Blood Sacrifice by Maria Lima

Author:Maria Lima
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Keira (Fictitious Character), Vampires, Horror, Contemporary, Fiction, Fantasy, Kelly, General, Occult & Supernatural
ISBN: 9781451612691
Publisher: Pocket
Published: 2011-07-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“The gods’ most savage curses come upon us as answers to our own prayers, you know.”

—Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion

“I have what I need to re-consecrate the cemetery.” Antonio stood in Tucker’s shadow, waiting outside the car for us. Night had finally fallen and we’d been loading up my Land Rover.

“You can re-bless it?” Niko asked, his voice reverent. “I understood this sort of ritual to require a bishop.”

“I can do this,” Antonio insisted. “I may not be a bishop and I may be a sinful man, but I am—was—a good priest. I perform the sacraments. I can execute the ritual of consecration. God will not deny this.” Antonio climbed into the back of the Rover, a small bag clinking against his side. I had no idea what he had in there, holy water, perhaps, some other unguents and oils. “I know what to do.”

“This may get hairy,” I warned as I got into the passenger seat. “The spirits we felt last night were much more active than any at the Rose Inn.”

“God will be with me.” With that, he closed his eyes and began to move his lips. Prayers? Perhaps. I hoped his God was listening and that—as Antonio believed—the ritual would work.

“Niko, Adam, I think it’s best if you two go atop the overhang,” I said. “Niko, you know where it is. It’s not part of the cemetery, so you should be fine up there. I don’t know how long it will take Antonio but I don’t want you to be caught on the property. Tucker, Antonio, and I will go into the cemetery proper.” I’d slept several more hours, then woken up to find Tucker plying me with books and more food. I’d eaten several plates of machacado, tortillas and cheese, followed by a couple of apples for good measure. I was going to need as much energy as I could get.

“We’ll park just beyond the gates,” Tucker said. “You can get to the overhang and we’ll meet you in front of La Angel.”

“El Angel,” Antonio corrected.

“Nope, local custom,” I said. “We all know it’s wrong, but she’s been La Angel for eons.”

“A statue?”

“Yes, it guards the cave entrance,” I said. “The one that holds the door to Faery. Though, not literally, I don’t suppose. She sits out in front of it on a stone plinth. She’s modeled after ‘Winged Victory.’ She’s been there as long as I can remember.”

“Where did she come from?”

“Gigi erected her,” I said.

“Yeah, back a few decades ago,” Tucker said. “As a sort of a tribute to the people who once lived there.”

“Ranchers,” I explained to the now perplexed priest. “The cemetery was in no-man’s-land, where three different ranches once intersected. Now, it’s just part of the Wild Moon. We take care of it. I used to have to go there as a child and clean the graves, pull weeds, generally tend to the land. It was our chieftain’s way of helping me to understand mortality.”

The priest nodded his head, then closed his eyes again, soon lost in the silent whispers of his prayers.

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