Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 03 - Dark Legacy (23 page)

“You killed
her!”

She laughed. “I
did no such thing! I had her use her powers for the greater good. It’s what any
mother would do.”

“You’re not her
mother.”

Her eyebrow
twitched in agitation. “So she told you then? I had a suspicion she knew months
ago, so I did what I could to prevent her from finding out the truth.” She
tilted her head and contorted her face in mock sympathy. “It was far kinder
this way, that Danielle not know her sister. Nadia would have taken her from me
had she known. She would have figured out that I killed her parents and took
her baby sister. But I
needed
her!

“I have studied
hereditary traits in paladins for many years now, and I knew with almost
one-hundred percent certainty that Gerald and Eve Ancelet would produce a child
with the dormant ability to invade dreams and project illusions. Nadia had this
trait as well, but her parents were suspicious that I had turned to the Dark Side,
so they sent her to New Orleans to protect her. It’s a shame she never realized
her ability. She stayed a light paladin until she died.”

“Until you had
her killed, you disgusting bitch!”

“You Americans
have such vulgar language.”

I tried
summoning any power so I could to drain her life force, but I was still so
exhausted from her overtaking me. She noticed what I tried to do, however.

Laughing, she
said, “Pitiful! Don’t overexert yourself. I need you to regain a little
strength. I’ll need it soon.”

“What are you
going to do?”

“So, Danielle
didn’t tell you my intentions?”

“She was busy dying.”

Her eyebrow
twitched again. “Maybe you don’t believe me when I say I do things for the
greater good.”

“Lady, you have
a really warped sense of what
good
means.”

“All of these
humans—we protect them, we save their lives, and they persecute us and stone us
and drown us! The Watcher Angels were sent to protect them. Their only crimes
were falling in love with the women, and what did God do? He barred them from
the Kingdom of Heaven and banished them! And their children, the Nephilim …
they had a right to be angry. They had every right to avenge their fathers.
They still do! All they need is a new king.” She gestured toward the winged man
on the bed.

“A new king?
That’s what Samyaza was trying to do in New Orleans. He wanted to be king. He
set it up so that the other Watchers were killed by us so
he
would be
the new leader.”

She laughed
again. “Samyaza was their leader in the beginning, but Gadriel proved to be
stronger. It was Gadriel who set them free of their confines.
He
became
their leader.”

She closed her
eyes, an emotional pain rising up inside her. “But he was killed by his own
son, a son he wanted by his side. Samyaza brought his body back to me, to show
me that he was dead. He feigned grief, but I knew he was glad. I knew he wanted
to be their ruler again. He returned to New Orleans and began recruiting for
his legion. He assumed he would lead them, but they wanted someone they deemed
stronger. I saw an opportunity, so I took it.”

“You sent those
masks.”

She nodded. “I
pretended to be on his side. I told him the masks would help him. I told him
how to get Miles and his paladins to help defeat the other Watchers so that he
could rule the Nephilim. I even suggested that Ruby would be a good queen to
have by his side. I figured I could use someone with her talents, to have her
under my control. But what he didn’t know was that I had the coven put a spell
on
his
mask. The second he put it on, it took away most of his power,
making it easier for him to be killed.

“And now, we
have our true leader.” She went to the desk on the far right wall and picked up
the grimoire that was resting there. She brought the Book of Avelina to the
altar and set it down next to the Heart of Charlemagne.

“What do you
want with me?”

She opened the
book and read quietly for a minute. While she kept herself busy, I tried
wriggling out of my ropes, but to no avail. My hands felt numb. When she was
finished reading, she lit a red candle on the altar.  

“When Miles
confided in me long ago that he had a daughter and who her mother was, I found
it quite interesting, especially given the circumstances of your conception. As
I’ve told you, I studied paladin heredity. It is not rare to have a pure
paladin from one bloodline, but you were special because Miles had succumbed to
being a Dark Paladin by bringing your mother back. You were created as both
light and dark.

