Midnight Dolls

by Kiki Sullivan

  “Actually,” Chloe says, “I see her point. If there’s a divide in the organization, maybe we can somehow benefit from it. But I don’t know. It seems really dangerous. Main de Lumière is our sworn enemy. What if the spirit was wrong? Or what if she was lying to you?”

  “I don’t think she was,” I say.

  “We could be walking right into a trap,” Chloe says.

  “But maybe that’s a chance we have to take.” I pause. “Everything we’ve been doing so far is reactive. They attack; we respond. But what if we’re proactive instead? What if we stop them before they can come after us again?”

  “And you think you can do that?” Peregrine asks.

  “I think we can do that,” I say. “If we work together.”

  Chloe and Peregrine exchange looks.

  “Now you want us working with you?” Peregrine says. “Because just a minute ago, you were all about doing weird andaba ceremonies on your own.”

  “Peregrine, I’ve always wanted to work with you two,” I say. “And I always will. But you have to trust me. You were wary of me when I got here, and I understand that. And you’ve been worried ever since you learned about my andaba side. I get that too. But we’re sisters. We’re supposed to be friends. I think if you keep pushing me away, it’s just going to put us in more danger.”

  She looks surprised, and I can almost see the war going on in her head as she considers how to respond. She blinks rapidly a few times and narrows her eyes, then her expression softens. “Fine,” she says at last, so quietly that I think I heard her wrong.

  “What?”

  “Fine,” she says a bit more loudly. “Maybe you’re right. Okay?” She glances uncertainly at Chloe. “So? What now?”

  For the next few hours, we talk, and for the first time, the conversation with my sister queens doesn’t feel like an uphill battle. Chloe listens intently to everything I have to say, and Peregrine manages to keep her snarky comments to a minimum.

  We’re still in the midst of a conversation a few minutes after midnight when we’re interrupted by the sound of men shouting outside.

  “Was that Patrick?” Peregrine asks, her eyes wide as she looks at Chloe and me.

  “I think it was his dad,” Chloe says, looking worried.

  Another voice cries out, and this time, the words are crystal clear. “Annabelle! Annabelle! Oh no! No! My God!”

  Peregrine’s on her feet and headed for the door before I can stop her. “Mom?” she cries.

  I jump up. “Peregrine! Come back! We don’t know what’s going on out there!”

  But then I hear her anguished scream from the front door, followed a second later by Chloe crying out. I take a deep breath and hurry after them. If there’s danger lurking outside the door, I have to face it with my sister queens.

  Still, I’m unprepared for the sight that greets me.

  Peregrine has collapsed on the front lawn. Chloe is running down the driveway screaming. Oscar, Patrick, and their fathers are hunched together, all of them choking on their sobs.

  And hanging from one of the branches of the massive oak tree that stands in front of Peregrine’s house are the lifeless, bloodied bodies of Annabelle Marceau and Scarlett St. Pierre, their white, gauzy gowns fluttering around them in the silent breeze.

  19

  A heaviness settles over Carrefour as my father and Caleb arrive and we spend the next few hours trying to figure out what happened. By dawn, we still only have snippets of the story, and the parts we haven’t pieced together are the ones that horrify us most.

  Patrick’s and Oscar’s fathers had set out to accompany the mothers to Chloe’s house, hanging back in the shadows, as is their protocol. Ms. Marceau and Ms. St. Pierre decided to cut through the cemetery rather than drive, and just after they’d made it across the crossroads, at least two assailants—maybe more—leapt out from behind a cluster of tombstones and took Patrick’s and Oscar’s fathers by surprise. Using some sort of drug—chloroform, Patrick’s father, Benjamin, guesses—the assailants knocked the two men out in virtual silence.

  “The last thing I saw,” Oscar’s father, Anton, says, “was Scarlett and Annabelle walking on ahead, with no clue that we’d been overpowered.”

