Iris carefully sat on the bed. “Here’s how it all went down. You eat, I talk. After you left for the rift, Peyton came to downstairs, but it wasn’t her at all. Her Hanta was completely at the helm. We tried to reason with it, but I think he wanted to kill us. There was still enough of Peyton in there that she locked us in the utility room instead and then shoved a couch in front of the door. It took us far too long to get out. Our magic could unlock the door, but we couldn’t move the couch.”
“How’d you get out?”
“We did a wake-up spell for Annalee, but she was so drugged, it took her forever to realize we needed her. That’s why we were so slow in getting to the game.”
Denny finished the oatmeal and started in on the eggs. “You gave her your special bread.”
“I did. Once she was able to get two of the security dudes to move the couch, Valeria and I had already figured out what we were gonna do.”
“Why Enobaria, though? You didn’t yet know that Hélène and Devereaux were behind all of it, and Enobaria lets no one in or out of the swamp.”
“I hadn’t figured it out, no, but V had. She opened this small, circular mirror that shimmered like a pond. She called it an energy finder. It locates areas of high magical energy. She said the ancients used it to locate other witches back in the day.”
“An ancient GPS system.”
She smiled and nodded, handing Denny orange juice. “Exactly. She saw Hélène at the park, and that was when we knew. Hélène didn’t have the power to open or close the rift so what was she doing there? V started to put all of the pieces together and knew that you were walking into a Vodouisant nightmare.”
“What was Hélène getting out of this deal?”
“She’s a Vodouisant, DH. A Vodouisant who was about to have a legacy demon as an ally. With a legacy demon protecting her, she could finally leave the bayou. She could return to a city that had forced her to the swamp. She could rule the roost, leaving the bayou to Enobaria, a woman she loathed: the real Mambo. The real deal.”
“She expected Enobaria to kill me, didn’t she?”
“Oh hell yes. But you know what? Enobaria is hip to Hélène’s ways. She wasn’t about to just cut your throat and toss you in the swamp. She wanted to know what Hélène was up to. The mark on your face didn’t fool Enobaria.”
“Which is why she was able to drug me.”
“Yep. As a Mambo, she didn’t just drug you, she watched your vision along with you. She knew exactly what was going on. Enobaria came to town shortly after you left in order to deal with Hélène. She knew she’d been played, and boy, was she pissed.
“You can imagine my surprise at seeing her at the park.”
“Taking the Swamp Queen’s spells is like stealing her soul. She was none too happy that Hélène had her boys follow Peyton to the swamp. She definitely had an axe to grind. We just handed it to her.”
“How?”
Iris smiled softly. “Magic.”
“So Hélène sent her son and four others to get the source opening spell so they had a place to store Peyton’s demon.”
“Yes, until they could locate and kill Chick. With both legacies dead, Wynn was going to offer up his services to the Hanta for all the free demon nibblets he could eat.”
Denny remembered what Lauren had said about his family being from the early seventeenth century. They were called the voleurs demon or demon stealers.
She smiled. “Wynn saw this as his chance to get that which he’d always longed to have: a true legacy demon.”
Denny finished the eggs and started in on the bacon. “He wanted to play in the big leagues. I always knew there was something wrong with him but I never imagined he’d go to such lengths to get a higher level demon.”
“Yes, he did, and when Peyton confided her struggles to Devereaux over crawdads one night, he saw his chance to steal the Hanta, and would have if you hadn’t been such a dog on a bone. He was the one who suggested using Enobaria. He was the one who set this whole ugly thing in motion. Enobaria was not pleased to have been played by Hélène. Their bad blood goes way back. I gotta tell you, if Hélène hadn’t already been dead when we got there, Enobaria would have killed her. You don’t play a Vodouisant Swamp Queen who has only half a bag of marbles and expect to walk away unharmed.” She nodded at the juice. “Finish that.”
Denny gulped the rest down and closed her eyes. She couldn’t have gotten out of that bed if a dog sled team had pulled her. “What happened with Hélène’s son? He saved my life.”
