Watery Graves Read online

  Mercy had boasted, when she was briefly a student at the Academy, that she’d never once been staked successfully. Now I knew why… she didn’t have a heart. Not that I was an expert on the mysteries of vampirism, but no heart was supposed to mean no more vampire. I was eerily bothered by the fact that something else was at work here, something more was involved in Mercy’s vampirism than is typically the case. The very thought churned my stomach. If she couldn’t be staked, and my soul weapon was the only thing that could get rid of her completely, that meant I was her biggest threat aside, perhaps, from Kalfu or a Loa who might have other ways of dealing with vampires. If there is one thing you don’t want to be, it is a threat to a vampire. I was even more leery about trusting Mercy now than before. But what choice did I have?

  Chapter Thirteen

  We entered Père Antoine Alley—the ghost of Père Antoine himself sometimes wandered the alley, often appearing at dawn. Since I possessed Baron Samedi’s aspect, which gave me the ability to see the dead—it was part of what was becoming a vast catalog of infused powers that I possessed and only barely understood—I half expected I’d see him wandering the alleyway. I was disappointed I didn’t. He’d said, when I first met him on that fateful day when I joined the Academy, that he had yet to move on into eternity for the sole purpose of bringing new students to the Academy. It was his heart. His passion. But with the Academy gone, along with Vilokan, his heart must’ve broken. He must’ve finally gone home.

  “Think the door will still work?” I asked.

  “I don’t see why not,” Mercy said. “But I haven’t tried it.”

  I still feel the wards, the ones Ashley set up before. They’ve held somehow.

  After Kalfu originally emerged, and Ashley—my sister, who was accomplished in Shamanism—was recruited by the Academy, she was asked to ward Vilokan. It was mostly meant to prevent Kalfu from reentering the underground Voodoo domain, but it had the effect of excluding vampires. At the time, we presumed the vamps were on Kalfu’s side. I still wasn’t entirely sure they weren’t, in spite of Mercy’s demonstration of support. Truth be told, vampires are seductive creatures. They have no loyalty to the truth, and I wasn’t sure this whole thing wasn’t a giant ruse.

  “I don’t think you’ll be able to join us,” I said.

  “I don’t have to breathe, technically. I should be fine.”

  “It isn’t that, Mercy. It’s the wards. They’re still in place, it seems.”

  Mercy nodded. “Probably should have Ashley take them down.”

  I looked at her blankly. “They keep Kalfu out of Vilokan. Isn’t that what we’re trying to do here?”

  Mercy shook her head. “Kalfu doesn’t need to enter Vilokan himself. He has the Bokors on his side. Many of them can access Vilokan.”

  “So we might be too late…”

  I can sense unrested souls inside…

  “Isabelle still senses the souls of the fallen,” I said. “I think we’ve arrived in time.”

  Mercy nodded. “Let’s hope you’re right. A lot of people died…”

  “Can you guard the entrance?” I asked. “Just make sure no Bokors follow us down there.”

  Cracking her knuckles, Mercy leaned against the side of the cathedral wall where the mystical door to Vilokan had always appeared. “No one will follow. I can guarantee that.”

  “Pauli,” I said, “you might want to have Nix handy when we open this door. I don’t know how high the waters have risen.”

  “Nix!” Pauli said, his trident forming in his hand.

  “That’s sick!” Mercy remarked.

  “Just wait until you see this thing in action,” Pauli replied.

  When I touched the wall, the doorway to Vilokan appeared. Water didn’t flood out of the door, at least. But illuminating the stairway with my phone light revealed that it had come up to just a few steps below the entrance.

  “Need me to hold your phone?” Mercy asked.

  “Please,” I said. Thankfully, I had fingerprint recognition on it. The last thing I wanted was Mercy scrolling through my phone. Just letting her touch the thing was a big step in the trust department. Phones are kind of like underwear—you don’t let just anyone into them.

  Pauli and I waded into the water—it was cold and stagnant, not like the ocean water we were accustomed to inhaling.