  When the two men regained consciousness, they realized they were bound and gagged in the cemetery and the mothers were gone. They quickly freed themselves and called their sons for help, but by the time they got back to Peregrine’s house, it was too late. The two women were already hanging lifeless from nooses. But they didn’t die that way; they were both stabbed through the heart—Main de Lumière’s hallmark. They were strung up after the fact, apparently as a macabre warning to all of us.

  Benjamin and Anton are beside themselves, and at first I think it’s because of the horrible curse on them; the deaths of the mothers mean the protectors are doomed too. But soon I realize it’s something more; the two men are actually grieving.

  “I’ve—I’ve been looking out for her my whole life,” Anton says, sobbing loudly. “She was practically my family. And now I’ve failed her.”

  Benjamin is just as emotional about Peregrine’s mom. “I’ve let this happen,” he says, “and now a daughter is without her mother.”

  Peregrine and Chloe are inconsolable. I sit with them as the hours tick by, and while Chloe hasn’t been able to stop crying, Peregrine is sitting silently, completely unresponsive. My father, Caleb, Patrick, and I keep trying to talk to her, but it’s as if she doesn’t hear us at all.

  “She’s in shock,” my father says. “I can’t blame her.”

  The mothers’ sosyete members trickle in before sunrise, and together, we all decide to let the police launch an investigation.

  “We can’t cover something like this up,” says Maxine Pace, the café owner downtown who has been a member of the mothers’ sosyete for years.

  “But an investigation would put us in the limelight,” Cristof, the town stylist, says. “We’ll risk exposing zandara to the town. Annabelle and Scarlett never would have wanted that.”

  “I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have wanted to end up dead either,” my father says, which earns him glares from the other sosyete members. “My point is, we’re playing a new game with new rules here. We have to think on our feet. There’s no way to conceal the very public murder of two of the town’s most well-known citizens. If we try to, it’s only going to make us look like we have something to hide.”

  “Besides,” I say, feeling uneasy as all eyes turn to me, “maybe the police can help us.”

  “Only the police chief is a member of the sosyete, Eveny,” Sharona, Cristof’s assistant, says. “Not the officers.”

  “But we have no idea who killed Peregrine’s and Chloe’s moms. And if the gate’s protection has been restored, and I think it has, the only answer is that the killer is someone who lives in Carrefour. Or killers, if you take into account the fact that it took at least two men to overpower the protectors.”

  “What are you saying, Eveny?” Cristof asks.

  “That whoever is attacking us is probably hiding in plain sight. If the police are looking for the killers, maybe they’ll do a better job of finding them than we will.”

  Everyone stares at me. “You know, Eveny has a point,” Cristof says. “The police don’t have to know about our magic to follow the trail of a murderer.”

  I nod and continue. “So I say we’re as honest with them as possible. I say we tell them everything, except about zandara, of course. Maybe they’ll be the best chance we have.”

  “My, my, my, Eveny,” Cristof says, “you’re really turning into a queen, aren’t you?”

  I open my mouth to reply, but he holds up a hand.

  “I mean it as a compliment, young lady,” he says. “And with Annabelle and Scarlett gone . . .” He pauses and wipes away a tear. “Well, let’s just say that this town is going to need your leadership. I hope you’re up for the challenge.”

  I glance over at my sister queens. Chloe is
hunched over, still gasping through her tears, while Peregrine is staring out the window in silence. They’ll need me too. “I’m up for the challenge,” I say.

  My father pats me on the back. “Okay. I’ll call the police. The rest of you, go home for now. We’ll reconvene later to talk next steps.”

  The sosyete members stand and exchange uneasy looks. “How do we know we’ll be safe until then?” Maxine asks. But the question isn’t directed at my father; it’s directed at me, and I realize that already, they’re looking to me for answers.

  “We don’t,” I say, looking them all in the eye, one by one. “That’s why we have to be extra careful. Stay together, if you can. Don’t cut across the cemetery or anywhere else deserted. Stay in public. Don’t give Main de Lumière a chance to come after you.”

  “This is just the beginning, isn’t it?” Cristof says as he hugs me good-bye.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” I reply.

