Watery Graves Page 13

  My mind gravitated to Joni. She’d been a mentor to me when Isabelle and I were first soul-fused. I’d thought I lost her, and while I was worried about her now, I was grateful she’d come back into my life.

  And of course, Isabelle. Fuck. I didn’t want to admit it. She had been a royal pain in my ass most of the time. She was a prude, always self-righteously chastising me when I tried to blow off a little steam, let a little of the “bad girl” out to play. God only knows having her inside my head made finding love—for either of us—practically impossible. We were the closest we’d ever been to finding love, something we could both accept for each other. Then her boyfriend killed mine. I mean, Oggie wasn’t my boyfriend yet. But things were progressing. Was this the tragedy of the love life we were both destined for? Maybe… but dammit… I had to admit that I couldn’t imagine my life without Isabelle. Not anymore. I wouldn’t be half the person I was without her. She was annoying—but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. She’d prevented me more than one bout of heartache through the years. She had a peace and calm about her even when I was ready to she-rage out. Just like today… she saw what I saw. And she was there, still optimistic, still imagining that things might not be what they looked like. Looking for a glimmer of hope when I was ready to throw in the towel.

  “Isabelle… thank you…”

  I didn’t realize I’d said it out loud.

  Thank you, too…

  I grinned a little. Not what I expected. For years I’d focused on the downside to being fused with another soul. She’d been a slave to my ancestors in her earthly life… and some of it might have been a sense of guilt that had plagued me over what my family had done to her and hers. But she never held it against me. Not once. And I’d never given her a fair shake. In my own way, I’d continued doing to her what my ancestors had… by not giving her a chance. Silencing her when I could. Blaming her for shit that wasn’t her fault. None of that was right. Isabelle brought out the best of me. It took some time. It took years of her constantly getting under my skin. But it was true. She brought out the best of me. She made me a better person.

  I lifted my head. “I know what I have to do.”

  Roger looked at me, directly in the eye. He nodded and smiled. “I knew you would.”

  I stood—as much as I could since the lodge had a low ceiling—and turned to the rest. “Just give me a minute.”

  Ashley and Pauli both nodded.

  I stepped outside.

  I reached into my bra—it was going to work this time. I knew it was going to work. I looked at Dumballah’s blessing and spoke.

  “Dumballah, I want to be someone who brings out the best of whatever someone was meant to be. I want to be someone who brings out the best of people, and frees them of their burdens. Isabelle can heal bodies. I want to be like her. But I want to be able to heal souls. Dumballah, make me a healer.”

  This time, Dumballah’s blessing glowed a bright green. A green that matched Isabelle’s magic. It was the magic of life, the magic of creation.

  “What you ask for is good,” a deep voice said, seeming to speak from within the totem. “My blessing is yours.”

  The glow on the statuette intensified. A moment later, the little statue had disappeared and a small ring had fit itself onto my thumb. It was shaped like a serpent—the image of Dumballah himself. I don’t know how I knew… but I did.

  We’re going back to Fomoria, aren’t we?

  “We have to heal Joni,” I said. “Fomoria needs its wyrmriders.”

  “That’s one place I’m happy to take you,” Pauli said as he wrapped himself, back in the glory of his rainbow serpent form, around my shoulders.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “I need to see Joni,” I told Titus, who stood there holding his trident.

  “La Sirene is not seeing visitors.”

  “Then let me talk to Agwe. He will understand why I need to see him.”

  “The admiral is predisposed.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Titus, come on. This is a life or death matter.”

  “Everything is a matter of life or death these days.”

  “I can save her,” I said. “La Sirene. I can remove the curse. You just have to let me through.”

  “I am under orders…”

  “Then break them!” I said.

  Titus tightened his grip on his trident. Clearly, he was the sort of soldier who wasn’t accustomed to following the spirit of a command. He was all about following it by the letter.

  “Think about it,” I said. “You were told not to grant her any visitors. Why?”

  “I do not question the reasoning of my superiors.”

  “Come on, you old brute. Think about it. You’re a smart man.”

