The Malveaux Curse Mysteries Boxset 2

by G A Chase

  He seldom understood what Kendell would find irritating, but apparently, he had a remarkable ability to hit on it without trying. “What’s wrong with doughnut holes? They’re small and cute and kind of squishy.”

  “Do not squeeze that dog.”

  Her anger made him laugh. “Like I would ever hurt him. What do you think, Cheesecake?”

  The old girl stared up at Kendell with a look of aggravation. The small black puppy, however, pranced between the women and started licking Myles’s hand with such ferocity that neither Kendell nor Cheesecake could object to the name.

  “So what are you going to call him when you’re playing? Please don’t say something stupid like Dough Hole, or I swear I’ll make you change the name.”

  He held the dog up to look it in the face. “Nope. He’s Hell Hole. At least when he’s bad. We’ll work on something else for you to call him. What do you say, boy?”

  The squirmy dude kissed Myles’s nose.

  Polly snuggled Muffin Top to her face. “She feels so real. But if she’s not part of our reality, and not part of Mary’s, what happens when we leave?”

  It wasn’t a question Myles had wanted to ask. Kendell looked at Sanguine. “Please tell me they don’t just poof into thin air.”

  Sanguine shook her head. “This place may be between dimensions, but it’s still very real. No matter how these little ones came into existence, they are very much a part of this place. The real question is, what are you going to do with them?”

  Mary sat in the antique rocking chair. “I can take them with me. The door to my reality will change them slightly. I’m not sure how. Being hounds from hell, they might manifest as actual hound dogs or big water dogs. You can rest assured they’ll be well loved.”

  From the way Kendell pulled the little pups to her, Myles could tell she wouldn’t turn them loose voluntarily. She was almost as possessive of the little creatures as Cheesecake was. “We’ll cross that dimensional bridge when we get to it. There’s still a loa of the dead to rescue, a magical cane to find, and a devil to contain.”

  6

  Kendell snuggled against Myles on the porch swing. “Have you had any thoughts on where to find Baron Samedi?” She loved the way the little pups lay at her feet next to Cheesecake.

  “The most logical answer would be New Orleans Bank and Trust, where Baron Malveaux had his seventh gate to Guinee. The thing is, if Baron Samedi is trapped on this side, that door between realms might be stuck open. I keep thinking about something Mary said regarding the puppies. If beings cross from one reality into another, they may not be the same. Cheesecake has already proven she can appear as a she-wolf in other dimensions. If we’re careless in how we approach Baron Samedi, we might inadvertently provide an access between the two worlds, thereby giving Colin a way to escape. Who knows what kind of a devil he’d be in Guinee.”

  She nodded against his chest. “Not to mention those dead souls trying to get through Guinee to the deep waters. Instead of finding peace, they could end up trapped in hell.”

  “All the more reason for Baron Samedi to be standing guard at the gate until it’s sealed, but this hell isn’t his realm. Papa Ghede said Colin could be learning to be a god in this custom-built reality. If he gets hold of the cane, Baron Samedi could be in real trouble.”

  Holding him close helped her face the dangers. “We could try to capture Colin, but he’s had time to make this reality his home turf. We really don’t know what we’re up against.”

  “First, we need Samedi’s help to combat Colin.” Myles liked to list things, especially when they were at the beginning of a paranormal mission. “We’re going to need to find that cane too. Then, according to Sanguine and Delphine, there’s a gate from his hell to our reality. Even though we didn’t go through an actual location to get here, we must have been allowed to pass by some guardian. We need to find out who’s in charge. That access is the real problem. Once we have it secured, we need to make sure the loa escapes to Guinee and seals the gate shut so Colin can’t follow. And finally, we’ll need to get home ourselves without Colin following us.”

  She leaned down and petted Cheesecake’s back. The dog looked up at her with a look of supreme contentment.

