The Naked Truth (19 page)

Read The Naked Truth Online

Authors: Natasha Rostova

BOOK: The Naked Truth
7.09Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
‘I’m sorry, but it just seems far fetched to me sometimes,’ Callie said. ‘Now, why does Lucia have to clean her head?’
‘The head is the container for two invisible elements,’ Tess explained. ‘The
gros bon ange
is basically the intelligence and memory of a person. It defines who a person is. Then there’s the
ti bon ange
, which is the conscience of a person. If the head is clean, then those two elements can separate and allow room for the spirit to enter.’
‘How do you know all this about voodoo?’
Tess shrugged. ‘I’m just learning as I go along. I was so impressed by what Abiona did for me that I wanted to learn more about it. I’m even thinking of somehow incorporating voodoo into my next performance series.’
‘I am so sorry.’ The beads clicked again as Pemba re-entered the room. ‘Please, come inside.’
Callie and Tess put down their teacups and followed the priestess into what appeared to be her sanctuary. A round, wooden table dominated the room. Abiona sat in one of the chairs. Icons of Catholic saints hung on the walls, alongside images of wooden African idols and dozens of votive candles. Several of the idols had dishes of food, cigarettes and small bottles of alcohol arranged in front of their shrines. A glass cabinet contained numerous vials and bags of herbs and powders.
‘Sit,’ Pemba said.
Callie sat, uncertain of what she should be expecting. She hoped that Pemba wasn’t going to be possessed by a spirit right now. Callie wasn’t quite ready for that.
‘First, you will wear this around your neck.’ Pemba produced a small pouch on a leather string and slipped it over Callie’s head. ‘This
mojo
bag will protect you from your husband.’
Abiona blinked her lovely eyes at Callie. ‘Why do you need this protection?’
‘My husband is very . . .’ Callie’s voice faltered. How could she even explain the situation? ‘He’s very controlling,’ she finally said.
‘He hits you?’
‘No, never.’
‘Yet you wish to be protected from him?’ Abiona asked, exchanging glances with her mother.
‘Yes.’
‘Do you have a picture of him?’
‘Yes, in my wallet.’ Callie took out the picture of Logan and handed it to Abiona.
She examined it for a moment. ‘He is very handsome.’
‘That doesn’t make him easy to live with.’
Abiona smiled and handed the photo to her mother. ‘No, I imagine it doesn’t. We will provide you with a
garde
spell. This will put you under the protection of a certain
loa
.’
Pemba lit several candles and took a blackened pot from a cupboard. She tossed the photo of Logan inside, along with a number of herbs. She lit the whole concoction with a match and began chanting in an unintelligible Haitian Creole. Abiona rose and moved to stand behind Callie.
‘Please,’ she said. ‘Remove your blouse.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘We will give you a protection tattoo,’ Abiona explained. ‘This is usually done by cutting and scarring the flesh, but I suspect you don’t want that.’
‘God, no.’ Callie was beginning to feel extremely warm. She unbuttoned her blouse and slipped it off her shoulders. Abiona’s long fingers slipped one of Callie’s bra straps off and picked up a small bowl of dark paste.
‘What is that?’ Callie asked.
‘Henna,’ Abiona explained. ‘I am placing the auspicious mark over your heart.’
She leant in close and began applying the henna with a pointed applicator just above Callie’s left breast. Callie’s head filled with the delicious, clean scent of the other woman. She could feel Abiona’s breath brushing against her skin. A bead of sweat trickled into the hollow of Callie’s throat. All too quickly, Abiona finished the tattoo and moved away. Callie looked down at the tattoo, which bore the form of two Xs surrounded by five dots. Callie returned her gaze to Pemba, who was still chanting over the smoky embers burning in the pot. She took a wooden rattle and waved it over the pot, stirring the smoke in Callie’s direction before she ended the ritual.
‘Now, you must rub this in your skin every night before you sleep.’ Abiona handed Callie a bag of herbs. ‘This will help banish him from your consciousness as you sleep.’
