Naomi was laid out on top of an earthen altar, her body still, covered by a gray blanket that could’ve been white at some point.
“You are too late, lone wolf.” The voice coming out of the bokor’s mouth held an accent, possibly Haitian.
“She’s stalling,” Marcy whispered from right beside me as we both stood and stared. “The ceremony isn’t finished. I can feel the magic vibrating for release. You have to go now.” She elbowed me. “Destroy it before she can say anything else.”
Needing no more prodding, I bounded into the area.
It was a perfect circle, lined with tree trunks carved into gruesome totem poles with expressions of death and destruction detailed onto each tier. Tied to every pole was a rabid wolf, each baring its teeth and snarling. In the trees behind the totem poles, snakes of various sizes slithered here and there between the branches and skated across tops of the structures in eerie silence.
It was a grisly scene.
But the capper to the entire show was the female, who stood tall at the head of the altar. She was thin, her skin a deep milk chocolate, her hair pure white and sheared close to her scalp. She wore a multicolored robe, the sleeves draped to her elbows, her hands raised high in the air. Her nails were long and yellow, curved around her fingertips like claws. And blood dripped from her palms.
As I entered the circle, her head rose slowly to meet my gaze.
Her irises were the color of ice.
The effect was immediate. It was like she could see through me, straight into my soul.
Naomi lay in front of her. The altar was crude, made of mud and twigs, and as I rushed closer, I noticed that under the gray blanket, Naomi was dressed in a simple sheer gown, her hands restrained by thin iron rings.
She didn’t move, which was distressing.
I was going to destroy everything I could find.
“Halt!” This time the voice that came out of the bokor’s mouth was different. It sounded ancient. The loa’s voice was authoritative, the Haitian accent gone. I stopped in my tracks. “You came too late to save this one. The blood that rides within this host has already been consumed.” The bokor grinned, an expression that looked unnatural since the command had been issued from the loa. I noticed now she had a red smear mark on both her cheeks, and as she smiled, her teeth were broken and blackened.
I narrowed my gaze on Naomi and edged to the side to get a better look at her. One of her arms had been recently cut and a bone knife covered in blood lay next to her head. Her blood had been contained in a small bowl, made of what looked like ivory, which sat next to the knife.
“I don’t care if you’ve consumed her blood.” I took a bold step forward. There wasn’t much here to destroy except for the altar. “You’re not going to live long enough to do anything with it, so it doesn’t matter.”
The bokor tossed her head back as the loa laughed. The sound was manic.
“You fear me.” Her gaze landed on mine, and her irises were like tides washing over a clear sea. “That makes me satisfied. I have been planning this for longer than humans have inhabited these lands. Look around you.” The bokor’s body awkwardly swept a bony arm outward, her robe riding up to expose no more than a skeleton covered in skin. The loa’s voice sounded hollow in her host’s throat the more she spoke. “This is my world. It’s a place where the Earth collides with the spirit realm at a perfect apex. In the beginning, I filled it with water and beasts to keep the humans out, but they have wound their way back in. So now I must cloak myself within these trees so none discover me. But I have been patient all these years, biding my time, knowing that soon I will be free again. Free to roam the Earth as I did once long ago.”
I pretended to be devastated by the news that she wanted to rise again, which likely had something to do with me. My eyes were downcast as I drew slowly closer to Naomi, the spells still in each of my hands. This loa was clearly out of touch with reality. She must’ve lived in this swamp for hundreds of years, not doing much of anything. In order to keep her thinking I was interested while I figured out how to take apart the altar, I asked, “If you’ve been waiting all these years for me to set you free, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. I’m not here to grant your wish. In fact, just the opposite.” At the same time, I lobbed the spells down in front of me, shouting the Latin words in unison.
They exploded in a cloud of black and green smoke as I dove for Naomi.
I skidded across the altar, scooping her body along with me as I went. The iron shackles snapped on impact, and they came sailing along with us as I landed on the ground, cradling an unconscious Naomi in my arms.
That’s when I saw him.
I knew it wasn’t Danny, but my heart rose in my throat anyway. The body was prone in the soil in front of the altar, right where the bokor had stood. His hair was the same dark shade as Danny’s and he had a similar build. I knew he was one of my father’s wolves, and when his scent hit me full force I swallowed, biting back my human emotions.
I had to stay focused. There was nothing I could do for him now.
The rabid wolves strained at their leashes, snapping and gnashing their teeth. They must be tethered there because the bokor couldn’t control them when she was ridden. But it was only a guess.
I tucked Naomi against the side of the altar, as far away as I could get from any of the wolves, and stuck my head up. Marcy had cast a spell right after I’d thrown mine. She said we’d get three minutes if we were lucky. I now had a protection spell five feet around me and if both spells had worked, the bokor was stunned. It didn’t bode well that she wasn’t standing where she’d been, but I had to trust she was down for at least a moment. The air was dense with smoke and I had to act now.
Marcy wanted carnage, and I was going to give it to her.
I leapt over the altar in my Lycan form, destroying and upturning everything I could get my hands on. My claws raked away huge hunks of mud and twigs, while my legs exploded the bowl and sent the knife and anything that touched me sailing. I swiped at candles lining the circle, slicing them in half, destroying more bowls that had been placed on a small table with my fists. As the smoke from the spell began to clear, a laugh swept by my ear. You think I’m a child who can be felled so easily by a simple spell? Think again. The loa crashed into my stomach, sending me hurtling backward in the air.
I gasped as I hit the ground. “You were forced out of your host. I take that as a win.” I’d landed within a hairsbreadth of a wolf, and without hesitation I drew my knife and plunged it into its brain.
A scream pierced the air.