"That isn"t what he means."
I whispered the words. We were now deep in Marie"s territory and the Queen of New Orleans had spies everywhere.
"Marie"s power draws ghosts to her, and once they"re caught in it, like insects in a web, most of them aren"t strong enough to leave."
Instead of taking it as the warning it was intended, Tyler smiled.
"You have got to introduce me to her. It"ll make my life."
Or your death, I thought cynically, but kept that to myself. Marie was selective over whom she granted an audience. She might not even agree to meet with me and Bones, so I doubted she"d squeeze time into her schedule to chat with an unknown fan.
"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l."
The growled words snapped my attention away from Tyler. We were almost at Bones"s town house, yet he was staring down the street with a resigned expression on his face. Was he just now realizing the RV would never fit through the s.p.a.ce that led to the parking garage?
Then I saw the tall, wide-framed African-American man standing in front of our town house, staring back at us as though he"d been waiting all night for our arrival.
"s.h.i.t," I breathed.
Bones shot me a glance that said he was in complete agreement though he didn"t speak as he pulled up next to the man and rolled down the window.
"Jacques," he greeted the large ghoul coolly.
"Bones. Reaper," he replied, addressing me by my nickname. "You may leave your vehicle with me. Majestic is waiting for you."
"Ooh, you have a doorman?" Tyler sounded impressed. "I don"t know why you live in that hillbilly hideaway instead of here."
"He"s not a doorman," I said, cursing to myself. "He"s Marie"s right-hand man."
Tyler glanced at the ghoul with more interest. "Really? I thought you hadn"t called her to tell her you were coming?"
"You thought right," Bones said, getting out of the car. Neither of us bothered to bring our weapons. They were all useless against Marie.
Tyler glanced at Jacques again before meeting my gaze. You"re f.u.c.ked then, aren"t you? ran across his mind.
My smile was brittle. Marie always granted safe pa.s.sage to and from a meeting, but once our audience with her was over, all bets were off.
"That remains to be seen."
Bones handed the RV"s keys to Jacques before giving a different set to Tyler. "Go inside. We"ll be back later."
If he had any doubts about what would happen after our meeting, they didn"t show in his tone. I squared my shoulders and adopted his confident att.i.tude. So Marie"s spies had found out that we"d crossed into her city. On the bright side, now we wouldn"t have to wait to see if she"d agree to speak to us.
On the negative side, I doubted she"d sent someone to fetch us immediately because she"d missed us, but there was only one way to find out what she wanted. I forced an unconcerned tone as I turned to Tyler.
"Don"t have too much fun while we"re gone."
He gave a pointed look at the ma.s.sive ghoul before replying.
"I"ll save that for when you"re back." Then to Jacques he said, "You"re not driving this thing anywhere until I get my dog and her cat."
As a rule, cemeteries didn"t bother me. They were filled with dead people, and as I"d known since I started hunting vampires at sixteen, truly dead people couldn"t hurt you. It was the living and the undead you needed to worry about, so it wasn"t walking among the thousands of remains in Saint Louis Cemetery Number One that made a shiver creep up my spine. It was the knowledge of what lay beneath the crypt of the cemetery"s most famous resident.
Marie Laveau"s tomb would be easy to find even if I didn"t know where it was located. Over six feet tall, it had several sets of dark X"s scrawled onto its whitewashed sides. It also always had offerings in front of it despite grave-tenders cleaning it on a regular basis. Tonight"s contributions consisted of unlit candles, flowers, coins, beads, hard candy, pieces of paper, and a pair of iPod headphones. I ignored all the tributes as I stepped up to the front of the crypt and rapped on its top square.
"We"re here, Majestic."
The grinding noise began at once. I jumped back and watched as the cement block where I"d stood pulled back to reveal stygian darkness. All of the offerings that had been over that area fell with a wet thudding sound into the blackness beneath.
No voice told us to enter. None had to. This was as much invitation as anyone got from Marie. I had to give it to the voodoo queen. She knew how to maximize her version of home-court advantage.
I was about to jump into the hole when Bones stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
"I"ll go first, Kitten."
