“But that was after you’d given me your aspect.”
“There is no after here, Annabelle, and there is no before.”
“But Mercy and Isabelle are there now, trying to rescue Ramon after I staked him and sent him here.”
“The after applies to them—and they will find Ramon because it is their time that guides them here.”
“And then what happens to me? After I go back to my body. After I tell Isabelle, sorry bitch! I was almost going to let you have a life of your own…”
“She won’t see it that way, Annabelle. You’re worried that your inevitable decision is a selfish one. And so you justify it by presuming that Isabelle is selfish, too?”
“Isn’t everyone, at their core?”
The Baron smiled. “You aren’t going to philosophize your way out of the ever-known, Annabelle.”
“But you made a bargain with Nico. You turned him into a vampire.”
“Those who live in fear, in anger, can only know the red Baron. But you have hope, underneath all the pain, all the frustration about your life. You’ve always had hope. The mask you wear down there, the mask that honors death, it’s just paint, Annabelle. But you have always honored death even as you honor life. You have hope and faith. That’s why when you encounter me, I inevitably become myself, I become the green Baron—the Loa of death for those who live and die in hope. I may be the Reaper, but these tidings are not grim for you.”
“But you still made Nico into a monster… a murderer…”
“He has never taken a life whose time it was not already ever-known to die.”
“Doesn’t mean he wasn’t responsible. If foreknowledge doesn’t strip me of my choice, it doesn’t exonerate someone of responsibility, either.”
The Baron removed his top hat, recovered his flask from his jacket, and took a swig. “I’m immune to the effects of whiskey, by the way. It’s just the only thing I can taste. It’s also how I seal a bargain. And I am incredibly careful about how I word my bargains and with whom I enter them.”
“Like with Messalina?” I asked.
“I was under a Caplata’s compulsion, if you recall. But even the red Baron, under such powers, is not so foolish or evil. He, too, will respect the ever-known. Were it not for her, we would not be here today.”
“And Nico would never have went to Guinee, so none of this would matter.”
The Baron shrugged. “We’re dabbling in conjecture again, Annabelle. But what do you suppose might have happened with Kalfu—a Loa who has no scruples, who has no respect for the ever-known, who is little more than an emissary of Lucifer himself?”
“He probably would have possessed Mikah, taken him as a host. If I hadn’t been me… if I didn’t have Isabelle.”
“Do not regret the past, Annabelle. But do not shut the door on it, either. The past has made you who you are. Honor it.”
“Your bargain with Nico,” I said. “It made him a vampire. But there has to be more to it than that.”
“I also agreed that I would restore his soul, his humanity.”
“Which is why he wanted me to retrieve you to begin with.”
The Baron nodded. “His memories of our time in Guinee are broken, disjointed. When one becomes vampire, the sense of one’s past becomes warped. But as he broke me, over and over again, in the garden groves, and again in Samhuinn, I persisted. Not that I might destroy him. I persisted to do battle with him that he might submit to this bargain. It was the only way to save him, to bring him back to life.”
“Even if it meant wandering the earth for centuries as a vampire? Even if it meant he would create… monsters… like Mercy Brown?”
“He saved her, you know. From tuberculosis.”
I shook my head. “This still doesn’t make sense. If you made a bargain with Nico that he’d find his way back to earth through some gatekeeper, but he’d be a vampire and you’d eventually return his soul, what was your side of this? I know one thing about the Loa and their bargains—you don’t enter a bargain as an act of charity.”
“When he recovers his soul, he will also assume my essence.”
“He already has your aspect. That’s why he’s a vamp.”
“Not my aspect, my essence. Like Ogoun’s host possesses his.”
“You’re going to possess him? Like fully?”
The Baron nodded.
“But Oggie’s host… he isn’t there.”
“He has moved on,” the Baron said. “And that’s what Nico wanted. He wanted his soul back.”
“So he could die… as a human.”