She gestured
toward the bed again. “He is my lover, my one true soul mate.”

“You don’t have
a soul anymore,” I said, disgusted.

She paid me no
mind. “Gadriel and I were seeking the grimoire for a long time. We knew we’d be
able to use it to our advantage if we could find a coven to work with us. It
was so unfair that he was so brutally killed just as we got the book in our
possession. I was distraught. I could not live without him, so I vowed to do
whatever it took to bring him back. And one day, I found the answer, right here
in the grimoire. That’s when I enlisted the help of the coven. They would do
anything to get the book in their possession. They would do anything I asked.”

I shook my head,
confused. “Papa Mulogo could bring people back from the dead. Why didn’t you
just get him to do it?”

“Because he
could not bring a soul back to the body. All he did was reanimate the body. You
were the only one who could help me bring back my Gadriel. Oh, but to get you
here—you would not believe all it took to get you here.”

“Like having
Danielle pretend to be my mother in my dreams.”

She scoffed.
“That was too easy. No, I remember when your mother was killed by Savoy. It was
just before my Gadriel was killed. Miles had called me, quite distraught. He
told me everything that happened, that he had a daughter and just how special
she was. I knew it was you I needed. But it took me several years to find a
turned coven. Once I did, I had them help Savoy evoke the demon Raum.”

“
You
?!
You had them killed?!”

“I knew that
once your grandmother saw that Savoy had returned to kill your family, she and
the priest would ask you to come back. And then all it took was a few simple
suggestions in your dreams to keep you in Louisiana.” She grinned. “And
Danielle proved ever so useful by clouding the priest’s mind so he couldn’t see
what I was up to.”

Realizing that
she had killed my brother and his wife created a raging fury inside me. I
mustered every ounce of energy I could and concentrated it all in her
direction. She fell against the altar, clutching it for balance.

She rebounded
quickly, came over to me and slapped me hard across my face. I spit on her, and
she pulled my hair back and, taking a dagger from the altar, pressed the blade
against my throat.

“I don’t have to
drain all of your life force to kill you. Sometimes I like doing things the old
fashioned way.” She held the blade against me just long enough for her message
to sink through, and then she returned to the altar. I felt a couple of drops
of blood run down my neck.

The door opened,
and one of the witches entered.

“I was beginning
to think you wouldn’t come, Ellen,” said Charmagne, putting the down the dagger.

Ellen glanced at
me, uninterested. “If Eloise knew I was here she’d feed me to the hounds. This
will be the last thing I or any of my sisters help you with,” she said to
Charmagne. “You
will
give me the book when we conclude here tonight.”

Charmagne gave
her a pleasant smile. “Of course, dear. Now, let’s begin.” She turned a page in
the grimoire, reading silently.

“So, you
basically brought me here to bring your dead boyfriend back to life?” I said.

“That’s part of
it, yes,” said Charmagne.

“Why did you
kill Gretchen?”

“She was a test
subject. I needed to see if the legend of the golem was true. I really did need
this book, though, so she did prove useful. And, believe it or not, I deeply
regretted that she had to die. It’s been so long since I came across a fire
paladin. I had hopes that she would breed one day and produce more of them.
Although Felix told me he found one, a twin. The other twin has an ice ability,
and you’ve no idea how fascinating that is. They’re fraternal. One twin each
inherited one parent’s ability. Perhaps I can breed them.”

“You’re sick and
twisted.”

“Unfortunately,
you’re probably right. But I truly do not care.” Without warning, I felt my
energy being drained. I slumped in the chair. She came to me and whispered in
my ear, “I almost forgot one small detail. I know about your niece’s power to
self heal. Such a very rare ability for healer paladins. Even rarer than yours.
A one-in-a-million chance, really.” Now she placed her hand on my head and joined
her free hand with Ellen who began reading aloud from the book—words in ancient
French, most of them I didn’t recognize.