  “Merman,” Titus corrected me.

  “Exactly,” I said. “Now if extenuating circumstances arise, surely you have a way to reach out to Admiral Agwe, do you not?”

  Titus nodded.

  “These are extenuating circumstances. Trust me.”

  Titus took a deep breath, releasing a cascade of bubbles from his nostrils.

  “Very well,” Titus said as he reached for a conch shell around his neck and blew into it.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Admiral Agwe will be with you shortly.”

  Seconds later, Agwe appeared. I had no idea how he’d gotten there so soon. “What brings you back to us, Annabelle? We are in the midst of a potential crisis, and we may need your assistance if you can spare the time.”

  I nodded. “I have a way to help. Tell me, the crisis you speak of…”

  “Someone has acquired the soul of Anne Bonny. They are reassembling her armies and preparing for an attack. Without the wyrmriders…”

  I cringed. I hadn’t expected it to go so quickly—it wasn’t even an hour ago that I’d seen the vision of Oggie’s sacrifice. The ritual must’ve commenced almost immediately.

  “Any idea who it is that has her soul?” I asked. “Is it one of the Bokors?”

  “I cannot say,” Agwe said. “I haven’t been able to get a good look at the person’s face.”

  I nodded. “Well, you aren’t without the wyrmriders. I’ve used Dumballah’s blessing.”

  Agwe raised an eyebrow. “For what did you ask?”

  I grinned. “Let’s just say I am now a healer of souls.”

  “Ahh. He has given you a Seelsorgerin!”

  “A what?” I asked.

  “It is a Germanic word. A soul soother.”

  I nodded. “Then that’s exactly what this ring is supposed to do. I asked Dumballah to give me the ability to heal people’s souls. That’s what Joni requires.”

  Agwe nodded. “Indeed, it is in the soul where the curse upon her resides.”

  “Then take me to her.”

  We approached the brig, where Joni had herself locked away. I could hear screaming from within her cell—it wasn’t a prison. They’d given her all the amenities she could desire. But it did prevent her from following through on the compulsions associated with the piracy curse she’d absorbed.

  “I might need some assistance, Isabelle,” I said.

  Of course…

  I felt some of Isabelle’s magica course through my brow and into my fingertips. “We’ll need to act quick. Pauli, if she tries to run away, grab her and teleport her back in here. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. I don’t know how I know, but this thing should only take a moment, a single touch to work.”

  “She won’t get past me!” Pauli exclaimed, slithering through the waters around me.

  “I have a better idea,” Agwe interjected. “Pauli, return to human form and summon Nix. Use it to call on the ocean to press the water pressure against the exit of the cell. It should prevent her from leaving.”

  “Sweet!” Pauli said. Seconds later, he’d returned to his human form—again, no clothes. Ugh. He summoned Nix, gripped it tightly and stood just behind me as I opened the door.

  Do this fast, Isabelle said. Once
I use magic to restrain her, she’ll just siphon it and use it against us… only more powerfully.

  I nodded before I pressed open the door.

  I released a chain of jade energies, enveloping Joni’s body as she charged after me. I pressed my hand to her forehead. My ring—the Seelsorgerin—began to glow. Again, with a green that matched Isabelle’s energies. It cast a veil over Joni’s whole body.

  I could feel the force of the water behind us, holding us in, even as Joni tried to press against us, as she inhaled and took in Isabelle’s magica.

  But I’d gotten to her in time. The rage on Joni’s face faded, and a wide grin took its place.

  “Annabelle… I knew you’d do it… somehow.”

  I smiled back. “Kalfu hasn’t been defeated. So that’s not how I did it. But we got you back. And we need you. He’s given someone else Anne Bonny’s soul.”

  “But whoever has her soul does not share her curse, only her abilities.”

  “Still, they are bound to Kalfu in one way or another. Which might be just as bad as a curse. Bargains can’t be undone… not like a curse.”

  Joni nodded. “Then we’d best get going.” Her face changed. She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes—she entered general mode. “Titus, summon the wyrmriders.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I mounted Wyrmie—calling on Beli to once again become my wyrm’s bridle. Shelly and Finn pulled up beside me on their respective wyrms.