“He took off once he’d killed whatever the hell that thing was that Devereaux had turned into. What was that?”
Opening her eyes, Denny told her what had happened. “They’d moved the rift, making us think it had closed. When Peyton came to, she was all Hanta. She tried killing me in the park. Would have succeeded, too, so I ran away. She came after me.”
“Because Peyton was gone.”
Denny nodded. “But you see...I knew she wasn’t. She was still in there. She was just beneath the surface, but she was there.”
“How could you tell?”
Denny grinned and regretted it. “She called me Rookie. The demon called me Silver, like all demons do, but she didn’t.”
“Brilliant.”
“When I returned, Wynn had gone into the rift. Peyton ran in after him, taking Saugen with her. I’m guessing she reclaimed her Hanta inside the rift, and returned to help me out. The rest, I imagine you saw.” Denny finished the bacon and bit into a chocolate glazed donut.
We also discovered that it was Devereaux who killed Louis. He wanted you to believe it was Enobaria or Hélène. He knew it would make you off balanced enough to kill one or both.”
“Yes. He was hoping I would try to kill Hélène and die in the process. That would keep a major player off the board. It was a risky move, but he knew I was new at this and I would have been at a disadvantage of fighting in the swamp. It was a risk he was willing to take.”
Iris removed the tray, fruit still untouched. “There was a lot of shit going down between the three of them, and I don’t mind admitting that I can’t wait to finish this and go home. All this Voodoo crapola is too much for this little witch.”
“No shit.”
Iris reached for Denny’s hand. “You scared the hell out of me, DH. I’ve grown rather fond of you, and this world is a better place with you in it.”
Denny gently squeezed her hand. “Back atcha. I’m not going anywhere soon.”
“Good.” Iris rose. “V has sent for more cell phones. I imagine your people are worried. I’ll bring yours up when it gets here.”
“Iris? Thank you for everything.”
“Are you kidding me? If being your witch is always going to be this exciting, I should be thanking you. Now, get some rest. I’m going to come back when you’re asleep and see if I can’t assist your Hanta in the healing process.”
“I can’t go to sleep. I need to go see Peyton.”
“You can go when you wake up.”
“Wake up? I just woke up. I’m not,” the room started to sway. “God damn you, witch.”
Iris chuckled. “I knew you’d never eat bread. But a chocolate glazed donut? Sweet dreams, DH.”
The last thing Denny heard was Iris laughing all the way down the stairs.
***
The next afternoon, standing at the foot of Peyton’s bed, Denny shuddered. Even though Valeria and Iris had warned her, she wasn’t remotely ready to see how battered and swollen Peyton’s face was. The left side of her face was purple and disfigured with several scratches and one long gash mark. She could have been anybody.
“Jesus H. on a cracker,” Denny muttered. “Oh Peyton.”
“We’ll leave you alone,” Valeria said.
Peyton had been moved from ICU to the Critical Care Unit, but she was far from out of danger, and Denny knew it was only the presence of the Hanta that kept her alive.
The irony didn’t escape her.
T
aking Peyton’s torn and bruised hand, Denny gingerly sat on the edge of the bed.
Peyton did not stir.
“You saved my life, Peyton, even when yours was at risk. I can’t thank you enough for that. Hell, I can’t thank you for all the things you’ve taught me even when you weren’t aware of it. That being said...” Denny leaned over to Peyton’s ear. “Don’t you fucking dare check out on me now, you deep fried Southern pussy. You are not alone anymore. You have me, Valeria, Annalee, and Iris. You owe it to yourself to stay alive, to find balance. You owe it to us. So you hang in there, do you hear me?” Denny stood up and took Peyton’s head in her hands, closing her eyes.
Her Hanta woke, but this time there was no anger, no heat or ire. No, this time, the Hanta knew what Denny wanted from it Not an attack. Not anger or hatred.
Energy.
Hanta energy.
Healing energy.
