Chasing Power (7 page)

“What answer?” Daniel demanded.

“I told them their power wasn’t right to find what they sought. They disagreed. They thought they had power enough. And indeed they are powerful. All my juju couldn’t stop them. So perhaps they are right, and they’ll find what they seek and the world will suffer.”

“Who’s ‘they’?” Kayla asked. “Who did this to you? Who took his mother?” Picturing a gang with masks and guns, she wished she weren’t involved in this. Given the level of destruction, she bet they had baseball bats or even sledgehammers. Possibly a steamroller.

“Don’t waste my time with questions you already know the answer to. In fact, don’t waste my time at all. I won’t, and can’t, help you. Best leave an old woman to her misery.” She waddled toward a door at the back of the shop. After seeing how fast the voodoo queen had moved earlier, Kayla was certain the waddle was an act. It would be a mistake to underestimate her.

Jumping over the glass shards and trampled crosses, Daniel chased after her. “I won’t go, not until you help me. My mother’s life is at stake!”

Intercepting him, Kayla caught his arm. “She doesn’t want us here. Remember:
Ira Reginae Dolorem
. We should leave and come back later, after she has her shop fixed. Maybe then she’ll be in a better mood.”

He shrugged her off. “I won’t take no for an answer. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Kayla swore under her breath. This had already taken too long. By now, Selena was probably drowning Moonbeam in lies. The only question was how pissed Moonbeam would be when Kayla came back.
If
she came back.
If
Daniel didn’t piss off the voodoo queen so badly that the woman broke out her real magic. She’d already done one spell with the door. Who knew how many tricks she had up her puffed sleeves?

Think, Kayla
. Daniel wasn’t going to leave until the voodoo queen helped them; the voodoo queen wasn’t going to help them while her shop was trashed. Well, Kayla was uniquely suited to fix that … so long as her mother never found out.

She’d be careful. Queen Marguerite and Daniel were both in the back room, and all the shutters were closed. No one could see her. Really, it wasn’t so different from when she cleaned the cottage while Moonbeam was at work.

Sitting on a stool, Kayla concentrated on the shards of glass. Shifting several at a time, she sent them skittering across the wood floor. Larger chunks she left alone—they were too heavy to move with her mind; she’d need a broom for those—but there were hundreds of little bits. Soon, she had them in a pile. She grinned to herself. See? Not so hard.

Switching her attention to one of the wall displays, Kayla scooted together the scattered herbs and powders. She divvied them up as best she could, treating them like the sugar grains she’d moved before. Sweat prickled her skin, and the humid, motionless air made her skin feel sticky and her throat feel thick.

She wondered how much she could do at once. A lot of the charms and dolls were light, as were the contents of the gris-gris bags. Reaching out in multiple directions, she brought the shop to life. Powders swirled through the air in little dust devils. Liquids retreated back into their bottles. Herbs dove into bags. She began to feel light-headed, as if she were about to float into the air. She’d never done so much magic at the same time. It was intoxicating.

Daniel popped into the middle of the room. “Kayla, she’s—What are you doing?”

Charms tumbled from the sky. Herbs, the ones not yet in bags, scattered as they fell. Catching doll parts with her mind, she stowed them on a shelf and then sent the remaining items flying into a broken display case.

The voodoo queen charged in. She skidded to a stop and stared as the last bits of broken glass tumbled into a pile. Kayla held her breath.
Did she see?
she wondered. She couldn’t have seen. Kayla had been quick. She waited for the voodoo queen to react, to say something, to say anything.

Queen Marguerite burst into laughter, the sound shaking her entire body.

Kayla looked from Daniel to the queen and back again. Confusion was written on his face, and tension was woven into his muscles. Kayla leaned against a display case and tried not to pant too obviously as Queen Marguerite wiped her eyes and bent over her knees to catch her breath. “What one destroys, the other heals. I admire the symmetry, that I do. And I thought you were only here because of his pretty face—oh, it is so glorious to be wrong!” Marguerite continued to chuckle. “Sit yourselves down and I’ll make us sweet tea.”

“But you said … ,” Daniel began. He trailed off as Queen Marguerite waddled out of the room again. “She threatened to skin me alive. I thought she meant it.”

“She seems to have changed her mind,” Kayla said mildly.

Crossing to her in three strides, Daniel caught her hands in his. “You did this! I failed. And you … You’re amazing. Seriously, amazing.”

