"What about Yemaya?" Dakota demanded, glaring at the dark spirit. "No one seems to be helping her."
"We have helped her as much as possible, Little One. Sarpe has neutralized the venom. Ekimmu has protected her physical body while she struggles with her inner demon, and I have removed any immediate threat so she can battle her darkness freely. I think you know she wouldn't appreciate my interference. Now you must stand aside also. If it is meant to be, she will find the solution to her problem. Be patient."
"Be patient! That's all everyone keeps saying," Dakota grumbled, looking like a small child. "I've been patient. I am patient. I'm tired of being patient. I've used up every ounce of patience I've ever owned."
Intunecat chuckled at her unintended dramatics. He had grown fond of her during their brief exchanges. "It is a renewable resource, Dakota," he teased, using her name for the first time. "I have confidence you will discover you have plenty left after this. You will need it. Now I believe I am finished here."
Before Ekimmu or Dakota could say anything more, he vanished.
"I take it you know him," Ekimmu said.
"Not really. He helped me once. He pops up every now and then when things get tough. I'm never sure what to make of him. At first, I thought he was evil. Then he goes and does something like this. Now I don't know what to think, but I don't trust him."
"He is what he is, I guess," Ekimmu reasoned. "A spirit. I sometimes think good and bad don't come into it when spirits are involved. They have an agenda of their own and our rules simply don't apply when dealing with them, as I'm quickly discovering."
"Yeah! That's what Arbora said."
"Arbora?"
"Another spirit I met a while back."
"I take it you have these spiritual encounters often?"
"If you only knew!" Dakota sighed, feeling exasperated. "If you only knew!"
"Knew what?" a low, sultry voice whispered.
"Yemaya?" Dakota cried, grabbing and hugging her.
"Easy, my whole body feels like it has been run over by a truck."
"Sorry! Are you okay? What happened?"
"I am not sure."
"Can you walk?"
"If we go slowly."
Dakota and Ekimmu helped Yemaya sit up. For several minutes, Yemaya didn't move, other than to flex her legs and arms.
"I think I can make it now. Hopefully, we are not far from the highway," Yemaya said tiredly, looking at the dark forest surrounding them.
"I have a car a short distance away," Ekimmu said. "I'll get it."
Smiling, Yemaya nodded gratefully. Several minutes later, they heard a car engine and saw the headlights.
"How about we go back to the hotel?" Yemaya suggested wearily. "Then you can tell me what happened here. Would you like to join us, Ekimmu?"
"Perhaps another time," Ekimmu said, looking at her watch. "The sun will be up in a few hours and I have to meet with someone."
Dakota and Yemaya grinned knowingly.
"With a certain spirit, I take it," Dakota teased.
"Mind your manners. Now let's get you two back to your hotel so I can keep my appointment," Ekimmu said, hoping her flush wasn't visible in the dim firelight.
They helped Yemaya to her feet and moved slowly away.
CHAPTER 35.
AT THE HOTEL, Dakota helped Yemaya undress, then get into the hot tub.
"The more the spirits involve themselves in our lives, the more confused I get," she said. "Mari and Granny, I understand because they're family. Arbora is just plain nice. Sarpe surprised me tonight, but Intunecat leaves me uneasy. I don't know what to make of him."
"I would have to agree. Whatever his agenda is, it is well beyond my comprehension. Perhaps Mari or Grandma Dakota can give us some insight into him, but not tonight. I just want to hold you close and sleep."
"Me too, love. Speaking of which, I wonder why they didn't help us. I can't believe they'd just let all of this happen, not that I expect them to come to our rescue all the time."
"I suspect Intunecat had something to do with that."
"No doubt. Let's get you to bed. We both could use a good night's sleep."
Standing, Dakota stepped from the tub and motioned for Yemaya to follow. Grabbing a towel, she quickly dried her lover and nudged her into the bedroom.
Once settled, Dakota pulled Yemaya's head onto her chest, cradling her in her arms.
"Yemaya, did you know this was going to happen?"
"No. At least not on a conscious level, but..."
"But?"
"I can see why you ask. It was a little too coincidental, the show and this evening. Even I find it strange."
"Yeah! Then again, the past year has been somewhat unusual, but it's been the best year of my life."
"For me too," Yemaya mumbled, her words slightly slurred from exhaustion.
Before Dakota could say anything else, she heard Yemaya sigh softly, then felt her relax and snuggle closer. Within seconds, she was asleep. Kissing her lightly, Dakota rested her cheek against her lover's head.
"Oh, Yemaya," she whispered tenderly. "When we're together, I'm the person I was meant to be, not the person I thought I was. You have given me everything I could have ever dreamed of and more. I love you so much."
Closing her eyes, Dakota joined her lover in the dreamworld Mari and Maopa had created especially for them, a world free of barriers and restraints but filled with everything the mind could imagine and a few things it couldn't. The smile on the faces of the two sleeping lovers spoke more than words or gestures.
After taking Lucretia home, Boudreau hurried back to his place, hoping his grandmother was still awake. The appearance of the spirits had left him shaken. Ancelin would know what to do. She had always been his mentor, even as a young boy.
Knocking on her bedroom door, he waited anxiously for an answer. When none came, he sighed heavily, unwilling to wake her. Unable to sleep, he went to the kitchen to fix a sandwich. The sun would be up shortly and his grandmother was always an early riser.