Denny’s Hanta energy emanated through her arms and out through her fingertips. It was a healing energy, the kind the Hanta used to heal her.
When she’d lain in bed the day before, after waking up from Iris’s second batch of sleepy time potions, Denny had thought about the healing properties of her Hanta, of Annalee’s Hanta, and something in her told her that hers could heal another legacy demon if she concentrated hard enough.
They were, after all, a team, she and her Hanta. It was, perhaps, the first time Denny recognized this fact and accepted it for the truth it was.
When the outgoing energy slowed, Denny stepped away, feeling slightly weaker. “Get better, Peyton. Like Iris said to me: this world is a better place with you in it.”
When Denny walked out of the CCU, Valeria and Iris were waiting for her.
“You do not have energy to give, Hunter. As sweet as that was, it was ill-conceived.”
“On the contrary, Valeria. It’s all I have to give her. Keep me posted. I want to see her as soon as she wakes up.”
“That, I can do. There is one other loose end you’re going to wish to handle before you leave.”
Denny waited.
“Wynn Devereaux was also brought to the hospital. He is alive and in room 412, though the staff isn’t quite sure of what it is they are treating.”
“Who brought that piece of shit here?”
“The chopper pilot V called to the park wouldn’t leave him. He is alive. I figured you’d want to know that.”
Denny started for the elevator, Iris by her side. “DH, what are you gonna do?”
“Finish the job.”
“Oh no, you’re not. There are cameras everywhere. Don’t be foolish. Let this one go. Please.”
Denny angrily punched the button. “I can’t, Iris. I promised myself I’d avenge Louis’s death, and that is precisely what I am going to do.”
When they got on the elevator, Valeria slid in with them. “Listen to your witch, Hunter. Nothing good can come of this.”
“He knows too much, Valeria. He is a loose end I need to tie up.”
“Then let me.”
The elevator doors slid closed.
“What do you mean?”
“You say what you need to say, but allow magic to end his life. Magic can be done from afar. Does it matter who removes his vile nature from the earth or must it be you?”
Denny looked down at Iris. “I suppose it doesn’t matter how he goes, but he needs to go today. Is he conscious?”
“He is not. I have made sure of that.”
Denny studied Valeria. “You...”
“Did what I had to to keep him silent. We do not know what he would say nor to whom.”
“Can you bring him out of it long enough for me to say my piece?”
“I can.”
The bell dinged and the doors opened.
“Perfect.”
Valeria spoke to Iris. “I need you to cast your invisibility spell once we leave the elevator. Hold it for as long as you can.”
Iris nodded.
When they left the elevator and headed to room 412, Denny felt the Hanta stir. “Not this time. This time, we’re going to be smart.”
When she got to his bed, Denny waited for Valeria to bring him back from whatever place she’d sent him to. As Wynn’s eyes fluttered open, Denny clamped her hand over his mouth.
“Before you die, asshole, I wanted you to know who took out your trash. All your education, all your knowledge, and you, dickhead, got taken out by a rookie hunter, a rookie witch, and the best damn priestess in the world. But I also wanted you to understand...you’re not dying because of the bullshit you’ve caused or the demons you called. You are dying because you killed a really decent man you thought no one would notice missing. Well, I noticed, you motherfucking piece of shit, and so you are dying today for Louis...a man who deserved a way better death than the one you gave him. So long, asshole.” Denny rose up and released Wynn’s mouth.
When Wynn opened his mouth to scream, nothing came out. Instead, Valeria blew a palm full of powder into his mouth. His eyes grew wide and he closed his mouth and lay back down on the pillow.
“Come, Hunter. It is done.”
“He’s not dead yet.”
“He will be. Come.”
As they left his room, Valeria nodded to Iris. “You may release the spell now, Iris. Well done.”
Suddenly, the monitors in Wynn’s room started beeping and a nurse called for a crash cart. Nurses and a doctor flooded into his room.
Eight minutes later, the doctors and nurses exited his room, heads bowed in defeat. Denny heard one of them say the cause of death was a myocardial infarction.
