Poison and Wine by C.H. Valentino & Eldon Hughes

Author:C.H. Valentino & Eldon Hughes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Voodoo, magic, New Orleans
Publisher: BookBaby

Cafe Del Sol encompassed a corner of The Quarter on contrary time with the rest of the world. Supper started at 5 a.m. and rolled into breakfast by late afternoon. When Danni and Michael arrived, second supper was in full swing. Michael snagged a small table outside and waved at a young black man in black slacks and a white button-down.

Danni sat, but kept her hands folded over the menu. “I don’t feel much like eating.”

“I get that,” he said softly. “But we both skipped breakfast and I need a minute to process all of this before the next thing that tries to take my head off.”

That much she understood. The tension was palpable. For him, it had resolved to carefully chosen, soft-spoken words, while all Danni wanted to do was pick a fight. With anyone.

The waiter set out a fresh pot of coffee and two mugs, a house standard she assumed, since they hadn’t ordered it. Michael pointed to a few options on the menu and the waiter hurried away.

Michael laced his hands together and considered Danni. “What is the Crossroads, exactly? Hell?”

“In a manner of speaking,” she said. “For Samedi, souls are power. The more he has, the stronger he is. At least, it seems that way.”

“Seems?”

“None of this came with an instruction manual, Michael!” Her raised voice pulled the attention of several diners. Quieter, she said, “Joto seems to understand it better than I do. Why don’t you ask him?”

Michael pulled in a deep breath and secured himself before asking the next question. “Is there any way to release them?”

“Sure. Toss in two pennies, call their name … poof! Free.”

“Sounds simple enough.”

Danni scoffed. “If you don’t mind Samedi trying to kill you in the process.”

“But … as long as there’s someone on this side to revive you, you can come back, right?”

Her attention surfed out to the street. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure that was actually going to work. I mean, CPR isn’t the tried and true method of most people practicing voodoo.”

“What is?”

“Don’t go to the Crossroads.” She heaved a sigh and idly swirled her coffee. “There are thousands of people in this city who would jump at the chance to set someone free, but less than a handful who would actually try. But I get it. Can you imagine letting someone you love spend eternity with Samedi?”

It was Michael’s turn to look away and inspect the crowd of strange faces. Could he imagine? Was he already?

Danni voice softened a bit. “I wish I’d known about Gabriel at the time.”

Michael tipped his head, thoughtful. “Would you have saved him?”

“Of course I would have,” she snarled. “I’m not proud of condemning a bunch of innocent children to the scariest goddamn thing I’ve ever met.”

“Only adults, right?”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You know, I was willing to take a lot of this from you yesterday, but it’s a little hypocritical now. Speaking of which, did you ever tell anyone the truth about your little brother?”

It hurt less to hear than he thought it would, but it still stung.

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