The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (85 page)

“I’m glad you finally are beginning to see things my way. It will make this much easier than I had anticipated.”

She got into the cab. “Take us to the voodoo shop, please.”

The cabby glanced back at her in his rearview mirror. “Everything okay, miss?”

She looked away from his prying eyes. “Fine.”

He put the car into gear and they made their way down the empty street. On the left was a blackened shop, with a wooden sign hung above the door that read:
The Goat’s Head
. The shop’s windows were painted with odd symbols and the
open
light had been turned off. “Let’s go,” she said as she opened the door and stepped out of the taxi. “You wanted your chance. Here it is. But remember, you owe me the books and my friend. If you go against me, I will find a way to send your spirit to the depths of hell even if I have to sell my soul to Zeus. I will make sure you never reach your family in the afterlife.”

Edward cringed. “Regardless of what your Jasper thinks, I will come through. My word is my honor. Honor is the only thing I have besides my eternal soul. I take my vow in earnest.”

“I hope so.” She shifted uncomfortably at the thought of having to go to the nymphs’ enemy—Zeus.

She walked up the steps to the door and knocked on the glass.

“Ain’t nobody here. Get gone!” a woman answered.

“We need your help,” Starling called back. “My friend thinks he’s possessed by a demon.” She cringed as she realized how her lie so closely resembled the truth. “We don’t know where else to turn.”

They were answered with silence.

Edward knocked on the door again. “Please … I need help. Money isn’t an issue.”

The door opened a crack. A woman peered out through the tiny space. “I charge double after hours. Triple if you’re a pain in the ass.” She opened the door a tiny bit more. Catching sight of Edward, her face brightened. “What are you doing here, Edward?”

“It’s been a while.” He smiled. “Aren’t you going to let us in?”

She opened the door and waved them in. “They’re gonna be angry.”

“I took initiative. They can’t be angry. Not when I got what something they want.” Edward grabbed Starling by the arm. She tried to resist, but he pushed her through the door in front of him.

“What they be wanting? What you mean? Who be this girl?”

“This is Starling. She’s my prisoner.”

Starling gasped. “What the hell are you talking about?” Starling pulled her arm out of Edward’s hand as she looked around the dark shop, seeking another door for escape.

“You are such an imprudent woman,” Edward said as he closed the door and clicked the lock into place.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. Jasper had been right; she never should have trusted Edward to do as he’d promised. How could she have been so stupid and fallen for the promises of a being who had nothing to lose?

“Did you lie about everything, Edward? Did your family even exist?”

The ebony-colored woman standing beside him laughed. “How long you gonna tell people that I be some evil murderer? Don’t you get tired of the same ole lie? You gotta get some new material, Eddie.”

“But it’s fun and it always works. I always manage to find you.”

“How did you go ’bout findin’ me this time?” She flicked on one of the switches in a long line, lighting up the shop. The shelves were filled with different types of liquors, and strange marionette-style dolls hung from the ceiling by their slender necks.

“Your friend Jamie, the witch, pointed us in the direction of your new shop.”

“Well, I’m mighty glad she did. You didn’t give her no reason to suspect nothin’, did ya? She’s been itchin’ to find something to use against me.”

“Come now, Beth. We’ve been together too long for you to worry about such frivolous details.” Edward pushed a stray hair out of Bethany’s face and back up under her head wrap. “I’ll always put you first,
mon cher
.”

Starling ran her hand over her neck, as her body switched into autopilot in the face of danger. “What do you plan on doing with me?”

Bethany turned her neck, and as she moved, Starling noticed that her earrings were made of tiny bones and a sparkling blue stone. The Voodoo Queen frowned as she looked at Starling like she’d all but forgotten that she had been standing there. “That’s a good question, Edward. What’re ya plannin’ on doin’ with your little poppet?”

“You need to call them. I believe they will finally follow through on their promises to you and me once they have their hands on this girl.”

“You be dreamin’, Eddie.” Bethany sat her hand lovingly on Edward’s arm. “But I do have to admit I’m glad to be seeing ya. This body be one of the best so far.”