Kayla flushed. Queen Marguerite might have been impressed with her cleaning skills, but Daniel knew exactly how she’d done it. She was used to hiding her power; she wasn’t used to being admired for it. He was looking at her like she’d transformed into a movie star. She wormed her hands out of his. “All I did—”

Her phone rang. Moonbeam.

Moonbeam wouldn’t think she was amazing, if she knew.

All the euphoria from using her power faded. She stared at the phone for a solid half minute, and then she shut it off. She wasn’t ready to lie to her mother yet. Especially when she didn’t know what kind of nonsense Selena had already spewed. Better
to claim the battery died than be caught in a (bigger) lie. “Moonbeam is going to flay me.”

“I’m sorry.” He sounded like he meant it, but that didn’t change the fact that she was royally screwed. Suddenly feeling exhausted, Kayla cast around for a place to sit. She spotted a stool that hadn’t been smashed. Sinking onto it, she massaged her temples. She hadn’t moved so many things at once before. Her head pounded. Daniel was still looking at her with something akin to worship, which was nice, albeit disconcerting since she’d already decided not to like him.

“Did she curse you?” Kayla asked, partially to change the subject and partially because it would be good to know if he was about to die a horrible death.

“Almost. Popped out of there before it could take.”

“You really have no people skills.”

Queen Marguerite returned with a tray that held a pitcher of tea and three mismatched empty jam jars for glasses. A stack of Oreos was on a plate. She set the tray down on the corner of a broken display case, precariously perched. “Cleaning is thirsty work. You must have worked up an appetite.” She was right; Kayla felt so drained she didn’t want to move. While the queen bustled over to her shelves, Kayla flicked an Oreo off the plate. Concentrating, she sailed it through the air. Pinpricks of pain burst like fireworks in her head. She reached out and caught the cookie before she lost control. Wincing, she rubbed her head again. Probably should have stood up and fetched it like a normal person. She was tapped out.

Humming, Marguerite returned with several bones and a candle. She positioned the candle in the center of the room and patted her pockets as if looking for a lighter. Wordlessly, Kayla
handed over her lighter. The queen lit the candle and began to waft the scented smoke around the room. Kayla took the lighter back and pocketed it.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty,” Daniel said, all politeness and faux patience, “but we don’t have time for a snack. We’re looking for two stones—”

Marguerite held up one finger to silence him. It didn’t work.

“Did the people who did this, who wrecked your place … did they find the stones?”

“You think I am the stones’ keeper? Hah! Oh, no, no, dear boy. So naive, so sure of his wisdom and knowledge and power when he has none of those things.”

Kayla noticed Daniel clench and unclench his hands. He tried again, keeping his voice smooth and even. “Can you tell me where the stones are?” All he wanted to do was help his mom. Still, Kayla thought, he shouldn’t irritate a voodoo queen. He might be gorgeous, but he was seriously lacking in common sense. He really did need Kayla’s help. Anyone with sense could see that underneath the tourist trappings and stereotypical “voodoo queen” act, this woman had real power and was surrounded by real magic.

Groaning, Queen Marguerite lowered herself to the floor next to the candle. She waved the smoke toward her. “I am not the end of your journey, child. I am your beginning. Sit and learn. You too, fixer girl.” She shook the bones in her hands over her head, then to one side and then to the other. She rocked back and forth and began to utter words, flowing words that spilled into Kayla’s head, whisked around her thoughts, and then flew out, leaving no trace of themselves in her memory. Moonbeam’s kind of words. Magical words.

Light flared so bright that it whited out the shop. Kayla’s eyes teared. As the light faded, she blinked fast. Streaks and dots flashed behind her eyelids, afterimages from the glare, and then her eyes readjusted to the normal, dimly lit shop.

Daniel began to speak again, to ask what she was doing, and Kayla caused a slip of paper—a stray price tag—to fly up over his mouth. She put her finger to her lips and let the paper fall. He subsided and sat on the floor across from the voodoo queen.

Queen Marguerite spilled the bones onto the floor. Leaning forward, she studied them. She then rocked backward. “Ah, me, you’re all going to die.”

Kayla felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. She tried to suck in air.

Then Marguerite burst into laughter again. Laughing transformed her, making her look twenty years younger. “Oh, you should see your faces! Sorry, sorry, sometimes I can’t help myself. I have been under a lot of stress lately, you know.” Composing herself, she was again the regal voodoo queen. Her accent seemed to thicken, and her voice deepened. “Three stones; one death. But whose, no one knows.”

