Healing the Bayou by Mary Bernsen Page A

I stay, I have to watch the man I love from a distance.” My voice broke. “He’ll eventually find someone else, and I’ll have to sit front row for it.” At least if we went back to Florida, I could attempt to pretend he wasn’t there.
    “He isn’t going to find anyone else, Eliza. You two will be together.”
    She was so confident in her statement it almost took my worry away by magic. It wasn’t a guess. She was keeping something to herself.
    “How do you know that, Camille?”
    “Filomèz told me last night. She is one of the great loas we rely upon to lead us on the right path.”
    “Camille—” I was getting ready to call her out for trying to tell me I should decide my fate based on what one of her spirit friends told her, but she wouldn’t give me the opportunity.
    “She comes to us in our sleep and reveals things to us. She said she has visited you recently, and she revealed me to you in your dreams.”
    Shocked by the suggestion, I stopped breathing. I had dreamed about Camille and Samuel both before I knew them. Was it possible it was because a spirit placed the dreams in me so I would be prepared for my destiny? I couldn’t respond, and she read my silence as a sign to continue.
    “I can’t tell you how or when. I can’t tell you much at all, but she will reveal it to you when the time is right. You just have to trust me.”
    “Is that true?” Samuel exposed himself from the shadows where he had been hiding, listening to our conversation.
    My heart rocketed into my throat at the intrusion, and I couldn’t decide if I welcomed it or not. Camille seemed to think it was a good thing he overheard, and she made no secret of it.
    “Oh good,” she exclaimed. “This saves me the trouble of having to repeat it all later.”
    “Are you certain of what you’re saying, Camille?” His face was as hard as stone—unreadable and vacant. It made me nervous.
    “Of course I am.” She snorted, ignoring him completely and keeping her focus on convincing me of it. “Believe me, Eliza. You will have him, but only if you stay.”
    Looking to Samuel, I searched desperately for some sign that it was what he wanted too. I had read his feelings. I knew where his heart stood, but he didn’t strike me as the type to base his decisions or even his desires on what emotions held him captive in the moment.
    “Camille.” He stared at me intensely even when he spoke her name. “Would you give us some privacy please? Eliza and I have some things to talk about.”
    She smiled at me warmly. Reaching out to take my hand, she thought better of it and drew it back. “You’ll stay for the same reason I did,” she repeated.
    I swallowed hard as I watched her begin to disappear. I was left with no other choice than to acknowledge Samuel for the first time tonight.
    “Were you spying on us?” I asked him, already knowing the answer.
    “I didn’t mean to. I was watching you, like I always do. And when you said my name, I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t tune it out anymore.”
    “I guess I can’t blame you for that.” I had to admit I would’ve done the same thing. “Do you believe what Camille said?”
    “I do,” he nodded. “Camille has a special relationship with Filomèz. She has since she was initiated. We use her when we need to speak to Filomèz directly.”
    “What do you mean you use her?” Recalling the terrifying images of my dream, I cringed at his choice in words.
    “She is the one we use as the host. Filomèz has to possess someone. Camille most closely resembles what we traditionally picture as Filomèz’s representation, so she is the obvious choice.”
    I gasped. “You mean you offer her as a sacrifice?”
    “In a way. We don’t hurt her, Eliza. The host has to be willing. She wouldn’t volunteer if it made her uncomfortable.
    I wasn’t so sure. Thinking of studies I had read about the self-mutilation people had inflicted on themselves in the name of their religion, I shuddered to