“… absorb … into
me … power …”

My head rolled
back, and my eyes closed. I felt weaker and weaker as the life left my body,
all warmth going with it, and I was so, so cold. Soon, I heard nothing but
white noise, the sound of my blood in my ears …

Slowing …

Slowing …

Slowing …

My consciousness
drifting, light behind my eyelids dimming to nothing but cold darkness.

And everything
was still.

Nothing existed
to me except a tiny light that gradually expanded and the white noise that followed.
Slowly, I became aware of my shallow breathing, the sensation of something soft
against my skin, a musty odor, my tongue on the roof of my mouth, arm numb,
dizziness …

My eyelids
weighed a ton, and I tried several times to open them. When I finally did, I
noticed I was in the chair, still tied up, lying sideways on the carpet of the
bedroom. The black candles were melted down to practically nothing, some of
them burned clean through the wicks.

Charmagne was
speaking to the Watcher who sat on the bed. “Come, my love.”

The Watcher got
shakily to his feet and steadied himself with Charmagne’s help. “Yes, I know,”
she soothed. “It’s been a long time. Too long. You will regain your strength
quickly, though.”

He fanned out
his great wings, flapping them, extending them as far as they would go. “You’ve
done well,” he told her. He laughed. “I feel almost myself again.”

“The grimoire,
Charmagne!” said Ellen.

“One last task,
dear. The girl. She is the last one I need. You have my word that the book will
be yours once I have absorbed her power.”

Ellen said
nothing. She closed the book, picked it up and headed for the door.

“Come back here,
Ellen!”

The witch opened
the door but stopped when Charmagne raised her hands. Ellen dropped the book
and fell to the floor, disintegrating until there was nothing left but ash that
moved peculiarly, and I was aghast to see hundreds of black spiders scurry from
it and beyond the door.

Charmagne picked
up the book, blew the ash away and placed it on the altar. She turned to the
Watcher. “Let’s not wait! There are dens of Nephilim in Troyes, Reims, and
Avignon. We will gather them tonight. Miles is here in Paris. We will take care
of him first. And then we will go for the girl. When I absorb her power, we’ll
destroy the rest of the blood line.”

They left and
took the Heart with them, but they left the book. I came to, slowly. The room
was empty. After a time, I heard muffled voices from somewhere. Miles and Noah,
calling for me.

“Here!” My voice
croaked. “HERE! I’M IN HERE!” I kicked the wall as hard as I could. I heard
them coming closer and kicked harder. “HERE!”

Miles and Noah
came in through the door, saw me, and picked me up. Noah untied me while Miles
helped me to my feet. I was still dizzy. Miles looked drained. Noah had blood
on his shirt.

“Are you okay?”
I asked them. “Did you find the lair?”

“There was a
trap,” said Noah. “Some kind of barrier. Saul and Alex got hurt pretty badly,
but Miles fixed ‘em up. The witches escaped.” He looked at the decaying
structure around us. “What the hell happened to the house?”

“It was an
illusion. Danielle was projecting what she wanted us to see.”

“Danielle?!”
said Miles. “How could she—”

“She’s not
Charmagne’s daughter. She’s Nadia’s sister.”

He and Noah
looked shocked. “How?” said Noah.

“She was taken
when she was a baby.”

“No,” whispered
Miles. “She can’t be the same baby Eve was pregnant with when she and Gerald
were killed in the accident all those years ago. That means … if she can
project illusions … she
is
the same. Nadia would have had the same
ability if she had become a dark paladin.”

“There was no
accident,” I said. “She killed them. We need to hurry. Charmagne’s rounding up
the Nephilim. She brought a Watcher back to life. His name is … Gabriel or
Gazriel or something.”

Noah went white.

“Gadriel?” said
Miles.

“Yeah, that’s
him. Charmagne’s going after Lyla. She knows Lyla can self-heal. She wants to
absorb her power. She absorbed mine. I thought I was dead.”

