Tobias waited at Nigella’s farm, Bo was at Town Hall, and Jade hid in the cemetery with Mick. Jade had a peculiar feeling that her father would choose to perform whatever deed he had in mind at her mother’s grave.
Jade wore all black, from suede boots to leather jacket. As she waited in the shadows, the ghosts that inhabited the land whispered to her. Thanks to her father’s instructions, she hadn’t lost the ability to speak with the spirits.
But, ironically, the one voice she needed to hear was the one that kept silent. Her mother. She probed with her mind to try to coax Nicolette to talk to her.
All she heard were echoes of other people’s pasts.
Even in the dark and from a distance, she could see the lanterns as the procession headed closer. From the southern entrance of the cemetery, Mick noticed headlights approaching.
“Jade, we need to shimmer-don’t go anywhere until I’m certain it’s your father. Then go get Tobias and Bo.”
“Bo should be here any minute. He was coming here to meet us after the opening ceremony,” Jade said as her energy vibrated faster and faster, becoming a blur.
Soon they were like the fog that rolled in off the water, hovering for a moment.
Car doors slammed shut-one, two, three of them-and Jade sensed her father and sister’s energies. In an instant, she was gone and materialized next to Tobias.
“They’re at the cemetery-Henri, my father and Raven,” Jade reported, and soon the two traveled the blackened mists back to where Mick was secreted.
As they reappeared, the first gilded carriage arrived at the gates of Mirabelle Cemetery. The caretaker opened them up to let the rest of the followers in. The carriages circled around to the row of mausoleums that housed the first inhabitants of Mirabelle Island.
Nicolette’s five-foot grave marker stood ten feet from there. It was an exact replica of Nicolette.
“It’s incredible. The likeness,” Jade said to Tobias, admiring the statue of her mother.
“I couldn’t leave Nicolette’s body in Louisiana and, after Hurricane Katrina, I’m glad I brought her body to Mirabelle years earlier.”
Solaris exited the carriage along with the few Empusas who stayed for the rituals. Bo was next to hop off the carriage. He noticed Tobias and hurried toward him.
That was when Jade spotted a man of medium build escorting Raven to their mother’s grave. She’d been waiting for this moment for what seemed like forever. She caught sight of Bo and froze for a split second. He looked ready to pounce on the man with Raven.
She grabbed Bo by the shoulder. “Don’t do anything, Bo. That man’s a Lamai. I recognize him as a friend of my father’s. He’ll attack Raven before you even get off the ground.”
“Take it easy, Bo,” Tobias whispered.
It took every ounce of willpower Bo could muster to obey the elder Lamai.
“What do we do, then?”
Tobias patted Bo’s back. “We don’t do anything. You stay put.”
As Solaris prepared to make her speech, the caretakers started the bonfire, while the celebrants brought flowers, candles and their trays of food for the ancestors. Torches blazed at the four directions surrounding the fire.
Bo circled the other way to approach Raven from behind. As he did, he glimmered and became his wolf counterpart. Silently he padded across leaves colored in a variety of jewel tones, amber, citrine and garnet. This was Raven’s favorite time of year. He couldn’t lose her now that he was so close to her. Neither could he stand idly by and do nothing. He owed Raven the very same sacrifice she’d made for him. The love they shared would endure the changes life inevitably would throw at them. Existence without her was unthinkable. She was his life.
Bo eyed Jade as she stood beside Mick, both still shimmering to keep their whereabouts hidden from Laroque. Tobias lingered somewhere in the mists.
Solaris made her way to the mausoleum marked with the names Jeremiah and Rachel Starr. Julianna, along with Bridget, knelt in front of the tomb, leaving a bottle of absinthe and a tray of fresh meats and vegetables.
As the new mayor opened her mouth to begin her speech, chaos erupted.
Philippe Laroque appeared from the murky fog, standing on the other side of Raven and Henri.
The flames in the fire pit loomed over six feet high, lighting up the area, along with the full moon that washed everything with a silvery glow. Everyone fell silent for a brief instant.
A moan echoed from the crashing waves that surrounded the island, heralding The Night of the Dead.
The winds picked up in intensity.
It seemed as if the winds were crying, that Nicolette was crying.
Raven watched a scene she’d witnessed too many times to count. The flames seemed to leap higher and higher. She thought her totem animal flew overhead to sit in a tree branch above her.
It was the raven-a messenger.
The raven cautioned the light bearers about impending devastation and battle. Be forewarned, she cried, allowing time for preparation. Raven was a bird of the Underworld. She had the capacity to see into the past, the future and beyond the veil of mortality. The gift of the raven was in her journey. She was able to travel from this world and across the barriers of death to the other side. A gatherer of information, mystical raven then returned with her knowledge to impart upon the seeker or healer.
Raven prayed the bird was a positive omen. She readied herself for battle, hoping her warrior was nearby. Hope sprang up from within her, unasked for and persistent. She knew he was close. There still existed a connection between them.
Henri held her against him. He felt as cold as the October night. She began to shiver and instinctively headed for the fire. For Bo.
Raven lurched forward and, as she stepped a few feet away, the vampire lunged for her, obviously startled by her movements.
That was when Bo made his move.
He pounced onto the man holding his mate. Clamping his jaw and razor sharp fangs around the neck of Henri Rioux, he refused to let go.
Bo deduced Henri was a clever and resourceful vampire. Proof of that was when Henri immediately transformed to mist. The bastard left Bo with only a mouthful of blood and flesh. He waited for the man to resurface. Bo had wounded him, and he could not remain in the ethers for very long.
But Bo’s attention was ripped in two as Laroque grabbed Raven and pinned her arms behind her back.
“I wish to make a sacrifice tonight in honor of my love, Nicolette, who was taken away much too soon!” he cried into the night.
The wolf sidled up behind the bokur, unnoticed.
All eyes were on Laroque, shocked, as the crowd listened to his declaration of love for Nicolette.
Bo cursed to himself as Jade attempted to reach her father.
It all happened too fast for the newly-changed Lamai. He knew she would have to, in a flash, decide between her love for her father and the desire to save her sister.
The choice must have paralyzed her.
Bo’s eyes, the wolf’s golden gaze, fixed onto Laroque. His muscles tensed as he prepared to leap and attack the bokur’s neck, longing to hear the crunch of bones and tendons. Graphic images of revenge pounded his mind. Never had he wanted to kill another living creature as desperately as he wanted to at that moment. He could taste the blood in his mouth and feel the flesh against his intensely sharp fangs.
Henri reappeared from the vapors and grabbed Bo in midair by his flank. The Lamai’s sharp nails dug into the wolf’s side as he hit the ground.
Bo, though dazed, saw Tobias appear, his fangs fully extended, his irises the color of clear water. Menacing rage surrounded Tobias.
The ancient vampire seemed to double in size, but it was too late.
Laroque’s eyes flashed yellow. He had morphed between the spaces of time in seconds and bit down into Raven’s tender flesh. Crimson blood trickled onto her neck and down the front of her gown.