Allure tha-2

by Lea Nolan

  An icy wind blows over the graveyard, sending chills up my spine. A deep, rolling laugh echoes across the clearing.

  I’ve heard that sound before. It’s the stuff of my deepest nightmares. Pivoting on my heels, I turn around.

  A small but stocky woman with scarified ebony skin is standing atop of one of the gravestones at the far side of the clearing. She’s dressed in coarse, dingy-white clothes and her hair is wrapped in a turban. A stubby, dark-colored root juts out from her mouth.

  My heart leaps into my throat.

  It’s Sabina, the African root doctress who created The Creep and the Beaumont Curse nearly three hundred years ago. And she’s coming for us.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Sabina grinds the root between her crooked teeth. “You’ve been busy, haven’t you, girl?” Her voice is low and gruff, with a jagged edge. The fragrant scent of wisteria floods the clearing, a deceptively sweet but highly poisonous flower. I don’t need the olfactory clue to know to stay away. I’ve seen her work up close and personal and I know how evil she is.

  “Emma? Who’s that?” Cooper points to Sabina who, despite standing beneath the canopy of luminous light, appears cloaked in shadow.

  Not wanting to draw Sabina’s attention to the only Beaumont heir, I ignore him. Gathering my courage and wits, I swallow hard. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She disappears. A moment later she reappears standing atop a broken stone about halfway across the clearing. “Oh, I’m sure you do. You think I don’t keep watch of my spells and who’s trying to break them? I’ve had my eye on you for a while, child.”

  Jack steps next to me and puffs his skinny chest. “What do you want?”

  She raises a squat finger at him. “You best stay back, boy.”

  Though I’m more than half a foot shorter, I stand in front of him to act as a shield. “He doesn’t mean you any harm, Sabina.” I toss in her name hoping to clue Jack and Cooper into how serious this is and prevent them from doing something heroic and stupid.

  She chuckles, but it’s menacing and full of loathing. “I’m sure of that. Not that he could if he tried.”

  “He couldn’t. He doesn’t know hoodoo.”

  One narrow brow arches. “But you do, don’t you? Enough to mess with what I set forth so many moons ago.” She hops off the gravestone and levitates off the ground.

  I stay put, tapping an unknown source of strength. “I haven’t done anything to hurt you. I’ve only helped my brother and friend.”

  Her irises vanish and her eyes glow white. “You’ve destroyed my plans!” She stretches her mouth wide, magnifying her voice until it shakes the ground.

  A bitter gust whips through the graveyard, stinging my skin.

  “Em?” Jack murmurs.

  Sickly sour saliva coats the back of my constricted throat. “Get back, Jack. You too, Cooper.” My teeth chatter as I force out the words. Thankfully they listen, moving without any argument.

  The spirit lights swarm together, brightening as they coalesce, then vibrate and buzz like a giant swarm of bees.

  Sabina glowers at the sky. Raising her fist, she splays her fingers out. “Be gone!” A blast of air shoots straight up, slams into the brilliant orbs, and scatters them across the entire cemetery. The buzzing quiets and they hang still as their light dims.

  Laughing, Sabina flies straight for me, stopping just inches from my face. Her eyes are two empty pools of malevolence. The air is icy and smells of bitterness and venom. “You, little girl, have listened to the doctress and that worthless guide of yours. Do you know what that makes you?”

  I shake my head. “N-no.” My voice is just barely above a whisper.

  “A traitor!” she bellows, blowing frigid air over my face and up my nose. Her breath is laced with the corrosive scent of the deadly Blue Root clenched between her teeth.

  A traitor? To who? Not her, that’s for sure. I’d never play for Sabina’s team. Ever.

  She hovers above the ground. “I worked my spells for a reason. It is not for you to decide when the Beaumonts have suffered enough. I won’t be satisfied until they are gone forever.” The fire flickers, drawing her attention. The pirate’s dagger sits atop the pile of burning artifacts. Her nostrils flare as she scowls, her brow creases with thick, dark lines and her eyes blaze with hatred and betrayal. “And now you attempt to purify that knife? Even when you know the evil it has committed?”

