Black Heart Loa
Authors: Adrian Phoenix
The critics love
BLACK DUST MAMBO
“Phoenix is a beautiful storyteller—her prose flows like poetry … an extraordinarily entertaining novel that is addictively readable.”
—Explorations: The BN SciFi and Fantasy Blog
“Phoenix creates characters and worlds so vivid that the reader feels as though they are taking part in the story rather than just observing the action.… The author excels at characterization, and her talents are once again evident here … a fascinating story that belongs on the shelves and in the hands of all urban fantasy readers.”
—Bitten By Books
“
Black Dust Mambo
started with a bang and kept on going with intrigue, family secrets, double lives, mystery, murder, and a little bit of romance. This book was packed from cover to cover that kept me turning the pages and craving more.… Adrian Phoenix brings it to the reader with a punch!”
—Fresh Fiction
“Something new set in the sexy, supernatural city of New Orleans. Voodoo, hoodoo, and magic abound in this crazy tale about hexes and curses, nomads, vessels, and root doctors.… Magic, sex, mystery, murder, and hot guys abound in this book.”
—Fang-tastic Books
(Turn the page for praise of the Maker’s Song series by Adrian Phoenix)
Black Heart Loa
is also available as an eBook
BENEATH THE SKIN
“Adrian Phoenix has done it again! Complex, lyrical, and beautifully written … another unique and compulsive page-turner.”
—Jenna Black, author of
Speak of the Devil
“This violent, wrenching tale is something special.”
—
Affaire de Coeur
“Lush, sexy, and thrilling … darkly addictive.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Jeaniene Frost
“This darkly dramatic tale is one wild ride in a series that only promises to get better.”
—
Romantic Times
IN THE BLOOD
“Phoenix trips the dark fantastic in this wild, bloody sequel.… She keeps the plot thick and the tension high.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Filled with twisting plots, shadowy government agencies, conspiracies, and betrayals … this dark urban fantasy is not only action-packed from beginning to end but, at its core, it is also a story of hope and love.”
—ParaNormal Romance
“The atmosphere is dark, and treachery abounds, making this story white-knuckle reading in the extreme.”
—
Romantic Times
A RUSH OF WINGS
“Hard-charging action sequences, steamy sex scenes, and a surprising government conspiracy make this debut, the first in a series, engrossingly fun.”
—
Entertainment Weekly
“Phoenix’s lively debut has it all.… Phoenix alternates romantic homages to gothdom and steamy blood-drinking threesomes with enough terse, fast-paced thriller scenes to satisfy even the most jaded fan.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Sharp, wicked, and hot as sin.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu
“A thrilling tale of lust and murder that will keep you turning the pages to see what happens next.”
—
Gothic Beauty
“This one pulled me in from the first page. Heather and Dante are among those rare characters readers so often look for and seldom find.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Barb Hendee
“A fast-paced ride, its New Orleans setting appropriately rich and gothic, its characters both real and surprising.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch
D
ON’T MISS THESE OTHER THRILLING ADVENTURES BY
A
DRIAN
P
HOENIX
Black Dust Mambo
A Rush of Wings
In the Blood
Beneath the Skin
Etched in Bone
Available from Pocket Books
 | Pocket Books A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com |
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Adrian Phoenix
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
First Pocket Books paperback edition July 2011
POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
www.simonspeakers.com
.
Text design by Jacquelynne Hudson
Cover design by John Vairo Jr.
Cover illustration by Steve Stone
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-1-4391-6792-2
ISBN 978-1-4391-6794-6 (ebook)
Dedicated to
my wonderful sons, Sebastian and Matt.
Thanks for believing in my dream and cheering me
on every step of the way. I love you both!
