Mojo Queen Read online

  “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?”

  Chapter 6

  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.

  The kitchen was my next destination. Sometimes I left food here but I couldn’t remember when I’d done that last. A snack would be good right about now, though. I rummaged through the fridge and the pantry, disappointed to find only stale crackers and the greasy remains of pizza bought for Seth and Levi. I passed on both. The pizza made me think of Levi dead, covered in snake bites and wrapped in sheets. How the hell could that be explained to any authorities, or the boy’s family?

  A painful shriek cut through my thoughts. Daniel must have drunk the garlic and holy water. I wanted to go to him, offer whatever help and comfort I could. I was scared, though. I’d never seen Daniel out of control but if anything could push him over the edge, it was this. My fear shamed me but I didn’t want to be in position where I had to fight him off. I knew he wouldn’t want that, either, so I sat at the kitchen table and waited.

  The screams continued. Judging from how bad they sounded, the tonic was doing its job. The worst thing about this hex was how slowly it worked. That’s why snakes kept forming, kept tearing Daniel up inside and killing him. Either Delia had designed it to work that way because, unlike Blake, she’d known Daniel was a vampire, or it just kind of happened on its own because he was a vampire. My guess was the former because I was pretty damn sure she used tainted blood to hex him. Either way, it was torture for him. The cure would be as bad or worse. Several methods to reverse this kind of hex existed but they took time, causing the creatures to be expelled from the body over days so as to not cause too much trauma. This tonic, though, worked quickly. Which meant that all the snakes were coming out in rapid succession as his body purged itself of the hex, sort of an evil Master Cleanse.

  The sound of something shattering reached the kitchen. I hoped he didn’t tear up his bedroom too much but that sounded an awful lot like one of his antique lamps. I stood with the intent to make coffee, thought better of it and sat back down. What if it was something other than blood that was tainted? Like say, the coffee, milk, or sugar? I’d do without.

  I glanced at a clock. Thirty minutes since Blake had left. How long could it take to get to Daniel’s contact, whoever that was, and get a few bags of O positive? Sitting around waiting was driving me crazy, so I decided to make myself useful. Whatever blood was in the fridge needed to be disposed of, so I found a pair of dishwashing gloves and got to work. I carried several bags to the counter with the pitcher of purifying herbs, turned on the faucet and started pouring. First some of the herbal mix, then the first bag of blood, more herbs and so on. As a side benefit, this completely killed my desire for a snack.

  Everything had to go. Like losing food after a prolonged power outage, everything was suspect. The milk went down the drain next. Orange juice, apple juice, all of the sweet tea. The bottom of the sink looked like an Escher nightmare. All the while there were occasional screams and sounds of breakage from upstairs. If I’d had any nerve pills I would have been popping them like candy. What the hell was taking Blake so long? I didn’t want to think about the possibility that Delia had found him.

  As I debated whether to dump coffee beans and sugar down the garbage disposal, I realized the noise from upstairs had ceased. I set the container of beans down and listened. Nothing. Had Daniel died again? Did he need help? I took the gloves off and ran back to the front porch. Seth was pacing in the circular drive, still muttering bible passages. There was no sign of Blake.

  I moved to the stairwell, staring up at the second floor landing. The eerie silence plucked at my nerves like an out-of-tune guitar. I put one foot on the bottom step, gripping the railing. Blake’s words of caution echoed in my thoughts. I knew he was right, that I should stay downstairs and wait for him to return with blood. But that was my cousin and my best friend up there, going through hell and some of the worst pain he’d ever experienced in his unnaturally long life. Maybe if I just knocked on the locked door, see if Daniel was able to talk.

  I ran up the stairs, trying not to feel too vulnerable at not having any protective charms with me. I knew Daniel needed blood but I had a hard time accepting he could really hurt me. The bright sunshine yellow of his aura indicated great power and self-control. Yes, he was a vampire, but he was also a disciplined creature with morals and values.

  I listened at the door for a long moment, hearing nothing. Knocked lightly. Still nothing. I called his name. Silence. Tested the knob to find it still locked. I couldn’t bring myself to knock or call his name any louder. I would go back downstairs and wait for Blake to return with the blood Daniel needed. There was really nothing I could do for my friend until then, anyway.

  The knob twisted as I turned to leave. Something tore at the back of my shirt before I could take a step. I was thrown flat on my back on the floor, the wind knocked out of me. Daniel crouched over me, one hand on my shoulder, holding me down. His eyes were a metallic blue-black, his aura full of hungry scarlet, fangs fully extended.

  The most sickening fear I’d ever felt in my life threatened to turn me inside out. “You don’t want to do this, bubba.”

  “You smell like sweet cream.” His voice came out in an ugly snarl I’d never heard from him. “Let’s see how you taste.”

  He lowered his head, his fingers biting into my shoulder. I kicked, struggling for purchase, trying to get out from under him. He easily held me down with his vampire strength. As his fangs got closer I struck out with my fists, doing more damage to my hands than his chest and jaw. He caught my wrists and pinned me to the floor, his body heavy over mine. Panic exploded in me.

  “Please Daniel no!” I screamed. His cold hard mouth on my neck made something in me snap. With no planning or forethought, I ripped the lid off that can of magic whoop ass in me and threw it at him as hard as I could.

  It knocked him across the room. He crashed into the wall beside the door, cracking the drywall and the wood trim. His blue-black eyes went completely dark as he picked himself up. I struggled to stand. Nausea and vertigo wouldn’t let me. I tipped back to the floor, facedown this time and realizing I’d probably used up everything I had in that one shot. Curling my fingers to better grip the carpet, I dragged myself a few inches forward. Something vise-like closed on one ankle and yanked me back.

  I screamed, more from fear than pain. He dragged my body to the bed, my head bumping against the frame, tossed me gracelessly toward the pillows. I lurched to one side, trying to throw myself to the floor. He caught me. He held me in front of
him, both of us on our knees, his fingers bruising as he gripped my jaw. I felt so weak I would have collapsed if he hadn’t held me up. He pulled his lips back to reveal his fangs. A fleeting image of the two of us driving some back road singing along to his favorite classic country music flashed through my mind. Then I closed my eyes.

  “What the hell, man!” A voice I didn’t recognize.

  “Hey!” Blake’s voice. “Got something here for you.”

  I opened my eyes as Daniel let go of me, nearly sliding off the bed. An unfamiliar man stood just inside the doorway next to Blake. The stranger wore ragged jeans and a stained white t-shirt. He had an unhealthy, gaunt look to him that usually meant meth addict. He clutched at his neck with one hand, blood seeping out past his fingers. Daniel moved in a blur toward him. The man didn’t even have a chance to scream. Daniel’s fangs sank into the flesh of his neck, jerking and tearing. Blood poured from the man’s carotid. What Daniel didn’t manage to swallow painted his mouth and chin.

  Blake picked me up, carrying me from the room. I couldn’t stop staring at Daniel in horror as he dragged the stranger to the floor, his throat working frantically as he drank. Blake kicked the door shut behind us, sending something skittering across the hallway. A small pocketknife, the blade coated in blood.

  He carried me down the stairs, the jostling not doing my nausea any good. I wasn’t sure if I said something out loud about feeling sick, or just thought it and he could tell anyway. Either way, he took me to the downstairs bathroom. I sank to my knees in front of the toilet, amazed to discover there was still anything in my stomach to come back up after hours of not eating. Blake held my hair out of the way, murmuring softly and rubbing my back.