Mojo Queen (16 page)

Daniel blinked several times, the initial confusion of awakening fogging his perception. He reached for me, a wet cough rattling in his chest.

“Hey, bubba.” I gripped his hand in mine. “You can’t keep dying on me like that, now.”

“I feel like shit.” He tried to sit up, couldn’t manage it and fell back against the pillows. “You gotta make this stop, Roxie. You gotta.” He gasped, clutching his stomach. Rolling over on his side, he pulled himself into a fetal position. “Oh son of a bitch! I’ve been tortured before but this is fucking unreal! It’s tearing me up on the inside. It’s why I keep dying.”

His voice was shredded, full of pain. Veins bulged across his face and neck, stark blue ropes against gray skin. His blond hair was soaked with sweat and matted. I met his eyes. “I’m gonna stop this. Somehow, some way.”

I let go of his hand and sank to the floor, opening my bag and pulling out the contents. “You just hold on, bubba.”

Blake sat next to me and started pawing through the various bottles and bags of herbs and roots. “Is there a specific cure for this?”

Daniel raised his head just enough to glare. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“He hired me to protect him from Delia while we try to find a way to exorcise her.” I divided everything into three piles: stuff I knew wouldn’t help with this, stuff that might and stuff I was fairly sure I’d be using.

A harsh laugh turned into a coughing fit. Daniel started to heave, leaning over the side of the bed. I scooted over to the nightstand and grabbed a wastebasket, placing it under Daniel to catch whatever came out, just a small snake this time, with only a little bit of tissue. Blake turned several shades of green and dropped a bag full of devil pods. I grabbed the hoe and carried it and the can into the bathroom, dumped the can’s contents into the tub and took the little rattlesnake’s head off with the business end of the hoe, leaving a gouge in the porcelain.

I turned around to find Blake standing in the doorway. “Think I should keep the rattle?”

“And people call me a sick freak.” He jerked his thumb in Daniel’s direction. “What are you going to do about this?”

“I need to get the snakes out of him. Cleanse and purify him and the property.”

“Yeah, but how?”

“I know a few different ways to get live creatures out of the body but this came on so strong, I don’t think we can afford to mess with the ones that take time. There’s one method I know of that can be fairly quick, but it is going to be hell on him.”

“The guy’s barfing up his insides, how much worse can it get?”

“You have no idea. I need you to go get something. There’s a little supermarket a few miles up the road. Will you do it?”

He nodded. “What do you need?”

“Garlic.”

* * * *

I mashed the puree button on the blender again then strained the garlic juice into the pot on the stove.

“So I take it this means all that stuff about vampires and garlic isn’t true?” Blake sat at the kitchen table peeling the papery skin from cloves of garlic.

“Oh, it’s true.” I stirred the garlic juice into the holy water clockwise, then counter-clockwise, then clockwise again. “It won’t kill them but they are allergic to it. That’s why it repels them.”

“What about your holy water there?”

“Same thing.” While Blake had gone to the store I had filled several containers with water and blessed it with sea salt. I also talked to Seth, who was stable enough to help me by keeping an eye on Daniel. I figured as long as I kept some distance between Seth and Blake there wouldn’t be a blow-up. At least, that’s what I hoped.

Blake carried another bowl of garlic to the blender, dumping the contents in. “I have to say, this is weird even by my standards. What the hell is this?”

“It’s hoodoo, Blake. Your demon lover has moved on to hoodoo.” I had some ideas about that percolating in the back of my brain, but I needed to get Daniel healthy before I could go any farther.

“That’s
ex
-lover.” He came up behind me, parting my hair to touch the back of my neck. I twisted out from under his fingertips and stepped to one side so I could face him.

“I’ve only dealt with live creatures in the body a couple of times.” Nervous chatter, but better than letting him touch me. “I was still working with Rozella. The first time was spiders. I pretty much just stayed out of the way and watched while she did everything. The second time was snakes and she had me mix ingredients before taking over. Either I did something wrong, which was unlikely because she stood right there the whole time, or he didn’t follow instructions. He was supposed to drink the tonic every day for several days. The snakes came back worse. Rozella made this very thing, garlic and holy water. It drove the snakes out all at once.” My stomach flipped at the memory. “I didn’t eat for three days after seeing that.”

