“I’ve sought answers as well. All they tell me is that the chosen is going to be misled. Does that make sense to you?”
Marie tilted her head, working on recalling everything the spirits had shared with her.
“Or maybe you can tell me what it is you’re hiding, Marie,” Candace continued. “Because they tell me you have the secret I need to help Adrienne.”
“No secret.”
“Marie,” Candace chided.
Marie sighed. She debated what to do. If her grandson wasn’t mixed up in this and the chosen not essential to the future of all of them, she’d continue to cover up the entire truth. As it was, she might need Candace to help Jayden one day.
Not everything, the spirits told her.
“The curse you are trying to break,” she began. “My family helped the bokor who created it. Long ago.”
Candace’s eyes widened.
“You cannot tell no one of this. Even the chosen,” Marie said sternly.
“I swear on the spirits of my ancestors, I will not.”
“There were three families involved in the curse who seem to be involved in the prophecy, too. I do not know all the details, except that my family, Jayden’s father’s family, and the family of the Adrienne girl and white zombie were all a part of it.”
“Your family was not cursed.”
“No. We were spared. But we are involved in the prophecy, through Jayden. Quand li gagnin kichose dans so latete, ce pas dans so lapie.” I’m used to seeing sky as “ciel”.
“Agree, except it won’t just be the flies caught if the sky falls.” Candace took the information in.
“My family helped the white zombie’s ancestor create the black magic that would grant the wishes of the two lovers. The curse should be over. Ninety-nine firstborns from each of the two lovers’ families are dead. Jayden is the hundredth born, the first in four hundred years who is not cursed.”
“But something happened on Adrienne’s side, within the Fourth House. The white zombie – her sister – thwarted the Red Man, and now Adrienne bears the mark of the curse,” Candace finished. “Which set into play the prophecy.”
“Yes,” Marie said with a sigh. It was almost a relief to have the dark secret off her shoulders. “But I can’t understand why the white zombie poses a threat. The spirits scream at me, say if she regains what was hers, she will draw forth evil and destroy many. We have found a Warrior in Rene, the Chosen in the girl, and … I think Jayden is the Devil. But for what purpose?”
Candace frowned.
“It makes my head hurt. I pray and beg the spirits and gods each night for answers,” Marie said sadly. “All they tell me: Keep Jayden safe. Don’t let the white zombie get him. Keep him safe.”
“If he’s the Devil, he may be free of the curse, but he’s not free of whatever happened four hundred years ago,” Candace said. She took Marie’s hands. “The curse and the prophecy are connected, the way your families are.”
Marie squeezed her, sensing her friend and fellow mambos was as worried and lost as she was.
“Thank you for trusting me, Marie,” Candace said. “Adrienne is safe. Rene watches over her.”
“The reluctant warrior is rising,” Marie said, smiling.
“Complaining all the way.”
“He is a good boy. I worry there is no one to protect my Jayden.”
Candace was quiet for a moment. Marie took the jar with Adrienne’s earlobe back to the shelf, aware it was far more important than she could understand. If she needed to make a spell against the white zombie, what was more powerful than the flesh and blood of her sister?
What kind of spell stopped someone neither living nor dead?
“What if we talked to the Red Man?” Candace asked in a hushed tone.
Marie turned, startled by the question.
“I know. It sounds crazy. I don’t know what else to do. I’m doing my best to help Adrienne, but I don’t have all the answers she needs.”
“I understand. But Candace, the Red Man … summoning a spirit like his will require the blackest of magic.”
“I know.” Candace rose, distraught. “You know my brother performs such magic. I can ask for his help.”
“No, Candace. My ancestors thought the same long ago and drew the Red Man’s curse upon them.” Marie shook her head gravely. “We cannot risk it.”
“What do we do?”
“What the spirits tell us. Help Adrienne, and I will help Jayden.”
Candace drew a deep breath. “You’re right. Of course. It is so hard for me to see her in pain, to know I may not be able to save her. She’s a good girl, Marie. The spirits are drawn to her. She is meant for … something great.”
“Like Jayden. My ancestors don’t tell me why.”
They exchanged looks of concern.
“We are doing all we can,” Candace said. “I will keep researching and praying. There’s more. I just don’t know what it is.”
I’m sorry I can’t tell you, my friend. Marie smiled in comfort. “We can only do what the spirits let us.”
Even if it meant lying to someone who might be able to help.
Chapter Seventeen
Adrienne didn’t mean to cry herself to sleep. She awoke early the next morning, refreshed although her eyes were puffy. She didn’t want to think about the day before. The only thing that mattered today: figuring out more about the song she’d discovered.
With a jolt, she realized she hadn’t left her daddy dinner and it was almost too late to get ready and make him breakfast. He might think something was really wrong, if she didn’t get herself together. Explaining to him that she’d lost her voice and been made a fool of in front of the school wasn’t how she wanted to start her weekend.
She sat up and glanced around. The apartment was quiet at six thirty in the morning, though her daddy would be up soon to get ready for work. He left at seven thirty, and she left at seven for Madame Estelle’s.
She rose and crossed to her dresser, stopping when she saw the mirror.
You must sing.
The words appeared to have been written in blood. She rubbed her face, upset by the sight of blood but more than that, angered at the constant reminders of a danger she didn’t understand.
“What? You couldn’t find no sticky notes?” she asked in frustration. “You know who has to clean this up? It ain’t you!”
Adrienne almost started crying again, distressed at the reminder that she’d lost more than her faith in humanity the day before. She scribbled the newest communication on a piece of paper and added the note to her collection. Whether it was her sister’s spirit or some other supernatural entity, she was pissed that something had decided to pour salt in her wounds first thing in the morning, not to mention cost her time getting ready by having to clean off her mirror.
She took a quick shower and changed into the long skirt and bright purple blouse that made up her uniform at Madame Estelle’s. She tied a bright scarf around her hips and added a choker then tied her hair in a bun.
“Daddy, you up?” she called, hurrying from her bedroom to the kitchen.
“Yeah,” came the groggy response.
Not wanting to talk to him about yesterday or Candace yet, she made him scrambled eggs as fast as she could then pushed down the handle of the toaster.
“Breakfast is ready!” she shouted and grabbed her cross-body bag then her tarot cards. “I’m late! Email me if you need anything.” She didn’t wait for his response before pulling the door closed behind her and hurrying to the elevator.
Adrienne glanced down to make sure she looked decent, even though she felt horrible. She’d always thought she looked cute in the outfit the Madame Estelle gifted her after being impressed by her reading skills. Swiping on some mascara and lip gloss in the elevator, she readied herself to face the world when all she wanted to do was hide.