“That’s good,” Miss Elva’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I realized that I’d ground the little red flakes into a fine dust. “Pour it in this pouch.”
I did as I was told and handed Miss Elva the pouch, wondering what would happen next. I was surprised to see that she had constructed a little man of sorts in front of her; the wrists and ankles were tied together, the mouth gagged and eyes blindfolded. She was slowly stuffing herbs into the body of the doll.
“You’re making a voodoo doll? What are you stuffing inside it?”
“Confusion herbs. Valerian. Wormwood and the like,” Miss Elva said, concentrating on the task at hand. I didn’t want to interrupt her process, so for once in my life I remained quiet, while she finished stitching the little doll closed. When she was done, she looked at it for a moment, nodding to herself before turning to me.
“Go ahead, ask your questions,” Miss Elva said, getting up to pour herself a glass of water.
“I just…I thought voodoo dolls only worked if you had a piece of hair or a cigarette butt or something from the person you’re trying to control,” I said, resting my elbows on the counter as I studied the doll.
“You’re absolutely right. That’s usually what’s needed,” Miss Elva said, finishing her water with a sigh.
“But you don’t need that?”
“Child, I told you I was old magick. Sure, some of the newer priestesses starting out will need those physical bits to tie the magick to the doll, but I’m stronger than that. All I need is my intent.” Miss Elva smiled at me.
“So why use the doll at all? Couldn’t you just cast a spell without it?”
“I might do that too. I don’t know what we’re walking into. I prefer to have all my tools with me. You don’t go to a gun fight carrying a spatula now, do you?”
I refrained from pointing out that we were going to a potential gunfight and all she was bringing was a doll.
See? I do have a sense of self-preservation sometimes.
“You go on out on the porch now. I have to run some charms on these pouches and I don’t want your thoughts interfering,” Miss Elva said.
“Fine by me, I could use some fresh air anyway,” I said. I walked through Miss Elva’s living room, restraining myself from stopping to peer at all the curiosities on her shelves, and made my way to the uncomfortable visitor’s chair on Miss Elva’s front porch. Even though she wasn’t sitting on the porch with me, I still knew better than to sit in Miss Elva’s rocking chair.
“Althea,” a voice said at my shoulder, and I swear I almost jumped three feet out of that chair.
“Damn it, Rafe! I told you not to do that,” I hissed, throwing my hand over my heart as I gave the pirate an evil look.
“Sorry, I forget you can’t sense me,” Rafe admitted, coming to float in front of me.
“Did you find anything out? Did you see Luna?”
“Luna? Why would I be looking for the witch? I thought I was supposed to go look for that crazy horn-wearing Pagan guy?”
That’s right. Rafe hadn’t been with us when we’d discovered Luna had been taken.
“Luna was kidnapped. Presumably by the killer. We have to go to the beach tonight and rescue her,” I explained.
Rafe stood tall and saluted me.
“I will protect my queen at all costs,” Rafe intoned.
“Well, yes, and maybe me too?” I offered, annoyed that he seemed to have forgotten all about me.
“You too – you’re not so bad,” Rafe said.
“Gee, thanks Rafe. Tell me what happened out at the festival?”
“Nothing, actually. I searched for a really long time. It’s like there was never a festival there at all.” Rafe shrugged.
“Really? No fire pit? No battened down grass? No litter? No tents?” I fired off questions at Rafe and he just continued to shake his head no.
“Honestly, nothing. I backtracked and then made sure that I had gone to the right spot, because it looked as though nothing had been there. But I finally found some confirmation of the festival.”
“What was that?”
“There’s sort of an energy portal that has been opened up. It must have been where the crazy dude called on the powers.”
This was not good.
“An energy portal? Like a passageway to hell?”
Rafe shrugged.
“Maybe, maybe not? It’s not huge. Just a bit of pulsing energy there. Something to keep an eye on, for sure. Especially with All Hallows’ Eve next month.”
Fantastic. An energy portal opened up to the underworld right before Halloween. I’m sure nothing bad will happen with that. At all.