“Who’s Rozella?” He took a step closer.

“She’s the one taught me root-work.” I could hear my accent getting stronger--yet another thing to make me feel self-conscious around him. He talked like those TV news anchors who don’t sound like they’re from anywhere.

Gesturing at the simmering pot, he said, “Does he have to drink this?”

I nodded. “First he drinks this then he gets the purification tonic. I’ll spread both through the house and the property too.”

“Will it kill him again, when the snakes come out?”

“Probably.” Something occurred to me then. The purification tonic would help Daniel, but what would do him the most good was blood. I mulled that over for a moment. “I’m gonna need you to go back out again.”

“A beer run?” He grinned hopefully.

“More like a blood run. I have to assume everything here is tainted. He’s going to need blood. I think he has a contact at a blood bank he buys from. We’ll ask him.”

“You’re awful nonchalant about the fact that your cousin is a vampire.”

“I’ve had time to get used to it. He’s actually my ancestor, but you know, it’s easier to say cousin.” I returned to the blender and finished the garlic.

The blender’s noise ended the conversation. I didn’t want to answer any more questions right now, though I had a feeling Blake would ask more later. Once I had two pitchers full of the garlic and holy water mixture, we started on the purification mix. Since it was a recipe out of the Key of Solomon, Blake was familiar with it and able to help. A blend of vervain, fennel, lavender, sage, mint, valerian, basil, rosemary and hyssop, steeped in more of my homemade holy water. The purification tonic would help cleanse Daniel of any lingering effects of the hex once the garlic drove out the snakes. This would also be rough on him, what with him being a vampire and therefore an impure creature, but it would not destroy him. Very little could do that.

Dying over and over was another reason he needed blood. Even once he was cured of this hex, he’d be weak and vulnerable. We probably didn’t have much time until Delia came at us again, so Daniel needed to be strong.

I poured some of each tonic into a pair of travel mugs and left the rest in the kitchen. Blake followed me, once again crossing into my personal space. “Do you have to do that?” I said on the way up the stairs.

“Do what?”

“Get so close to me. If I turned around quick I’d crash into you.”

“Would that be so bad?” His tone was playful, his hand a light presence on the small of my back.

I hopped up an extra step to put some distance between us. “This is not the time for this right now.”

“You be sure and let me know when the right time is, Roxie.”

I glared at him over my shoulder. Smirky smirk-smirk in full bloom. I wanted to tell him he looked like a bum needing a shave but the shadow of stubble did interesting things to his face. Better to focus on the task at hand.

Seth sat on the floor of the bathroom doorway reading aloud from a bible. Quietly I asked Blake to stay in the bedroom and not antagonize Seth while I spoke to Daniel. Blake rolled his eyes but agreed.

The bathroom was a mess. At some point the shower curtain had been pulled down and now pooled in the floor, splattered with blood. The garden hoe leaned against the shower wall. Several small snakes littered the bottom of the tub, heads and bodies unattached. Daniel sat on the floor with his back against the tub, head in his hands.

“How you doing, bubba?” I knelt beside him.

He lowered his hands. “Please tell me you got something to help me. Between barfing up snakes and that kid reading Leviticus at me, I’m about ready to take my own head off.”

I gave him a sympathetic smile. “Well I got something but it’s gonna be rough.”

“God damn you stink. What is that? The stench of my own guts is clouding my sense of smell.”

“Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”

“Sense of humor? Fuck, I’m serious.” He drew closer, sniffing. “Shit. That’s garlic.” He gave me a questioning look.

My face gave it away.

“Motherfuck.”

“Garlic and holy water, bubba.”

“Motherfuck, motherfuck, motherfuck.” He leaned back against the tub, head back and staring at the ceiling.

“I’m pretty sure it’ll work. We need to get you some blood, though. It’ll help, you know, after.”

He was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again he was very quiet. “You trust him?”

I knew he meant Blake. “I gave him cash and the keys to your Miata. He came back with the garlic I asked for.”

Daniel snapped his head up to glare at me. “You let him drive my Miata?”

“We’re the only help he’s got. I think as long as we want the same thing we can trust him.”