I didn"t argue. This wasn"t a slap to my feminism-it was good battle strategy. Bones might not have mastered his telekinesis, but a little ability to control objects with your mind was a lot better than none. Marie was also unaware of his new power, so if things took an unexpectedly lethal turn, we had the element of surprise.
Bones jumped into the pit, landing with a small splash about twenty feet down. Nothing underground in New Orleans could stay dry forever, even with the impressive pump system Marie had beneath the cemetery. I jumped in next, glad I had on boots so that whatever squished beneath my feet didn"t end up splattered on my skin.
The hole above us closed at once, plunging the tunnel into as near to complete darkness as was possible for vampire vision. There was only one way to go, so Bones headed deeper into the tunnel, and I followed. We had to walk single file to avoid touching the walls, and I wanted to avoid them for more reasons than their layer of spongy mold. Madigan wasn"t the only person who loved b.o.o.by traps. Marie had rows of long knives hidden in these walls, and one flick of a switch would send them shooting out to julienne whoever was unlucky enough to be in their path.
After about thirty yards, we came to a metal door with hinges that should have been rusted, but they didn"t let out a creak when we opened the door. Then it was up the short staircase to the windowless room that I guessed was inside one of the larger, communal crypts. It had no apparent exit aside from the way we came in, but once more, appearances were deceiving.
Take, for example, the handsome African-American woman in the recliner across from us. Manolo Blahniks peeked out from beneath her fuchsia skirt, its bright color repeated in the string of gemstones that hung over her black sweater. She"d gotten a haircut since I last saw her, its dark length now ending at her chin instead of her shoulders. The flattering new "do framed creamy mocha features that were both ageless and lightly lined.
The closest I could come to pegging Marie"s age when she"d been made into a ghoul was fortyish to fiftyish, but there was no mistaking the years in her gaze. Those hazelnut eyes held knowledge that would intimidate the most lauded of sages, and I didn"t let her soft smile fool me. It was more warning than welcome, pretty though her seash.e.l.l-colored lipstick might be.
"Majestic," Bones said, calling her by the name she preferred.
That lush mouth curved further. "Reaper. Bones. What brings you to my city?"
Her drawl was pure Southern Creole, smoother than b.u.t.ter and sweeter than pie, yet as usual, Marie didn"t bother with false pleasantries. That trait we had in common.
Two unoccupied chairs were the only other furniture in the small room, but I didn"t sit. This wouldn"t take long.
"We"re here to ask for a favor if you"re capable of doing it."
Marie"s brow rose at my challenging statement. Bones gave her a bland smile, yet his shields cracked, and I felt his approval threading through my emotions. Now, at least, she"d hear what the request was, if only to prove that she could do it.
"What is it?"
"We need to question a ghost who keeps disappearing on us," I said. "Can you make one stay if he doesn"t want to?"
She bent down and picked up a gla.s.s of wine I hadn"t noticed before. Must have been hidden behind the fold of her skirt. The sight of that red liquid brought back a rage-inducing memory of the last time the three of us had been in this room: Bones pinned to the wall with Remnants gutting him from the inside out and Marie refusing to call them off until I agreed to drink her blood.
Knowing Marie, she"d chosen to bring that gla.s.s because she wanted us to remember. As if I could ever forget.
"I can do that without difficulty," she replied as she sipped her wine. "Though you take a risk admitting to me that you can"t."
I tensed, but Bones laughed as though she hadn"t just hinted at starting an all-out war between vampires and ghouls.
"Come now, Majestic, you have no interest in pitting our two species against each other. You"ve also known for some time that Cat no longer manifests your abilities, or are we to pretend that you haven"t been spying on us this past year?"
Marie raised her shoulder in a diffident shrug. "Only a fool chooses to live in ignorance when knowledge is so easily obtained."
There were days when she reminded me of my friend, Vlad. He"d be equally unabashed about being caught spying.
"Now that that"s cleared up, will you help us?" I asked bluntly.
"Yes."
I didn"t let out a sigh of relief. I knew better.
So did Bones. "For what price?"
Marie"s smile reminded me of a snake uncoiling itself to strike.
"The location of the ghost you imprisoned last Halloween. I want to know where you trapped Heinrich Kramer."
Five.
