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The smell of rot and old blood was unbearable, and breathing through my mouth only made me want to gag instead of calming my stomach. From where we were, I could see shadows moving but couldn’t determine what was making them.
Thorn yipped and bit the side of my pants, leading me to the edge of the cage.
“I knew it wasn’t just a dumb animal,” a gruff yet familiar voice whispered behind my ear, making me jump.
“Fuck, where did you come from?” I turned and grabbed hold of the board between us, grateful that Junior was here. At least now he could free us.
“Now, where’s the other one?” He spoke a little louder as he walked around the makeshift cage and squinted at Thorn and me. “I would have figured the mixed girl would have been with you two in the bone pit.”
Bone pit? Hmm. I think the better question was, why was Junior here? He was out in the open and wasn’t whispering anymore, which I suddenly realized didn’t bode well for us.
“A big ‘ol snake shifter came out of nowhere on the bayou. Was that your doing?” I said, completely deflecting his question but hopefully allowing him to take it as an answer. I figured I might as well try to figure out where this fucker had his hands in all this.
“Damn, guess that’s where Leonard went,” he said, rubbing his chin. So, he knew the guy? Does that mean he sent the guy after us? I eased away from the edge of the cage.
“So, was the LaComb family just a ruse?” I asked, bringing his attention back to me.
“Oh no, that was all true. That’s my wife’s family.”
“You're married?” Why I found that a shock, I had no clue. But it apparently wasn’t the smartest thing to slip from my mouth.
“Of course I am,” he spit, sneering at me.
“Sorry,” I held up my hands, trying to placate the man. “I just didn’t expect to see you here when you were so adamant about getting rid of Julia Brown,” I said honestly.
“Pfft. That’s Dad. He’s senile and don’t see the good that Julia can do for the world. She can wipe all the bigot people from the South and start anew.”
“She’s a bone witch. That means she needs BONES to gather her strength to do that. Where do you think she’s going to get them?” I countered.
I already looked up the missing persons report on our way down here. Depending on how many people were in this LaComb family and Junior here, all she needed to do was to wipe them out, and she was home free with enough power to do her bidding. I needed this lug to get that through his head or let me out to stop this.
“From the people I’ve been sending down this way. Did you really think that map was the only one? I’ve been making copies for years.”
My stomach fell. Junior was truly in on this, and there was no way of swaying his mind.
“Hey honey, any problem getting the Reaper?” a sweet honeysuckle voice called out behind Junior, and he smiled, turning away from me.
The feminine voice let out a squeal of joy as Junior lifted and twirled the petite girl in his arms. The moonlight illuminated her pale skin, showing the contrast of Junior's dark skin and clothes. Her strawberry blonde hair was long and flowed around her shoulders as her body glided through the air.
When Junior sat down the girl, she turned and scowled our way.
“I don’t know what’s so special about Reapers anyways. According to Julia, you’re the boogie men of the world. You don’t look all that powerful.”
“And there, for a minute, you actually looked smart. But looks can be deceiving.”
“Why you… little cu—” She lunged at the cage, but Junior grabbed her by her waist, stilling her movements.
“You know she will turn on you, right? In her past, she’s never worked with others. She uses people and then disposes of them,” I tried to explain to them, but I knew by the look in their eyes they were a lost cause.
“Junior, Lily. Come on. We ain’t done yet,” someone called, pulling their attention away from us. I watched as a figure walked toward the small fire that burned in the background. They set down a cauldron and beckoned the bayou dwellers from Timbuktu.
“Coming, Pa,” Lily called with a smile. She turned and gave me an evil smirk. “See you soon, Reaper.” Lily chuckled as she grabbed Junior's hand, and they disappeared into the darkness. Thorn leaned against me and snorted.
“Right at ya, buddy, and good riddance to them,” I let out under my breath. I turned to Thorn and knelt down to his level. “Okay, Thorn. What did you want to show me?”
Thorn pawed at a wider crack between some wooden slabs, and I realized something was on the other side.
“Okay, let me see what I can get.” I gently moved him over and pulled my sleeves down over my hands to reach through, blindly trusting him, and felt a thick cord. Pulling, it easily came with me back through the opening. Huh? “What am I supposed to do with this? Pull it?” I asked and yanked it, but nothing happened. Thankfully, it wasn’t a makeshift alarm on the cage. I guess I should have thought of that sooner. Thorn snapped his teeth at me before pointedly looking at the cord, and I chuckled at his meaning.