“I can’t believe you let him drive my baby. No offense, but why couldn’t he drive your car?”

I bit back my impatience and said, “My car was destroyed by hellhounds last night.”

Daniel closed his eyes, shaking his head. “We’re gonna take this hellbitch out, Roxie.”

“First we need to get you squared away. Tell me where you get blood so Blake can have some here by the time you need it.”

“Send him in here. I’ll tell him what I need done.”

I didn’t understand that at all. “Just tell me and I’ll…”

He jerked his head around to face me, eyes a metallic silver-black and fangs extended. “Send him in here now! I’ll talk to him alone then I’ll drink your little potion.”

Daniel had never spoken to me like that before, never bared his fangs at me in anger. Dark rust washed out the usual yellow of his aura. I didn’t know how to handle feeling scared of the person I trusted most in the world, so I just nodded and went for Blake.

Five minutes later Blake came out of the bathroom, grim, all traces of his usual smirk gone. He ignored Seth and pulled me out into the hallway. “He wants you to leave the garlic outside the bathroom door, lock the bedroom door, and go downstairs.”

“He’s gonna need somebody with him,” I protested.

“He doesn’t want you to see him like this.”

“I’m not leaving him alone.”

Blake grabbed my hand, his thumb rubbing my palm. “You don’t understand. He’s already in a dangerous state. Drinking that stuff is going to make it worse.”

“That’s exactly why he needs me with him.”

He swore. “Roxie, he needs blood. Bad. He said it’s taking everything he’s got to keep his control right now. He doesn’t want to endanger you. Please try to respect that.”

I thought it over. It was completely believable to me that Daniel would want to protect me, but I wanted to help him too. But I had to admit if Daniel lost control there wouldn’t be a hell of a lot I could do to defend myself. I didn’t like it, but the best course of action was to do exactly what they wanted.

Blake’s hand was warm and way too comforting. I pulled away, stuffed my hands in my pockets. “Okay.”

“Leave the bottle outside the bathroom and knock. He’s giving me thirty minutes before he drinks. You lock the bedroom door and you and Seth get out into the sunlight. Will you do it?”

“Yeah, I’ll do as I’m told.” I was about as graceful as a sullen teenager.

He wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and drew me close. His lips hovered too close to mine. “That’s right, you’ll do as you’re told. I’m starting to like you, Roxie, and I don’t want to come back here to find you dead.” He kissed me, his mouth molding mine, his tongue invading. I resisted for all of half a second before kissing him back. Heat flashed through my body, igniting at every point where we touched, hot enough to melt my resolve, my defenses and my good sense.

He broke the kiss, leaving me wanting more and positive I must be crazy. The smirk returned. “But if he breaks the door down and comes after you, shove Seth at him and run.”

With that he left, as fast as his injured ankle would let him go down the stairs. My brain still addled from the kiss, I slowly processed Blake’s suggestion of sacrificing Seth if Daniel succumbed to a blood-lust rage. “Wait, what?”

The minutes ticked by slow as molasses in January. It didn’t take long to figure out Seth had checked out, at least temporarily. He’d finally seen more than his brain could handle and sat hunched on the edge of the porch, wrapped in a blanket with his bible, flipping through it and reading random passages aloud. I tried to engage him in conversation. The closest I got was when he gave me a hard stare while quoting Exodus chapter twenty-two, verse eighteen, that lovely old chestnut “thou shall not suffer a witch to live.” I’d had about enough of that crap growing up so I took it as my cue to go back in the house.

I wandered into the downstairs bathroom and enjoyed the peace and privacy. Cleaning myself up as best I could, I washed my face and brushed my hair. While washing my glasses I noticed something odd in my aura. Normally a dark indigo cloud surrounds me and although I’m sure other colors spike through from time to time depending on my mood and events, just like with other people, I rarely get to see it. Right now I was seeing tendrils of faint silver curl through the indigo. Silver’s not a color I’m used to seeing, until very recently. Blake’s was the first aura in which I’d seen silver. What it meant, or what it meant that I was seeing it in my own aura now, I couldn’t begin to guess. I finished cleaning my glasses and put them back on in a hurry.