“Precisely,” the Baron said. “And by making this happen, I will also fulfill the terms of Erzulie’s spell. I will return to her, though on my terms, with a host who has learned over the centuries how to hope. His soul will move on. But the soul leaves an impression on the body.”
“He’ll keep you green,” I said. “And we’ll never have to be locked into some kind of cosmic battle like you’d said before. You’ll get to go back to the Academy. You will tilt the balance of power back in favor of Ogoun. You could tell Marie Laveau the truth, and remove Erzulie from her place as headmistress.”
The Baron grinned widely. “Again, let us not conjecture about the ever-known. I will by this action release myself from Erzulie’s spell. What happens after that is ever-known, but not mine to reveal.”
“I’d feel much better if you just confirmed the ends, so that I could justify the means.”
“The ends never justify the means, Annabelle. But the choice you are making, to return… it is a good one.”
“All right, so when do we go? How do we do this? You zap me back into my body, Beli shows up, and we all ride back to the land of the living?”
“Take Mercy with you. She does not belong here. And Ramon… you can always send him back here again. But as atrocious as he can be, it is nothing compared to how brutal Mercy might be without him.”
“And you’re just tagging along for the ride? I’d offer you shotgun, but Beli doesn’t offer first-class accommodations.”
“I’m not going with you in this form,” the Baron said as he retrieved a small box from his jacket and pulled out a cigarette. “This contains Nico’s soul as well as my essence. When he takes it and smokes it, it will fulfill the terms of our bargain.”
“That box contains other souls? Of vampires?”
The Baron nodded slightly.
“My parents… can you save them, too?”
“Their souls were never party to my bargain, but if we ever have a chance to enter a bargain again after I’ve possessed Nico, we might be able to come to terms that you would find favorable.”
“All right, well that gives me something to hope for.”
“You’ve always had hope, Annabelle,” the Baron said as he handed me the soul-infused cigarette. Never having been a smoker myself, it felt awkward holding it. The fact that it contained Nico’s soul and the Baron’s essence surely compounded the discomfort I sensed as I tried to grip it between my black, shadowy fingers. “Never lose your faith.”
Chapter Seventeen
“What in the world was that?” Isabelle said as she zapped two vampires—two I recognized, who had come after us at the plantation before. When her magic struck them, they dissipated. I briefly wondered what happened to them, but there were other issues at hand and I couldn’t afford to give it much thought.
Sorry… I had something of an out-of-body experience. I’ll tell you about it later.
“I called Beli,” Isabelle said, delivering a back-kick to another one of Nico’s former lackeys, who tried to seize us from behind, before turning and giving him a dose of life-magic to the chest as he stumbled, the vampire’s form disappearing before he hit the sticky ground. “And Mercy has Ramon. We’re ready as soon as Beli shows up.”
How the heck did you manage a kick like that? Standing in all this shit?
Isabelle shrugged. “Girl power?”
2 Become 1! I shouted, trying to evoke an appropriate S
pice Girls song to speak to the moment.
“Title works,” Isabelle said. “But that song totally doesn’t describe our relationship.”
I laughed.
I’d thought we were in a cave of some kind until I heard him roar, and when Isabelle turned our eyes upward I saw Beli descend like a lightning bolt cast from the heavens.
The thrill of seeing Beli forced my consciousness back into the driver’s seat.
Well, that was rude! Isabelle protested.
I chuckled—we were still in the thralls of purgatory, but knowing now that I chose to resume my life with Isabelle, that this was no longer a situation I was forced to embrace, it gave me a sense of resolve. I looked into my hands. Where was the damn cigarette? It had been given to me as a wraith… a spirit. How could I grab it again? I had to trust that the Baron knew what he was doing. It would appear when I needed it. I still had it, somewhere… somehow.
As Beli crashed into the ground, a shower of sticky whatever-it-was flew all around us.
“Fuck!” I shouted, even as I laughed through my curse. “Combing out all of this shit is gonna suck!”
“Tell me about it,” Mercy said, who’d ran to my position, Ramon in tow. “Looks like Hermione is back in Hogwarts?”
