Dark Homecoming by Patterson William

Author:Patterson, William [Patterson, William]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2015-12-09T08:00:00+00:00

36

Variola had known this moment would come, sooner or later. They were alone in the house. No one could hear them. From across the marble floor of the parlor, Mrs. Hoffman stared at her. Variola stared right back. They were like two cats, glaring at each other in that fraught moment before each pounced.

“You are getting lax,” Mrs. Hoffman said at last.

Variola laughed. “Me? You accuse me of being lax?”

“We can’t have what happened the other day happen again.”

“That was your failing, not mine.”

Mrs. Hoffman’s eyes radiated anger, even if the muscles of her face did not move. “You have responsibilities, and you have not been vigilant.”

“I have done my best to keep doors from opening. I conduct the ritual of enclosure every morning. But it is not I who oversees the locks on the doors.”

“She is getting stronger.”

Variola nodded. “Yes, she is.”

“That unnerves you.”

“I have done what I can. But at a certain point, you will have to accept that she is not coming back.”

“I will never accept that,” Hoffman hissed, her anger threatening to explode out of her plastic face. At that very moment, a vase on a shelf fell and shattered to the floor. Neither woman paid any attention to it.

“I don’t care if you ever accept it. But you will have to accept the fact that responsibilities are shifting in this house, even as we speak.” She smiled. “Your allegiances may have to change.”

“Never.”

Variola laughed—that rich, deep, musical sound. “You’ve been afraid of me ever since I came here.”

“If I was once, I no longer am.”

“You have learned your lessons well. I will give you that.”

A tight smile suggested itself on Hoffman’s face. “All but one. Papa Ghede does not bestow power to his followers for use in cruelty or revenge. If that is your motivation, then there will be a price to pay.”

“I do not follow Papa Ghede,” Hoffman said. “I am not some vodou priestess from the islands.”

Variola frowned at the insult, and a second vase went flying from the shelf, hurtling across the room before smashing into smithereens on the floor. Once again, neither woman reacted.

“You brought me here to form a community,” Variola said bitterly. “I was to teach you . . .”

“You were brought here to teach us, yes, but the coven was ours.”

Variola made a face in disgust. “Coven,” she spit. “That was your word. Not mine.”

“She was our leader,” Hoffman said. “And she will be again.”

Variola laughed in derision. “You poor deluded creature.”

Mrs. Hoffman folded her arms across her chest. “You think I’d ever swear allegiance to you? That I’d ever recognize you as leader of our coven?”

“I believe there will be others who will do so. Others who are not as foolish or as deluded as you are to think she can ever be brought back.”

“I’m not threatened by your alliances with chambermaids.”

Variola smiled. “But Mrs. Hoffman. I’ve decided to embrace the new mistress of the house. She has expressed an interest in the fine arts of the islands.

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