Chapter Two: House Full o’ Hoodoos
Chapter Six: Loa of Death and Resurrection
Chapter Seven: A Desperate and Brutal Fight
Chapter Nine: Queen of Spades
Chapter Twelve: Chained Heart
Chapter Thirteen: Unnamed and Untamed
Chapter Fourteen: History Repeats Itself
Chapter Fifteen: Hoodoo Love Tricks
Chapter Sixteen: Temporary Shelter
Chapter Seventeen: And the World Will Weep and Moan
Chapter Eighteen: Can’t Choose Blood
Chapter Nineteen: Magnets for Disaster
Chapter Twenty: Fire and Darkness
Chapter Twenty-One: Nomad Bonds
Chapter Twenty-Two: Loup-Garou
Chapter Twenty-Three: Circle of Protection
Chapter Twenty-Four: Unbroken Trust
Chapter Twenty-Five: Bicycle Cards and Cockleshells
Chapter Twenty-Six: Everything She Loves
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Family Never Does
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Bound to One Form
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Strength, South, Fierce Animals
Chapter Thirty: She Be a Jinx
Chapter Thirty-One: Beneath the Willow Tree
Chapter Thirty-Two: Hoodoo Posse
Chapter Thirty-Three: An Old Grudge
Chapter Thirty-Four: Bound by the Baron
Chapter Thirty-Five: Demon Wolf
Chapter Thirty-Six: Le Nique
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Darkling I Listen
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Deadline
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Consecration
Chapter Forty: The Sacred Fire
Chapter Forty-One: To Their Proper Natures
Chapter Forty-Three: Aftermath
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
hanks, as always, to
my editor, Jennifer Heddle, for her amazing insight and for helping me shape the best possible story—each and every time. You won’t find a better editor anywhere. Ain’t possible. And to my agent, Matt Bialer, for his unflagging support and encouragement. You always lift my spirits. (And to Lindsay Ribar for all the
Supernatural
chats.)
Tons of hugs and kisses to all the folks at Pocket Books who poured their time, energy, and love into this book: Renee Huff, Erica Feldon, Stephanie DeLuca, and Anne Cherry—among others.
Thanks so much to Steve Stone for the truly stunning covers and for bringing Kallie and her world to life.
Special hugs and kisses to all my readers. I can’t thank you enough for picking up this book. If this is your first Kallie adventure,
bienvenue
! If this is your second trip into the bayou with Kallie,
merci beaucoup
and welcome back!
And, as always, thanks to my friends and family for making this all possible: Sherri Lyons, Jen Phoenix, Kylah, and Liam—I love you all! Karen Abrahamson, D. T. Steiner, Lynn Adams, Marty and Sharon Embertson—I couldn’t do it without you!
BLACK HEART LOA
NE
F
IVE OF
S
PADES
T
he goddamned nightmare hadn’t
ended, after all.
Kallie Rivière shuffled the blue Bicycle cards she used for divination, their worn edges flipping against her palms. Drawing in a steadying breath, she closed her eyes and focused on her cousin Jackson Bonaparte, desperately hoping that the last words he’d said to her wouldn’t become his last words, period.
“Gotta go. See you on Sunday. Love ya.”
After not seeing his pickup in the driveway, Kallie had assumed Jackson had tossed his Siberian husky into the bed of his Dodge Ram and driven into town for a couple of beers—despite the fact that she’d asked him to stay put, to keep him safe from the man stalking their family.
Then she’d discovered Jackson’s protective mojo bag in the grass in front of their
ti-tante
’s house—its leather cord torn as though it had been ripped from around his neck—along with the baseball bat he kept beside the back door in case of trouble.
As Kallie picked up the mojo bag from the grass, the woodsy scents of sandalwood and dog rose wafting up
from its red flannel, dread had dropped like stones into her belly. She’d
known.
Felt it down to the marrow.
Jackson
hadn’t
driven to the Hair of the Dog Tavern. He was missing.
“An eye for an eye is never enough,” Doctor Heron whispers.
And the long nightmare Kallie thought had just ended—one she had barely survived—was still very much in play and had just swept over her cousin.
A nightmare that had begun damned near twenty-four hours earlier in her blood-soaked bed at the Prestige Hotel in New Orleans and had ended on the banks of the bayou behind her
tante
Divinity’s house in Bayou Cyprés Noir.
All because her hoodoo aunt had stolen the identity of another conjurer and had, therefore, brought revenge-seeking, soul-killing Jean-Julien St. Cyr—Doctor Heron—the bogeyman of hoodoo, into their lives.