“If Isabelle is Hermione, who does that make you? Bellatrix Lestrange?”
Mercy shrugged. “Nah. She’s not evil enough.”
“She killed Dobby, what do you mean not evil enough?”
Mercy smiled as she climbed up on Beli behind me, pulling up the disheveled Ramon to her rear.
“Beli,” I said. “Take us back to the Academy. As close to when we left as you can manage.”
The giant dragon grunted as he flapped his wings, carrying us into the black abyss above us. My thighs expanded as Beli took in a deep breath. I felt the rumble as he breathed out a hole in the ether, one opening up back in our dormitory at the Academy.
“Holy shit!” Pauli said as the three of us crashed onto the dormitory floor. “You look like a hot mess!”
I stood up and brushed my hair behind my ears. “You don’t like it?”
“The makeup is pretty killer, but you smell like rotten eggs.”
“Where have you guys been?” Ashley said, her voice in a panic after spotting Ramon. “And what is he doing here?”
A loud bang rattled the floor beneath us. “I’ll explain that later. What the hell is going on here?”
“That was Sogbo and Sauron,” Ellie said. “We’re under attack. They’re down there with Oggie and Mikah trying to fend them off.”
“Fend off who?” I asked.
“The vampires,” Ashley said. “They’re attacking Vilokan. Which is precisely why none of us were too thrilled to see you show up with those two.”
“Wait,” Mercy said. “Why are they attacking? That wasn’t supposed to be the plan.”
Ellie and Ashley exchanged glances. “We might have had something to do with it,” Ashley said.
“What did you do?” I asked, staring at my sister intently.
“We thought we could save Mom and Dad. Ellie offered to help. The wards there didn’t exclude our aspect. We thought if we could infuse them with love magic, we could distract them enough to get Mom and Dad out of there.”
“With love magic?” Mercy raised her eyebrows and rolled her beady red eyes.
“Of course the two from the colleges of war and death would say that, but do the names Vasili Arkhipov or Stanislav Petrov mean anything to either of you?”
I stared at Ellie blankly. “No.”
“Two Soviet officers who on different occasions refused orders that prevented nuclear war.”
“And you mean to say that your college was behind that?” Mercy asked, with more than a hint of incredulity in her voice.
“It was,” Ellie insisted. “And we could have ended this, too.”
“One problem,” Mercy said, approaching Ellie. “Vampires don’t love.”
“Could have fooled me,” Ellie said. “Why else did you take Annabelle with you to go rescue your boyfriend?”
“Ashley,” I said. “Mom and Dad can’t be saved that way.”
Ashley shook her head. “You know, that crazy old lady, that ghost of whatever she was at the home. She said this was going to happen.”
“She said I’d try to kill Mom and Dad,” I said. “That’s not what I’m suggesting. I have another way.”
“And that way is…”
“I…” I wasn’t sure if I was going to tell her or feed her some bullshit. The whole idea of making a bargain with Baron Samedi was probably the last plan she’d agree to. But she didn’t get it. It would be the Baron who possessed Nico. It would be the green Baron. I hesitated a moment, when the door swung open.
“We can’t hold them back,” Sauron said. “Lightning and thunder just slow them down.”
Oggie entered the door behind her and looked at me directly in the eyes. “You knew he was back, didn’t you?”
I exchanged glances with Mercy. She shook her head. She could have silenced me, I suppose. But she didn’t, so I spoke. “Yes, I knew. But he said he’d compel Mom and Dad to attack Ashley if I told anyone. He had a plan… and I’m working on it.”
“I’m not inclined to trust any plan enacted by a vampire,” Oggie said.
“Excuse me,” Mercy added. “But that vampire is more human than you are.”
“She’s right,” I said. “I mean no offense. But Isabelle could see his aura. It was dim, but growing. And I can give him back his soul. I can make him whole again.”
“Let her do it,” Maman Brigitte said, entering the room with Erzulie behind her.
“I agree,” Erzulie added. “The vampire’s issue is with Miss Mulledy. Give her to him and he might overlook anything else that my own initiates might have foolishly attempted.”