Kayla swallowed. She wasn’t convinced that was so much better. She didn’t want to be involved in this mess at all if anyone was going to die. Maybe she should tell her mother the truth, and then Daniel wouldn’t have anything over her anymore. But she knew what would happen if she did that. Her mother would insist they run, change their identities, and start new lives. She didn’t want to leave everything and everyone she knew. That would be like a death too. And besides, what would happen to Daniel’s mother if Kayla ran?

“You must find the stones,” Queen Marguerite said. “This, the bones know. Your enemies already have one. You must seek the two others. Or what was begun will be done.”

“Where are they?” Daniel asked, hushed.

“I will tell you a story. Centuries ago, a man named Fire Is Born was sent by his king to conquer the city of Tikal. He had with him three stones, powerful stones, that were given to him by a white man who appeared one day in a place no white man should be. This was centuries before the explorers arrived with their guns and their smallpox, but still, the white man found a way to bring his evil where it didn’t belong. And make no mistake about it—the stones are evil.” She poured herself a glass of tea, swirled it, but didn’t drink. “The stones had been used to found an empire, but now that empire was falling and the man wanted a new one built, far away from the old, and so he gifted Fire Is Born with the stones.”

Daniel fidgeted as if he wanted to interrupt, but he stayed silent. Kayla watched him, wondering what he was thinking, wondering how she ever thought he was cool and collected.

“Fire Is Born brought the young son of his king and the stones before Great Jaguar Paw, the king of Tikal, and offered him this: ‘Complete the incantation with us, and you may rule, you may live, or you may die.’ ” She ticked off three fingers as she said “rule,” “live,” and “die.” “Each stone carries its own power: of the mind, of the body, and of the earth. Combined, they promise ultimate power. Three cast the spell, and three faced their fate. One was granted invincibility, one was left as he was, and one died that very moment. Fire Is Born became an unstoppable warlord who created the Maya Empire; the son of his king became his puppet ruler; and the old king, Great Jaguar
Paw, died and was tossed into a pit with the bodies of his slain wife and children. Several centuries later, the stones were separated and hidden by Fire Is Born’s descendants.” She then took a drink from her iced tea, set the glass back on the tray, and dabbed her lips with a napkin. Rising, she carried the tray toward the door to the back room.

Daniel jumped to his feet. “Wait! What about my mother?”

Queen Marguerite halted. “I have told you everything you need to know. And more. Make no mistake: if the stones are used, there will be a death, as there has been before. Your enemies have one stone. Find the other two, and you will find your mother. I’d wish you luck, but you already have her beside you. And she will change everything. Such a delightful surprise.” The voodoo queen smiled directly at Kayla, an unnerving smile—and then she vanished.

Both Kayla and Daniel jumped to their feet. “Should she have been able to do that?” Kayla asked. She pointed to the spot where Queen Marguerite had stood a second ago. She hadn’t heard her say a spell, if there was even such a thing as a teleportation spell. She’d just disappeared, like Daniel did.

“Never met another teleporter before.” He sounded shaken.

“I’d never met any until today. Lucky me.” She scanned the shop, half expecting Queen Marguerite to reappear. The crushed skulls leered at her from the shelves, as did the dismembered dolls. She shuddered. “Can you take me home now? You promised, after we talked to the queen.”

He took her hand, but he didn’t look happy about it.

Daniel delivered her to the red gate. “I’ll be by for you tomorrow at dawn.”

“Whoa, wait, no way. I can’t disappear with you again so soon! Moonbeam’s going to eviscerate me as it is. Besides, I don’t wake at dawn for anyone.” As soon as she said it, she winced at how pathetically shallow it sounded, in light of his problems. But it was a lot better than saying she was afraid.

“I need you,” he said. “You heard her. You’re my luck.” He flashed her a smile that would have been charming if she hadn’t wanted to punch him in the mouth so badly for involving her in this. The smile faded, and he said softly, “We’d leave right now if I knew where to go.” As he looked away toward the unseen ocean, his expression was as forlorn as a homeless cat’s. But he didn’t give her a chance to decide whether to punch him or comfort him. He vanished, leaving her wanting to scream. She shouldn’t be wrapped up in this. It wasn’t her problem!