It did.
Callie felt the Loa enter Liam’s dreamscape, causing it to stretch to watercolor hues and reform to accommodate the new presence. It reminded Callie of that first step from the real world to the Otherworld, the
Tír na Nog.
The teacup spin teased her equilibrium before settling into a vaguely unbalanced waver. The air snapped and fizzed along the fine hair on her arms, thickening until her ears popped.
Whatever Liam was doing, it seemed to be working. Yshotha stumbled as the dreamscape shifted. Callie compensated in the bend of her knees, then took the opportunity the Loa provided, and ran full tilt at the demon with weapon drawn.
Her blade sliced across Yshotha’s ribs, right into fiery veins. Lava splashed across her jacket, raising the smell of burned leather. Fire flared all around as the demon screamed. She ducked and rolled to avoid its swinging, massive arm. For such a large beast, it moved faster than she expected. She could take no chances—one hit could easily crush her.
Warm air breezed by as she spun out of the path of another fist. Then she lunged to strike behind its knee. She had no idea if Yshotha had tendons or not—either way she figured such a wound would prove painful if not debilitating.
Yshotha snarled and swatted at her. She flung herself bodily over its fist, shifting her center of gravity and hitting the ground in a heavy tumble. It jarred every bone, knocking her breath away.
Come on, Liam. Come on come on come
on
…
She held her ground, waiting for another fist to come flying her way. When it did, she dodged it and dove between its craggy, smoldering hooves, going for the other knee.
She missed. Swearing, she made an impatient second attempt. She managed to knick the demon’s leg, spewing more lava, but in its blind fury, Yshotha slapped the blade from her stinging hand. Her sword spun away with a forlorn, metallic clatter.
She somersaulted back just in time to avoid being pancaked all over the dreamscape. Breathing hard, she slid the knives from her boots and charged. She hurtled an arm, used a lava-bleeding knee to hoist herself midair. Pivoting built a little extra momentum, enough to embed her blade in a network of chest veins carrying liquid fire to its heart.
Lava spewed in all directions, searing her face and hair. Callie pushed her endurance past the pain, a muffled scream escaping past clenched teeth. She reached with her other knife and started to climb like a slightly demented Fay Raye bleeding and burning up the façade of a demonic King Kong.
Her rise didn’t last long. Yshotha tore her from its chest and shook her hard.
Any time now, Liam.
A final breath-stealing squeeze that snapped more than one rib and Yshotha tossed her like a broken toy across the ground. Callie landed hard enough to shatter bone, rolling, spraying gravel. She stuttered to a slow, broken stop, able to draw in only a whisper of breath. One of her broken ribs punctured a lung.
Callie dug her hands into the rough ground, pushed herself painfully to her knees, and looked up. Yshotha limped toward her, satisfaction flaring in its eyes.
Fair Brighid and all her feuding relations, this is going to
hurt
.
Craggy toes slammed into her side like a van hurtling out of
between
, and she flew, turning almost gracefully before falling once more.
She blacked out before she hit the ground.
Liam’s hand shook as he poured rum into his cupped palm. He tossed it in a wide, curving arc along the rough outline of his makeshift circle. “Legba, you know me. I have found the demon Yshotha.” He poured more rum, swung it in another arc. “A champion battles it now, but she has no hope of surviving, either in body or soul.” More rum, a final arc. “Not without the Loa. Let my connections be hers. What you found in me, I give to her. Let our light be one.”
The ground shifted and pulled in the opposite direction he was accustomed to. He bent double as pain and fire took his arm, captured his heart. But it worked.
Where the raven had been, Legba now stood, grinning like a heathen. “Took you long enough.”
Liam straightened slowly through the pain, rum stinging his palms in counterpoint. “No more games. We need Brigitte, sooner rather than later.”
Legba took in the battling demon and Keeper, whistling in open appreciation. “She’s not half bad, is she?”
“She’d be better with some help,” Liam pointed out, losing patience fast. “This time we could do without the surprise of Maeve.”
“What you’re asking ain’t easy,” Legba told him. “Your girl’s not connected to this city, or the Loa. What she’s looking for can’t happen.” He held his hand up as Liam felt the color leave his face. “But there may be another way, if she’s able to turn her soul to it.”
“If it will protect her and kill Yshotha, then yes. Anything.”
Legba chortled. “Careful what you wish for, Irish-man. You just might get it.”
Callie awakened in a place dark and cold. Faraway there was pain, she knew. Here she was numb, splayed out in a disjointed heap. Dead air, flat with lifeless intensity, cushioned her from reality. It was something of a relief. A tentative mental inventory told her she had never been hurt so bad, not even in dying to ascend the first time. That time had been more fear than pain. Now there was just pain, waiting for her on the other side. It was nice to have a reprieve.
“So. You made it. I was beginning to wonder.”
Callie turned her head. “Brighid?” It didn’t hurt to talk exactly. It was more of an ache where feeling should rightfully be.
The figure left perfect darkness into slightly less darkness, provided by the soft candlelight around her.
“Close,” said the figure with curls of burnished copper and brass. Her garnet lips lifted at the corners in a smile. “But no cigar.”
What little air was left in Callie’s lungs leaked out in a hiss. “Brigitte.”
Brigitte cocked her head. “You haven’t many heartbeats left, child. Are you certain you’re ready for this?”
Callie would have laughed, but mirth threatened to punch a hole in the dam between numbness and pain. “I haven’t much choice, have I?”
Brigitte crouched, and took her hand. “You always have a choice. You could walk Eva’s path, and make it your own. Of course, that would do no one any good. But it would save you a great deal of pain.”
Callie shook her head, and her world spun. “Not an option.”
“Hmm.” Brigitte stooped to tilt her head up with two elegant fingers. “Then I will make you a deal.”
