“I can’t, shouldn’t really, Miss Maya. Don’t want to get you into trouble with the Master.”
Della started zipping about the room, straightening things up before disappearing into the expanse of the bathroom. A second later, I heard the water running, filling the tub. She popped back into the room.
“Will you be here regularly?” I asked around a piece of the sweet blueberry muffin.
Della nodded. “Yes miss.”
I had an inkling that she wouldn’t say anything more to me.
My intuition was proven correct when Della set out a black dress that was cut much lower than I was comfortable with, shut the running water off and exited the room with my empty tray. She was quick and efficient in her duties and I had hoped that one day soon, she could open up to me a bit. I wouldn’t be able to survive there without a friend.
I stood and padded over to the door and searched for any kind of locking mechanism, but there wasn’t one. I grabbed the dining chair and dragged it to the door. Tipping it, I wedged it under the door in case anyone tried to enter. At least maybe then they’d know their presence wasn’t wanted.
I started slipping out of what was left of my clothes. Quickly, I stripped off the grimy remains. I was glad that my back had healed enough to just be tender and give me back some range of motion.
Moving quickly, I passed through the room and into the bathroom before anyone could see my nakedness. There was a large mirror hung above the sink that I had tried to avoid at all costs. Dark coloration in the reflection caught my attention and I gave in to my curiosity. The dark circles around my eyes and the mottled bruising wasn’t something that I was prepared for. The black tiled floor gleamed under the flickering firelight cast by a dozen candles and wall sconces. Everything about it looked the part of a regal palace, but I had come to know differently.
It was a prison, my gilded cage. Nothing changed the fact that I would never be free again.
I made my way to the bathtub, ready to forget about all of my problems for a moment.
Slipping into the steaming pool, I watched as the water took on a pink tinge. I let it cleanse me. The grit washed away and the feeling of being touched by something filthy evaporated with the water vapor that rose from the still waters. For one brief second in time, I felt like my old self, normal, before magic, voodoo, and Loas. The idea that I once thought my life was so complicated by mundane bullshit, like a career or college, had become so frivolous to me. I would never be that girl again.
Popping my head back above the surface and realized nothing had changed.
Trying to relax, I attempted to unclench my taught muscles and ease the knots from them with a bit of gentle coaxing. I laid my head against the porcelain tub behind me and looked around.
I was undoubtedly a hot mess and the room was immaculately designed. Nothing about me fit into that place, nothing that I could see anyway. What a fucking disaster I had made of everything.
When my best friend had been kidnapped, I had known that I was no longer hallucinating the shadows that seemed to be stalking me. Rhys had been there for me, protecting me and helping me to get her back and guide me towards my destiny. Mama Yansa had been the greatest teacher in my life. The old Loa in disguise had taught me everything I knew and without the knowledge, I would probably be dead. They had given me a reason to keep fighting, pushing forward and fighting the good fight. Then, poof, just like that everyone was gone from my life. They were ripped away with the swift signature that sealed my fate. I knew without a doubt that I would do it all over again to save Rhys and my beloved New Orleans from the grim fate that would surely befall them. Madam Jeanine knew all too well when she’d read the bones that happiness, true honest to goodness happiness would always be just out of my reach. Realizing it then made me feel all the more hopeless about my future. There wasn’t anything left for me to live for.
The Baron’s contract stated I would be his bride and rule by his side in return for pardoning Rhys’s life. In the pit of my belly, I feared what that would entail.
Snuffing back the tears, I fingered the plug at the bottom of the bathtub and gave it a hard yank before standing and reaching for the towel that was perched on the counter.
It was like a cloud, soft and extra fluffy. I am not ashamed to admit I stood there for a moment and just rubbed it against my cheek.
Coming back to my senses, I toweled off and made my way to the sink. It was as good a time as any to look at the decimated remains of my body.
Lowering the towel, I braved a glance at my back and winced as it came into view. Thin cuts marked my entire torso. Purple ridged scars ran from shoulder blade to the kidney on the opposite side, forever marring my back. I hoped that one day, they would fade enough for me to be comfortable with them.
Tears fell without me ever noticing that they had started. It was a miracle that I had survived such a savage wound, but I couldn’t bring myself to touch my fingertips against the damaged area and confirm what I was seeing.
Turning forward, I let my eyes hone in on the faint lines on one side of my neck. Examining closer, I realized what they were. They were bruises just starting to form. Bruises that lined up perfectly and were near pristine replicas of the hands that had made them. The Baron’s long slender fingers as he’d choked me against the wall. It made me feel utterly violated in ways that I had never felt before. Seeing it ignited a flame within me, flames of pure hatred. I made a vow to myself then and there that no matter what, I would make him pay for it right along with everything else that he had taken from me.
The Baron would pay dearly.
Chapter Two
Birds of a Feather
After the momentary relaxation the bath had provided me, I went to bed. I was just too tired and disgusted with the world to do anything about it. Time was almost nonexistent there; there was no sun or moon to count the passing days.