  “Purify? No, that’s not—”

  She thrusts her stout palm in my face. “You have overstepped your bounds for the last time. Prophesy or no, your destiny must not be fulfilled.” Still floating on air, she zooms backward into the middle of the clearing, then tosses her head back and gazes up into the sky, yelling something in a language I don’t recognize. It must be ancient Akan, her native tongue.

  High above the stagnant spirits, the black, shadowy clouds part, revealing the moon in its silvery glory. A stiff breeze blows off the salt marsh, through the clearing, rustling leaves and swaying sheets of Spanish moss. Emerald kudzu vines shudder and rattle as they stretch and grow, encroaching toward us from all directions.

  I blink to make sure I’m not imagining things. Nope. The kudzu vines are multiplying, rapidly extending their long trailing fingers along the ground.

  “Emma!” Jack yells.

  “What do we do?” Cooper asks.

  Honestly, I don’t have the vaguest clue. I’ve read a lot of nature charms in Miss Delia’s spell book, but never one like this. I can’t begin to guess at how to make plants grow, much less attack. But even if I had, Miss Delia never got around to teaching me how to blend my energy and intention to do magic with my mind.

  After glancing around to find some place to jump or escape the onslaught, I realize it’s hopeless. We’re at the epicenter of the clearing, the bull’s-eye target for Sabina’s advancing threat. The nearest tombstone is too far away, and even if I could jump up on it, it’s so thin and tilted, it would never hold me, much less Jack and Cooper, too.

  Cooper races to my side.

  “Stay behind me!” I thrust my palm against his chest and push him back.

  He shakes his head. “We’re going to face this together.”

  “Emma, it’s coming!” Jack screams, his voice filled with panic.

  I twist around to see his eyes are as wide as silver dollars. A thick green vine leaps up from the ground and lashes around Jack’s ankle. He screams, and then bends to pull at the snaking greenery, but another strand lurches toward him, binding both his wrists to his already bound ankle. A third, leggy cord whips around his free limb, effectively hog-tying him. He wrenches against the restraints, but another, thicker vine lengthens and encircles his waist. Top heavy and unbalanced, he crashes to the ground.

  “Jack!” I shriek and pivot to run to him, but two bright green kudzu ropes lasso both my shins, then coil around the rest of my legs and hips, rooting me where I stand.

  Cooper isn’t spared either. Vines spiral both his ankles. When he reaches to free me from my ties, two more kudzu lines leap up and corkscrew around his elbows, pinning him in place.

  From the corner of my eye, I notice the boo hag’s cage is untouched by the creeping vines. Thankfully, the bloodred creature is still writhing on the ground, obsessed with counting the broom straws and completely oblivious to what’s going on.

  Sabina’s laugh roars across the graveyard. “I’ll teach you not to mess with what doesn’t belong to you! Only after you’ve experienced loss will you understand the virtue of revenge.”

  Reflex kicks in and I lunge for Cooper. Just as I pry at the vines fastening his arms, new lines of creeping foliage wrap around my chest and shoulders, then drag me back and away from him. I resist, but the vines grip tighter and pull me down to the ground. My heartbeat pounds in my ears as I frantically yank at the paralyzing vine, but more leggy trails shoot up from the soil to fasten my biceps to my sides. At least my forearms are still free.

  Jack whimpers,
his voice a muffled grunt. Straining against my binds, I peer over my shoulder. He’s also trapped on the ground, completely ensnared by the kudzu, which is even wrapped around his mouth and forehead. Only his pale blue eyes shine through the green leaves.

  Fury churns in my gut. With nothing left to lose, I narrow my gaze at Sabina. “Stop this! You worked those spells hundreds of years ago but those charms are broken now. It’s over. You need to move on.”

  She vanishes.

  My heart hammers against my ribs as my eyes dart around, wondering if she’s actually gone.

  Besides the pulse in my ears, the only sound comes from the night creatures beyond the trees and Cooper and Jack’s ragged breath.

  Maybe all it took was a stern talking to. Could it really have been that easy?

  Just as I begin to hope, Sabina reappears, crouched in the kudzu, her face mere inches from mine. “Oh, it’s over all right. But not for me,” she growls, then chants more foreign words before dropping her jaw wide.