  “Bitch, I don’t want to breathe in this nasty death water. There be bodies in this shit.”

  I nodded as Pauli extended Nix. He squeezed the trident’s shaft, and the water retreated in front of us. We made our way down the stairs into Vilokan, the steps slick from the moisture. I was still barefooted which, frankly, didn’t help. I’d need to pick up a cheap pair of tennies or something soon. I take pride in keeping my feet well taken care of. They’re always soft, which is nice most of the time. Now, I wished I’d had a few callouses. Every step felt perilous, like I was going to step on something that might hurt… or something slimy. Some people go barefoot anywhere. Not me. I even wear socks inside at home. At least I did when I had a home. I just hate the feel of grime on my little tootsies.

  It was a long trip to the bottom of Vilokan, but Pauli, with Nix’s help, kept pushing the water back as we made our way down. We came across several bodies along the way—no one I recognized. That wasn’t necessarily because I didn’t know them. The bodies were so bloated that even their own mothers probably couldn’t have identified their faces. All people who’d been fleeing the city but apparently didn’t make it before the waters overtook them. The rancid stench was almost unbearable—and it was probably only going to get worse as air began to circulate.

  “Isabelle, do you sense their souls?”

  Not here. There are some deeper in… I can’t really tell you how many.

  I hoped the Bokors hadn’t beaten us to it—I don’t know how they’d have managed to get through all the water absent some scuba gear. Truth be told, though, when magic is concerned, you can’t ever really rule anything out.

  Whatever souls we found, I could release. The process was relatively simple. It was what we did with Brayden and Nico—well, in Brayden’s case Pauli had put his soul into a jar, and in Nico’s case Erzulie had put his soul into a piece of pottery, but I was the one who shattered the vessels ensuring the safe passage of their respective souls into the afterlife. All we’d need is some kind of container and my trusty soul weapon—Beli’s crossbow form was what had worked the best before.

  There were souls down here. Somewhere. Isabelle sensed them.

  A chill struck my cheek.

  “Did you feel that?” I asked Isabelle under my breath.

  Yeah…

  “Where did that come from?”

  No clue… felt like a cross breeze. There must be an opening somewhere else.

  I sighed. I really hoped she was wrong. Maybe just a pocket of trapped air? A ghost, perhaps? During my days as a paranormal investigator, it wasn’t uncommon for a ghost to manifest with a chill. But this was not just a few degrees’ drop in temperature. It was a breeze.

  “Pauli,” I said, “hate to make you go back into snake form…”

  “You want me to scout ahead, don’t you?” Pauli asked.

  I nodded. “Please.”

  “If I do that, I think the water might come crashing back down on you.”

  I sighed. “Good point. Any idea how to put it back into the firmament?”

  “I think if we keep pressing forward, it has to go somewhere. Then I can maybe move it all back into the firmament where it was to begin with.”

  “Okay, let’s try that.”

  It was quite impressive, really, what Nix could do. As Pauli moved forward, it was like a giant wall of water was being pushed in front of us, clearing out the whole city. The ground left behind was wet, but there weren’t but a few puddles left. Nix was efficient.

  “This is going to be a challenge,” Pauli said. “We have to make our way through all the alleys in just the right way. We have to keep all the wate
r in front of us.”

  “This way,” I said, pulling him to the side. “I think if we go past the academy… well, what used to be the academy, we can maybe make our way back to the auditorium where the Trials were held. If I were to wager a guess, that’s where most of the souls are lingering. Most of the city was in there when it happened.”

  “And it’s also just above that position where Alexa’s storm spell broke the firmament to begin with. It might make sense to try and put all the water back at the same location.”

  I nodded.

  As we drew closer, Isabelle confirmed that the souls were indeed lingering around the auditorium. Still, there were too many for her to count. I suspected it was sort of like looking at a crowd of people or gum balls in a jar and guessing a number. I was never any good at that. I always underestimated.

  It’s a lot of souls. I think we might have beaten the Bokors.