“She probably
thought you were. And you would have been. But what she doesn’t know is your
grandmother had Cee Cee find a spell that would protect you as well as Lyla.
It’s an ancestor protection. As long as Clothilde is alive, you and Lyla will
not know death. There’s also a spell around her house. No darkness can enter.”

“As long as
she’s alive?”

“Right.”

“We have to get
back there
now
!”

“Okay. We’ll get
Danielle and leave,” said Miles.

“Danielle’s dead.”
His face and Noah’s sank. “She’s been sick this whole time. Projecting the
illusion and controlling our dreams has been killing her. Charmagne made her do
it. Ridge took her body with him.”

Miles’ heart
looked broken. “Let’s go to the airport, then.”

***

As we waited for
the pilot to bring Miles’ jet around, a cell phone rang. Miles took his out of
his pocket. “It’s Charmagne.”

“Answer it,” I
said.

He hesitated
before answering and then pressed the speaker button.

“My little
birdie has flown away, it seems. I thought she was dead. You wouldn’t happen to
have her, would you Miles?”

“She’s with me.
And so is the grimoire.”

“None of you
will stand a chance. Not only do I have the aid of the Nephilim, but you’ve so
angered the witches that they’ve decided to put aside our little argument and
help me. They want their grimoire back, and nothing will stop them
or
us.”

Miles and Noah
went pale.

“Witches, too,”
murmured Noah.

Charmagne’s
voice lightened. “Noah, my darling. I understand your wings are coming back.
Perhaps your father will forget about your past transgressions and welcome you
with open arms. I can talk to him for you, put in a good word.”

The only
response from Noah was a clinch of his jaw and his eyes turned cold.

Charmagne
continued: “Say goodbye to your loved ones, Leigh. After I get what I want out
of your niece, I’ll save you for last.”

I grabbed the
phone from Miles. “Come at me,
bitch
.” I shut it off.

“Nephilim
and
witches!” said Noah. He cursed.

Miles licked his
dry lips and took a moment to think things through. “We’ll have to ask the
other paladins to help us.” He looked at Noah. “We’ll get Felix and tell him to
round them up.”

“Do we even have
time for that?”

“We have to
make
time!”

“You two take
care of that,” I said. “I need to get back home.”

Miles nodded.
“You take the jet. Noah and I will be along as soon as we can. Cee Cee is still
at your grandmother’s house. I’ll phone Ruby and tell her to get there as soon
as possible.”

I reached into
my pocket to pull out my phone. It was smashed. “Great!”

Noah gave me his
phone. Before takeoff, I called Lucas.

“Where the hell
have you been?” he said, his voice just above a whisper. I heard a door close
and then his voice rose. “You need to get here
now
. We’re losing her,
Leigh.”

My heart
skipped, and a lump rose into my throat. I thought I’d be prepared for this,
but I just wanted to put on the breaks. Everything was happening too fast. “I’m
on a plane now. We’re about to take off.”

He cursed. “It’s
gonna take hours.”

“Miles is
calling Cee Cee. She’ll be able to help.” I hoped.

“I want to take
her to the hospital, but she keeps fighting me. Damn it. Your whole damned
family is stubborn like a pack of mules.”

“Luke, this is
very important. Don’t let Lyla touch her. Promise me.”

There was
silence on the other end.

“Lucas?”

“I won’t let
her, but I don’t like it. Lyla should be able to hold her hand one last …” His
voice got choked up at the end, and he couldn’t finish. “Hurry back,” he said,
his voice hoarse, and then hung up.

I felt like
crying then. I felt like putting my hand through the window and screaming. I
looked out once more at the City of Lights, wanting them to fade away forever.

***

I arrived in
Lafayette just after 6:00 PM. Lucas was waiting for me at the gate. As soon as
I saw him, my heart burst with gratitude and comfort and a sense of being home.
He looked angry, but I didn’t care. I ran toward him, let my bag drop by his
side and threw myself into his arms. He seemed taken aback for a second but
held me tightly, burying his face in my hair. His stubble scraped my cheek. I
started crying.

