Michel.
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the store.”
I counted to three in the space of silence that followed. “Then you know.”
“Yes.”
“Lacey, listen to me very carefully. I need your help. It has all the bones now, but the spell isn’t working. It needs the harp.”
“What are you talking about?”
His voice hardened. “Don’t play games. I know all about the harp of Binnorie. It’s the only reason your life was spared over my aunt’s—the creature knew it might need you. You have to bring the harp to Marie Laveau’s tomb or Li Grand Zombi will kill me!”
The old Lacey would have run to help a friend, even an acquaintance, but this Lacey was watching Ava roam aimlessly through the store.
“Tell me first what you did to Ava.”
There was another pause. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Fine. I’m going to hang up now.”
“No! Wait! I didn’t do it to hurt her. With how she took down Bel, I knew she was capable of protecting you if it came down to a choice between you and my aunt. I just needed to take Ava out of the equation to give my aunt a fighting chance. Obviously, it didn’t matter in the end.”
Cold settled into my spine as I understood that Michel had deliberately sabotaged Ava, my only support system in the city once the White Lady was dead, to protect his aunt. Something ached in the back of my throat and along my jawline. “How did you know about that? I never told you how Bel saved us from the vampire.”
A third pause, the longest of the three. “Ava did while you were talking to my aunt. We don’t have time for this. Please, Lacey, I’m dead if you don’t come.”
I relented. “Where are you now?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just be at Marie Laveau’s tomb by sundown. Bring Ava and I promise I’ll undo what I did to her after I’m safe.” The phone went dead.
I looked at the others, but Bel waved any explanation away. “Excellent hearing is a universal hallmark of all supernaturals. So, the creature has the ingredients for the spell, but doesn’t know how to use them. Interesting. It’s either the most incompetent evil mastermind ever born, or this is a trap. What’s so special about this spell anyway that it needs so much magical firepower?”
It was Chloe that answered him. “That’s what I’ve been asking myself this whole time. Li Grand Zombi wants to bring Baron Samedi permanently into this world, and now we find a painting of the Baron with a familiar face on it.”
Bel frowned. “Cernunnos?”
The girl’s smile was small and cold. “Buddy, you need to spend more time on the internet instead of at raves, or at least pay attention to Morgause when she’s in a chatty mood. He’s to be called Merlin now. The bones of three witches are going to be used to create a spell to bring the Baron though the Gates of Guinee. What if it’s not a gate? What if it’s a wall?
“What are you talking about, girl? Cernu- . . . Merlin created the Wall Between Worlds. Why would he need help to cross it?”
“Here’s another update—it’s a lie that he created the Wall. The Lady of the Lake trapped him in Avalon. He can appear here briefly, but he’s a prisoner there. Obviously he’s been manipulating this Li Grand Zombi creature to somehow bring him across.”
I looked back at the painting. “So now he’s Baron Samedi too? How many names does this guy have?”
Bel snorted. “He’s the Lord of the Grey Lands of Avalon. That place also has many names, including Hades and Sheol—it’s basically the underworld of every culture on Earth—so why not its master? But what I don’t understand is if Merlin is trapped behind the Wall, how did the artist of that painting capture his likeness so well?”
“Let’s find out. Take it down,” I commanded.
“Take it down yourself, little witch,” he muttered, but obeyed anyway, placing the painting on the front counter. The ball of fire followed it and hovered above.
Chloe pointed.
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the store.”
I counted to three in the space of silence that followed. “Then you know.”
“Yes.”
“Lacey, listen to me very carefully. I need your help. It has all the bones now, but the spell isn’t working. It needs the harp.”
“What are you talking about?”
His voice hardened. “Don’t play games. I know all about the harp of Binnorie. It’s the only reason your life was spared over my aunt’s—the creature knew it might need you. You have to bring the harp to Marie Laveau’s tomb or Li Grand Zombi will kill me!”
The old Lacey would have run to help a friend, even an acquaintance, but this Lacey was watching Ava roam aimlessly through the store.
“Tell me first what you did to Ava.”
There was another pause. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Fine. I’m going to hang up now.”
“No! Wait! I didn’t do it to hurt her. With how she took down Bel, I knew she was capable of protecting you if it came down to a choice between you and my aunt. I just needed to take Ava out of the equation to give my aunt a fighting chance. Obviously, it didn’t matter in the end.”
Cold settled into my spine as I understood that Michel had deliberately sabotaged Ava, my only support system in the city once the White Lady was dead, to protect his aunt. Something ached in the back of my throat and along my jawline. “How did you know about that? I never told you how Bel saved us from the vampire.”
A third pause, the longest of the three. “Ava did while you were talking to my aunt. We don’t have time for this. Please, Lacey, I’m dead if you don’t come.”
I relented. “Where are you now?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just be at Marie Laveau’s tomb by sundown. Bring Ava and I promise I’ll undo what I did to her after I’m safe.” The phone went dead.
I looked at the others, but Bel waved any explanation away. “Excellent hearing is a universal hallmark of all supernaturals. So, the creature has the ingredients for the spell, but doesn’t know how to use them. Interesting. It’s either the most incompetent evil mastermind ever born, or this is a trap. What’s so special about this spell anyway that it needs so much magical firepower?”
It was Chloe that answered him. “That’s what I’ve been asking myself this whole time. Li Grand Zombi wants to bring Baron Samedi permanently into this world, and now we find a painting of the Baron with a familiar face on it.”
Bel frowned. “Cernunnos?”
The girl’s smile was small and cold. “Buddy, you need to spend more time on the internet instead of at raves, or at least pay attention to Morgause when she’s in a chatty mood. He’s to be called Merlin now. The bones of three witches are going to be used to create a spell to bring the Baron though the Gates of Guinee. What if it’s not a gate? What if it’s a wall?
“What are you talking about, girl? Cernu- . . . Merlin created the Wall Between Worlds. Why would he need help to cross it?”
“Here’s another update—it’s a lie that he created the Wall. The Lady of the Lake trapped him in Avalon. He can appear here briefly, but he’s a prisoner there. Obviously he’s been manipulating this Li Grand Zombi creature to somehow bring him across.”
I looked back at the painting. “So now he’s Baron Samedi too? How many names does this guy have?”
Bel snorted. “He’s the Lord of the Grey Lands of Avalon. That place also has many names, including Hades and Sheol—it’s basically the underworld of every culture on Earth—so why not its master? But what I don’t understand is if Merlin is trapped behind the Wall, how did the artist of that painting capture his likeness so well?”
“Let’s find out. Take it down,” I commanded.
“Take it down yourself, little witch,” he muttered, but obeyed anyway, placing the painting on the front counter. The ball of fire followed it and hovered above.
Chloe pointed.
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