When I had woken that morning, it wasn’t because I had peacefully risen from sleep on my own and was ready to face whatever the universe threw at me. Nope. I wasn’t that lucky. It was by a woman of large stature yelling loudly about not having all day to wait around on me while I lazed about in bed. The woman in question was named Zelda, and since my memorable encounter with her, I had deemed her my arch nemesis.
So there I was, wandering the hallways of the palace, hopelessly lost, just to avoid the harsh ridicule of Zelda. Just thinking of her name made me shudder.
She ran the day to day workings of the estate, making sure everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing and where they were supposed to be. Her word was final and she ruled the roost with an iron fist. So far, I had no duties required of me other than those dictated to me by the Baron. I didn’t have to answer to the mini dictator, but I was determined not to piss her off either.
The hallways within the palace twisted and turned with dozens of cross-hallways and splits where one way would take you up a staircase and the other would lead deeper underground. It reminded me a lot of the catacombs under Paris. I had never seen them myself, but I had watched a show once and it stuck with me.
Every so often, there would be a small shelf made in a hollow of the stone walls where a weathered and aged skull would sit. In any other place, it would be a bit unnerving, but there, I had almost come to expect it considering everything I had seen so far.
It was so dark that, if it wasn’t for the torches mounted on the walls, I wouldn’t have been able to see my own hand in front of my face. At least those tunnels, unlike the secret passageways beneath New Orleans, were dry.
The toe of my slipper caught a raised stone, sending me sprawling onto the floor, scraping my knee in the process. I scrambled to my feet and glanced around to make sure no one had seen my clumsiness.
Deserted.
There wasn’t a soul down there, but me. A tiny piece of me was terrified of finding something that I didn’t want to, and the rest of me was ecstatic to have time to myself.
The air felt heavy and musty
the deeper I went under the palace. Briefly, I wondered how much deeper these corridors could go. There was so much that I still had to learn about the strange place. It would never be home to me, but I should know it all the same.
There were three more staircases leading down and twice as many turns before I came to a longer, straighter hall ending the maze I was lost in.
A thick wooden doorway stood at the end of the corridor with torches propped on both sides of the entryway. I paused my approach upon hearing the muffled noises that echoed from somewhere behind the barrier. I couldn’t tell what was making the noises, but it sounded distressed.
Fear bloomed in the pit of my belly, but my feet carried me forward towards the door despite it. I was almost two feet away when the door knob turned and the heavy slab swung inwards as the Baron Samedi slipped out to meet me.
“Maya my dear, what are you doing down here?”
The casual tone and the way with which he spoke to me, as though he hadn’t assaulted me the night before, pissed me off.
“Exploring.” My voice was deadpan; he set me on edge by just being near me.
“I see. Well, let me escort you back to where you belong.”
He took my arm, placed my hand in the crook of his elbow and turned me around. I headed back the way I had come from. I ground my molars together, preventing what would likely spew from my lips if I let my inhibitions go.
“I will be sending someone to your quarters to fit you for your dress. They will explain to you the traditions and ceremonies that will take place along with your duties and expectations.”
“When?” I asked, uncertain that I wanted to know when my life would essentially be over.
“She should be there late this afternoon, after lunch,” he explained offhandedly.
“No, I mean when will it take place?” I clarified.
“You mean the marriage?” I nodded. “In two weeks’ time on the next full moon.”
My stomach twisted into knots with the dread creeping in.
I had never been one of those girls who had her entire wedding planned out by the time she was nine years old, but whatever it was that was going to happen would not be what I had in mind. It was made a thousand times worse by the fact that I was marrying a man I didn’t love and found barely tolerable. He was handsome and charming, or so I had thought at first, but he was ultimately a snake in the grass waiting to strike. My parents had taught me never to put up with a man who would violently lay his hands on me and I had no intention of starting.
Was the Baron Samedi a man though? He wasn’t human and I doubted that I could magically overpower him. Did I have the strength to stand up for myself against him? Honestly, I didn’t know, but I hoped that I could.
The walk back to the main hall that I was more familiar with, didn’t take nearly as long as it had on the way to the corridor’s end. My magic pooled under my skin where the Baron held me arm in his. I wasn’t sure whether it was a defense mechanism or if the presence of someone so powerful. It seemed like it had been so long since I had used my powers, like a neglected muscle that was itching to be flexed. That was a situation which would need to be rectified, especially if I was going to have to contend with the Baron.
Portraits of the various Loas lined the main hall, all of them looking so severe and official. The Ghede all had the same air of dark seduction and deceit. I briefly wondered if there would be pictures of the Rada and the Petra, both families had me quite curious. It would seem that they were just as complicated and intricate as the interwoven royal families of Europe. Would they all be in attendance for the wedding?
The Baron was chattering excitedly beside me, but I didn’t hear a single word he said. I was too busy thinking about the very real possibility of being faced with dozens of gods.
“Maya.” Something about the tone of the Baron’s voice drew me out of my stupor.
I peeked up at him from under my eyelashes. He was staring down at me with a mildly annoyed look plastered on his devilishly suave face. He had fooled me once, but now I knew better, he was just as much the devil as if Lucifer himself stood before me.