Callie nodded and took the bag. ‘All right. Thank you.’
Abiona gave Callie a curious look. ‘You are sceptical, I think.’
‘A little bit,’ Callie admitted.
‘Do not dismiss the power of the
loas
, Callie,’ Abiona said. ‘They can be very powerful. We are having a ceremony in honour of them on Saturday night. You are most welcome to come.’
Callie glanced at Tess, who nodded. ‘They’re quite amazing, Callie. I’m going to go.’
‘I’ll think about it,’ Callie promised. She was intrigued by the possibility of attending an actual voodoo ceremony. Heaven knows that she would never have been able to do that if she were still with Logan. She buttoned her blouse and picked up her bag.
‘I’ll be there,’ she corrected. ‘Thank you for inviting me.’
Pemba and Abiona smiled widely. Abiona really was stunning with that creamy, dark skin and deep eyes. Callie suddenly wondered what she would look like naked, all slender limbs and smooth skin. Surprised by the daring of her thought, she pushed her chair away and stood up. After paying the two women and thanking them again, Callie and Tess left the house and walked back to the street. Although the outside air was muggy, it felt refreshing after the confinement of the room.
‘So, how do you feel?’ Tess asked.
Callie shrugged and touched the small packet around her neck. ‘The same so far, I guess. Am I supposed to feel any different?’
‘Probably not.’ Tess slung her bag over her shoulder. ‘Speaking of different, I had a little event with Adam last night.’
‘Really? Did he come to your performance?’
‘He not only came to my performance, he also came
after
my performance,’ Tess replied with a grin.
Callie chuckled. ‘Tess, you’re shameless. I thought you weren’t going to scare the poor kid.’
‘I didn’t scare him, are you kidding me? He loved it. He even agreed to be in
Sexology
. He’s so cute, Callie. I just want to squeeze his cheeks and make him do all sorts of nasty things.’
‘Which cheeks?’ Callie asked in amusement. A thought suddenly occurred to her. ‘What if he tells Logan that he’s seeing you?’
Tess shrugged. ‘I doubt he will and, even if he does, it’s none of Master Waterford’s business, anyway. Besides, Adam seems to be both simultaneously in love with Logan and afraid of him.’
Callie stared at her. ‘In love with Logan? Adam?’
‘Yep. He’s always rambling about how masculine and sexy and exquisite Logan is. Definitely has a crush on him.’
‘Wow. I wonder if Logan knows.’
Tess snorted. ‘Please. If Logan doesn’t even know what’s wrong with his marriage, he’s not going to know that an assistant has a crush on him.’
Callie grinned. ‘True enough.’
‘Have you met Adam yet?’
‘No, I never have. We socialised a lot with Logan’s partners, but I don’t ever remember meeting Adam.’ She glanced absently across the street to the row of parked cars in front of the buildings. A tall figure stood leaning in a deceptively casual position against one of the cars. Callie stopped in her tracks as her heart sank like a brick.
‘Callie?’ Tess paused and turned. ‘What’s wrong?’ She followed the line of Callie’s gaze. ‘Shit! Is that Logan?’
‘Tess –’ Callie stepped forward to prevent her friend’s next action, but Tess was too quick for her. In all her green-hair, leather-vested glory, Tess stormed across the street towards Logan and stopped right in front of him. She began gesturing wildly and snapping at him like a rabid pitbull.
Callie ran to catch up with her. ‘Tess!’
‘You stupid fuck,’ Tess barked at Logan. ‘What are you, obsessed or something? She doesn’t want you around, so you’d better damn well stay away from her because if I ever see you around my store again, I’m calling the cops to haul your arse into prison!’
Logan didn’t even seem to see Tess. He simply stood there with that impassive look on his face, ignoring her as he watched Callie approach.
‘Tess!’ Callie grabbed Tess’s arm and pulled her a short distance away from Logan so that she wouldn’t lash out and hit the man. ‘Tess, please. Calm down.’
‘Bastard,’ Tess snarled. ‘Stay away from her, do you hear me?’
Callie grabbed Tess’s shoulders and gave her a hard shake. ‘Stop it! I can handle this, all right?’
