September 8 | After Midnight
I shelved my feelings for Zyr and Aurie as I skated out the door. Everything I had worked toward since meeting the two of them would finally come to fruition tonight, and my good deed would be done. There was no point examining why that brought me down.
A block from the cathedral, Kittie Cad waited for me in the mayor's car. I grinned at the champagne Nissan. A step above our normal Uber or Lyft. Brownie points for Terrance Rhemus.
"Thanks for making this run to Madea's with me. I know it's late, but she needs her meds for church tomorrow, and I was her last resort. You look nice! Where were you?" Kittie asked as I hopped in the passenger seat.
"Went out with Aurie tonight." Everyone's favorite Canadian rapper's voice ripped from the speakers. Voguing to the music, I checked my reflection in the visor and hid a smile at Kittie's curious eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that. I was showing her some of the local hotspots."
"So, she's not from here?"
"I didn't say that," I replied as we took off.
Kittie laughed. "You rarely say anything about her. When will I get to meet this mystery friend?"
"It depends. Have you ever seen a ghost?"
"Uh-uh! Don't change the subject, Mys!"
"I'm not! It's relevant, Ms. Cad."
Smiling, I stared out the window as we hit the highway. The late-night skyline conveyed the impression of a big metropolis, despite the city's small footprint. New Orleans was a clump of medium-height skyscrapers and the Superdome. All lit up, it promised a good time, but we were leaving the safer enclaves of the tourist districts, headed for the real Big Easy.
Kitty grinned and peered over at me several times before answering, "Okay, yes. One night I was walking home, and I saw a headless man with a headless dog on a leash. Either that was ghostly activity, or that was 'shrooms." She let out a hoot.
"You believe in the supernatural?" I asked as I sucked my vape pen.
"Boo-boo, I'm from this place. Belief in the supernatural runs straight through my bloodlines."
A white cloud of vapor spilled from my parted lips. I prepared to admit the real reason I had jumped at the opportunity to ride along. "First, I need you to do me a huge favor, Kris."
"Ooh." Kittie Cad pursed her lips. "Must be important, if you're pulling out the slave name. What's going on, Mitsuyo?"
"You let me into your world with Terrance. I think I'm ready to let you into mine. Aurie is part of it, but there's more."
"Okay, what's the favor?" Kittie cut to the chase.
I reached into my purse and drew out the card I had found after Darcy Cyprian's visit to my apartment. I handed it to my friend, knowing she wouldn't be able to examine it closely while driving. She saw enough on the black vellum rectangle to make her toss the card into my lap and shake her head.
"That is why you wanted to ride with me to Madea's house?"
"Not entirely," I said, fidgeting. "I wanted to hang out with you, but...well, the fact this might be my one chance to visit the area factored into things."
"To visit a voodoo priestess?" Kittie Cad hit me with incredulous side-eye.
"Voodoo loa," I corrected. "And I'm sorry to hijack a ride while you're dropping meds at your grandmother's, but now I can show you the truth about me. The Supernatural world is real. Ghosts, zombies, vampires, werewolves, angels, demons. They're all real."
Kittie glared at me in disbelief. "What the fuck are you on, Mys?"
I turned down the volume on the radio and faced her. As I further explained Overlay City, my best friend squeezed the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles blanched. Buildings flew by in a blur. I could tell by her expression it was too much to digest, but I had to complete it. After all, I had already broken Overlay City law. She wasn't supposed to know any of this.
"I'm not like you. I'm not human. I'm a Supernatural being called a futanari," I explained, "and there are others. Well, not like me exactly, but other Supernaturals throughout New Orleans. Except, we call it Overlay City. It's a place where ley lines intersect."
Kittie wordlessly accelerated.
I fidgeted with the business card. "You've asked me about my friend Aurie. She's a dead girl I met the night of the hit-and-run in front of Century Luxe. She was the victim, and she needs my help, which is why I need you to take me to this address in Hollygrove."
"Mys, I don't fuck with black magic and voodoo," Kittie Cad replied staunchly.
"I would never insist you do anything you're not comfortable doing, Kittie. But I can't show up in the projects on my own."
Kittie Cad gaped at me. "Oh, you wanted to parlay my familiar face for safe passage? Never mind the sweeping generalizations in your statement, darling! Look at my six-foot-seven, black transgender ass. Girls like me get killed all the damn time, and not just in the hood!" She shook her head angrily, and I felt two inches tall. This was going all wrong.
"I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have sprung this on you."
"I didn't say no," she snapped back. "I'm considering it, Mitsuyo, but you haven't explained anything. You're a—what now? Like a mutant?"
"A mutant?" I laughed. "No, we're Supernaturals attracted to ley lines. Most of us stay near confluences of power called Ley-Over cities. My type of Super has both sexes in one body, and I can sense what other people feel, want, and need. Gods, it feels good to finally be able to say that out loud to you."
Kittie realized something. "Is that how you always knew which Johns were trouble?"
"Yes, I kept us safe on the streets before we shut down Jasper the Elf's trafficking ring. You've been with Supers damn near your whole life. You simply didn't register it."
We were off the interstate now, passing shotgun houses. "An elf. Like Keebler," Kittie muttered, shaking her head.
"You don't believe me. Pull over. I'll show you I'm telling the truth." I pointed at a curb where several dudes were standing beneath the yellow light of a street lamp.
Kittie gawked at me. "When I get to Madea's, you can show me whatever you want to show me, but I'm not going in some voodoo trap house."
"I never said you have to go in, Kittie. You can wait for me outside."
"By the way, if your spidey senses didn't tingle at that curb when you asked me to pull over, you might want to get checked. Lord, you're gonna get yourself into some shit you can't get out of."
I glanced in the rearview mirror at the corner in question. The men back there were harmless. My Empathy told me they were plainly hanging out. "Relax, I won't let anything happen to you, Kittie Cad. I never have before, and I don't have a choice in this. I have to do it for Aurie."
"You're in love," Kittie Cad guessed as I turned back to her.
"I care about them both."
"Both?"
"Yeah, didn't I mention the werewolf?" I asked with a dramatic eye roll.
Kittie threw up her hands in good humor. "Okay! Ghosts, werewolves, and I'm taking my fucking futanari friend to see a voodoo loa. Got it."