street in the city. He hadn't even put us in a back alley. It was nearly four in the afternoon, and cars passed by one after another, but not one driver blinked an eye at the appearance of four men and a woman holding hands in a circle.
The cars weren't the most fascinating thing to look at. We stood in an empty parking spot directly in front of a restaurant with a big blue lettering that said, "Lakeside Harbor." Directly across the street, a huge wall blocked off a neighborhood of what looked like apartment buildings. Sailboat Bay.
"Now where?" I asked. The feeling of being watched danced over my skin.
"This way," Joel said. "I didn't want to take you directly to her. If we startled her, she might back out."
He led the way down a block or so, then we turned left and cut through a packed parking lot. "Busy restaurant," I said. "I pictured you taking us out to some bayou in the backcountry."
Joel chuckled. "There's plenty of hedge witches and some Voodoos out there for sure, but they wouldn't even let me get close. The only reason I managed to convince this lady to help was catching her in public where she had to hear me out without killing me. Too many people around."
"What'd you do, interrupt her at the grocery store?" Michael asked.
"Yes," Joel said over his shoulder.
Okay, then.
We walked onto a much smaller street. More of an alley, really, but no buildings lined it close like it would've in New York or L.A.
Joel stopped in front of an older, red-brick apartment building. It wasn't very big, maybe holding eight or ten apartments at best. "Why wouldn't a Voodoo live somewhere grander?" I whispered, unsure if she had heightened hearing or what her abilities might've been.
"They believe in the personal gain laws of magic," Joel replied. "She could make herself the richest, most politically powerful woman on Earth. Any of the children of the Nephilim could. But they won't. And if one of them tried, the others would shut her down in a heartbeat."
"Always women?" Lucifer asked. He wasn't one for idle chit-chat, preferring to observe.
"Usually. They don't know why." He shrugged and strode forward.
Interesting.
We stood back as Joel knocked on the bottom left door in the apartment building's breezeway. It opened after only two raps and a young boy stared out at us. He couldn't have been more than ten. With a big sigh and a shake of his head, he called into the apartment, "Granny! He came back!"
His accent had the French lilt. I'd longed to hear a New Orleans accent as long as it had existed, which was a relatively short time in the span of my life, at least.
A woman's voice replied to the boy. "Don't be rude. Let them in." Her Southern accent was unlike any other location in the American South, only found in this area. The young man stepped back and held out his arm.
Joel led us into the poorly lit apartment. Shades on the window blocked out the sunlight, but the room was artificially lit by a few lamps that didn't put out enough light to replace the shuttered window. I knew it was for privacy, though. She didn't want anyone knowing her business.
"Go home, child. You lot, come in." A plump woman walked around a corner into the small living room. "Please, have a seat." The boy left the apartment and shut the door behind him.
A couch took up one wall and two armchairs another. Directly behind us was an enormous entertainment center full of DVDs and video games, with a moderate-sized TV in the middle. I perched in one of the armchairs and left the couch for all four men to squeeze onto.
The woman sat regally in the other armchair. We weren't sure what the protocol was here, so we waited for her to speak. "My name is Mary. I am a Nanbo, or Priestess of Voodoo. But you are here for much more than that, are you not?"
"Yes, Mary. Thank you for agreeing to see us." I leaned forward earnestly. "We need your help."
She'd been looking at Joel and turned her head to stare at me. "I do not recognize demons," she said.
Michael sat closest to us on the couch. "I am no demon, by any means, wise woman." I didn't know if that honorific would please her, but she didn't shut him down, so he continued. "Our daughter has been kidnapped. And I know you