Rubbing my hands over my face, I breathed deeply for a moment.
“One thing at a time here, Rafe. We have to get Luna. Then we’ll deal with the energy portal.”
Rafe shrugged his shoulders. He had all the time in the world.
I jumped as a ripple of energy ran through the house, powerful magick pressing against the back of me and causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.
“I love when she uses magick, it’s so sexy,” Rafe breathed, his eyes wide as he peered into the house.
“Yes, super sexy,” I said as the front door cracked open and Miss Elva poked her head out.
“What are doing about dinner?” she demanded.
“Dinner? I don’t know if I can eat,” I admitted.
“I passed a food truck on the way over here,” Rafe said helpfully. Miss Elva met my eyes.
“Go get us food. Rafe, you go with her,” she instructed as the door slammed behind her.
“Isn’t she great?” Rafe enthused by my side as I walked down the block and turned onto the next street.
“Yes, a real dreamboat,” I said, keeping my wits about me as I scanned the pedestrians cycling and walking by, looking for anything out of order. The food truck was parked on a corner and advertised take-away Mexican food; the spicy scents wafting from it made my mouth water. Food trucks had become all the rage in the Keys about five or ten years ago, and it seemed like we had a new one come through every week.
After ordering two platters of steak and chicken fajitas, I made my way back to Miss Elva’s to find her on the front porch, a satchel by her side.
“Sun’s close to setting. Let’s eat and get going. Rafe, did you find anything out today?”
Rafe hung his head in apology.
“I did not. Only that an energy portal seems to have been opened.”
Miss Elva whipped her head up at that news, then speared a piece of steak with her fork.
“Why is it that I have to take care of everything that goes wrong in this town?” she muttered to herself.
“Because you’re the boss queen of the world?” I asked, being more than slightly sarcastic.
Miss Elva pointed her fork at me.
“And don’t you forget it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“I LITERALLY HATE this,” I complained as I crept the car along the gravel path towards the beach. The sun had just set, leaving us in the shadow of twilight as we bumped down the gravel road towards the beach. I’d kept my lights on, because, well, why try to hide? We’d been invited – that is, ordered – to come to the beach.
My anxiety was running at about a ten, so I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.
“Don’t you worry, child, that Horace has nothing on us,” Miss Elva said soothingly.
“Except for the fact that he’s opened a portal to hell and has, like, demonic power now. You know, no big deal,” I muttered, and Miss Elva chuckled next to me.
“You think this is the first demon Miss Elva’s had to show what’s what? Child, please,” Miss Elva clucked her tongue at me and I had to smile.
I mean, if I had to battle a demon, I’d pick Miss Elva at my side any day.
We drove as far along the lane as we could, almost reaching the beach. Remembering how Luna had faced the car out the other night, I did a quick three point turn in th
e small lane and pointed the car back towards the road. Miss Elva nodded her approval and then we got out of the car, Rafe bringing up the rear.
The ocean was quiet tonight, the tide having just finished coming in. A light breeze brushed against me, bringing that salty swampy smell of saltwater with it, and I reached out to grab Miss Elva’s hand as we stepped onto the empty beach.
I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Just putting myself out there to get shot in the chest. As soon as the thought came to me, I invoked my white bubble of protection and slammed it down over Miss Elva and myself, just in case.
A pinging sound brought my head up and I jumped as something seemed to ripple in the air and then breeze past me.
“What was that?” I gasped.
“Someone just shot at us. Your little protective bubble is holding up nicely. I’m impressed,” Miss Elva nodded easily and I wanted to scream at her.
Someone had just shot at us and Miss Elva was complimenting my magick?
Miss Elva turned to the empty beach, facing the direction the bullets had come from.
“I know you didn’t just try and shoot at us. You’ll have to do better than that. Why don’t you show yourself, you coward? You asked us to come here; well, we’re here.”
“Oh, that’s good. I’m sure calling a killer a coward is going to make him more amenable to handing Luna off,” I swore, keeping a hold on that protective bubble as we stepped forward.