  As the water wall grew, it began spreading across the rocky top of Vilokan—a “roof” of sorts that I’d never actually seen before on account of the firmament that had been suspended there before.

  “It’s reforming the firmament,” Pauli said.

  “That’s incredible,” I remarked. And it was. The trident infused the water with magic—purifying it, pulling all the death out of it. When it formed across the ceiling, a blue magic seemed to course throughout it, gradually re-lighting the entire underground city.

  The firmament fully restored, Pauli released the trident. The whole thing turned into water and splashed down his arm.

  Pauli shook his head. “Remind me to hold this thing away from my body next time I release it.”

  I smiled. “Will do. Beli just releases in a kind of smoky cloud.”

  “Beli is part fire elemental. That’s different.”

  “Apparently so. Looks great, by the way.”

  “It is pretty fabulous. Just like I remember it.”

  “You ready for this? I’m guessing it’s pretty gruesome inside.”

  Pauli took a deep breath and nodded.

  “How about you, Isabelle? Think we can stomach this?”

  Isabelle sighed in my mind. What choice do we have?

  I pushed open one of the front doors to the auditorium. It squeaked on its hinges. The smell of decaying flesh hit me like a wall.

  “Dear Lord,” I said. “It’s only been a few days.”

  “Doesn’t take long,” Pauli said.

  I looked around. Bodies were everywhere. A glowing figure approached from behind the bleachers. Due to being vested with Baron Samedi’s aspect I could see the dead—I doubted Pauli could, though.

  “I see a ghost approaching,” I said.

  “Just one?” Pauli asked.

  “So far.”

  I sense more. They’re hiding. Afraid.

  “Who are you?” I asked as the semi-translucent figure approached. I didn’t need to wait for an answer. As he approached I recognized him. His awkward gait was the first thing that gave it away. His long pointy nose was second.

  “It’s me,” the ghost said. “Dudley Dumont.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dudley Dumont had never been particularly friendly toward me. He and I were competitors in the Trials. But he did play a pivotal role channeling a bit of Baron Samedi’s essence in the end… whatever he could since Samedi was mostly trapped inside of Kalfu. He belonged to College Samedi, had been Nico’s mentor, in fact. He was an awkward boy—though I suppose, by age, he was technically a man. He was a couple years older than me, at least, before he’d died.

  “Dudley,” I said. “I’ve come to release you. Before Kalfu…”

  “You’re too late,” Dudley said.

  “But you’re still…”

  “He had no use for me. Not for most of us. But there was one he wanted. He sent some Bokors.”

  “How did they get through?”

  “Scuba gear.”

  I bit my lip. It was the obvious way that one would enter an underwater city—too obvious. Sometimes, when you’re wrapped up in a world where magic is the default way of getting shit done, you forget that witches, vodouisants, druids… magical folks of any stripe… can still do things the old-fashioned way when push comes to shove.

  “Whose soul did they take?” I asked.

  “Whose soul do you think? The one who owed Kalfu her soul to begin with.”

  I sighed. I should have figured it out. It was some kind of misguided bargain with Kalfu that brought her to the point of betraying the whole Voodoo world to begin with. It was while doing battle with me—well, more specifically with Isabelle—that she shot a bolt of lightning into the firmament and killed everyone. Alexa Windstrom… once the prized student of the Voodoo Academy. Now, the “soul” possession of a Loa who was the closest thing to the devil I’d ever encountered. Whatever Bokor was fused with her soul was going to inherit some insane abilities. I’d never seen anyone—even Isabelle—control the elements with such force, such strength. I despised her on account of what she’d done.

  “They took Alexa’s soul,” I told Pauli. “The one soul that might rival what Isabelle and I can do.”

  Pauli shook his head. “Alexa is powerful. But girl, you and Isabelle are bad mamba jambas! I’m not going to bet against you.”

  I shook my head. “You don’t understand. Alexa wields a different power—the power of Sogbo—and in her it felt like it was amplified a hundred times. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Pauli huffed. “Never seen anything like it. In what, the few months you’ve been a part of our Voodoo world? Bitch, please.”

