Unsympathetic Magic - Laura Resnick [144]
“What?” Forgetting about my furtive attempts to loosen my bonds, I hopped awkwardly to my feet. “What?”
“I’ve administered a topical poison, one that seeps through the skin and induces death by slow paralysis.”
“What? When? Where is he?”
“He’s lying on the floor of the Petro ritual room at the foundation, next to the corpses of Mambo Celeste and Napoleon—neither of whom, I must confess, I expect to miss.”
I flung myself against her, wild with rage and anguish. “No! No! What have you done? You murdering bitch! I’ll kill you myself! Noooo!”
She was shouting in Creole. I realized as I felt strong, cold, lifeless hands grabbing me that she had issued instructions to the zombies. They seized me, put my gag back in my mouth, and dragged me—kicking, squirming, struggling, weeping, and howling with rage behind my gag—toward the tower.
Catherine rose, came toward me, and slapped me sharply across the face. As I stared at her with mute, venomous hatred, she straightened her red robe.
“This is your doing,” she said. “You have no one to blame but yourself. I’m not a fool. I don’t actually want to kill an NYPD detective. That’s far more trouble than it’s worth!” She pointed a finger accusingly at me. “But he burst into the foundation after dark looking for you. He was uttering insults and threats, and he would have torn the place apart with his bare hands if I hadn’t stopped him.”
She smoothed her red robe over her summer dress. “I administered what’s known as an ordeal poison. Frankly, it’s a nasty way to die. But under the circumstances and with such short notice, it was the only reasonable choice open to me.”
I growled in rage and lunged for her again. The grip of the zombies holding me was firm, though; I barely moved two inches.
“Be honest with yourself, Esther,” Catherine said. “Would he be lying in agonized paralysis awaiting his death now if not for you?”
Tears streamed down my face as I realized Lopez would never have gotten involved in this case in the first place if it hadn’t been for me. If only I hadn’t called on him for help the night I was arrested!
Using the tight grasp of the zombies as leverage, I raised both my legs off the ground, swung from their grip, and kicked out at Catherine as hard as I could. But being bound and held captive made me slow and clumsy. She saw it coming and easily evaded the blow.
“Baron Samedi is coming for your lover!” she said with unholy glee. “The Lord of Death is dancing around him even now, waiting to escort him to the cemetery!”
She said something in Creole. In response, the zombies started to shift me. I seized the opportunity to tear off my gag again.
“And your lover?” I shouted over the rising thunder. “The one you had to hex to get him into your bed? Why did Baron Samedi come for him, you murdering bitch?”
She leaned closer to me and smiled maliciously. “Because Darius balked at what we were going to do with Shondolyn. Which was that same thing that, after she was gone, I planned to do with Puma.” Her breath brushed my face as she said, “Since you’re the one who stole them both from my grasp, it’s fitting that you should take over that role tonight.”
“What role? What are you doing to do?”
“Human sacrifice.”
She produced a key from the pocket of her robe as I gaped at her. Then she used it on the shiny new lock that Lopez—Lopez! I wailed silently—had previously noticed on the entry gate to the watchtower.
“You can’t do this!” I shouted.
“I’m afraid I must.” She gave an order to the zombies, and they started dragging my squirming, kicking, grunting body toward the gate. “I have asked for great power and wealth from the darkest of the Petro loa. I’ve asked for the ability to nullify my late husband’s will, break open the trust, and empty the foundation’s coffers of the billion or so dollars that should be mine”
“You’re doing all this for money?” I blurted. “To woo lawyers and dazzle judges?”
“Power and money,” she said. “In the end, they’re the only things that matter, Esther.”
“The spirits demand