Crescent Moon - By Lori Handeland Page 0,76

traveled to He in my head." I paused. "What's He?"

"There's a town called Ife in Nigeria, but the one you went to is a legendary place, the mecca of vodoun, where the revelations of the has came to the first faithful."

"Terrific," I muttered. "And what about this?"

I showed her the petal of the fire iris that I'd picked in a place I hadn't actually gone.

"I can't believe you brought a piece back."

"What does it mean that I did?"

"Not sure."

"Wow. You're as helpful as she was."

Cassandra ignored me. I wished I could do that whenever someone was annoying. Instead, I always felt compelled to sarcasm them to death - or at least until they went away.

"Keep the petal nearby," Cassandra said. "Any questions you have should soon be answered."

"Just like that? Poof. I know the truth?"

"Got me."

I narrowed my eyes. "What happened in the past when you performed this ceremony?"

"The has came, inhabited someone else, and answered their questions."

"Truthfully?"

"Loas don't he."

"Then why didn't she answer me?"

"Maybe you had too many questions. Maybe she didn't know the answers. Maybe you could only discover the truth by seeing it yourself."

"Maybe this is all bullshit."

Cassandra tilted her head, and I had to admit, if the previous hour had been bullshit, it was extremely convincing bullshit.

"Never mind." I tightened my fingers around the petal. "I'll just wait for the answers. Should be along anytime now."

"You believe?" she asked.

I considered the question, remembered what had happened, where I'd been, how I'd felt

"Yeah." How could I not?

"I need to do some research," Cassandra said. "Make some calls. Find out why you traveled to Ife. How you could have brought something out."

A thought occurred to me. "Isn't there bom good and bad voodoo?"

"They're mirror images. Can't have one without the other."

"So Erzulie might have been bad."

"No. The has are all about truth. It's the maker of the magic who brings about good or bad. We call the evildoers 'ones who serve the has with bom hands.'"

"You used both hands."

"It's an expression. Don't you trust me?"

She appeared so crestfallen, I wanted to reassure her, but I didn't want to lie, either. "I've never dealt with voodoo, Cassandra. For all I know you could have been calling Satan himself. He could be running around New Orleans having a grand old time."

"He already is," she said dryly.

"Ha-ha."

"You spoke to the loa, Diana, which means the good or the evil intent came from you. Are you evil?"

I thought about it. "Sometimes."

"That just makes you human. When you asked for help, direction, truth, did you ask so you could use the result to hurt someone else?"

"No."

"Then go in peace."

I glanced at my watch and my eyes widened. "It's almost morning."

"Time flies," Cassandra said. "Let me put that petal into something before you ruin or lose it."

She rustled through the mess on one of the shelves and came up with an empty gris-gris bag.

"Do you have those lying around all over the place?" I asked.

She didn't bother to answer, just held open the bag.

I hesitated. "Will it work in there?"

"Of course."

I guess I had to take her word for it.

I should leave. I wanted to discover if the petal would reveal the truth, but - "How will I know what's true?"

"You just will."

"That is so not helpful."

"It's like love - you'll just know."

"I'll know the love I'm afraid is contrived is real because I'll just know. That makes no sense."

"What does?" As usual, she ignored my scowl. "If you find a charm, destroying it should break the spell."

"What does a charm look like?"

"Could be a gris-gris, or maybe a fetish."

"Which is?"

"A small figure - wood, bone, maybe stone, even cloth - fashioned into the shape of a person. Many cultures use totems for luck, for curses or charms - both good and evil."

"All right," I said. "Find something weird, destroy it, and the magic is gone." Although how I would destroy stone, I had no idea.

"Or you could just leave it be."

I glanced up. "What?"

"Is being in love with him so bad?"

"I need the truth, Cassandra. That's just the way I am."

She nodded as if she'd known I'd say that. Hell, she probably had. "If Erzulie said the truth would be revealed, it will. I'm not sure how, or why, or when, but have faith."

"Faith has never been my strong suit," I muttered, and left

If I'd had faith in Simon none of this would have been necessary. But if I hadn't had it then, in him, how could I have it now in