  I bit my lip. “I suppose it could have been worse. He could have harvested all these souls.”

  “You need to get going,” Dudley said.

  “Not until we free you and everyone else,” I said, looking in his eyes. “I won’t leave you here to languish.”

  “No, you need to go. The Bokors who came… I think they’re still here.”

  He might be right, Isabelle said. There are so many souls here, all hiding in various places. I can’t tell which are living and which are dead.

  “Then we need to act quickly,” I said. “Pauli, can you snake around here? Try to find a jar, some pottery. Anything we can use to gather souls.”

  Pauli nodded. With an exhale, his whole body turned into something like water, which quickly reformed into his “true” boa constrictor form—as glowy and colorful as ever.

  “Can you tell me where the Bokors are?” I asked Dudley.

  “They’re hiding with the other souls, I think…”

  “Beli,” I said out loud, summoning my soul blade in my right hand. Having Beli readily accessible was always wise when expecting to encounter a bad guy.

  I stepped carefully toward the bleachers—the energies that flowed in my blade illuminated the area below. I saw hundreds of ghosts—all the souls of the dead—practically piled on top of each other. But they were all translucent enough that if the Bokors were under there, I should have been able to spot them. I shone the light of my blade around, trying to tell if one of them was opaque, one solid enough that the light from my blade wouldn’t pass through.

  “Dudley, I don’t see anyone.”

  “I’m telling you Annabelle, they’re here. Somewhere.”

  Oggie had warned me about the Bokors, what they could do. They were said to practice the Voodoo arts with both hands—which was Voodoo speak for saying they wielded both the light and the dark sides of Voodoo. They embraced it all—the good, the peaceful, the harmonious. But also the dark, the dreadful, the unnatural. We accessed the same power, but their willingness to touch the “dark side of the force” (pardon the Star Wars reference—I’m a fangirl) gave them an advantage in a conflict with any Mambo. I was a Mambo—technically the High Mambo on account of being declared the default winner of the Trials—but I also had Isabelle… and a bad attitude. I wasn’t going to be easy prey for any Bokor—and they knew it. Otherwise, whoever was hiding in here would have shown th
emselves by now.

  “Are you sure they were under the bleachers?” I asked.

  “Not positive, but they are here. It’s not them that I can sense. But Alexa… her presence is hard to miss. And if she’s here, they’re here with her.”

  Pauli reappeared, his serpentine body coiled around a giant piece of pottery, shaped into an oversized phallus.

  “Seriously, Pauli? Where the hell did you get that?”

  “I made it! When I took a pottery class in the ninth grade! I couldn’t believe it was still here!”

  I looked at Pauli incredulously. “You made this in the ninth grade, and they let you get away with it?”

  “Well, I…”

  “Never mind,” I said. “We don’t have time. It will have to work. Can you open it somehow?”

  “You can screw off the head.”

  I snorted. “I’m going to try to not take that the way it sounded.”

  I looked at Dudley. “You ready for this?”

  For a ghost, his stare was quite piercing. “I’m not getting inside that thing.”

  “It’s either that or risk being taken by the Bokors,” I said. “Choice is yours.”

  “Fine,” Dudley said. He whistled—which was strange to see a ghost do—and a flow of souls poured out from beneath the bleachers and into the…vessel. Yeah, let’s call it that.

  “Rest in peace, Dudley. And tell Brayden and Nico hello for me.”

  “Will do,” Dudley said as he floated into the vessel.

  I stood back, willed Beli to reform into his crossbow form, and fired.

  But the bolt veered off course.

  I fired again.

  This time I could feel the gust of wind strike.

  “Shit!” I exclaimed.

  A figure in all black—no wonder I’d missed him before, he’d probably hidden on the floor or something—stepped out from behind the bleachers. His face was shrouded.

  “I’ll be taking that with me,” the Bokor said.

  “Like hell you will!” I said, firing my crossbow at him. He waved his hand, brushing the bolt away before it could strike him.