its voice the word meant something deep. I had heard a little about agreements with riders and wizards and other nasties. Binding of intention was the phrase that came to mind. I felt something in my belly squirm and flutter, and then settle.
"I will accept a pact with you," I said and immediately thought, Holy shit, I will?
Amelie Glapion rose and held out her right hand. I stepped forward to meet her. When I put my hand in hers, her fingers closed on mine like a trap. Her will, her qi, the caduceus-like spirits of woman and rider pressed into me, and reflexively, I pressed back, the heat in my belly rising to my shoulder, down to my hand out through my fingers. When Legba spoke, I saw Amelie's teeth had changed to the rider's forest of knives.
"Until Carrefour is destroyed, you will not act against me or mine. You will respect my will and shall act in no way against me," Legba said. "Nor shall we slaughter you, though it be our right to do so."
"I accept this," I said, and Glapion dropped my hand. We both stepped back. I felt like something electric and profound had happened. I was energized and a little nauseated. Amelie Glapion sat in her throne and chuckled. Her eyes were human again, her voice her own.
"Well now," she said. "Ain't you the subtle one?"
"Um," I said. Then, "Thanks?"
"I'm going to rest up now," she said. "I'm a tired old lady, and this shit's too much to keep up all day long. Then we can talk about how to kill that sonofabitch wants to hurt my girls."
Amelie started to rise and faltered. The two drummers hurried to her side, lifting and supporting her. Even by the warm light of the candles, I could see her face had taken on an ashy color and the drooping along her left side had become more pronounced. From one moment to the next, she had gone from being the mask worn by something huge and powerful that lived just outside the world to a fragile old woman, exhausted by walking and needing care. The two things seemed like they should cancel out, that the rider's power and the woman's vulnerability should somehow average to a middle value. They didn't.
There was a rush of sound that I didn't recognize at first as voices. The cultists were speaking for the first time since they'd surrounded us. Men and women, old and young, they were all talking now in low voices. Some were smiling, others shaking their heads.
"Thank you," Sabine said.
"For what?" I said, though You're welcome would probably have been more polite.
"For helping Maman," she said. I followed her gaze. Amelie was reclining awkwardly on one of the cots, helped down by one of her group. "It was hard for her, losing the Temple. I was afraid..."
Sabine shook her head. Sixteen. Curt's age. She looked older, but it was probably only that she carried a heavier weight. I had the urge to put my hand on her shoulder, but I stopped myself. I had just bound myself to a spiritual parasite from Next Door who intended to possess this girl, continuing a line of devoured women that reached back over a century. I made myself complicit to her sacrifice.
Only until Ex is back, I thought. Until Carrefour is destroyed. That was the deal, and after that we would see where we stood. Maybe there would still be a way to get Sabine out safely.
I hoped so.
"Thank you," she said again.
"It's early days," I said. "Thank me when it's over."
She smiled, and a small dashing movement careened into her side. Daria Glapion hung on her sister's arm, grinning.
"I told you she'd come back," Daria said to her sister, and then to me, "I knew you would."
"You did?" I said.
"Not knew knew," Daria said. "Just normal knew. I was right though, wasn't I."
"You were," I said, and the little girl grinned in triumph.
The crowd began to thin, Amelie's congregation going about the business of setting watch, getting food, or whatever the business of the rider required. There were only three cots. They couldn't all be sleeping here. One of the drummers caught my eye and looked away nervously. I wondered what I seemed like to them. Early twenties college dropout with too much money in the company of a couple slightly older men. Put that way, it didn't sound like an uncommon sight.
On the other hand, when Marinette had taken Aubrey, I'd