  Black mist flows out of her mouth. I hold my breath as it curls around my head, then zips around the clearing. Sabina floats up and away from me, pointing a stocky finger toward the water. The cloud obeys her command and shoots out over the salt marsh. There, I can just make out the black mist spinning, gaining velocity until it creates a tall, thin tornado. Sabina’s hand stretches wide and she drags the dark funnel cloud back to the clearing, and aims it directly at the boo-hag cell.

  “No!” I scream, anticipating her next move. I strain to sit up.

  Sabina laughs. “Foolish little girl, listening to those who have led you astray. So much wasted potential. Despite what the doctress has told you, hate is the most powerful emotion.” She shakes her turbaned head. “Love will not save you tonight when you and your friends are slain by an ordinary boo hag.” Hitching her brow at the kudzu, the vines tighten and constrict my chest, making it hard to breathe.

  She snaps her fingers, unleashing the tornado. It careens toward the mullein posts. Mesmerized by the straw strands in the broom, the boo hag pays no mind to the advancing freak weather phenomenon. Under Sabina’s guidance, the tornado skirts around the cell’s perimeter, ripping each reedy bundle from the ground, then launching them high into the air and into the surrounding forest. After the last post is knocked out, the funnel cloud dips just far enough inside the cell to snatch the broom from the boo hag’s grip and suck it up into its vortex. The tornado whirls back across the clearing, jumps the bank, and dissipates over the marsh, dumping the broom in the water.

  Free from its counting fixation, the boo hag springs to its feet and shakes its head as if to clear itself from a trance. It trains is shiny, lidless eyes on me, and then snaps its rectangular head toward Cooper. “You are mine!” It recoils its long, spindly legs, readying to pounce.

  Sabina snarls. “No! Take the girl first. After she’s gone, you can take your time with the others. I’ve already wrapped them up for you.”

  “Yes, Sabina.” In one giant leap, the boo hag springs toward me and straddles my bundled body. “Pesky child. Why did you have to be so feisty? It didn’t have to end this way. We could have done so much together.” It readies to squat on my chest to ride me and suck out my life force.

  Cooper jumps in the air, waving his arms. “Hey, meathead! Don’t waste your time on her. I’m what you really want. You know you need a new body. Especially after we covered your old one with salt.”

  The boo hag jerks toward Cooper. Its lizard-like tongue licks its thin lips. Clenching its three-fingered hands, its gaze hops between me and Cooper, as if it can’t decide who to feast on next.

  “Don’t let him distract you. Destroy the girl!” Sabina commands. “Now! While you have the upper hand.”

  The boo hag snaps its attention back to me. “But you promised I could have her to myself. At least for a little while.”

  Sabina’s eyes fill with rage. “Forget what I said before. I’ve given you three hundred years of Beaumont men to inhabit, a ruby to help control your possessions, and permitted you to acquire great wealth. You owe me this.”

  The boo hag nods and sit on my chest, then opens its great jaw.

  “Get off her!” Cooper yells, straining at his binds. His face turns cherry red and his biceps flex as he wrenches his arms and pulls against his restraints. With a gutteral shout, he yanks hard and rips the vines from the soil, then jerks up on his legs and tears them free. If his skin was green, I’d swear he was the Hulk. After tugging the kudzu loose from his forearms, Cooper lunges after the boo hag, crashing into the creature with his shoulder and shoving it off me. They land on the ground and wrestle, each trying to get the upper hand on the other.

  I scream. Cooper’s put himself within the boo hag’s grasp, which is exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid.

  The boo hag struggles to pin Cooper down, but each time it manages to get him on his back, Cooper slips out from under its wet, fleshy skin. The boo hag extends its lanky arm, hooks Cooper’s chest, and slams him to the ground. But Cooper thrusts his knee and rams it into the boo hag’s crotch. The monster howls and swipes its fingers at Cooper’s face, but just as it’s about to make contact, Cooper leans back, exposing his chest. The boo hag’s suction-cupped middle finger snatches hold of Cooper’s mojo bag.

  Cooper’s eyelids stretch wide.

  “What’s this?” the boo hag hisses, then laughs. It must realize it’s gotten hold of something powerful. It wraps its two remaining fingers around the chord, tugs, and snaps it off Cooper’s neck.

