Voodoo Queens of New Orleans - Vol. I | ✓

Chapter 21: Sly Witch

"How are you feeling?" She asked me.

"Fine," I lied. "I mean, better than I should be."

Mama sighed. "We're trying to get this all under control. Nene and Aza talked me out of starting a war and talked me into confiding with the council instead."

"The council?"

"It's kind of like the Board for all of the bloodsuckers and their clans. Making sure they stay in check, don't break none of the rules, things like that. They're the last ones I wanted to go to for help, but they were always on Terah's side. And now that Terah's gone I don't have a choice. And Hepzibah's upset because her idea of war and my idea of war are completely -"

Mama stopped herself, almost shocked she was telling me so much. She thought keeping me in the dark was the best way to keep me safe. It wasn't; it's actually how I fell into the rabbit hole. But the way Mama stopped herself made me not want to pressure her into continuing her sentences.

"Just don't worry," she assured me. "We'll get this bloodsucker mess dealt with soon, I promise."

"I'm not worried," I assured her in return. I wanted her to stop giving so much of her energy into worrying about me; I didn't deserve it. Any of it. Not only that, but I was going to help protect the Coterie. Mama didn't know it yet, but I was going to alleviate her stress. If the plan worked, and if we successfully had Hezekiah as a bargaining chip and as a source for information, it would take away half of our worries. I just had to do it right; I had a lot of people depending on me to hit him where it hurt. Literally.

The Silver Syndicate were politely asked to leave the safe house once Evander was well enough. They stayed closer in the metropolitan area, anxiously waiting for the outcome of Aza's plan. And one of them decided to come back close to midnight to see it through - Jonathan. Once the entire house was quiet, we went up into the attic - me, Aza, Esther, Kizzy, Rocio and Jonathan. Aza made sure to leave my part out of it while explaining it to Jonathan, but he figured I was involved once he saw me in the attic.

"Everyone rub this on your necks," Aza said, holding out a small dark bottle with even darker liquid. I was the only one who didn't have to put it on my skin, but I was glad; by the look on everyone's faces, the smell was far from enjoyable to their senses.

"What is this?" Jonathan asked before he poured some on his hands.

"It's an oil I conjured. Hezekiah won't be able to smell us with it on."

"But he can still hear us?" Rocio asked.

"We'll be quiet. As long as we're where we're supposed to be, he won't suspect anything," Aza looked at me. "You just...got to be convincing."

Jonathan eyed me first after Aza said this. He didn't know what I was going to do or how I was going to do it, but it was the ultimate test of my effectiveness. Weights were on my shoulders, holding me down until I did shit right.

Aza came up to me, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"You sure you still want to do this?"

I nodded, "I'm not changing my mind. I've got this. Don't worry."

"You remember the safe words?"