Another ping and I jumped again as my protective bubble rippled. I noticed this was all happening on my side of the bubble – now I was mad.
“Oh, so it’s just me you want to kill? Right, that’s great – right sporting of you,” I yelled at the bushes. “Can’t you do something here, Miss Elva? I’m kind of busy stopping bullets in mid-air,” I griped. Jeez, bring a voodoo priestess to a fight and she just antagonizes the killer.
Miss Elva cast me a look and then dug in her satchel, pulling out a small bag. She dumped powder onto her hand and then, closing her eyes, blew it gently from her palm.
“Illuminate,” she whispered.
The powder seemed to sparkle of its own accord, wafting on the breeze across the beach, and settling onto the sand and the bushes. I gasped; in moments, the entire beach was lit up brighter than a football field. I turned to Miss Elva in admiration.
“Good one,” I said, nodding at her.
“I try,” Miss Elva said, smirking as we drew closer to where we could now see a man standing next to a body on the sand. My heart jumped in my throat to see a swath of Luna’s bright blonde hair in the sand, but then I saw her leg move and realized that she was still alive. Thank the Goddess.
My eyes landed on the killer and I gasped. I had been expecting it to be Horace, had even prepared for it to be Horace, but it was truly the last person that I had expected.
Confusion filled me as I met his eyes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“I DON’T UNDERSTAND,” I said.
“Nobody listens. Nobody ever listens. It doesn’t matter if I file with the Conservation Office. It doesn’t matter if I file with the Fish and Wildlife Office. Nobody cares. Well, now they’re going to care,” the man seethed, a gun in each hand as he paced.
It was the dreadlocked environmentalist that I had seen that night outside Lucky’s, handing off fliers about the saving the turtles to patrons as they waited in line. I’d thought he was a little overzealous at the time, but I’d missed the fact that he was a complete lunatic.
Maybe it was time for me to start paying a little more attention to others.
“What are you going on about?” Miss Elva demanded, surprising the man into stopping his rant as he sized her up.
“The turtles,” he said slowly, keeping his eyes trained on her.
“And what do the turtles have to do with killing honest people and shooting at us?” Miss Elva demanded.
“The turtles lay their eggs on this beach. If the condo development gets built here, there will be no place for them to go,” the man said.
“Who are you?” I cut in.
“Darius Masterson. I’m a biologist,” Darius explained, the guns still trained on us.
“Darius, don’t you think there might be a better way to accomplish all this?” I asked gently.
“I tried. I really tried. For a year now. Nobody cares. They take my fliers and throw them away. Nobody listens,” Darius said, his dreadlocks sticking out like crazy and bouncing around his head while he shouted.
“Why did you want us to come here tonight?”
“I only wanted the voodoo priestess. Not the psychic. She can’t do anything,” Darius scoffed. I felt offended.
“Excuse me? I can do plenty of things,” I said, hand on hip. Miss Elva cast me a look and I shut up. I wondered if Cash was on the boat watching all this, and if they were planning to take a shot at Darius. Considering the possibility, I slowly began to move closer to Miss Elva, positioning ourselves so that we weren’t blocking the sightline from the water.
“I want you to put a curse on this beach,” Darius demanded of Miss Elva, and she nodded slowly, listening to him.
“What did you do to Luna?” I asked, my eyes on my best friend on the ground. She was laid out with her back to us, but I could see her arm move a little, so I knew she was still breathing.
“I just knocked her out, she’s fine,” Darius said, dismissing her.
“How come you took Luna?” Miss Elva demanded.
“I heard she was a witch. But she told me she doesn’t do curses and that I had to get Miss Elva.”
Luna was smart, that’s for sure.
“What was with the whole drilling the saplings in that guy’s head, then?” I said, keeping him talking and trying desperately not to glance towards the water to see if the boat was near. At least they would be able to see clearly, thanks to Miss Elva’s charm.