  Police Chief Sangerman arrives just past dawn with four other officers and the town doctor. Carrefour is small enough that we don’t have detectives—the senior officers and the chief himself are supposed to be in charge of investigations—and our town’s one general practitioner, Dr. Caldwell, also serves as a medical examiner on the rare occasion that one is needed.

  “You just found them like this early this morning?” Chief Sangerman asks, staring at the bodies, which are still strung up. I swallow hard and avert my eyes. It’s a horrible thing to look at. “I’ll need to talk to their daughters.”

  “Of course,” my dad says. “But I don’t think they’re in any shape right now.”

  Chief Sangerman frowns. “Very well,” he says after a moment. “But I’ll need their statements as soon as possible. Do we have any idea who did this?”

  My father stares him down and waits until the officers are involved in a discussion. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he says, raising an eyebrow meaningfully.

  Chief Sangerman swallows hard. “Main de Lumière?” he asks, his voice lowered to a near whisper.

  “Looks like it.”

  “Benjamin Payne and Anton Galea were with them?” Chief Sangerman asks.

  “Yes,” my father says quietly, again glancing at the officers, who have walked over to the base of the tree and appear to be discussing the best way to get the mothers down. “They were drugged.”

  The chief looks startled. “Benjamin and Anton? The two most experienced protectors in Carrefour?”

  “I know,” my father says, glancing at me. “It worries me too.”

  The chief glances at me and sighs. “Such a shame. And their lives will be cut short now. Hardly seems fair.”

  My father’s jaw flexes. “Not at all.”

  “Well,” the chief says a moment later. “Let me get started with the two men. Maybe they saw something, and I’d rather talk to them before my officers do.” He glances at me. “I’ll need to talk to Eveny too.”

  “She had nothing to do with this,” my father says immediately. I’m grateful for his attempt at shielding me, but at the same time, I know I need to cooperate.

  The chief’s eyes harden. “Mr. Desjardins, I know you’re new here, so I’ll cut you a break this time. But in this town, when it comes to the law, I decide who has to do with what. And if I think Eveny may know something, well, then, I need to talk to her to find out.”

  “It’s no problem,” I say before my father can reply. “I’m happy to talk to you, Chief. But for now, I need to make sure my friends are okay.”

  I stay with Peregrine and Chloe all day, but after Chloe finally cries herself out, an exhausted silence fills the void, and I realize it was more comforting to see her tears. Now, she just seems numb like Peregrine. I can’t convince them to leave the house—or even to talk to me—so I call my dad and tell him not to expect me home tonight.

  I’m surprised when he shows up around six thirty with a foil-covered dish. “Boniface made his crawfish casserole,” he says, holding it out to me like a peace offering. “I hear it’s pretty spectacular. There’s enough in here for all three of you girls, and for Caleb.”

  “Caleb?” I ask, startled. I’ve been so focused on Peregrine and Chloe that I haven’t given him much thought.

  My father nods. “He’s been walking the perimeter of the house all day, along with Patrick and Oscar. They’re all on high alert.”

  “Of course,” I say. “How are Patrick and Oscar doing? Considering their dads are . . . you know.” I can’t even bring myself to say aloud that their fathers are now cursed to die.

  “They’re holding up all right,” my father says.

  I nod, my heart heavy. “Well, I’ll thank Boniface later, but I’m not hungry. I don’t think the girls are either. Caleb, Oscar, and Patrick can have our share.”

  “You have to eat, Eveny,” my father says, and I’m caught off guard by the depth of concern in his eyes. “You have to keep up your strength.”

  “I’ll be okay,” I say. “Seriously, give the casserole to the guys. They’ve been on their feet all day.”

  He returns a moment later and follows me into the parlor, glancing at Chloe and Peregrine. They’re slumped against each other on the couch in the corner, both of them staring at the wall.

  “How are they doing?” he asks.

  “They haven’t said a word all day,” I say. “I don’t know what to do.”

  He looks at the two of them, then sighs and beckons for me to follow him out to the hall. “I’m sorry for your friends,” he says once we’re out of their earshot. “I really am. I know how devastated they must be. But it’s time for us to go.”