Edward ran his hand down her cheek. “If we play our cards right, maybe this one I can keep.”

“I hope so. I think we could have us a lot of fun.” Bethany ran her finger over the buttons on Jasper’s shirt and pulled back the hem just enough to show his bare skin. She raked her long, white-tipped fingernail over his washboard stomach, making Edward wince with enjoyment.

A strangled noise escaped Starling as she watched the woman defile Jasper’s flesh. “Don’t touch him.”

Bethany glanced back at her. “You go mindin’ your own business, girl. It’s been a mighty long time since I’ve been with my Eddie. You’re lucky I’m not lockin’ you in the basement.” She flashed Edward a wanton look.

“You have no business touching Jasper. He isn’t just somebody you can use and throw away.”

“Why? He yours?” Bethany asked with a spitting laugh, leaving her fingers on Jasper’s pecs.

Starling stepped forward and batted the woman’s hand away from Jasper. “I’m sick of you. I’m sick of this. I want him back.”

Edward’s laughter ricocheted through the macabre room. “See. She’s a girl. I almost feel badly throwing her to the vultures. I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised they hadn’t found her and brought her back to headquarters by now; she wasn’t hard to manipulate. All I needed was to find her weak point—Jasper.”

“Did you stop to think that maybe that’s part of their plan, Eddie? What if they’re using her for somethin’? What if they’re angry at what you’ve gone and done?” Bethany huffed. “You shoulda at least told me before you took her.”

“What was I going to do, Bethany? It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. And believe me, I thought long and hard about bringing her here—I didn’t want to get you mixed up in any more business with the council. There was no other way around it. She wouldn’t just tell me where to find you.”

“You ever thought of looking in a phone book?” Bethany stepped out of his arms. “I made sure my address be everywhere so you could find me if you got the chance to come back.”

“I don’t see a lot of phone books lying around. Don’t be angry with me, my pet. I tried to do the best I could. At least I finally found a body I could possess. Let’s just be happy. This could be our chance to start again. Make a real go of life. We can travel. The world is our oyster.”

“Only if the council fixes to let us live. They were fumin’ after your last escape.”

Edward glanced over at Starling like she was nothing more than a pile of garbage. “Maybe we don’t have to turn her into the council. It will be a few days before they realize I’ve gone missing from the cemetery.”

“Is that where they stuck you this time?” Bethany asked. “Which one? I went all round the city tryin’ to find you.”

“Bonaventure. They even let me have a nice little mausoleum. I think they are really starting to move past my last run for freedom.”

“Well, now that forgiveness gonna be over.” Bethany moved away from the door and pulled the shades down in her windows.

You can’t let them take you. You have to get away
. Asclepius’s spectral voice echoed through Starling’s mind.
They will kill you if you stay here.

Starling stepped back, keeping her back against the wall so she could keep a close eye on her enemies. People want to kill me everywhere I go. What am I going to do? I can’t leave Jasper in their hands.

If you don’t act, they’ll send you to the Catharterians or kill you themselves—either way, you’ll never make it out of this city alive. You know what you need to do. You can do this. Your life depends on what happens in the next few moments.

Starling shuffled down the wall until she came to a counter.

“Where do you think you be goin’?” Bethany said, motioning for her to stop moving.

Starling stopped and put her hands behind her back. Her fingers brushed against something sharp. “I’m not going anywhere. I just wanted to give you guys your space.”

“You’re a little brat. You don’t expect me think you ain’t up to something, do you? Just a second ago you were throwin’ a right fit about me touchin’ your man and now you be actin’ all quiet.”

Starling took hold of the long, slightly sharp object. It felt metallic and cold, but she didn’t risk looking behind her to see exactly what she’d found.

“What you got there in your hand?” Bethany took a step toward her.

Without thinking, Starling reacted, rushing at the Voodoo Queen with the mysterious object. She plunged the object into the space just above the woman’s clavicle. Letting go, she saw the end of a silver candlestick.

“You bitch. What have you done!” Bethany screamed with anger and pain. “Edward, kill her. Kill the little bitch!”