  “Glad to have you back with us,” Shelly said. Finn gave me a nod.

  “Good to see you guys, too. Ready to end this thing, once and for all?”

  “Hell yes,” Shelly said. “Let’s ride!”

  Joni led the charge, her long blond hair flowing from beneath her helmet. Her mer-tail dangled to one side of her wyrm—just like mine. Joni and Isabelle had performed their shape-shifting magic so I could ride Wyrmie properly.

  This time, the army of zombie sharks we encountered consisted mostly of hammerheads. With a pull of the reins, Beli’s torrent of flame-like energies easily consumed them as we plowed through the wall of sharks like butter.

  I wasn’t sure who the Bokor might be who held Anne Bonny’s soul—but I was reasonably sure whoever it was had been chosen by Mikah. That was what he was supposed to “earn” in exchange for killing Oggie. What a fucking joke.

  As we got closer, I saw the Bokor come into view. I almost laughed out loud—I hadn’t realized she survived Vilokan.

  “Is that who I think it is? Is that Tressa?” Pauli asked as he clung to my waist—still in human form—riding behind me on Wyrmie.

  “What, you didn’t save her when Vilokan fell?”

  “No, but Aida-Wedo must have. I’ve never seen her without her man harem!”

  I chuckled. “Now she has a harem of zombie sharks, I guess.”

  “Who wants a harem like that?” Pauli asked.

  I chuckled. “Aida-Wedo is Mikah’s mother. There must be something to this… a reason why she was saved.”

  It was actually twice in one day that Tressa had barely escaped with her life. First, Isabelle had saved her after she got clocked hard by a nasty, unruly Loa in the final trial. She had been Erzulie’s favorite—her own protege whom she’d hoped would win the Trials. All went to shit, though, because Kalfu had other plans, which he’d been orchestrating through Alexa Windstrom. Then, when Vilokan was flooding, Pauli and Aida-Wedo used their abilities to save as many people as they could. I had no idea that Tressa had been among them. Still, I wasn’t sure of the significance of it. Mikah and Aida-Wedo might be working together—it’s a mother-son pairing, even if he said she was a shitty mother. Not like anything he ever told us could be trusted now, anyway. Or maybe, if Isabelle was right, this was a good thing… maybe there was something about Tressa we didn’t know. Maybe that was why Mikah made the deal—so he could ensure that Tressa and no one else got Anne Bonny’s soul. But what good would that do in the end? She had already managed to raise an army of zombie sharks, and we were poised to take her out.

  I charged after her—but was stalled in my tracks.

  College Erzulie—the college of love—that’s what Tressa was about. Even if her form of “love” tended to come with more whips and chains than roses and teddy bears.

  “Annabelle!” Tressa shouted.

  “Tressa? What the…”

  “Stop killing my sharks!”

  “You have Anne Bonny’s soul. Her shark armies were meant to destroy Fomoria.”

  “I have her soul, but not her curse,” Tressa said. “And unlike the other Bokors, I’m in no way bound to Kalfu’s bargains.”

  I scrunched my brow and narrowed my stare. “Then why are you with them?”

  Tressa bit her cheek. “Mikah asked me to join him. Said they’d need me. It was my chance to redeem something. My chance to make Erzulie proud.”

  “Erzulie is gone,” I said.

  Tressa nodded. “And so is Ogoun. At least for now.”

  “For now?” I asked.

  “The Loa are never really gone. And since I possess Erzulie’s aspect, Kalfu can’t exact any bargain he might make with me.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Why is that?”

  “His ways cannot penetrate the aspect of love. Love and deceit cannot coexist. And all his bargains operate on deceit.”

  Joni pulled up on her wyrm beside me. “What is going on here?”

  “Looks like we might have another ally here,” I said. “Kalfu thinks she’s with him, but apparently those who hold Erzulie’s aspect cannot be touched by his influence.”

