by G A Chase
Kendell pressed her hands to the table. “Keep it up, and we won’t have to figure out how to transport two people. You can make the trip on your own.”
Myles knew he’d let his irritation at Delphine get the better of him. He put his hand on Kendell’s back as a sign of contrition. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off. How do you propose we get Colin to tell us what he knows?”
“Apology accepted.” She stood up and took him in her arms. “We’re going to need Sanguine to be present when we talk to Colin. Even if she can’t get the answers out of him, she’ll know when he’s lying. Then we’ll need a way to verify what Colin says so we don’t end up back in his evil little vault.”
Delphine closed the journal. “I wish I could be of more help, but neither I nor Marie had possession of the cane. We’ve only been the intermediaries, and the loas don’t confide in their lackeys.”
Myles gripped the head of the cane. “That’s at least one thing we can agree on.”
As they left the shop, Kendell pulled out her cell phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“Polly and the band. It’s a long drive out to the swamp.”
He aimed his cane toward the far end of the Quarter. “Tell them to meet us at the club. I meant it when I said I was done avoiding Colin. We can contact—” But before he finished, he heard the familiar ringing in his ears that indicated someone was trying to access his gate in the speakeasy behind the Scratchy Dog. “Apparently, we’re not the only ones who want to talk. Tell the band to hurry.” He swung the cane as he walked toward Frenchmen Street.
Though he didn’t mean to set a brisk pace, Kendell had to jog to keep up. “And if it is Colin on the other end of the call and he tries to pull you through the gate, what then?”
Myles lifted the cane. “If he did that even with you and the band present? Honestly, I’d like to see him try. If he did succeed, that would be one less problem to figure out.”
* * *
Kendell hated the idea of using Myles’s fifth gate as a cell phone to hell, and not just because Colin had so successfully drawn her and Serephine through their gate connections. “You do realize this is the next gate Colin needs to pass through. We could be playing right into his hands. Though it is a drive out to the swamp, at least there we’re less likely to be manipulated over Sanguine’s gate.”
Myles was busy opening the shutters to the speakeasy while the band pulled chairs out of the club. The small courtyard looked as if it were being prepared for a ceremony. “That’s why I’ve got you and the band with me. I’m not pouring that bastard any drinks unless we all agree. Plus, even if it is Colin who’s calling, I’m counting on Sanguine being there with him.”
“I still don’t like it.”
Myles drew the veve on the counter to indicate he was present. “Now you know how I felt every time you dove headfirst into another conflict without me.”
Kendell already knew she’d put everyone she cared about through quite a lot. She walked up to Myles while he was still preparing the communication link and threw her arms around him from behind. “In each of those dangers, I knew I had you there to save me. I promise that if something does go wrong, I won’t rest until I’ve proven to be equally strong.” With the veve complete, she breathed a little easier at seeing Sanguine on the projection. “I’m glad to see it’s you.”
“Don’t get too excited.” Sanguine stood aside to show that Colin was with her. “We’ve got a problem on this side.”
Myles set the cane under the bar where it wouldn’t be noticed over the connection. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with Colin stealing Serephine Malveaux’s spirit out of Guinee, now, would it?”
Colin shoved his way into the center of the projection. “Those damn loas of the dead told you. Well, I’m not surprised. But I didn’t steal anyone. Serephine came willingly. The loas of the dead were the ones holding her captive. I was only rescuing my daughter from those soul abductors.”
Nice spin. You should have entered politics. Kendell chose a more diplomatic response. She didn’t want to be the one to start the fight. “Tell us what happened.”
Like Kendell, Sanguine took over her end of the conversation in more reasonable tones than the men were using. “Colin had an idea that he could pull a soul from Guinee and put it into one of the virtual-projection people in this realm.” She looked intently at Kendell. “As you can imagine, that didn’t go so well. The girl not only switched dimensions like you did, but she’s also in the wrong time and body. As a seven-year-old child, she can’t process the experience. She’s in the convent. The nuns and Miss Fleur are doing what they can, but we need someone with a better understanding of interdimensional transfers. We don’t have the first clue how to heal the child. She’s more wild animal than human. No one can reach her.”
Kendell shook her head. “We’ve already talked to Delphine. I’m afraid she wasn’t much help.”
“I meant you and Myles, silly. No one would understand what Serephine is going through better than you, and though Delphine might have her uses, only Myles has been able to move another person through dimensions.”
Myles folded his arms and glared at Colin. “About that… from Marie Laveau’s journals, it would appear that as Baron Malveaux, you managed to cross from life to Guinee with the cane. Mind sharing how you did it?”
“And you’d believe me?” Colin had the usual irascible expression on his face.
“No, but it would be a place to start if you expect our help. First, though, I want you to convince me this isn’t another ploy to steal my cane. There’s no point in continuing this conversation if this is just another one of your games.”
Colin lowered his eyes, directing his direct glare of defiance toward the floor. “She’s my daughter.”
“That’s not an assurance—it’s another reason why you might be inclined to take the magic staff.”
