Retribution Road Jon Coon (best android ereader TXT) 📖

to help. I know you don’t believe it, but I think you’re the most powerful of any of us. Tonight we’ll know.”

“Cas, I’m not sure—”

“This is her only chance, Gabe. And it’s on you. So make up your mind. Are you in or out?”

Chapter 28

ALETHEA WAS ASLEEP WITH AN oxygen mask covering her face and a nurse in the chair beside her. Her breathing had a distinct rattle, and her pulse and blood pressure were dangerously low.

“See if you can get the nurse out of here for about two minutes,” Cas whispered to Gabe as they went into the room.

Gabe approached the bed and then motioned to the nurse to come with him to the door.

“I’ve heard that rattle before. She’s near the end, isn’t she?”

“I’m afraid so. All we can do for her now is keep her comfortable. I doubt if she will make it through the next few hours.”

“Isn’t there anything you can do?”

“I’m so sorry, but it’s her time. There’s nothing more.”

“I can’t just sit here and watch,” Cas said. “I’m going home. If she’s in God’s hands, it’s time to give him a nudge. Are you coming?” she asked Gabe.

Somewhat surprised at her abruptness, he agreed, and they started back down the hall.

“What was that about?”

“You’ll see. Just hang in there with me.”

There were other cars in the drive and parked on the street. Lights were on in the house, and as they entered the foyer, the scent of candles and incense filled the air. A line of red and white candles flickered beneath Marie’s portrait, and in the living room, the furniture had been cleared away, and a large circle of candles and flowers replaced the carpet. There were a dozen men and women wearing robes. No one spoke, but it was obvious they were acquainted and that what was about to happen wasn’t a first rodeo for any of them.

“It’s a protection circle,” Cas whispered to Gabe. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

An older dark-skinned woman took Gabe by the hand and led him into the circle. Her face was lined with creases that time had taken years to perfect, and her thin, white hair was pulled back in a bun. “Please kneel and be as comfortable as you can. We’re going to be here a while.”

She then went to a corner and knelt with a large book. She began a chant in Latin. Gabe recognized some of the words from his years in Catholic school but couldn’t clear his head enough to put meaning with her words.

Cas came back dressed in a flowing white robe, barefooted, with her long black hair hanging free around her shoulders. She nodded to the woman leading the chant, and the rhythm changed abruptly. Cas went to a large wicker basket beneath the side bar beneath Marie’s portrait and lifted Souricière, the seven-foot white python that was her mother’s familiar, and wrapped the big snake over her shoulder and around her waist. Then she began to dance. The music of the chant and the fragrance of the candles and incense were hypnotic. Gabe was stunned by her beauty and the grace with which she moved around him as she followed the rim of the circle.

The house lights were off, and the only light came from the flickering candles. She danced, and again the chant and tempo changed, this time to a prayerful quiet. The woman who had led Gabe into the circle approached him with a goblet. She motioned for him to drink. He did, and she returned with an ancient, leather-bound book. She placed it in his hand and pointed to the top of a parchment page. “Please start here,” she said and returned to her seat. At first the words were alien. But as he read they became more comfortable. He guessed he was reading a prayer, but he had no idea to whom or what for. But somehow it felt right.

He turned the page and, to his surprise, there were words he recognized from his days in the Catholic orphanage. “Pater Noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificatur nomen tuum … Our Father, who art in heaven . . .” He remembered Alethea telling him that Marie’s voodoo was strongly based in Catholicism and that she had even been permitted to have a shrine in St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square.

He continued reading, and two men in hooded robes entered the room. One carried a silver platter, and on it was a beating heart. Gabe couldn’t tell if it was human, but it certainly was the right size. How did it just sit there beating on its own? The men placed the tray at Gabe’s feet and backed out of the room.

On the tray was a vial of blood, and Gabe suddenly realized the purpose of their trip back to the hospital and why Cas had needed the nurse out of the room. Cas knelt beside him with Souricière still wrapped around her.

“Pour the blood onto the heart, and while you do, repeat this prayer after me.”

She began the prayer and the chanters repeated her words. Gabe opened the vial and poured Alethea’s blood onto the still-beating heart.

“Now we’re going to offer it as a sacrifice.”

The dark-hooded men returned with a small hibachi and placed it in front of Gabe.

“Our god is a god of sacrifice,” Cas chanted, and the room picked up the chant and repeated it.

Gabe lit the grill and placed the heart on the grate.

“Our god is a god of mercy,” she said, and the room repeated it.

“We pray for the life of our Mother Alethea and offer this sacrifice in her place. Please be merciful, oh god, and accept our sacrifice.”

What happened next left Gabe breathless. The fire on the grill flamed bright, and in an instant, the heart and all trace of it were gone. Souricière raised her head and her black eyes turned flame red. She grew to several times her normal size, coiled, and rose high, looking directly