  “Well I’ll be!” Joni said, allowing her southern accent to come through more thickly than it typically did when she was acting the role of La Sirene.

  “So what are you doing down here anyway?” I asked.

  “Mikah knew you’d gone to Fomoria. He’d told me Kalfu’s plans. He said you’d somehow killed Anne Bonny and that Kalfu coveted her power. He said it would allow me to descend into the oceans. I was supposed to come find you.”

  I shook my head. “He had no idea that I’d left here already. That I went back…”

  Tressa shrugged. “No clue what he knew. But we have to act quickly. Souls are being fused one at a time even as we talk. The Bokors are amassing more power by the second.”

  I nodded. “All right. They still at the beach?”

  “Yes. How’d you know?”

  I smiled. “Long story. And if what you said is right, telling it will have to wait.”

  Tressa nodded. I motioned to Shelly and Finn to come up by my side. “To the beach!” I said.

  Joni nodded and repeated my command—I forgot she was the one who was in charge. “To the beach!”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  There’s nothing like the thrill of having a whole army at your flank as you charge headlong into battle. Joni and the wyrmriders on one side, Tressa and the zombie hammerheads on the other. I wasn’t sure how far inland we could make it if Kalfu and the Bokors fled—but we could certainly do some damage just along the shore. The Bokors would have no idea what hit them.

  We broke the surface, Wyrmie’s long body curling through the air. I gripped my reins tightly and pulled. A barrage of magic flames struck the beach. The Bokors scattered.

  Zombie sharks were diving out of the water, plowing onto the shore. I saw Mikah standing beside Kalfu, pacing back and forth. For whatever reason, Mikah couldn’t leave Kalfu’s side. Was he still bound by a bargain? Probably… Whatever that bargain was, he’d found a loophole or two. A loophole that required him to sacrifice Oggie in the process—but one that nonetheless had given us this chance, this opportunity.

  Kalfu raised his hand—a tornado of red energies consumed him.

  “What the fuck is he doing?” I said out loud as I tugged on Wyrmie’s reins and Beli unleashed a torrent of flames toward him. The flames fell around him, dispersed by Kalfu’s tornado of red magic.

  Several of the Bokors had acquired different abili
ties. A load of flames shot out from one of them, charring the underbelly of Finn’s wyrm. His wyrm reared back, sending him flying back into the water.

  The wyrm couldn’t fly. Not like dragons. But their bodies were long enough that they could still do a lot of damage near the shore where Kalfu’s Bokor camp had been set up.

  Shelly and her wyrm charged the Bokor who’d taken out her brother, her wyrm’s massive jaws enveloping the Bokor in a single bite.

  “Damn!” I shouted. “Nice one!”

  Shelly looked back and gave me a thumbs-up.

  We were kicking ass! But we still couldn’t get to Kalfu.

  Mikah had stopped pacing and appeared frozen in place—it was like he couldn’t move against Kalfu, not directly. He looked up at us. He gave me a wink—a wink he probably intended for Isabelle. It was enough to confirm that he was on our side after all.

  He’s still my Mikah!

  I laughed out loud. “Sure enough.”

  Kalfu was channeling more souls from the vessel into the Bokors as quickly as he could—but as many as he managed to fuse with souls, the wyrms or the sharks were taking them out, one by one.

  Kalfu shouted to the rest, “Retreat up the hill!”

  Enveloping the rest of the Bokors and the vessel that contained the souls in his massive red tornado, they all moved up the shoreline to the top of a hill that overlooked the beach.

  They were just out of reach of our wyrms, and too far for the sharks to dive out of the water to get them. We’d have to go after them on foot.

  Joni dismounted, quickly released some Fomorian magic, and gave herself some legs. I did the same, and Pauli followed suit behind me.

  We were at a disadvantage without the wyrms and sharks beside us, but we’d taken out most of the Bokors who’d already been fused.

  “Beli!” I shouted. The elemental dragon reformed as a crossbow in my hands. I had to take out the vessel.

  But they were moving too quickly. The red tornado carried Kalfu, Mikah and the Bokors faster than I could run.