and day... worked on Damali to get her to break the walls of Nod. To break you, Carlos. If Cain sits on Dante's throne, he'll be the only ruling-level vampire, other than you, that has ever tasted Damali's blood... in the woods at the old house, they worked on them both, drove you insane... will break Eve's heart... will fracture the Neteru Queen Council... will come for your old line... Yonnie, Tarajose... will release the forsaken. The Beast is waiting for this to occur. They think all have been positioned for the fall... but they didn't know how much I loved you all, my family, more than heartbreak. They didn't know the priest angel held my hand... or was in the line to know, to remember."
Just as suddenly as the trance began, Juanita lurched forward, shaking, sweating, and threw up a black mass of tadpole-like creatures, then slumped against Marlene, panting. "That's all I got," she said through heaving breaths. "Did I do okay, Mar?"
"Douse it, Mike!" Marlene said quickly, scattering Guardians to bring whatever purifiers they had in their arsenals. "Get my black bag--baby, it's gonna be all right, you did good, real good, for a first vision out."
Guardians bombed the black slurry on the floor with every salt, holy water, anointing oil, and garlic concoction they could find. Marlene rummaged in her black bag as Shabazz held it open, and extracted crystallized frankincense to hurl at the dark puddle, her lips moving in a fervent murmur. Hands clasped, prayers filled the air, and they watched the abomination sizzle and burn away in a sulfur plume, then disappear. "All this time . . ." Carlos stood staring at the floor, remembering exactly where the dark fluid filled with black, maggoty parasites came from. He almost vomited himself as he turned away, disgusted. And that it had been deep within Juanita from the breach shamed him to no end.
"It wasn't you, bro," Shabazz said, shaking his head. "Now all this shit makes sense... from the contagion on--from Philly really, they've been jacking with us from Level Seven, sending bullshit our way day and night. Damn!" He looked at Carlos and walked over to him to land a hand on his shoulder. "You all broken up and emotional, me, Damali all out of sorts, Kamal flipping, this scene in here, think about it, my brother, even vamps tripping, Rider, no one was exempt in the house... everybody was all fucked around, man... it wasn't just you."
"Cain's gotta stay in Nod," Carlos said, his tone serious and even. "Not just for personal reasons, the brother is being set up. His queen mother's spirit will die of heartbreak, if Lilith pulls this off... then Adam will turn over the Roundtable and wig. This is way bigger than some bastard in Damali's face."
"Yeah, but like you say, Carlos--knowledge is power." Marlene's arms enfolded Juanita as she smoothed her hair back. Marlene looked up at Jose and then Carlos. "Didn't I tell you, love conquers all? They were banking on jealousy, team dissent, but our girl Juanita here came through like a champ--forgiving Carlos, loving him and this family hard, and loving Jose harder... enough to wanna live. Plus, they never banked on a young cleric they'd killed, one still connected as a brother to this team, still bound by love to three souls: Juanita, Carlos, and Jose. Have mercy! Bless this chile; her spirit followed the thin white line up and out of the darkness holding information in her."
Marlene closed her eyes, crooning to Juanita to calm her. "Bet the bastards never counted on that, though, and now we've got their asses."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
W ithout really being conscious of where she was going, her legs had taken her to a rock-hewn corner of the beach, far away from the hacienda to sit alone under the bright rays of morning sun. Her heart was so heavy that she was sure it had stopped beating. Guilt kept her chest tight, and squeezed the air from her lungs, forcing her to make an effort to inhale.
Damali straddled a small puddle of clear water and stared down into it. Seashells glistened in the shallow tide pool. Tiny crabs moved about. Grains of sand floated and resettled as a gentle breeze intermittently wafted over the water. She lowered the troublesome pearl into it and watched it drift to the bottom.
It sat there like a nickel-sized pink-white jewel, absorbing the sun rays. Maybe some lucky, poverty-stricken person would find it