Muttering and scowling, Tess backed off a few feet, but didn’t leave. Callie sighed and pressed her fingers against her temples. So much for voodoo protection spells, she thought. She walked back towards Logan, who hadn’t moved. Her entire body quickened suddenly as an image of their ferocious lovemaking appeared in her mind. She groaned inwardly and tried to suppress the memory.
Logan looked at her soberly. ‘Callie.’
‘Logan, what are you doing here?’ Callie asked, her voice edged with weariness. ‘Are you following me?’
‘Are you sleeping with that deranged woman?’
Callie stared at him in shock. ‘No! She’s just a good friend of mine. She’s worried about me. And answer my question. What are you doing here?’
He shrugged. ‘I followed you here.’
‘Now you’re following me? Logan, I want to be left alone!’
His expression hardened. ‘You should know by now that’s not going to happen,’ he replied coldly. ‘You belong with me.’
‘I do not,’ Callie retorted. She tried to force herself to remain calm, even though she felt like railing at him like Tess had. ‘I don’t
belong
with anyone except myself, OK?’
Logan pulled open the car door. ‘Get in, Callie. You’re coming home.’
Callie backed off a step, unable to believe his nerve. ‘I am not. You can’t just barge around, ordering me to do things, Logan. You can’t even figure out why I left you in the first place.’
‘What I dislike about you leaving me is the way you chose to do it,’ Logan replied curtly. ‘I didn’t and I still don’t have time for games.’
Callie sighed. ‘It’s not a game, Logan. It’s never been a game.’
‘What are you doing here anyway?’ Logan asked.
Callie decided to tell him just to irritated him. ‘I came to see a voodoo priestess, if you must know.’
His eyebrows rose in disbelief. ‘Callie –’
‘Don’t start, Logan. What I do is none of your business.’
Let him chew on the idea of voodoo for awhile, she thought.
‘In my experience, the occult is not necessarily helpful,’ Logan replied.
Callie frowned at his remark, as she had been expecting immediate ridicule. ‘What experience is that?’
‘If you think voodoo can keep me away from you, you’re wrong,’ Logan said. ‘Nothing other-worldly can interfere with your own decisions.’
‘You don’t know anything about it,’ Callie snapped. ‘And you
will
leave me alone or I’ll get a restraining order against you.’
She turned away, realising that she was never going to get through to him. Trying to talk to Logan was like pounding one’s head against a wall. She started back towards Tess when she suddenly felt Logan’s hand grip her arm. Alarm fluttered through Callie as she realised that he could easily force her into the car. She spun around, yanking her arm out of his grasp with a speed she hadn’t known she possessed.
‘Don’t touch me,’ she said coldly. ‘I don’t like it.’
His eyes darkened. ‘Funny. You seemed to like it the other night.’
A hot flush coloured Callie’s skin. She backed away from him, realising that her heart was pounding wildly.
‘I mean it, Logan. Next time you bother me, I’m calling the police. And don’t think I won’t.’
‘And don’t think you’ll win, either,’ Logan replied.
His voice was so hard and certain that Callie almost shuddered. How could she go up against this man? Did she really think she could walk out one night and be free from him?
‘Win?’ she retorted. ‘What is there to win? I thought you didn’t want this to be a game.’
‘You know exactly what I mean, Callie,’ Logan said. ‘I reached the end of my tether a week ago. I would suggest that you don’t try and push me any further.’
‘And I would suggest that you leave me the hell alone.’ Callie continued backing away, watching him warily until she felt Tess’s hand on her shoulder.
‘Let’s go the other way,’ Tess said. ‘I know a short cut we can take.’
Only when they were a good distance away from Logan did the two women turn and begin walking quickly back home. Tess wrapped her arm through Callie’s.
‘Sorry,’ she muttered. ‘I just went ballistic when I saw him, after everything he’s done to you.’

Other books

Get A Life by Gordimer, Nadine
Deadside in Bug City by Randy Chandler
The Balance of Guilt by Simon Hall
Love you to Death by Shannon K. Butcher
Johannes Cabal The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
Dan Breen and the IRA by Joe Ambrose
Feels Like Family by Sherryl Woods
The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Pressure by Brian Keene
Auschwitz by Laurence Rees