kicked me out?”
“Some.” Neither of the boys went into too much detail, but what they did tell me made my stomach knot. I didn’t know how Gabrielle got the strength to go against a bokor from Lounage le Noir. No telling how Etie and Bastien would have turned out if Henri had stayed with them.
His lips thinned, and his long fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “I did a lot a bad. I ain’t denying it. But that person doesn’t exist anymore.”
“You’re still in Lounage le Noir,” I pointed out.