Kindling Flames: Stolen Fire (The Ancient Fire Series Book 4) (13 page)

Mama turned her attention to her guests. “Come sit.” She waved at the couch.

Darien went to Vicky and guided her around to sit on the couch with him.

“So,” the old woman looked pointedly at Darien. “Spin your tale, L'aimè, and we shall see what can be done.”

Darien smiled at her. “Impatient as always,” he reprimanded her lightly.

“Ahh, but you came to me this time,” she said, smiling at him wickedly, “and with such a lovely cherè.” Her smile warmed towards Vicky.

“Victoria, I would like you to meet Marie Benoit.” Darien held out his hand to make the needed introductions. “Marie, this is my fiancée, Victoria Westernly.”

The old woman looked at him in surprise and lowered her head in greeting to Vicky. “Welcome to my home, amie. Call me Mama.” The woman grinned at her. “And congratulations. L'aimè is a hard one to catch.” Her eyes shifted over to Darien, and her smile held a touch of unrequited love. “Lord knows we have all tried.”

Darien chuckled at her. “And I would have driven you all crazy.” He took up Vicky’s hand reassuringly and turned to talk to her. “I’ve known their family since shortly after I came to New Orleans. I ran across the most extraordinary young woman one day while getting my hair styled.” Mischief shone in his eyes as he explained things to Vicky. “She had a power I had never encountered before, so I followed her. Of course, she recognized me for what I was right away, so she was wary at first. But, eventually we came to an agreement. She would teach me about Vodou, and I would teach her how to tap into the natural energies of the earth.”

“And that is how Marie Laveau became the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans,” Mama added with a knowing smile.

Vicky eyes widened. She looked at the woman, then back to Darien.

They both grinned widely.

“So, you’re related to Marie Laveau?” Vicky asked, confirming her thoughts.

“On my mother’s side.” The woman nodded. “We have served Master L'aimè since her pact with him all those years ago.”

“And in return, I teach each new generation the secrets of Vodou and magic.” Darien turned his attention back to Mama. “Speaking of new generations, should I start making time for Marie?”

“The child does have a strong connection with the loa, but she is still young.” Mama turned to look at the window. She could just see her granddaughter romping on the grass with Zak. “Let her be a child for a while longer. There will be plenty of time for magic later.” Smiling, she turned her attention back to Darien. “That is, if we can manage to straighten you out. You still haven’t told me what you have done.”

Darien sighed, trying to think of where to start. “It’s a long story.”

“Well then, we best get started. But first,” Mama turned her attention to the doorway into the house, “Delia, where is you?”

“Coming, Mama.” The answering call wafted in from the other room. In a few moments, the missing woman came in with a tray full of glasses and a pitcher of iced tea. “Sorry,” she apologized, setting the tray down and passing out the cups. “I had to pick up the mess Marie made putting together your gris-gris. That child dumped the trashcan over to get at last night’s chicken bones.” Picking up her cup, she took a seat in the other armchair.

“Chicken bones?” Vicky asked as she reached up and grabbed the charm around her neck. It was warm and almost comforting to the touch.

“Gris-gris can be made for all types of things,” Darien explained. He looked back at Delia and touched the bag on his chest. “Do you know what these are for?”

Delia shook her head. “I caught Maria this morning digging through my scraps bag for the cloth. She just said that Uncle L'aimè was coming, and that Papa told her you needed gris-gris. When I asked her what for, she said it was to keep the boogie man away.”

Darien raised an eyebrow at her. “The boogie man?”

“She’s five.” Delia shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder if she even knows what she is saying. The other day, she told me Lucifer was chasing her around the playground at school.”

“I’m sure Morningstar has much better things to do than harass children at school.” Darien smiled.

“Don’t be so sure about that,” Mama warned. “The Devil always be looking for a way in.” Both women crossed themselves.

Vicky shot a questioning look at Darien. She was not sure what to say about this whole conversation. Were they really talking about the Devil as if he were a real person? And if that was the case, was God real, too?

“So tell us, L'aimè, why have you come, and what have you done?” Mama pointed their conversation back to where it needed to go.

Darien picked up his glass of sweet tea and took a sip to wet his mouth. He was a little embarrassed to come to them seeking help like this. “I haven’t done anything.” Carefully, he set his glass back to the coaster and fidgeted with it a little. “I woke up the other day unable to take blood. I spent the day sick in bed.”

“The stomach flu,” Vicky elaborated.

Darien nodded. “When I was well again, I could not reach my powers, sunlight no longer hurt, and my body…” Darien actually bushed a little as he thought of the changes that had occurred to him. “Well, my body has started doing things, on its own that it hasn’t done in a very long time.” The two women looked on in shock as Darien laid out his issues.

“And this started a few days ago?” Mama asked.

“Yes,” Darien confirmed.

“Well…” Vicky interjected, and the women turned to look at her. “Everything Darien said started a few days ago, but I think it started earlier than that.”

Darien let out a heavy breath; he hadn’t wanted to admit that this issue could have started much earlier without his noticing.

“When?” Mama asked.

Darien shut his eyes, blocking out the room. He knew the information could be important, but he didn’t wanting to admit his faults or the fact that he had nearly killed Vicky in his stupidity.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to tell them, Vicky answered for him. “Sometime before Halloween.” She told them of his confusion at work, his slow healing after the accident, and his inebriation at the party.

