"Why not just kill Sabine?" I asked. "I mean, since we're being bloodthirsty and all."
"Once the rider is vulnerable, it can be eaten. Its power can be taken on by Carrefour. Once it alone controls the crossroads, it believes it can take Legba's place, and force the loa to renounce its exile."
"Can it?" I asked. "Will they take it back?"
Mfume laughed. In the distance, as if in answer, a car alarm chirped.
"The political life of the loa is beyond me," he said. "It's possible that Carrefour is tilting at windmills. Or things might all go just as it intends. Unless someone stops it."
"Meaning us," I said.
Mfume stabbed out the last of his cigarette on the rail, tiny sparks raining down to the street below us.
"We are in the right place at the right time," he said. "And so yes. Us."
"Well," I said. "At least we're on the same side."
"Are we?" Chogyi Jake asked. "It seems we all have similar goals, but our agendas aren't all the same. Legba wants to protect itself and its offspring. We want to find Ex and get him out of harm's way. Those aren't really the same thing. And if I understand Joseph, neither one are what brings him here."
"Your friend's right," Mfume said. "We are on the same path for the moment, but this is a marriage of convenience for all sides."
"So what's your agenda?" Aubrey asked. He managed not to make it sound like an accusation.
"Isn't it obvious? I've come to redeem my redeemer," Mfume said. "I intend to save Karen Black."
Chapter 20
TWENTY
The war council was held at the same table where Legba and I had made our pact. The candles and lace tablecloth were gone, and a cheap torchiere lamp had been plugged in, filling the room with rich halogen light and the smell of burning dust in more or less equal degrees. Amelie Glapion sat on her throne, surveying the room with a critical expression. Her nap had returned her to sharpness, but I was more aware of her as an old, fragile woman than I had been. To her right, Dr. Inond茅 looked like a mildly apologetic salesman. To her left, Sabine sat, her face still full with youth but managing to mimic her grandmother's severity. Chogyi Jake, Aubrey, and I took the other side of the cheap folding banquet table, and Mfume sat at the head, both with the group and also apart from it. Daria was curled on her cot, a sleeping bag pulled up to her ears, snoring quietly.
Some kind soul had run out for coffee. I had a paper cup with caf茅 au lait just slightly too hot to drink. The others had drinks of their own, except for Chogyi Jake and Amelie Glapion.
It was ten thirty at night, and dark as midnight.
"We don't know where she is," Amelie Glapion said, "and she can't find us neither. So that's where it stands. Either we keep her held off until Sabine can watch out for herself. Or else we take her on."
Sabine nodded. She knew what was happening. And what was more, I could see from the way she held herself that she accepted it. She was going to be the host of a rider for the rest of her life, and in this place, in this context, she thought it was a good thing. And God help me, I was starting to see her point of view.
"How long is it going to take for Sabine to pupate?" Aubrey asked.
The room went silent, all eyes turning to Aubrey as if he'd said something inappropriate.
"Excuse me?" Sabine said. I hopped in.
"How long before the loa in you is strong enough to fight off Carrefour?" I said. Then, "He's a biologist. He talks like that sometimes. Don't sweat it."
"The longer it goes, the stronger it grows," Amelie said. She was herself; I didn't hear any trace of the rider in her voice. "The child will come into her own, but it ain't all that different from real kids. It happens when it happens, you know?"
"Generally, the longer we can hold her off, the better it'll be," I said.
"Except," Mfume said, planting the word like a flag. Attention shifted to him. "You mustn't underestimate Karen Black. Once, I was able to keep a rough sort of track of her. Once, we were certain that we had time, that we could arrange this confrontation to fit our schedule. Instead, Carrefour has gathered new resources. It discovered us at the