2 Hungry, Hungry Hoodoo (18 page)

“Well, that didn’t last long,” Olivia’s voice came from the chair.

I looked over, not believing she was here. “Have you been here the whole time?”

She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Femi thought you might want to talk to someone. Sounds like you had a shitty day.”

I chuckled, wiping the remaining tears. “Are your people supposed to cuss?”

She winked. “Holden’s a bad influence.”

“Michael’s dead and one of my best friends is missing,” I sniffled.

She nodded. “What are we going to do about that?”

“We’re going to find who’s doing this.” It was just a matter of how. I didn’t want to wait for a finger to arrive to start looking.

“Maybe Holden saw something at the ruin this morning?”

I wanted to slap my forehead. It never even occurred to me. “Oh no. He could be hurt. I forgot he was there.” I stood up, ready to go.

Olivia stood too. “Holden is fine. It’s sweet of you to worry. Let me get Sy and we’ll meet him at the church.” She calmly walked out of the room and I immediately felt tense again. Something about her presence was settling. She made me believe things would work out okay. Were all guardians like her? Sy followed her back into the room.

“So how do we get there?” Olivia asked.

“I don’t think I can explain it. Cheney took me there once. It’s an old ruin where his sister and her human lover used to meet, or something like that. He said it’s been forgotten by the elves and hidden from the humans. Have you heard of it?” I looked at Sy.

He leaned his head back. “Can’t say I have—but you’re strong enough to take us all.” They each took one of my hands and I focused on the spell and my will. Moments later were standing in the plush glass.

Olivia walked a few steps and looked around, taking a deep breath. “It’s lovely here.”

“And private.” Cheney’s voice came from behind us. He frowned at me when I turned around. A moment later Holden formed next to Olivia, as if he’d felt her arrive. “What are they doing here, Selene?”

“Helping me look for Devin.”

“And why would she be here?” His voice was soft and too controlled.

“This is where I found Michael.” I met his gaze. “Has Sebastian said anything?” Cheney shook his head, but guilt marred his smooth face. “You haven’t asked him, have you?”

“He is my friend.” Cheney ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve known him longer than I’ve known you. I came to think before I made any decisions. And what do you mean this is where you found Michael?”

Holden pointed to the ruin. “He was on the other side of the altar, lots of blood, no heart.”

Cheney frowned. “That’s not possible.”

We went into the church. Holden, Olivia, and Sy trailed behind Cheney and me. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, but his furious jaw was set. Why was he so angry? I almost gasped in relief. The pools of blood had dried to a crusty brown substance, caking the floor, but Devin hadn’t taken Michael’s place. I bit my lip so I had something to focus on other than emotion. Cheney looked at me.

“And you knew about this before we found him in the garden?”

“Yes.” We stared at each other for a long time.

“I keep believing you will stop lying to me, but you never do.” Cheney blinked out, and I was left looking at nothing.

I cleared my throat and pressed my lips into a hard line before turning to the others. Holden looked bored, and Olivia smiled at me sympathetically.

“Now what?” Holden asked.

“Now.” I thought about it. “Now I am going to see my grandmother.” They gave me perplexed looks.

“Why?” Sy asked.

“It was Gram’s Book of Shadows. Maybe she knows the spell I will need or at least be willing to help me find Devin.”

“Do you still want to meet Baker tonight?” Holden asked and Olivia’s mouth fell open.

“Meet Baker about what?”

Holden took her hand, making her glow. “He knows a hoodoo priestess who might be able to break the bond.”

Olivia looked back at me. “I wouldn’t rush into anything just yet.”

I sighed. “I don’t know. I’ll keep you posted.” I glanced over at Sy. “Please tell Jaron I can’t meet him tonight.”

Sy nodded and transported out. Holden faded into his thick black smoke, and Olivia grew into a ball of beautiful white light. I took a deep breath and went to the one person who could maybe help me
.

Gram’s green-shingled house with its wraparound porch was as it always had been, but somehow it looked different. I stood outside in the pouring rain, trying to figure out what had changed about it. I wasn’t trying to stall about seeing Grandma again. Nope, not at all. The door opened and Grandma walked out, broom in hand. Finally she nodded.

“Come inside,” she commanded and turned on her heel. I, as ever when it came to Gram, obeyed. She looked back over her shoulder. “What brings you here?”

“You look good, Gram.” It hadn’t been just the two of us in a long time. I wished the situation between us was different.

She gave me a cold stare, rejecting my niceties. “Sit,” she said.