  My heart and stomach clench at the same time. “No!” I try to scream but my lungs are wrapped too tight to generate much sound. Instead I stare helpless as the boo hag cackles while it swings the dangling gris-gris from his fleshy finger. That mojo was the only thing standing between Cooper and black magic. With Jack and I trussed up like Thanksgiving turkeys, he’s on his own.

  I glance up at the sky and the quiet, but still twinkling, lights. Maybe he’s not alone after all.

  The boo hag lunges for Cooper and wraps its strange, misshapen hands around his neck. “Finally! You’re mine.” It extends its jaw, readying to suck Cooper’s life force from his body.

  Cooper screams as his face forms the perfect picture of horror.

  “Clarissa, please help.” I whisper, directing my thoughts and what little breath I have toward the shimmering iridescence hanging above the clearing. I’m not sure if my energy is leeching from my body to power my desire, but I’m thinking hard and giving it my all.

  The spirit orbs snap back to life, brightening and pulsing with crackling energy.

  The boo hag cringes and shades its bulging eyes from the blazing light. Cooper drops to the ground, writhing.

  Sabina’s face darkens. She thrusts her hand up again, and blasts another wind bomb in the spirits’ direction. Just as before, it crashes into them, strewing them around the cemetery.

  The boo hag heaves its mucusy lungs for air.

  “Resist Sabina. Don’t let her win. For Cooper’s sake,” I say, nearly breathless, hoping Clarissa and the other Beaumont spirits can hear me. I concentrate, sapping my strength to send my intention up to the lights and beyond, into the universe to reach all that’s good and powerful.

  The disparate spirits merge together and begin to spin, forming a giant pinwheel in the sky. As they rotate, their light brightens and intensifies, and the whirling speeds so fast, they almost look like a brilliant, solid-yellow object.

  The boo hag shrieks and crumples to the vine-covered soil.

  My palm itches, then burns, as sure a sign from my spirit guide as I’ve ever received. Responding to her plea, I reach out my forearm as far as the binding vines will allow, then spread open my now-throbbing palm toward the sky.

  The center of the spirit pinwheel sinks down and stretches toward me, aiming directly for my flesh. The yellow energy shoots directly into my hand and straight up my arm, into my chest, then pumps through my body. It’s invigorating. Effervescent. Revitalizi
ng. My organs thrum with pulsating vibrancy. I haven’t felt this good since, well, ever. If I could get free of this clingy kudzu, I could probably run two Lowcountry marathons. In my flip-flops.

  The power builds within me, buzzing and vibrating as it recharges my batteries and restocks my reserves. My pulse gallops as the yellow light continues to flow, filling me to the brim and then some, until I feel as if I’m might just explode.

  I clench my fist tight, cutting off the energy flow. The energy beam retracts back up to the whirling spirit canopy above us.

  Buoyed by my newfound vitality, I wrench against the vines, prying a few loose enough from the soil to pull myself into a quasi-sitting position. The tightest of the coils breaks loose, allowing me to breathe, though I’m still so ensnared, there’s little chance of getting out of this without a hacksaw.

  Sabina spies the fallen boo hag. “Get up! You can’t quit now.” She flicks her fingers and shoots a black cloud toward the crumpled creature. The shadowy mist hovers over the boo hag, giving it cover from the blinding spirits overhead.

  The boo hag leaps to its feet and pivots its long, lanky legs toward Cooper, who is crawling, along the ground, attempting to escape its clutches.

  “No! End the girl.” Sabina’s gravely voice booms.

  The boo hag hisses. “End her yourself. I must have that body.” It pounces after Cooper, who somehow manages to sprint ahead and just slip out of its grasp.

  Cooper races toward the bank. “Hey, Emma, the marsh!” He points to the salty body of water beyond as he darts and dodges around, keeping the boo hag at bay.

  He’s a genius.

  Envisioning the red and white beads on my collier, I clear my mind and open my mouth, hoping the right words fall out.

  “Ancient mineral in the water,

  Avenge the Beaumont sons and daughters.

  End that which stole limb and life

  Creating so much pain and strife.