The Burning Bush (40 page)

“I do.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “But I need some answers to a few questions.”

A mask of neutrality clung to Its face. “I’ll answer anything that does not disturb the path.”

Really?
I’d assumed the Palero would be more difficult and refuse to answer my questions. Last time I was here, It spoke in a bunch of complicated riddles and tossed me a bar of soap.

I cleared my throat. “How close are you to Dante?”

“As you know I am his spiritual and financial advisor. I advise him, but lately he has not listened.” The Palero raised Its hands, and candles lit up all around the shop. “I told him that he should align his family with MFE because one day you and Zulu will be major players in Santeria. He’s chosen to make you his enemies. As a result his path has been shortened.”

You’re damn right it has shortened.
Deciding to test the Palero’s knowledge, I said, “Well, you’re wrong about our paths, because Zulu is dead.”

“Do not attempt to assess my magical abilities with lies. I am the Palero. Zulu lives.”

I pushed away from the wall, my hands clenched into fists. “Does Dante know Zulu is alive?”

“No. But Dante will know, and it will be due to his own logical conclusion.” The Palero rose into the air another foot. The candlelight flickered across Its silver eyes. “Where is the vessel, pyromancer?”

“I’ll tell you after you give me more information on Dante.”

The flames rose above the candles, but the Palero remained stiff. “This is not my war. You and Dante must finish this yourselves. I will not assist either one of you.”

I snorted. “I don’t believe you haven’t helped him.”

“If I had helped Dante, Zulu would be dead. Do not doubt me.” The Palero’s eyes closed. “You have one more question, child.”

What else could I ask?
I’d wanted the Palero to give me information on Dante, so I could learn his motives. But I doubted I would get it with one question. Considering the most significant things I needed to know, I asked, “Are Mother Earth and Dante working together?”

A vicious cackle escaped the Palero’s thin lips. The sound stopped my heart for a second and made me shiver.

Its eyes remained closed. “Vampires can smell one significant thing that other Supernaturals cannot. This Mother Earth you speak of would never be in a room full of Vampires.”

Great. A riddle.

“But what about the Rebels?” I asked. “She could have had them deliver messages or—”

“Where is the vessel?” The Palero materialized in front of me. Its open eyes seared into mine.

I screamed. The smell of rotting flesh coated the scent of frankincense oil. Sneezing, I jumped, not even wasting my time to increase my body’s temperature. Last time I was here the Palero had taken away any fire I created. Making a fireball would just use up my energy, which I would need to run my ass as fast as I could away from this shop.

“Where is the vessel?” It said in that weird two-toned voice, but this time there was a sharp edge to it as if the Palero could kill with sound and was simply taking the verbal gun out of its holster.

“Okay.” I raised my hands up to my chest and gulped down as much fear as I could. “What will you do with her?”

The Palero flinched. “It is a female?”

The hood and robe appeared on its body within seconds, hiding the wrinkled face. “Fascinating. Sometimes the magic skips genders, and sometimes it remains the same.”

The candlelight vanished. Darkness swallowed the store and froze me in my spot.

“Tell me more,” the Palero whispered within the shadows.

“She absorbs magic.” I formed a fireball with my hand and placed it beside my face, so I could see better, and so the Palero wouldn’t think the fire was meant for It. “I think she’s addicted to absorbing magic, and it hurts her. She bleeds and passes out.”

A wild animal noise thundered from my right.

“How long has she been around you?” The Palero glowed into view. Its skin brightened to a blazing white that illuminated the darkness.

“She’s been with me for about a month.” I edged a few inches closer to the door.

Silence met my ears for a minute. Then the Palero said, “And why did you wait?”

“I told her everything about you as well as her being the vessel, and she was scared to come here.”

“Nonetheless, you put the city and this realm in danger.” The Palero’s robe wavered back and forth as if a mighty wind had blown in. “She does not know how to retain magic properly. She is a child drinking power like it’s water, letting it feed on her mind. She could have hurt many with just one emotional outburst.”

I bit my bottom lip until it stung. “She already has hurt people.”

“Foolish pyromancer!” The Palero leaned Its head to the side. “Tell me everything about her.”

“Her name is Angel.” I raked my fingers through my dreadlocks. “She’s the Mixie from last night who set several blocks and habbies on fire. You want your vessel, then get her out of the habitat police station.”

Again the Palero surprised me. I’d expected pain, an attack of some sort, maybe even a few curse words. Instead, the Palero emitted a thunderous cackle that made the windows’ glass vibrate.

“All this time she has been with the Humans?” The Palero moved to the door.

“Well, only since last night,” I explained, as a Shango tram sped by outside the shop. “What are you going to do with her?”

“Train her to replace me.” The Palero opened the door. The robe’s bottom dragged on the floor behind it. “This Angel will still be herself, just different in some ways.”

“Angel is afraid of you. I told her what you look like.”

The Palero halted in the middle of the doorway. Another security alarm blared in the distance.

“And what do you see when you look at me, little Demon Fairy?” the Palero asked with no hint of anger in Its
voice. Its back stayed to me as I took my time, gathering my words.

“I see a short, reddish-brown person with no gender or forehead brand.”

Silence filled the air for an uncomfortable minute. I barely allowed myself to breathe, unsure of how to act. If the Palero had not been blocking the door, I would have fled.