I sat on a stool in the kitchen, and she poured me a cup of coffee, keeping a wary eye locked on me at all times. “Why are you here?”

I struggled not to roll my eyes. “Why? Can’t I just come to visit my grandmother? Why do you hate me now?”

“I don’t hate you, Selene. But I know you. You aren’t here for just a visit. I see you making bad decisions, and you won’t listen to me. You’ll kill someone again, mark my words. You’re dangerous and need to be controlled. Cheney knows that. But what do I know? I’m just a human …”

“What do you mean, kill someone again? Who did I kill? When?”

She leaned against the counter. “Still can’t remember. It’s the strangest thing.” Her brown eyes pierced into me.

“Please. For the love of God, someone needs to tell me something.”

“I suppose there’s no harm telling you now.” She sipped her coffee. “You killed your parents. Do you still not remember the night you came to live with me?”

My limbs lost all ability to move. I stared at her. I was just a child. How did I kill them? I remembered some of that night, but not all of it. “I remember standing in the house while it fell apart around me. I remember Cheney rescuing me and giving me to you. That’s all I remember.”

She nodded. “That was after the accident, but it wasn’t really an accident, was it? I had never seen such a cold, removed child. Not a tear came from you! You felt nothing for your poor parents. As soon as Cheney was out of sight, you turned around and didn’t utter a single word to me until I took you to your room. When I said goodnight, you said ‘What about murder makes the night good, human?’” Gram sat her mug down with shaking hands. “The next morning you seemed like the child you appeared to be and never spoke of it again. But I knew different. I knew what was inside of you and why the prince sent you to me. You needed to be controlled, managed.”

I didn’t remember any of that. The memories I had of my parents were vague at best, but I always blamed that on how young I was when they died. I thought back to my one memory of that night. I had recognized Cheney when he came in, but I didn’t recognize him later. Jaron said I gave him my memories before I became a changeling, but if that were the case I wouldn’t have remembered Cheney. I wouldn’t have said what I did to Grandma. I lost my memories the night my parents were killed.

“You see. My rules were for your protection. They protected you and me and all those around us. Don’t think I don’t know about who you were. Cheney told me everything when he asked me to take you in.”

“He told you everything?” I said. If I knew anything about Cheney, it was that he never told
anyone
everything.

She puffed up her chest. “I know you were a traitor to your race and left him for the rebels. I know, despite what he thinks, that you were more than likely using him to gain leverage in your revolution. I’ve had many years to think about this, Selene. I’ve watched you. You are careful, very careful. You manipulate and lead people where you want them to go while letting them think it’s their idea to begin with. The only thing I could never figure out is why you suppressed your memories that night …” She took another long sip of her coffee. “Maybe something inside of you knew that you were a danger.” She shook her head. “The truth is, I just don’t know what you’re capable of now.”

I had no idea what to say. I wished I could argue with her, but I had no ground to stand on. I couldn’t remember what happened, and no one who could was talking except her. “So you think I killed my parents and have been manipulating Cheney this entire time?”

She nodded. “He’s clearly in love with you, and you’re just as clearly
not
in love with him. I have yet to see you moved, child. You are so shut off.”

I blinked away tears. “You’re right. I used Cheney before I became a changeling. I don’t know if I loved him or not, but I definitely had ulterior motives from the beginning.”

She nodded. “That’s why you shouldn’t have gone back with him. You will only hurt him—and that is not a man used to losing. I don’t know what he’ll do to you when he learns he can never have your heart.”

I frowned. I wouldn’t go so far as saying
never
. “I’m going to break the bond. That’s the only way I can know for certain how I feel about him.”

The cup clanged as she slammed it on the hard counter. “Is that why you came?”

“No.” I explained about Michael and Devin. Gram listened without commenting until I mentioned the little detail that Devin had the book.

“You lost my book? The only thing I told you to do was protect the book, and you let it slip through your fingers?”

I stood up. “You knew as well as I did that the girls were studying it. How was I supposed to know Devin would be taken from the castle? Besides, what can elves do with human magic?”

“You’re assuming an elf took her and not one of your former partners. Half-elves can do quite a lot.”

I shook my head. “The spell I used on the letter led to Sebastian.”

“Sebastian?” Gram’s gray eyebrows nearly blended into her hairline. “I don’t think so.”

“It did.”

“Hmph. Wait here.” Gram scurried away and returned a moment later with an aged-looking sheet of paper. “This is a page from the book. I kept a few hidden so I could always track it in case of an emergency.” She held it out. “Find your friend and put an end to this, once and for all.”