“But you’ve always said that love—” Ellie started to say before she was cut off.
“Can accomplish more than any force the world knows—but you two are still first-year students. To attempt love magic on vampires…”
“Is stupid,” Mercy added.
“I was going to say idealistic and naive,” Erzulie said. “But yes, for two first-years to attempt this was stupid.”
“In their defense,” I added, “it was love for my parents that motivated my sister.”
“You’ve done enough, Miss Mulledy. Both of you. You are fortunate that I not see either of you expelled. Were it not for your unique… abilities… both of you…”
“I get it,” I nodded, pressing past Erzulie into the hallway. “I’ll handle this.”
Mercy followed close behind, and so did Ashley.
I looked at Mercy. “Before we do this, you made a promise. If we saved Ramon…”
“Yes, I did,” Mercy said. “I rescind my accusation against Pauli.”
“On what grounds?” Erzulie asked.
“I misunderstood what had happened,” Mercy said. “And I refuse to press the matter to the disciplinary committee.”
“Very well,” Erzulie said. “I’ll communicate this to Aida-Wedo, who will be delighted to release him forthwith.”
“Thank you, headmistress,” I said.
Erzulie ignored me and turned to confer with Oggie, who seemed none too pleased that I was heading off with a few of my equally naive classmates to face a vampire, especially when one of my classmates was a vampire whom Nico had turned. If Oggie had even figured that much out yet.
From Erzulie’s perspective, I was the one who had damned Nico to begin with. And then I was doubly responsible for somehow pissing his ancient vampiric ass off enough to force him into waging a personal assault on the Academy. But I knew what he was here to do, and I also knew I had what he wanted.
Nico stood at the front entrance of the Academy—it looked as though the massive oak doors on the front of the place had been ripped from their hinges.
“Blame Sogbo for that one,” Nico said, gesturing to the empty doorway. “Dumbas
s cast a fucking storm inside the building to try and stop me.”
Behind Nico stood my parents, their eyes aflame with magic, enthralled by Nico’s power.
“Let them go, Nico. They have nothing to do with this.”
“It’s true,” Mercy interjected. “Annabelle didn’t tell Ashley about you. They attempted their rescue on their own.”
“What’s he doing here?” Nico asked, nodding toward Ramon. “I thought Annabelle sent him straight to the land of the dead.”
“She helped me get him back,” Mercy said.
“She what? Why would she do that?”
Mercy shrugged. “I can be… persuasive.”
“And while we were there, I found Baron Samedi. He intends to fulfill his bargain with you provided you are ready to permit it.”
“Mercy, is this true?”
“Yes, my lord,” Mercy said.
“I knew it,” Ashley muttered beneath her breath behind me. “She’s as guilty of this as he is.”
I snapped around and gave my sister a piercing stare—one that I hoped would communicate the words “shut the hell up.”
“If you found Baron Samedi, where is he?”
I extended my hand and tried to envision the cigarette the Baron had given me.
I have it, Isabelle said. I think I can channel it to you.
I nodded. I felt Isabelle channel her magic into me. My eyes began to glow. And in an instant Nico was on me in a fury.
“You will not deceive me again!”
My head slammed into the floor. “Nico, I’m trying to…”
“You’re trying to trick me… cast me into the land of the dead. But I haven’t survived this long, I haven’t gotten this close to have you damn me again.”
“That’s not what I’m doing…”
“Get off of her, you brute!” Mercy said forcefully.
“Excuse me?” Nico said, glaring at Mercy with anger. “How dare you speak to your maker in that tone.”
“She’s trying to save your ass, give you what you wanted, but the last eighteen years in the land of the dead have fucked you up in the head. Listen to her…”
I felt Nico’s breath on my neck. I tried to move. I could try to summon Beli and stake him. But he moved too fast. I’d seen that, and he knew to expect it. Or I could try to give Isabelle the reins. But once I did that, once this turned into a battle, it was going to be him or me.
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