Heart attack.
“It is done, Hunter. You and our confidences have gone to hell with him. You needn’t worry about our secrets getting out.”
Denny punched the elevator button once again. “Thank you. I would have preferred that bastard suffered a helluva lot more, but at least he’s dead.”
Valeria crossed her arms. “What makes you think he didn’t?”
“Well, a heart attack is pretty quick, right?”
Iris chuckled. “It wasn’t the heart attack she’s talking about. You need to trust us...trust that Valeria knows what she’s doing. He suffered. Greatly.”
The elevator was silent for the rest of the trip.
When the doors dinged open, Valeria pulled Denny into a hug. “I know you need answers, and you’ll get them when we’re all running at one hundred percent, all right?”
Denny pulled away and looked at her. “I’d really like that, but if you leave town or ditch me before we have time to talk, no stone will go unturned, Valeria. I mean it. I need to know about my family.”
“I understand, Golden, and you have my word, I will remain until we have had time to talk.”
Denny sighed and nodded. “Good. I’m going to hold you to it.” Denny grabbed Iris’s hand and started out of the elevator.
“Where are you going now?”
“To the swamp. I need to thank Enobaria for what she did.”
“You do not need to go all the way out there for that.”
“Yes, I do. I was losing that battle, V. Had she not closed the rift, both Peyton and I would have been toast. I’m going.” Denny stopped and pointed to her face. “Besides, there’s a little thing called a mark I need removed.”
“Come back quickly.”
When Denny and Iris got in the new rental car, Denny started the engine before facing Iris. “Why doesn’t she want me to go, really?”
Iris shrugged. “The news of Hélène’s death has spread quickly. You’re probably not the Vodouisants’ most favorite person right now.”
“I don’t really care. Until I am up to the hunt, I have some thank-yous I need to address and a face that needs fixing.” Putting the car in gear, Denny paused. “I suppose you agree with her?”
“I do, but only because I’d rather you rested. What you did in there for Peyton, it was really sweet, but you need your strength, too.”
Denny did not reply.
<
br /> “I’m super proud of you, DH. Really. You risked everything to save Peyton.”
“I just did what I thought was right. She’s alone, Iris. Completely alone.”
Iris laid her hand on Denny’s thigh. “Well, not anymore. Neither are you. As long as I live and breathe, I swear I won’t let you become like Peyton.”
Denny gripped the wheel tighter. “How did you know?”
“That it scares you? I saw it in your eyes. You were really lost when we first met and you’re still afraid you’ll revisit that darkness again. I’m telling you, you won’t. You have nothing to fear as long as I’m your witch.”
“And how long will that be?”
Iris smiled. “Until hell freezes over?”
Denny nodded. “Perfect. But not a day longer.”
Iris laughed. “Not even an hour.”
***
“You were expecting us,” Denny said as she approached the patio where Enobaria had brought out a third chair. They’d made their way through the swamp unmolested, and for that, Denny was glad. She didn’t have any fight left in her.
“You forget who I am, Hunter. I am de Swamp Queen and I knew you’d be comin’.” She motioned for them to sit across from her. “I gave ya safe passage all de way trew.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Enobaria pulled out a dark-colored cigar and lit it. “Why you come see me? You need rest.”
“I came to thank you for coming to the park. You saved us.”
Enobaria drew on the cigar. “It is good you and Farquar lived, but dat was not why you saw me out of de swamp.”
Denny and Iris exchanged glances.
“Enobaria went out de swamp to, one and for all, end Hélène’s life.”
Denny was leaned forward. “Seriously?”
“Hunter, dat woman marked you so’s you could come trew de swamp to me. She wanted you to kill me fer de death of dat pitiful homeless man, or she wanted me to kill you fer comin’ to my home uninvited. Either way, de woman tried to play me fer de fool, and dat never works out. She was a gash on de earth and I ended her as I shoulda done long ago.”
“But I didn’t come here with the intention of killing you.”
Blood of the Demon (The Silver Legacy Book 3) Page 25