Kendell wanted to offer Colin some sympathy, but Myles was right. If they were going to make another trip into hell—this time to help Colin—they at least deserved proof this wasn’t another move in his complex game of deception.
“In the time that I’ve known you, you’ve stolen my dog, my band, my lover, and my soul,” she said. “You must see why we don’t trust you.”
Colin looked up with the familiar cold-eyed stare. “And I’ve been cast into hell with no one to talk to but a snarky avenging angel who on the rare occasion agrees to sleep with me using her sex dolls.”
Sanguine turned to Colin. “I did warn you that you’d have your work cut out for you. Right now, even I’m reconsidering my agreement to help.”
From the way Colin regulated his breathing, his effort at self-control was all too obvious. “Tell me what you want. How can I convince you this mission isn’t about me? If I could step out of hell for a minute so you could save my daughter, I would.”
Myles looked about to continue the argument, but Kendell took his hand. “He may be onto something. What if we sealed him in the vault for the time we’re in hell?”
“It’s his vault,” Myles said. “He’s already proven he can unlock it, and we can’t do a damn thing with it other than opening and closing the door. I doubt even Luther Noire would be able to secure it from Colin’s use.”
“You’ve already sent me a jailor.” Colin motioned to Sanguine. “Surely there must be some place in this hell where you could put me with her standing guard—maybe the World Trade Center or Saint Louis Cathedral? Consider this conversation a white flag on my part. I don’t expect you to take my word of honor, but I will accept yours that once my daughter is cured, you’ll let me out of whatever cell you devise.”
“No way,” Myles said. “We’ve already seen you take control of the World Trade Center from Luther Noire, and we know you manipulated Brother Aramis into giving you access to the fail-safe that released your vault. Securing you in an embassy is like locking a child in a candy store.”
Sanguine crossed her arms. She flap
ped her wings a couple of times as if she were working out an idea. “I could take Colin out to the swamp. He wouldn’t have any other means of transportation, and if he did somehow get past me and try to escape, he’d run up against my alligators. It takes me out of a position to help Serephine, but after seeing her, I’m not sure what more I could do to help. What she’s suffering from is beyond my comprehension.”
Myles slowly reached under the bar and pulled out the cane. His eyes never left Colin. “Just because you would be locked up doesn’t mean you couldn’t work up some other game to nab this cane.”
Kendell also watched Colin for any reaction that might betray his true intentions. If he was still after the object, he wasn’t outwardly drooling for it like a mad dog.
“I can only give you my word so many times,” Colin said. “Since you won’t believe me, what do you propose?”
Myles twisted the cane in his hand. “I don’t have an answer, but I reserve the right to add to your restrictions should I come up with something. The next problem I see is the question of what happens to Serephine once she’s cured. The loas of the dead want her soul back in Guinee where she belongs.”
“Out of the question.” Colin gripped the sides of the metal chair. “They took her too soon. She was just a child. I’m righting a wrong. I want her to be mentally whole again, but I’m not turning her over to those worshippers of death.”
Kendell wondered if she would have reacted any differently if she had lost a child. “I think we can all agree that healing Serephine’s soul is our first priority.”
Myles tapped the cane against the brick-covered ground. “Papa Ghede would not agree. He sounded pretty adamant that I was to go to hell and return Serephine to Guinee by any means possible. They might not take kindly to me helping the entity they still see as Baron Malveaux—usurper of Guinee.”
“I don’t give a damn what those voodoo fools want.” Colin’s grip on the arms of his chair showed white knuckles. He half rose out of his seat. “Serephine is my daughter. I’ll do whatever you want to gain your help, but I will not sacrifice her soul.”
Much as Kendell hated the man, she had to admire his passion for his daughter. “I don’t want to get into a negotiation for her soul. I’ve experienced only a fraction of what Serephine is going through, and every second was an eternal damnation. We need to help her first and worry about her fate later.”
Colin’s smile didn’t put Kendell at ease. “That would be acceptable to me.”
She put her hand on Myles’s back to prevent him from taking the argument with Colin any further. “So we have two shaky agreements: Colin will stay out of the way, and we’ll do what we can to make Serephine whole. The big obstacle is our traveling to hell.” She turned back to Colin. “What do you know about the cane?”
“The secret is in the silver handle,” Colin said. “It must be removed in order to use the full power of the cane. It’s like a lock preventing the cane from taking on any new programming.”
* * *
Myles slammed the shutters down on the speakeasy. “I don’t trust him, and I don’t like the plan.” He couldn’t prevent the feeling that they’d all just been played. Sanguine had as much as confessed she had feelings for the devil. Colin could be a manipulative bastard when it came to women. I should have included Charlie for an additional male perspective. And though Myles wanted to help Serephine, everyone was putting a lot of trust in his abilities with the cane.
Kendell helped close up the gate to hell. “I think we can both agree that nothing about this situation is optimal. But what do you want to do about it? Because I wasn’t hearing a lot of options from anyone.”
Polly held her arms tightly around her body and crossed her legs so that she looked like she was turning herself into a pretzel. “If Serephine is a soul in the wrong body—and the body is one we’re broadcasting into hell—why don’t we just turn off the projector?”