“Wasn’t that great? I knew the Pagan festival was in town; then when I saw you guys doing your ritual on the beach, I figured it would be a perfect spot to lay the body out. It looked really cool, if I do say so myself,” Darius puffed out his chest a bit, seeming very proud of himself.
“Yeah, super cool. So you watched our whole ritual?” I wondered if he knew about Rafe, who was currently flitting around Miss Elva’s head. I tried not to get grossed out thinking about Darius creeping around in the bushes while we were skyclad on the beach.
“Nah, I just caught the end. It was pretty cool. That’s why I wanted to take Luna. She clearly knew what she was doing. You on the other hand…well, you need some work.”
Don’t get offended, don’t get offended. I was tempted to toss some power at this dude to see what he would do, but with one gun trained on Luna’s inert body and the other on us, I felt like my hands were tied.
“Sure, I’ll put a curse on the beach for you. I just need to get my stuff out of my bag,” Miss Elva said, holding her hands up and explaining what she was going to do.
“Any weird moves and I’ll shoot this one,” Darius said, gesturing with a gun at Luna. I shivered.
“This is the police! Put your hands in the air!”
I was so shocked by the voice that thundered over the megaphone that I dropped my mental shield.
Which proved to be a critical mistake when Darius grabbed me and dragged me in front of his body, pulling me further out onto the beach so I blocked him entirely from the boat that rocked gently in the water in front of us. Darius hadn’t seen them yet.
I closed my eyes as cool steel brushed my forehead.
This wasn’t exactly how I had planned for things to go tonight. In fact, I was supposed to be curled up on my couch with Cash and Hank right at this very moment. I gulped as I felt tears slip into my eyes.
The cold steel of the gun slipped past my face and fell to the ground. It was all I could do not to jerk forward and try to pick it up.
“What’s happening?” Darius screeched into my ear, and I winced at the sound. He began to keen and wail into my ear, rende
ring me all but deaf. I gasped as his arm tightened for a moment around my throat, cutting off my supply of air. The wails increased in fervency, until his arms loosened around me and I gasped as, suddenly, I was free. Without thinking, I ran to where Luna lay huddled on the ground, praying I wasn’t about to take a bullet in the back.
Risking a glance, I looked back.
Darius danced around the beach, still holding one gun in a hand, both hands to his head while he screamed. I cast a glance at Miss Elva to see her holding the doll in one hand.
Having learned from my previous mistakes, I kept my mouth shut, huddling over Luna as I ripped through the duct tape that was wrapped around her arms and legs.
Miss Elva twisted the doll’s neck and Darius doubled over, coughing and choking, scrambling at his throat with his hands, his nails leaving red marks as he tore at his skin. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chief Thomas hop from the boat and race across the beach, tackling Darius easily and pressing his face into the sand.
In moments, Darius was cuffed and I stared in awe as Miss Elva slipped the little doll back into her satchel.
“Miss Elva, that was something…” I trailed off. I didn’t really even have the words for witnessing something like that. I get a little speechless when I’m in the presence of major power.
Luna moaned softly and I turned back to her as people jumped from the boat and flooded the beach.
“Luna,” I gasped, wincing at the duct tape that covered her mouth, knowing I would hurt her if I ripped it from her delicate skin. Her eyelashes fluttered against her smooth skin, before opening to look at me. Confusion crossed her features for a moment before she focused on my face and understood I was here to help her.
“Luna, I have to pull this duct tape off. It’s going to hurt like a bitch. I’m so sorry,” I said, reaching out to touch the corner of the tape on her face. Luna nodded, understanding what needed to be done.
“Here, child, let me handle this,” Miss Elva said, maneuvering me aside and dipping into what I was now forever going to refer to as her magickal satchel. She pulled out a tube of some kind of ointment and ran it across the edges of the tape, taking care not to get any in Luna’s nostrils. Once she was done, she capped the bottle, laid her hand over the duct tape, and pulled gently.
Tequila for Two: An Althea Rose Mystery (The Althea Rose Series Book 2) Page 14