  “What?”

  “It’s time,” he says. “You can’t stay here any longer. I was patient while you restored the gate, and I was willing to see how things would go. But Carrefour’s a lost cause right now, Eveny. You have to admit that. The fact that two of the town’s most powerful queens could be murdered right outside their own homes . . . Well, I can’t in good conscience let you stay here any longer.”

  I stare at him. “You can’t let me stay here?”

  “Let’s not do this again,” he says. “I know it’s hard for you to adjust to having me back. But I’m still your father, and I have the right to make decisions about the things that will keep you safe.”

  “No,” I say. “You don’t. You have the right to suggest things that you think will keep me safe. You have the right to give me advice and try to explain your point of view. But we’re not like other fathers and daughters, Dad. We never have been. I’ve been making my own decisions for years, and that’s not about to change.”

  “Do you really think this is the time to be arguing just to assert your independence, Eveny?”

  “How could you think that’s what I’m doing?” I say. “I’m trying to make the right choices for everyone. I’m trying to protect all of the people I love. I’m trying to save this town.”

  “But what about yourself? What about trying to save yourself?”

  I shake my head. “What do you want me to do, disappear and leave Peregrine and Chloe all alone to defend Carrefour?”

  “We could bring them with us. Keep them safe on Caouanne Island.”

  “But what about everyone else? If we leave, what’s to say that Main de Lumière won’t destroy Carrefour and the people in it while they try to find us? Dad, these are my people—everyone in Carrefour. Are we going to bring the entire town to Caouanne Island?”

  “You know that’s impossible.”

  “And that’s why I have to stay. Now that Ms. Marceau and Ms. St. Pierre are gone, the three of us are all this town has,” I say, gesturing to my sister queens. “If we leave, innocent people die. And I can’t live with that.”

  “Most of them have nothing to do with the Secret of Carrefour,” my father says.

  “Do you think that’ll stop Main de Lumière?” I ask. “They killed Glory Jones, didn’t they? There was no real point in killing her, but they did it anyhow. You think
they won’t do that again?”

  “Look, long ago, I promised your mother that I would do everything I could to protect you.”

  “I know,” I say. I watched him make the promise in my grandfather’s Mind’s Eye, but I don’t have time to explain that now. “And you’re doing exactly as she asked, Dad,” I say. “You’re trying to protect me. You’re keeping that promise. But the choice is in my hands, and I choose to stand up and do what’s right. This is my town. It’s the town Mom loved. It’s where I was born, and it’s where I’m meant to be. It’s also the home of my sister queens, who may not be perfect, but they’re my family as much as you are. I know there’s goodness inside both of them, and I know that when the time comes, they’ll stand with me.”

  “I’m ready to stand with you now,” Chloe says from the doorway.

  My father and I turn to look at her in surprise. I hadn’t realized she had followed us into the hall, but now, her red-rimmed eyes are a little brighter, her expression a little more resolute.

  “Hey, you,” I say softly.

  She smiles slightly, and her eyes fill with tears again. “We can’t let them die in vain,” she says. “Their lives can’t be a waste. We have to fight.”

  “I’m in too,” Peregrine says, coming up behind Chloe in the doorway. Her face is still stony, but her eyes are flickering. “It’s what our moms would have wanted. And it’s what I want too. You can’t leave, Eveny.”

  “I know,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  20

  My father leaves an hour later after finally realizing that he’s not going to change our minds.

  “You can go back to Caouanne Island with him if you want,” Peregrine says after we close the door behind him. “I wouldn’t hold it against you, and I don’t think Chloe would either.”

  “You have the right to choose,” Chloe says.

  I reach out and squeeze their hands. “I choose you. Now, why don’t you two head upstairs and try to lie down for a bit? You need to get some sleep.”

  They agree, and I lead them up to Peregrine’s bedroom. After they’ve both fallen into bed, huddled against each other, I close the door behind them and head back downstairs alone.