  “That’s a lot of running around while hoping Colin doesn’t notice us. It’s not like we’re going to have Joe’s paramilitary force watching our backs. We’ll be on our own this time. And don’t forget, I need to reinforce this existence. According to Delphine, Colin needs something to keep him occupied so he doesn’t continue trying to bust down the walls of hell. I don’t even know how to identify the problems over here. This is beginning to sound like a lost cause.”

  “Bullshit. Nothing’s a lost cause unless we let it be one. I like the way Mary put it: where you look is where you go.”

  She disturbed Cheesecake and her sleeping pups when she got off the swing. Standing on the edge of the porch, she looked across the river. “Where do you think Colin is right now?”

  “My guess would be his penthouse office. I see him as an evil despot in his tower, looking over his domain. Even if he thinks there’s no one else in his reality, he’d want the highest perch possible to keep an eye out for intruders.”

  She nodded. “That’s what I figure too. Running around in Minerva’s bus is going to call attention to us being here, but I can’t come up with a reasonable alternative.”

  “So we lose the advantage of a sneak attack, but we’ll have mobility on our side. The best thing we can do is move fast.”

  Other than seeing the next move, she’d never been much good at figuring out a strategy. “We also outnumber him. How can we utilize that strength?”

  “We need a plan.”

  “The first thing would be to talk to Baron Samedi,” Kendell said, “but I don’t imagine we’ll be able to just stroll into the bank’s main office.”

  “I suspect he’s set up a barrier to prevent Colin from doing just that. If we can get into the bank, I’d take it as a good sign. You and I can head over in the morning, or at least what we perceive as morning.”

  Cheesecake was never a fan of sitting by herself. She nudged the pups awake before joining Kendell on the stoop.

  “That leaves Sanguine and the band to scout out the Quarter,” Kendell said. “We need to know the lay of the land.”

  “No one would understand this hell better than Sanguine. She can coordinate the band’s efforts.”

  Kendell sat down among the dogs. “Eventually we’re going to have to confront Colin, and probably sooner rather than later. I’d assume he’s still wearing the cursed items. Maybe I can figure out what he’s up to.”

  Myles always gave her flack when she connected to Colin. “Are you sure that’s such a good idea? Sanguine said if you relied too much on that connection, you might end up opening your soul to him. Trust me, that’s not something you want to happen—especially here.”

  She couldn’t face him when talking about putting herself at risk. His look of concern had a way of melting her resolve. “You’re right, but we need to know our arsenal. Using my connection may be a last resort, but it’s a strength we can’t ignore.”

  “It’s only a strength if you can mentally defeat him. I tried and failed.”

  “You were on your own. I should have been able to help, but I did the opposite.” She held herself responsible for Myles’s possession and would do so no matter what he said.

  “This isn’t the time for self-recrimination.”

  She turned from the puppies to him. “That’s not what I’m saying. You can access my soul with your psychometric ability, and you’ve been able to bring Delphine and even Cheesecake along. Imagine the joint force of everyone here funneled through my being. Colin wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “It’s the hidden dangers that worry me. We don’t know what that would do to you.”

  He had a point. Hell probably wasn’t the best place to further her voodoo skills. “So we have the advantage of numbers, but he has
us when it comes to accessing this hell’s paranormal characteristics.”

  “We have Sanguine. You’re connected to Colin through the curse, but this reality is in her blood.”

  * * *

  The band and Sanguine listened attentively to the plan for the day, but Kendell could tell from their body language that they weren’t thrilled with once again be relegated to reconnaissance.

  “And what if Colin steals my van and drives it back to the living?” Minerva asked.

  Sanguine sighed and explained for the umpteenth time about her grandmother’s creation. “It doesn’t work that way. We got here because the silver skull was a part of Baron Samedi’s cane. The skull and cane are like two magnets that snapped together and are now stuck in the same realm.”

  Polly looked pissed. “Wait. Are you saying this was a one-way trip? Seems like someone could have mentioned that before we loaded into the bus.”

  “Would it have stopped you?” Kendell asked. “You seemed pretty insistent on coming with me. Don’t worry. We all have people in life to welcome us back. All Sanguine meant was the bus isn’t going to do Colin any good. He’s got no one left in life, so he’s got no bridge back to the living.”

