back, releasing me. I drive my fist again, nailing him in the nose. Blood sprays across his cheek. Swinging again, I rail a second punch to his jaw.
When I pivot back to Jude, he fires a bullet into my leg. Bone jarring pain shoots up into my thigh, tearing through flesh like a molten blade. “Motherfucker!” I ignore it and keep after her, and that’s when the second gunman steps in front of her, barrel pointed at my forehead for the second time tonight. Thwarted, I growl my frustrations, silently vowing to put a bullet through the woman’s heart by night’s end.
“I think it’s time we get this ceremony started. Tensions seem to be a bit high right now.” Jude is one breath away from being throttled, consequences be damned. But the distraction might afford me the opportunity to strategize a way to get Céleste and myself out of here safely. “Luc, if you wouldn’t mind keeping a close watch on this one. I’m sure this evening’s events will be somewhat upsetting for our angry guest here.”
“Sure thing, Miss Bijou.”
The moment she walks off, Luc raises the gun, urging me to stand off to the side, just outside the circle. Hobbling around the crowd, I glance back, wanting nothing more than to slice the smug fucking look right off his face. The second gunman follows after us, taking his place behind Luc and me, his weapon never once diverting from its aim at my skull.
“You’re a real fucking hero,” I say, over the chanting.
“Callin’ the kettle black, ain’t it? Now don’ think dis’s anything personal against your fille. I liked Céleste, me.”
“So much you handed her off to a butcher? Va te faire enculer.” Fuck you.
A loud horn snaps my attention back toward the circle that parts for a figure cloaked in black. With a regal sort of grace that I’ve seen once before, he makes his way to the center, where Céleste lies unconscious.
“Le Bouc Noir.” The awe in Luc’s voice tells me the hooks have been firmly planted in him. Probably little chance of talking him out of this lunacy now, but it’s worth a shot.
“Don’t do this, Luc. It’s not you. Come with Céleste and me. We can leave this island. Go far away from all this.” I take the opportunity to scope other exits.
None from what I can see.
The only one is the stairwell we descended.
“Now, why would I want to do dat, when things just startin’ to get good for me?”
“What’s good about this?”
No sooner do I ask the question than another figure, also dressed in black, steps into the circle with the first. Delicate hands with red painted nails push back the cloak’s hood, and a feeling of dread settles over me.
Verónica.
“Tell me dat ain’t one fine lookin’ catin. Parrain’s gonna bless her tonight. I’m hopin’ to put a baby in her.”
The scenario is so nightmarish, I don’t know whether to laugh, or punch myself in the face to see if I’m dreaming.
Both the cloaked man and Verónica busy themselves with the lighting of candles and chanting.
Next, I scope the bigger members, the ones most likely to put up a fight. Besides my cousin, and the man standing behind us with the gun, there are two others in the circle that look to be a decent size.
Once I take out the gunman behind me, I’ll need to incapacitate them. And Luc. Then it’ll be a matter of getting Céleste past the rest of the crowd, who could get hostile real quick.
Glancing around the room, I find a third task to my escape. If I can herd them through one of the archways, the structure of which seems to be supported by a faulty wooden beam, I might be able to trap them in one of the rooms. Gaze trailing up the beam shows sagging wood, suffering from rot and decay. Seems one good kick could buckle it.
First task, though?
Getting the gun from Luc’s hands.
“Last I checked, the priest in these black masses fucks one of the women,” I taunt. If there’s one thing I know about my cousin, he’s about as jealous and possessive as they come.
“Yeah, your fille, chat. Not mine.”
Hands balled into tight fists, I will the infernal raging fire inside of me back down into my gut. Seems I’m just as jealous as he is. I can’t risk fucking this up over some casually tossed words. “Your ignorance astounds me, Cousin. You’ve seriously never looked into what goes down at these