“You have a lot of untapped power then,” It finally said. Although I could not see Its face, I knew the Palero’s head was moving up and down. “It has been a decade since someone has seen my true form. No wonder you cringe when I disrobe.”

“No disrespect of course,” I muttered. The Palero expelled a weird sound between a wheeze and a cough that went on for a minute. It was close to the cackling sound but louder and longer.
Is it laughing at me?

The Palero cleared Its throat. “Pyromancer, you may want to consider joining the vessel as I train her. You could learn much.”

“Maybe.”
Only if Angel wants me to.
“How are you going to get her from the habbies?”

The Palero stepped outside. I rushed out after It before the door slammed shut. The lock clicked behind me.

“Have you not figured out why I have no brand?” The Palero rose three feet above the sidewalk and continued to stroll on air as if It had wings.

I forced myself to maintain my pace, with disbelief decorating my face.
It’s just walking on air.

“The Humans cannot see me.” The Palero placed Its hands behind Its back as It traveled on the breeze, rising another foot. The robe billowed behind it. “Once I became the vessel, I became invisible to those with no magic. Humans are blind to me. For others with weak powers, I appear the way they want to see me. Many customers see a young Shifter or old Witch. Men visualize a beautiful seductress. Women perceive a muscular man.”

It rose higher. Its feet moved now above my head as it climbed an invisible staircase. I scanned the area around me, wondering what other people saw, but no one was there. The raggedy children had left.

“Then how did the Humans catch you and put you in the habitat?” I called out after It. “The last time I came here, you said you’d been alive for hundreds of years. That means you were around when there were no habitats.”

It ceased climbing the air and stared down at me. Those thin lips curved into a grin. The silver eyes transformed and gleamed to twinkling gold. “I came here on my own accord, years before the habitat was built. I burrowed in the ground and rested, waiting for the necessary events to unfold. I knew the Humans would realize that Supernaturals walked the earth. I waited. The path said the vessel would be here in a city surrounded by bars and a Human eye that is forever spying above.”

“A Human eye spying above?”

“Humans are always monitoring and plotting.” Its
body ascended several more feet, heading toward the shop’s roof. “It is something you and Dante seem to forget.”

“Why should the Humans matter to us?” I stopped talking as the Palero disappeared above the buildings. I attempted to yell after it anyway. “Palero! When you get Angel, I’m coming to check on her!”

The Palero didn’t reply. A burglar alarm trumpeted a few blocks away. I exhaled slowly. Relief poured over me like cold rain on a boiling-hot summer day. For the first time this week, I felt like my problems were being resolved.
The Burning Bush Murders are possibly solved. Angel should be free soon. Now I can sleep.

My phone rang as I entered the lobby of the Inked Guerilla.

“Hello?” I held the phone to my ear.

“The blood you stole matched the spell on both bushes,” Rivera said on the other line. “Your Witch just tested it.”

Grinning, I stepped over a Mixie woman sleeping in front of the counter. “So is my part of the deal done?”

“Don’t get your hopes up yet. We’re bringing in Jacobi tomorrow morning. We’ll take his blood and match it to the blood you stole from his house.” Rivera paused and coughed rapidly into the phone. I had to pull the phone away from my ears to prevent my eardrums from being shattered.

“You should quit smoking,” I suggested when Rivera finished choking.

“Never you mind. You’re the one trespassing and stealing blood from a house owned by a family that I told you to stay away from. You better pray Jacobi’s blood matches the stuff you took.”

“Officially, you said stay away from Judge Winters, Shelly’s grandfather. Jacobi was my top suspect so I went with it.”

“I had to tell my boss that an anonymous person found the blood and left it outside the station for me to find,” Rivera said.

I hope Ely and Sharlene don’t get blamed for me taking the blood.

“Have you been watching over Angel for me?” I maneuvered around several Mixies hanging out in the hallway.
I need to find a place for all of these people to live.

“Yeah. I kept the guys off her last night and this morning. I’ll check on her after we bring in Jacobi.”

I silently hoped the Palero would free Angel soon. I didn’t exactly trust Rivera’s safekeeping skills. For all I knew, he was lying to me, and Angel was being raped or worse. I’d give the Palero until tonight to free Angel, and if that didn’t work, I would have to figure out a way to do it myself.

Regardless, I muttered, “Thank you.”

Rivera grunted and hung up without saying goodbye.

Hurry up, Palero.

I headed to my room, exhausted. MeShack had left a message, inviting me to his frat house, since Ben was spending the night at Vee’s. MeShack was probably there right now, partying, having sex, or smoking. Even though there had been a bombing in Yemaya, MeShack told me the fraternity was adamant about continuing initiation.

A few more Mixies hung out in the lounge, playing cards or napping. Turning the corner, I noticed the hallway was completely empty except for a lone figure near my door, hidden within the dim lighting. It was a muscular individual, leaning on the wall and gazing down at the floor as if its surface held the answers to all of life’s mysteries. I took my time, stepping closer and preparing my body for fire. And then the figure sniffed the air and glanced toward me.

Zulu?

My heart slammed against my chest. My breath caught in my throat. The first thing I noticed as he moved into the light was that all of his dreadlocks were gone. His blond hair was now closely cropped to his head. The haircut brought out his chiseled cheekbones and made his dark-blue and gold eyes brighter. He wore no shirt, just the green jogging pants with yellow stripes on the side that the Prime had worn earlier.