  Sanguine had a habit of making people crazy first, then explaining later. “Even if he did, my grandmother set this place up as an isolation unit for his soul. He can’t connect, so he can’t escape. The other dimensions are closed to him. As you can see from this plantation, Kendell can cross into other dimensions. When the time comes, we’ll get out of here.”

  Polly seemed to relax a bit from the explanation. “In that case, seeing as how we’re the only people in this reality, maybe we could take the opportunity to set up our equipment in whatever passes for the Scratchy Dog. If we’re going to be over there anyway, we might as well get a jam session in.”

  “We’re trying to keep a low profile,” Myles said.

  Kendell knew eventually she’d need to pull out her inner voodoo priestess even if he disagreed. “It’s not a bad idea, though. I need to find out what I can do over here. A little gig might prove instructive. We’re not going to stay hidden for long.”

  Mary stood in the doorway of the comfortable plantation home. “I can’t go with you. This property is the extent of my connection. I’ll keep an eye on the dogs until you return. With Cheesecake here, Kendell will have her link to my reality.”

  Kendell knew Cheesecake didn’t belong on the other side of the river. It was too dangerous. Plus, she had her puppies to look after. “It’ll be okay, girl. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  With everyone loaded up, Kendell looked longingly back at Mary, who stood on the porch with the dogs. Being a mother figure with a plantation to look after wasn’t a life Kendell had wanted, but Mary had a way of making it look good. “Did you ever think about having children?”

  She could feel Myles tense up next to her. “We just moved in together, and already you’re talking about kids?”

  “No, I didn’t mean I wanted them. But I never imagined Cheesecake felt there was something missing in her life. Had I known, I would have found a way for her to have puppies.”

  He put his arm around her. “We find love in the strangest of places.”

  As the bus crept up onto the freeway, Minerva called out from the driver’s seat. “I’m going to keep it to third gear. I don’t want any unexpected other-dimensional off-ramps showing up. The most direct route to the club would be to pass by the convention center. It’s only a couple of blocks from Colin’s office, but it’s not like there’s a more surreptitious way into the Quarter.”

  “You can drop us off at Jackson Square,” Myles said. “No need to drive around looking for trouble.”

  “Just think of me as your demonic Uber driver.” Minerva maneuvered the old bus through the still-flooded streets as if it were an amphibious military vehicle.

  Myles jumped out first then helped Kendell out of the bus at the wrought-iron gates where horse-drawn carriages usually awaited passengers. “First impressions?”

  The sense of calm she felt was almost eerie. “Have you ever been in a sensory-deprivation tank?”

  “No.”

  Her skin tingled as if from static electricity. “Then my explanation might not make much sense, but I have the same feeling now.”

  “My senses are on full alert, so you’re going to have to come up with a better explanation.”

  Kendell’s feeling of aloneness grew as Minerva drove off. “Usually when I’m in the Quarter, there are so many people that I feel cocooned by their energy. I know that some find the crowds claustrophobic, but being surrounded by a happy population makes me feel like I’m in a warm blanket.”

  He nodded. “You’re describing what I feel when I’m floating in the deep waters.”

  “Exactly. A deprivation tank is so quiet I feel like I’m filling the chamber with my very being. I fear this realm is trying to suck at my soul like a desert sucking up a glass of spilled water.”

  He pointed toward the far corner of the park. “Let’s get to the bank. Once I’m inside a structure, maybe I’ll get a better idea of what you’re experiencing.”

  They dodged the largest puddles, but the walk still soaked Kendell’s Keds and the cuffs of her jeans. “I’m glad you talked me into wearing pants, but you could have pushed harder on the rain boots.”

  “Complain to Sanguine. How was I to know we’d be stuck in the aftermath of hurricane Agnes?”

  Though water flowed into the catch basins, the level in the street didn’t seem to be going down. “At least the rain’s stopped.”