The word "no" rose in me, almost scalding my insides with the demand to be voiced. Another crack in his shields let me feel the rage that swept through Bones though the only visible sign was a muscle that ticked in his jaw.
"Why? What do you want with the witch hunter?" he asked with admirable calmness.
Her eyes seemed to glow with inner lights. "That"s none of your concern."
"It is when the motherf.u.c.ker beat me with a car, had his accomplice shoot my best friend, and, oh yeah, set fire to me," I said acidly.
Kramer had done more, but listing all his evil deeds would take too long. He"d been a murdering p.r.i.c.k in life, and becoming a ghost didn"t stop him. It only enabled him to continue his reign of terror for centuries. We"d nearly died trapping Kramer, and now Marie wanted the address of his cell? If she ever let him out, Kramer would come straight for me. At best, one day I"d look down to see a silver knife sticking out of my chest. At worst . . . well, I"d rather the silver knife.
From the gleam in Marie"s gaze, she knew all of the above though her ghostly spies hadn"t found Kramer"s cell, obviously.
"Your price is too high," Bones said in a flat tone.
"Your need for answers from this other ghost must exceed it or you wouldn"t have come," was Marie"s immediate reply.
Memories of the last time I saw Kramer made me want to argue. Giving one lethal adversary possession of another was akin to always having a loaded gun pointed at your heart.
Still, what my friends were facing right now could be worse.
"Done."
Bones"s gaze swung to me. I held out a hand. "She"s right. We need what Don knows more than we need to keep Kramer"s location a secret."
"Don?" A small smile touched Marie"s lips. "Your uncle is the ghost who keeps disappearing on you?"
"You know family." My tone was clipped. "Always a pain in the a.s.s."
Bones stared at Marie. His expression revealed nothing, and his emotions were locked down, so unless I stood in front of him, I couldn"t determine what he was silently telling her. Marie seemed to know, however. She stared back in the same unwavering manner before inclining her head in a slight nod. Then their wordless exchange was over.
"Kramer"s cell is buried in the underground trunk sewer beneath the old combined overflow facility in Ottumwa, Iowa," Bones stated. "If it"s breached in any manner, Kramer will be able to escape."
A satisfied expression flashed over Marie"s features. Once again, I worried over what she wanted with the ghost. With luck, the voodoo queen merely wanted to own one of the world"s most infamous witch hunters-an irony I could appreciate considering Kramer"s hatred of all things female and magical. Then again, when was the last time I believed in something as simple as luck?
"We"ve held up our end, Majestic," Bones said in an even tone. "Your turn."
Bones"s knock boomed on the door. After a moment, Tyler"s "Who"s there?" could be heard over the sound of Dexter"s barking.
"The owner of the b.l.o.o.d.y house."
The door flung open to reveal a grinning Tyler. "Your place actually has style. And it"s right in the heart of the French Quarter! Tell me again why you live in that shack in the woods-"
He stopped speaking when he saw that we weren"t alone. Bones pushed Tyler aside enough to allow Marie and me to enter. We could have done this back at the cemetery, but I didn"t think Tyler would forgive me if I cheated him out of his chance to meet his idol. Now that we"d agreed on terms, he would be safe.
"Majestic, this is our friend, Tyler. Tyler, meet Madame Laveau."
Marie"s gaze flicked over Tyler with polite disinterest. "Bonjour."
Tyler stared at her, his mouth opening and closing. For a few seconds, he didn"t even breathe. The only time I"d seen him close to this enraptured was when he met Ian.
"Madame," he finally choked out. "It is an honor."
Marie"s mouth quirked, and she threw me a look that, had she been anyone else, I would"ve sworn was a humorous version of, At last, someone who appreciates me.
Then she held out her hand. Tyler grasped it but didn"t shake it. He bowed over it with more formality than I"d thought him capable of.
My queen, his thoughts said reverently.
My a.s.s, I didn"t reply out loud.
To my surprise, Marie squeezed Tyler"s hand, her expression turning thoughtful.
"You have power, so you must be the medium I heard about."
Tyler"s beam was instant. "You"ve heard of me?"
She pulled her hand free. "I make it my business to know about anyone who can successfully summon spirits."
If he"d won the lottery, I didn"t think Tyler could look any happier. Bones, however, got right down to business.