“It’s okay.
She’s still here,” he said.

I wanted to tell
him so much, but my breath hitched several times, drowning out any words. All I
could manage was “Thank you.”

My mind raced as
Lucas’ truck sped down the highway. I couldn’t believe it was happening, that
she was leaving us. What would I say? Would I just hold her and cry? Could I
even get up enough courage to tell her goodbye? How would Lyla take this? She’s
lost so much already.

When Lucas
pulled up in the long driveway of Clothilde’s house, black ash was falling like
snow, and the field to the right of her house was on fire.

Lucas noticed my
concerned look. “It’s just that time of year to burn the sugar cane field.”

“Is Carrie
here?”

“She and Cee Cee
and I have been taking shifts. She had to go back to work and take care of some
things at home. She didn’t want to leave, but I made her. I don’t think she
slept but three hours in the last two days. She kissed Miss Clo goodbye … just
in case. She wanted me to call when you came back.”

“Don’t wake her.
She’s done so much already. All of you have.”

He squeezed my
hand and held the door open for me.

When I entered
her room, I thought she had already died. She was perfectly still, but after
several seconds, she took a deep breath, her eyes still closed. Cee Cee was in
a chair by her side, holding her hand. Lyla was in the chair on the other side
of the bed, and Jonathan was beside her, on the floor, connecting the dots on a
fun pad. Lyla’s eyes found mine, and they looked bitter.

Cee Cee got up
and hugged me fiercely. “My baby!” she whispered. “She’s been holdin’ on for
ya.”

I couldn’t move.
I looked at the woman on the bed and didn’t recognize her. It was someone I
didn’t know lying there, taking a gasping breath every now and then. When she
opened her eyes, there was no fire in them. The green irises were dull.

Cee Cee smoothed
back my hair. “Go on, my baby,” she murmured. And, as if reading my thoughts,
“She’s still your maw maw. She’s still in there.”

I went up to her
bed and sat beside her. She opened her eyes a tiny bit and, recognizing me,
closed them. “Took you long enough to get here,” she said with a raspy voice.

“Sorry, it was a
long flight,” I said. “And my arms are really tired,” I added.

She laughed, but
that quickly turned into a hacking cough and another gasping breath. There was
a lot of fluid in her lungs. On her nightstand was a breathing apparatus she
was supposed to use to make her lungs stronger. I was sure she hadn’t used it.

“You okay?”

“I’m dying, so
no.”

I bit my lip. I
knew she was making a joke, but the reality of it all hit me, and I couldn’t
stop the tears. When I sniffled, she opened her eyes again.

“Don’t you cry,
little girl,” she said sternly.

“I’m sorry. I
can’t help it.”

Lucas motioned
for the kids to leave the room with him and Cee Cee, and then closed the door.

I picked up Clothilde’s
hand and kissed it, marveling at all the lines in her skin, just as I had done
when I was Lyla’s age.

“We get old
fast, don’t we?”

I nodded,
looking at the lines in my own hands. I chuckled softly.

“Mais, what’s so
funny?”

I smiled. “I
used to be such a rebel, and now look at me. Back in Louisiana, practically
living with my grandmother. I’m not as young as I used to be, either.”

A smile spread
across her worn face. “You were always a rebellious little girl. I tried so
hard to control you.”

I eyed her. “I
know. My legs still have the scars to prove it.”

“I
never
switched you that hard.”

“Kidding.”

“We all knew
you’d leave one day. You always talked about going to far-off places. And you
questioned everything. ‘Because I said so’ wasn’t a good enough answer for you.
You remind me too much of myself.”

I raised a
questioning eyebrow.

“Oh yes, ma’am!
I was just as rebellious and stubborn as you. I’ll bet you didn’t know that,
before I met your paw paw, I bought a one-way ticket to Dublin, Ireland after I
graduated high school. I had saved up all summer for college, but I got in a
fight with my daddy and told him I was leaving.”