Myles almost considered the idea, but the little girl deserved better. “She’d be nothing more than a soul with no direction and no grounding. Since there’s no direct portal from hell to Guinee, Serephine would first have to go through all seven gates, from hell to life, on her own. That would turn her into a ghost in our world—another lost soul. Then, because she didn’t simply die, she’d have to go through all seven gates, from life to Guinee, and without anyone to guide her. Once there, I’m sure the loas of the dead would take pity on her, but you’re talking about fourteen gates that even a sane person would find daunting. If we made her body disappear, we’d be condemning her to a fate far worse than death.”
Polly slightly eased up on her determined stance. “I just think Professor Yates might be able to help. His little diorama did aid in finding the vault.”
From the way Kendell slammed the locks on the shutters, Myles knew she was about to argue that time was too precious to spend on another useless investigation. But the band needed something to do other than sit around the club, waiting for an update.
“You and the girls go see what you can find out while Kendell and I make our way into hell. Sanguine still needs to get Colin out to the swamp, so we’ve got a little time. We’ll meet back here in an hour. Hopefully, Kendell and I will be on the other side of the conference call by then.”
“We’ve got one more chore first.” Kendell pointed at the cane in Myles’s hand. “When we stuck that headpiece on the cane, we had Sanguine’s energy and Baron Samedi’s help, but we were the ones who did the real work. I’m sure we’ll get along fine without them. Grab your instruments, girls. I’ll meet you onstage.”
The band marched into the club with all the enthusiasm of a group about to play a funeral dirge. Myles followed the procession by grabbing a metal chair from the courtyard and setting it in front of the stage. “Just one last time, and you’ll never have to play another Dead or Alive song—at least not in reference to the musical group.” A smattering of chuckles was the best he could get for the forced joke. As escort to the guest of honor, he took his seat, held the cane out in front of him, and turned the silver skull toward the band. He was no more enthusiastic about witnessing the performance than the group was about playing onstage. Any one-hit-wonder group that was popular before he was born reminded him too much of tending bar in the Quarter.
Every member of Polly Urethane and the Strippers faced the headpiece and sang “You Spin Me Round” while twirling their fingers in a counterclockwise direction. Like a drunk dude so infatuated with the group of women that he couldn’t keep his head on straight, the silver skull followed the direction of the fingers until it spun off of the cane and fell to the floor.
With the silver headpiece removed, Myles put his hand on top of the glowing green crystal that had nestled underneath the hollow skull. The light illuminated his hand. The longer he held the top of the cane, the farther the glow radiated into his body. “I’m beginning to understand what Colin sees in this thing.”
“Don’t get carried away,” Kendell said. “The minute we’re back here, I’m sticking that locking skull back on the cane. Do you think you can make our plan work now?”
He aimed the cane at the front door of the club. “Now that the loas gifted me full use of the cane and you’ve freed it from the voodoo lock, walking between dimensions should be as easy as crossing the front threshold of the club. As for saving Serephine, that’s going to take a little more work.”
53
“Leave your cell phone on the bar.” Sanguine expected to have her hands full with Colin in spite of his agreeing to Myles and Kendell’s terms.
He slowly pulled it out of his coat and set it on the counter. “I could have my town car here in five minutes.”
“We’re not going to need it. I’ll fly you out to the swamp.”
She watched him for the inevitable disbelieving response. “Like hell you will.”
“Being kept out of their way was your idea. If your car is close by, you might try something foolish. If I fly you out to my island, t
here’s less likelihood you’ll try to escape and interfere with their help.”
He spread open his coat. “Do you want to frisk me as well? I might have some dangerous weapon you don’t know about.”
As opposed to the one I do know about? Nice cock reference, asshole. “As your only way back to the Quarter, I’ll take my chances.” She looked up through the opening between the buildings. “Face away from me, and fold your arms over your chest.”
“You’re serious about this? If we’re going to fly, you could at least give me back my long coat. We could soar through the air side by side.”
If she was going to get him all the way out to the swamp before Myles and Kendell walked through the door to hell, she was going to have to hustle. “We don’t have time for your foolishness. I realize putting your life in the hands of a woman doesn’t come naturally, but you’re just going to have to sack up. You did approach me and the others about helping Serephine.”
As Sanguine had hoped, using the name of Colin’s daughter convinced him to do as directed. She lingered a minute to enjoy his embarrassment in standing with his back to her like a little boy about to be punished.
“Just be quick about it,” he said.
“This will be a long flight. Try not to squirm. I wouldn’t want to drop you into Lake Pontchartrain.” She wrapped her arms around his stomach and lunged into the air.
Sanguine’s relationship history included enough female companions for her to know when someone was feeling submissive in her arms, though she’d never before experienced the feeling of dominance over a man—especially one who prided himself on always being in control. The way Colin quivered under her command left her wondering if she’d dismissed the idea of being a dominatrix too soon.
She spread her wings to their full extent and beat them with all of her strength. Even with a ten-foot wingspan, the combined body weight of over three hundred pounds was a lot to keep airborne. The exertion had her panting by the time they’d made the open water of the lake.