Starling ran to the door and fumbled with the lock as Edward’s fingers twisted around her throat. She pushed his right hand away. “No!” she screamed. Grabbing the nearest object, a bottle of sand, she twisted and threw it in his face. The bottle smashed against his nose, sending sand into his eyes.

She twisted the lock open while Edward cried out with pain. Starling nearly fell through the doorway and rushed down the street to where the cab was waiting.

“Go!” she yelled.

The cabby gave her a shocked look but hit the gas, screeching the tires as they escaped away in the night.

Not only had she let herself down by allowing herself to be tricked by a terrible imposter, but she had also left Jasper behind and worse—hurt. She had wanted so badly to protect him from the terrible spirit and his mistress, but now there was no way she could go back. She had no one she could call on to help her—except Jamie. But if she called the witch, she would put her in danger, too.

Starling couldn’t risk hurting anyone else. Her best bet was finding an answer to help Jasper on her own—which meant going back to the cemetery and finding the books. The books held the answers to control and manage spirits, which meant they may well hold the answer on how to remove Edward’s spirit from Jasper’s body. Jamie had said the books weren’t her only answer, but maybe they could be the first answer in a long line of questions.

“Can you please take me back to the Bonaventure Cemetery?” she asked the driver. She glanced up at the meter. Thankfully, she still had a paid room, or she would have been resigned to living on the streets until she got Jasper back.

“You got it.” The man turned toward the cemetery, driving slowly through the darkened streets. Everything was dark until they drove down Bay Street. The lights of the city were ablaze, making the mass of bar-goers glow red and green, gold and purple. Was that what most people her age were doing? Living life to the fullest, unencumbered by the death of their mother and loss of their only friend?

For a moment, jealousy splashed through her, but it was quickly replaced with gut-wrenching fear.

She had acted impulsively, but no matter how much she replayed the scene in her head, she couldn’t think of another way to have gotten out of The Goat’s Head alive and with Jasper at her side. And if she didn’t make it, neither would Jasper.

The cab came to a stop in front of the sign for the cemetery. “You want me to wait here again?”

“Please.” Hopefully she would be coming back. She handed the cabby most of the money that was left in her purse.

The damp night air hung on her like a wet shower curtain, chilling her to the core. She of all people shouldn’t be afraid of entering a graveyard at night, but she couldn’t stop the anxiety that built up inside her as she made her way past row after row of grave markers.

What are you doing back? Is your friend okay?
Gracie’s sweet little voice sounded from the darkness.

“Gracie? Are you here?”

A small apparition appeared standing beside a headstone with a schnauzer inscribed in its surface. Gracie’s curly hair fell loosely over her shoulders as it must have been when she’d crossed over. Starling gasped. She’d only seen a spirit in solid, or rather smoky, form the day her mother had been killed—the day that she had seen Asclepius for the first time and when he had begun his maddening quest for her to find the books.

“Do you know why I can see you?” she asked, trying to sound calm about addressing a little girl who looked exactly like her stone memorial.

“I don’t know,” Gracie said, her voice suddenly more than a ghostly whisper. It sounded as if the girl truly stood in front of her. “Do you think your gift is growing stronger?”

Stronger … was that it? Or rather, was it a stress induced gift of sight? Only time would tell.

“Gracie, I need to find the books. They have to be back in the mausoleum where Jasper was possessed. Would you please show me the quickest way to get there?”

Gracie nodded. She moved away from the headstone and a small apparition of a dog came out of the ground and followed as she moved quickly through the labyrinth of markers. The schnauzer twisted around the girl’s feet, happily prancing as it gazed lovingly up at Gracie. Starling had to hold her purse steady as she jogged to keep up with the duo.

The faster the better—Bethany probably had more than her fair share of henchman who could be ready to kidnap Starling, or worse, at a moment’s notice.

She couldn’t be taken by Bethany or Edward again. They were even more dangerous than the Catharterians. As she followed Gracie under a Spanish moss laden oak, the archangel came into view. Her hands were up, once again ready to receive.

Gracie and the dog stopped beside the statue, practically standing on the name, Avi Mortem. A third apparition took form beside them.