Clearing his throat, he continued, “There will be a test that you must complete, but all of that will be explained to you soon. I’d like you to meet someone after Henrietta comes to see you.”
I nodded, unable to conjure courage to say, ‘yeah, whatever.’
Samedi released his hold on me and rested both hands on the pinnacle of the skull of his staff. From my observations so far, I didn’t think he was ever without it.
Looking up, past Samedi’s face, I noticed we had arrived at my door. I reached for the knob but was stopped by a gentle touch on my arm. Surprised by the contact, I glanced back at him with my eyebrows raised in question.
“I don’t want this to be miserable for you. I’m not your enemy. We’re partners. The deal was binding for both of us, you know? We must keep moving forward.”
With that, he released me, turned, and strode down the hall the same way we had just come.
The man was making my head spin with his opposing attitudes. He was a hard one to figure out and it left me feeling a bit lost as to how I should deal with him. His words hadn’t won me over. Something was just not right with him. In fact, it reminded me that I would have to take extra care when around him and never let my guard down. My gut was telling me that Samedi was more dangerous than Drake could have ever hoped to be and that scared me the most.
Knowing that someone would be to my room shortly to meet with me was the only thing preventing me from following him back down to that room under the palace. The sensation that something was locked away behind those doors, waiting to be discovered was scratching at the forefront of my mind.
Shaking my head to clear the clouded thoughts, I turned the knob and stepped into my chambers to wait.
As it turned out, the Baron had underestimated his staff. The sturdy, but refined woman who sat at my table, sipped sweet tea like she didn’t have a care in the world. She had been patiently waiting for my arrival. She had fine wrinkles around her eyes, betraying her age, and a warm and inviting smile when I entered the room. Her skin had a caramel tone with dark freckles decorating her cheeks and nose. Black, tightly curled hair, interspersed with grey streaks, gave her the feel of someone’s ideal grandmother. She seemed like that kind of woman, the nurturing kind that would give great hugs and bake awesome peanut butter cookies.
Though startled by her unexpected presence in my room, I didn’t hesitate to hurry to her with my hand outstretched and ready to meet the woman. There was something about her that drew me in close and made me want to know her.
“Hi, I’m Maya! You must be Henrietta?”
She grasped hold of my clammy hand and pulled me into a tight hug.
“I’ve heard so much about you, Maya! The Loa didn’t say anything about how pretty you were though.”
It was awkward for a moment before I gently embraced the old woman in return.
“Good things, I hope?”
I chuckled as she released me to pour a glass of sweet tea from the pitcher resting in the middle of the table. She handed me the glass and motioned for me to join her.
“Thank you. This is so good.”
The drink was ice cold and lightly sweet with a hint of lemon. It was starting out to be a very different meeting than I thought it would be.
“Well, then, we have a lot to do and not much time. What do you know of the Blessing ceremony?”
The short answer was not much. It was one of the topics that hadn’t been needed before I had faced off with Drake and got my crash course in voodoo. I took a swig of my tea in an attempt to dawdle and not look incompetent, but it wasn’t enough to put it off for more than a second.
Setting my tea down, I answered as honestly as I could, “Not much, honestly. It wasn’t the focus of my very short education, but for the most part, I get the gist of it. A blessing is requested from the high spirits on the union.”
I suppose I was right in my assumption that Henrietta had heard of my story already, because she didn’t say anything to me.
She patted my hand and nodded in understanding. “Well, you’re not far off in your explanation, but it’s a little more complicated than that. So, let’s start with something a bit easier.”
That sounded like a great idea to me.
I nodded.
“Let’s find you a dress, huh?”
Dresses and I didn’t typically get along very well. Trying them on reminded me of a skydiver being tangled and fighting with his parachute after landing. It didn’t usually end well and I was the one on the floor, not the dress.
“Uh huh,” I mumbled.
Henrietta got up and walked to the door. She pulled it open and spoke to someone waiting in the hallway.
Within the next three minutes, a flurry of people filed in carrying a dozen different spools of fabrics and arms full of measuring tapes and sewing equipment. The room filled up quickly as everyone set up shop in the middle of my sitting space. Henrietta was completely in her element, directing everyone about and making sure there were no mishaps or confusion. She was kind, but authoritative.
“Here, put this on and it’ll make things so much easier,” she said, handing me a thin swath of silk.
I didn’t argue. I just accepted it from her hands and made my way to my bedroom.
Henrietta had handed me a slip for the sake of modesty. Feeling grateful for the courtesy extended to me, I resigned myself to making the dress selection go as smoothly as possible for all involved.
Rhys floated to the forefront of my mind. The aching pit in my stomach that had been there since I was ripped away from him only two days ago threatened to swallow me whole. I sat down hard on the bed, kneading the heel of my palm against my chest. No matter how much I rubbed at it, the damned ache wouldn’t go away and it never seemed to dull. It was too soon. I couldn’t help but wish that it was Rhys who I would be meeting at the end of the aisle instead of Samedi.
A Soul's Surrender (The Voodoo Revival Series Book 2) Page 2