Darien braced himself for condemnation of his fouled-up mark, but she skipped over it. She did tell them of his increased appetite over the last few weeks.

Mama and Delia listened closely as the details piled up.

“And you didn’t see any of this as possible problems?” Delia asked in wonderment.

“Of course I did.” Darien tried not to snap. Having Vicky lay everything out made it very clear that there had been something wrong for months. “The last few months have been very… busy.”

Vicky nodded her agreement.

“Besides, I called on a fay friend of mine for help, but he could find nothing wrong before a few nights ago.”

“The fay are creatures of magic and can overlook the simplest things because it seems right to them.” Mama pushed herself up from her chair. “Come here and let me look at you.”

Darien stood up in front of the old woman.

Laying her fingers on Darien’s chest like Lord Dakine always did, Mama closed her eyes, searching him. “L'aimè, I am not sure what has happened, but something has hooked out your essence. Bare traces of it still cling to you, but those, too, will soon be gone.” She looked at Darien, worried. “If you lose those, you may not be able to regain what you have already lost.”

Real fear crossed Darien’s face for a moment before he pushed it back. “Is there some way to stop it?” he asked.

Vicky could feel the anxiety bubbling inside of him. She reached up and took his hand, offering what little comfort she could.

Mama gasped and snapped her head to look at Vicky. She looked back at Darien, then to Vicky again. “Let him go,” the old woman commanded sharply.

Startled, Vicky dropped his hand.

Mama looked at Darien again before pushing him out of the way.

He moved, but watched carefully as Mama went to Vicky.

“Stand, child.”

Vicky looked up for Darien’s approval before rising from the couch.

Mama placed her hand on Vicky’s chest. “This can’t be,” she gasped, looking up at Vicky’s blue eyes. “Are you human?”

“Yes,” Vicky answered, unsure where this was going.

“We’ve had a few run-ins with the fay,” Darien admitted.

A smile slowly crept across Mama’s face before she broke out in laughter. “This is rich!” she chuckled as she went back to her chair.

Slightly stunned, Vicky reclaimed her seat on the couch.

“What?” Darien settled next to her.

Mama worked to calm her mirth but couldn’t get the smile off her face. “She has your powers.”

Darien looked at Vicky in shock.

Vicky was stunned by this announcement.

“But, how?” Darien touched Vicky, probing her with what little power he could still call. “She’s not a vampire.”

Mama chuckled again. “No, but she can call on them.” Picking up a letter opener from the table next to her chair, Mama threw it at Darien. The knife-like object sunk into his leg before he could even register the attack.

“Darien!” Vicky gasped as he clutched at the fresh wound, hissing in pain. Without thinking about it, Vicky grabbed up some napkins from the iced-tea tray and yanked out the opener. She pressed the tissue to the gushing wound. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she cursed as she applied pressure, trying to get the cut to stop bleeding. The blade had gone deep, and the blood quickly soaked through the paper.

Amusement lit Mama’s face as she watched them.

Vicky scowled at her and grasped for another handful of tissues.

The front door banged open, and Zak came bubbling through, spoiling for a fight. He had dropped his dog act and waved tentacles menacingly at the old woman as he came to check on Darien.

The little girl came in right behind him.

“It’s all right,” Darien soothed the little fay.

Pulling the blood-soaked tissue away, Vicky went to press the new wad to the wound. What she found showing through the hole in his jeans stopped her. She looked at up at Darien before slipping her finger into the slit. The skin below was smooth and unbroken. The wound had completely healed, leaving no signs of a mark.

Amusement crossed Darien’s face as he released his hand from around his leg.

Zak ran his feelers over Darien, checking him for any other injuries before turning and growling at Mama.

“I didn’t know you had a guardian.” Mama looked over the upset hellhound.

Darien leaned forwards and pulled the grumpy fay into his lap. He patted Zak softly, settling him. “He claimed Vicky.” Darien shifted the mess of tentacles over to Vicky’s lap.

Zak gurgled at him and buried his face into Vicky’s middle. One lone tentacle reached out and wrapped itself around the belt loop of Darien’s jeans.

Mama studied the trio on the couch. “I see.” She turned her attention to the wide eyes of the little girl watching them. “Come here, Marie.”

“Yes, Gama.” The child came over and crawled up in her grandmother’s lap. Her eyes never left the fay she had been playing with.

“Are you afraid?” Mama kissed her granddaughter on the top of the head.

The little girl shook her head and stared at Zak in amazement.

Zak wiggled around so he could look at his playmate.

“Can I keep ‘em?” she asked softly.

Mama laughed lightly. “No, sweetheart.” She kissed the child’s hair again. “He has to stay with L'aimè. He may very well need a protector in the next few weeks.”

Zak gurgled and wrapped a few more ends around Darien’s arm.

Darien glanced down at the unexpected contact but stroked the grasping ends. “But, if you like, you can go back outside and play,” he offered.

Delia looked ready to object, but Maria hopped back up from her grandmother’s lap excitedly.

“Really?”
She looked over at her mother.

Delia let out a long sigh and nodded her head.

Zak gurgled excitedly and wobbled out of Vicky’s lap. He led the way to the door and opened it to let the child out.