  Myles held her hand as they climbed the rain-slick steps to the bank. He pushed open the ten-foot-tall doors. Dried footsteps on the Italian marble floor indicated they weren’t the first to visit the institution. “One guess about who those belong to.”

  Kendell was relieved to see that the shoeprints went both directions. “Colin isn’t stupid. I’d guess this was his first stop too.”

  “Let’s hope Baron Samedi is relying on more than the flooded streets for his protection.” He rubbed his hands along his bare arms.

  “I know we got a little wet, but late July doesn’t usually make you cold.”

  “I’m not cold. The mental isolation is exactly the same feeling I had while being possessed by Baron Malveaux.”

  She shivered at his explanation. “Completely cut off from all living souls.”

  “Not quite. This place is connected to Colin Malveaux. It’s part of his reality and no one else’s.”

  She remembered sneaking in with Delphine to offer the libation at the seventh gate prior to Myles’s exorcism. “The office is on the third floor. It’s hard to miss.”

  Intermixed with the dried-sole prints ascending the stairs were slide marks indicating Colin had needed help. The corresponding descending marks of shoes and walking stick were much more distinct, as was the butt mark where he’d sat.

  “Looks like he was in a hurry getting to the office but not as excited about leaving,” Myles said.

  As they walked down the empty third-floor corridor, all Kendell saw was a smooth plaster wall where the ornately carved door had been. “I don’t understand. Where is it?”

  “I think we just discovered why no one’s seen Baron Samedi lately. So is he holding the gate shut, or is he trapped in there?”

  She reached into her back pocket and pulled out the golden guitar pick. “Only one way to find out.” She laid it on her open palm and faced the wall.

  The pick flew out of her hand and embedded in the wall like an arrowhead penetrating an animal’s hide, but instead of blood dripping from the resultant wound, the wall exploded like thin, tempered glass.

  The door was exactly as she remembered it. “Should we knock?”

  He stepped up to the carved mahogany frame and turned the knob, like a child trying to sneak into his father’s office. “Either he’s not here, or he’s expecting us.”

  Baron Samedi sat behind the o
versized desk, looking pale and emaciated—not a good look for a loa of the dead. “I’m glad it’s you.”

  “What happened?” Myles asked.

  The loa of the dead struggled to sit upright. “The old swamp witch’s hurricane didn’t work on me the way it did on Colin Malveaux. I’m spirit, not flesh. As she was Wiccan, her energy separated me from my voodoo realm, but this seventh gate exists across all dimensions. Think of it as a foreign embassy. Each religion that Papa Ghede spun off maintains diplomatic ties to the other. Unfortunately, because of how that old witch set up Colin’s jail cell, I got stuck in this room. Guinee relies on connections to people and the deep waters. This office is like a freshwater pond on an island in a lake cut off from the ocean, and I’m a saltwater fish. Understand?”

  “All too well,” Myles said. “How do we get you back to where you belong?”

  “Finding my cane would be a good start.”

  Kendell had been certain Baron Samedi had it with him. “I don’t understand. If Colin doesn’t have it—which seems unlikely since he would have had a lot more sway in this reality if he did—and it’s not among the living, where is it?”

  “As my staff is from Guinee, it probably suffered the same fate as I did. But it’s not here at the seventh gate.”

  Myles began pacing the room. “This isn’t the only gate to Guinee, though. If all seven are connected like embassies, it might have ended up in one of the other cemeteries.”

  “We need to find it. The girls can spread out and start searching the cemeteries.” The cane being loose somewhere Colin could get to it had been one of Kendell’s worst fears.

  Myles was still pacing in front of the desk. “All that activity might only alert Colin to the fact that it’s not in this room. If Baron Samedi was called here to the bank, the cane might have also found its way to where it was most connected.”

  Kendell loved following his line of reasoning. “Of course, Marie Laveau’s tomb. It’s the first gate.”

  Baron Samedi put his long bony fingers together. “Because its essence is trapped here, it may not have substance. In order for us to use it, you’ll need to make it real for you. I hope you made a thorough study of Marie’s journal. And you’re going to need that silver skull.”