Three hours later, growing impatient, he went to check on Ancelin. Again, he knocked on her door. When she didn't answer, he pushed it open and peeked inside. In the darkened room, he was barely able to make out her silhouette on the bed. Tiptoeing closer, he leaned down to touch her, only to discover her withered body curled in a fetal position, stiff with rigor mortis.
Falling to his knees, he pulled her gently into his arms and wept. She had been the one person he had loved unconditionally and now she was gone. Her frozen expression told him she had been in tremendous pain.
Boudreau imagined how she must have called out to him for help. How awful it must have been when he didn't come, he thought, feeling an overwhelming guilt. She had always been there for him and yet he had failed her in her last moments of life. She had died alone. Boudreau was a broken man.
CHAPTER 36.
THE BURNING PAIN returned. Like a hot knife slicing through his gut, it seared his insides, causing him to writhe back and forth as he clutched his stomach. Mayhew could do nothing but lie on his bed and hope the pills kicked in quickly.
"What have you done to me?" he gasped, thinking of his aunt's brew and remembering the conversation with his doctor earlier in the day.
"I'm not sure what to say," Dr. Kinnelly said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "You were showing signs of improvement and the lab work indicated your white cell count was increasing at a fairly good rate."
"So why do I feel so tired now and have these horrible stomach cramps? I can't sleep or eat and feel weak all over."
"I don't know what's happening, but you're tired because you barely have any T-cells left. It's like they've been almost totally eradicated from your system. I can only imagine the cramps are from your digestive system shutting down. Have you done anything different since your last visit?"
Not wanting to get his aunt in trouble, Mayhew shook his head.
"Okay. I'm going give you a shot to help with the pain and prescribe a strong analgesic for the stomach problem. My nurse will schedule you to come in for a transfusion in the morning, then a complete blood exchange next week. We need to get those T-cells up or replace them quickly. Without them, your whole body is going to turn on you. I've never seen anything like this before. I'll check with some of my colleagues to see if they've heard of anything similar to this. Hopefully, one of them will have a suggestion."
Mayhew sat silently, saying nothing. What was there left to say?
"Now, you go home and rest... and don't do anything or go anywhere until my nurse calls. I want you on call and ready to come in the minute you hear from her."
Numb from the realization that he was dying, Mayhew stumbled to his car and drove home. It was time to call Cornelius. His lover would call their friends to organize his farewell bash. It didn't take a genius to know his doctor was only delaying the inevitable.
Whatever his aunt had given to him had apparently backfired, causing the virus to proliferate at a phenomenal rate. Her cure had gone horribly wrong, but Mayhew didn't feel any anger toward her. Out of love, she had tried her best to help him in the only way she knew how, and for that, he was grateful. He carried that belief in her and his love for her to his grave a month later.
Lucretia stood silently beside the headstone, her head bowed. Behind her, Boudreau held a large umbrella, shielding his mistress from the rain while she wept over her nephew's grave. Water poured down his face and neck, soaking his shirt under the raincoat, but he stood very still, making sure the priestess was well protected from the weather. Tears, mixed with raindrops, slid unnoticed down his cheeks.
She is dying, he thought sadly. Her heart is broken and I can do nothing for her but watch her wither away.
"Venez, maitresse," he said softly to Lucretia, noticing her shivering. "Vous etes froide et il commence a faire noir." He took her gently by the arm and led her away from the gravesite to the limousine. Frail and in poor health, the cold night air was causing her to shiver uncontrollably.
"Il est mort, Boudreau," she whispered, her voice weak from crying. "Je l'ai tellement aime"
"I know!" he agreed sadly. We all loved him, he thought.
"Je l'ai tue," she whispered. "He was so young and I keeled him," she added.
"No! Eet was the seekness, nothing more. Eet was God's weel." Boudreau tried to comfort her. For more than twenty years, he had served her faithfully and would continue to do so. Nothing could change that.
Nodding, Lucretia didn't argue. It was easier to believe her servant than to face the horrible truth.
As the car left the cemetery, the priestess stared at her hands, searching for signs of the sickness that was now ravaging her own body. The thin skin couldn't hide the enlarged veins protruding across their backs nor the emaciated condition of her hands. Quickly tucking them in her coat pockets, she leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. A dark, humorless laughter danced momentarily across her mind, sending a chill through her body.
"Ramus," she thought, finally understanding his final words to her. She had doomed her nephew and herself to a horrible death.
EPILOGUE.
AFTER DROPPING Yemaya and Dakota off at their hotel, Ekimmu called Om Loh Rehn and gave her a brief summary of the events. Pleased, Constance agreed to meet with her the next evening for a complete report.
Throwing the keys on the stand, Ekimmu opened the bedroom door and stepped inside. The television was on, but the sound was turned low. A documentary about crocodiles was playing with the narrator explaining what a fantastic species they were.
Laughing, Ekimmu walked over to the bed and stared at the large orange and black snake coiled up on the bedspread watching the program.
"Setting the proper atmosphere?" she asked, raising her right eyebrow.
"Yess and ssaving my energy for things to come."
"You'll need it!"
Laughing, the snake morphed into human form. "Oh, I know. Believe me, I know," the spirit grinned mischievously.
"I love a woman with a lot of spirit," Ekimmu chuckled, removing her clothes and climbing onto the bed.
Giggling, the two women dove beneath the sheets and proceeded to wrestle for dominance.
The beast lay in its lair, bruised and battered. The rage quieted temporarily but wasn't defeated. The arrival of the first spirit had made it cautious. She was too powerful for it to challenge.