This time Callie did laugh, and regretted it. The throbbing started. “Of course you will.”
“Well, this is the Crossroads of Crossroads.” Brigitte straightened. “Can you stand?”
“Probably.” Callie struggled upright. She managed it on the second attempt. Agony had finished its coffee break and, refreshed, was on its way back to deal another round. She caught her breath halfway through unfolding, but made it past the sticky bit where her ribs were concerned. “What’s the deal?”
Brigitte gave her an approving arch of an eyebrow. The woman was half-Brighid, half-Sulie. “Stay.”
“Excuse me?”
Brigitte stretched her arms to either side. “Stay in New Orleans. Be its protector.”
Callie nearly collapsed. “I’m not—”
“What? One of us?” Brigitte laughed. “It makes no sense, child. You risk your life, your very soul, in the saving of this city. It’s in your heart now.”
“And the End of Days?”
“Coming, and soon. But until then?” Brigitte shrugged. “I would not think to keep you away when the call comes. All I ask is that you act as guardian, as Liam acts as guardian, as Eva did.”
“And Chase and Donal?”
“They cannot be with you. One has betrayed, the other already lost in the betraying.” The Loa interrupted Callie’s protest. “They are already gone. You have nothing left, child.”
“They’re still mine.” Callie’s lip curled. “I won’t give up on them.”
“Have it your way. If I am wrong, the deal is off and you may stay or go as it pleases you. But if I’m right?”
“Generally a deal involves something or other of mutual benefit.”
“If you stay, you keep him—Keeper.” Brigitte’s eyes gleamed. “You keep him, and have the Loa’s full backing in the days to come. You reserve the right to call upon us in need. With Keepers lost, I’m thinking you can use the help.”
She wasn’t wrong. “And if I turn you down?” Callie figured she may as well know the score.
“We will still help you destroy Yshotha, naturally. But after, you will be returned to a place outside the city. The Baron gave you permission to enter and remain as long as the demon was a threat. Only I can supersede his power. You will not see Liam again, for his place is here.”
Humanity’s freedom, or her own. Lose everything she knew and fought for, or keep it and lose Liam, lose humanity before the war even started. She’d been right—no choice to be had. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t propose a counter offer. She’d be a coward not to try.
“Well?”
Callie smiled. “If you’re wrong about Chase or Donal, then I get everything you promised as though I had stayed. I will come and go as I please in your realm, and so will Liam. And, whether you’re wrong or right, the Loa will help in every way possible against Maeve.”
“Agreed.”
“Then I suppose we have a deal.”
Brigitte reached her hand to Callie. Callie met her halfway, and their fingers touched. “Hear me, champion. I am Brigitte. You know me. We have made a Crossroads bargain, and are bound, our destinies tied.”
Light flared inside Callie—the light she had been missing, and more.
So much it blinded her.
Callie came to in a rush, and when she did, she wasn’t alone. A buffer lay between her and her surroundings. She felt as though she were flying and on fire at the same time.
In the distance, lightning struck the rod atop the cathedral’s main spire, electrifying everything around her.
Laughter echoed inside her—laughter that wasn’t hers. It made her insides a bit fizzy. “Brigitte?”
Pay attention now, child. There be work ahead of us.
Callie felt Yshotha before she saw it. Giant charging footsteps shook the ground, pounded and echoed in her ears. She reached for her sword. It scraped off the gravel where it had fallen and whirled at speed right toward her. The grip smacked into her palm. She turned with its momentum and charged right back.
She was a child again, swinging as high as she could, gravity warring with the insatiable temptation to let go. This time she gave in and flew.
One leap threw her to chest level, where the Loa’s strength helped drive her blade deep into Yshotha’s sternum. She used its torso to push off, and sailed over its swinging, burning arm. She twisted in midair, hardly feeling the twinge in her ribs. Pain was a distant promise over the horizon.
Callie landed hard on the demon’s broad, rocky shoulders, her boots digging for purchase. She adjusted her grip and brought her sword straight down with everything she and Brigitte had.
Yshotha threw her off with a world-shaking roar. Callie turned again, bracing herself to hit the ground. Looking down, she saw a miniature Liam running toward her. When she landed, her knees bent and she somersaulted, over and over, until she slowed and rolled to her feet facing the demon once more with a hissing grin that didn’t come from her. She charged again, giving Brigitte full rein.
Brigitte threw her at Yshotha like a torpedo. She twisted feet first, tucking her elbows in so her sword pommel rested between her breasts.
She slammed into the demon’s torso. He fell like a mighty sequoia.
As the dust settled, she clambered over the demon’s facade, sword at the ready. This time when she brought her blade down it went through the demon’s throat, nearly to the hilt. Lava spewed, but she held on through the death throws. The leather grip of her sword pressed hard into her gloved hands.
Liam reached her. “Callie!”
“Stay back!” She was on fire, only Brigitte holding back the need to scream. Too much power in her, too much surrounding her. Too much.
Too late. Yshotha’s eyes swiveled to Liam, and the dying demon smiled. In her desperation, Callie dropped to one knee, leaning on the crossbar of her sword until she feared it might bend beneath her weight. “Die, you
son of a bitch!”
Finally he did. The fire in Yshotha’s eyes extinguished, and he fell limp. A moment later, he began a slow crumble into cooling ash. Rank smoke permeated her, making her choke. She stumbled from the demon’s corpse into Liam’s arms.
“Callie?”
“Wait.” She coughed brimstone from her throat as he carried her away. It was getting difficult to gauge the most basic movements with Brigitte’s presence beginning to leave her, seeping from her pores like a fever. “She’ll be gone in a moment. When she is—”
“She? Who?”
“Brigitte. She’s here.”
Liam walked faster, grip on her tightening. “She’s—”
“In me. A part of me.”