Hellfire Drop (Brimstone Cycle Book 2)(17)

“Ah, little imp, I have definitely missed nights like this.” He says, looking up at the stars.

“This hasn’t been what I’d typically call fun.” I glance up as well, before turning look down the roadway. I’ve dealt with more roads in the past day that I’d used in my last half dozen years of memory. I miss the old lighter I’d once carried, despite it now being useless given the state of my drops.

“And even if it was, I’m not in the mood for fun.” I continued. “I’ve got real work to do, but my bargain’s not working. I can’t drop like I used to anymore.”

“Well, obviously.” says the devil. “You’re deep in the Louisiana Territory.”

Something about the way he uses his words tells me that the phrase Louisiana Territory is significant enough to be capitalized.

“What’s Louisiana have to do with anything?”

The devil starts walking in the direction of the parked car. He pulls a ring of keys from his pocket and starts to spin it on a single, bloody finger.

That’s … odd. Devils, like me, are able to drop and don’t have to deal with my added worries of being snagged by a monster while transiting downstairs. Why in the Hell would a devil need a car? I’ll be honest. I didn’t even know that any of them could drive.

“The Louisiana Territory is owned by a student of Ole Beeze. No one drops in or out of this state without her permission.” he replies. “No one. Not even devils like me.”

The devil’s gained enough distance away from me that his voice starts to fade, so I throw a lost look at the broken van and follow after him.

“How come I’ve never heard of her?” I ask.

“Because her curse kills pretty much anything that drops in these parts.” says the devil, laughing. “It’s probably why Ole Beeze left you here in the first place. If you’re serious about trying to kill him, I suspect he may be trying, however obliquely, to do the same.”

That slimy bastard, I think. When I’d made my last deal with Ole Beeze, just before I tried to rescue Mary, I’d made sure to have him agree to leave me somewhere I’d be safe. A devil can’t lie when establishing a deal. Like uncoerced bargains, it’s a rule that’s been woven into the fabric of creation.

Ole Beeze had apparently tried to skirt that deal. I don’t know what would have happened to Ole Beeze if this student’s curse had actually been able to kill me. I also don’t care, since I wouldn’t have been around to see it.

None of that explains why this other devil, the one wearing Tom, is helping me though. Earlier, he’d claimed to be an admirer of mine. Devils, Ole Beeze included, only helped those who had a habit of leaving chaos in their wake. Given the bloodshed of tonight, and last but not least, the dozens of men that I’d already dragged to Hell, it makes a sick kind of sense that he’d hitch his proverbial trailer to me.

He could turn on me later, just like Ole Beeze had done three years ago. But with my drops gone, I’m short on options for getting to safety.

As I walk behind the devil, another thought comes to mind. The fact that a woman out there can prevent not just one devil, but all of them, from using one of their most valued powers throughout a space as wide as Louisiana. I don’t know how much power it takes to do something like that. Probably a whole damn lot, and maybe even enough to take care of something like Ole Beeze.

I could leave this state. Jump in the car with the devil, or even steal the foul smelling van that the mercenaries had used. Either one of those could get me far enough out of Louisiana to make a drop somewhere else. Somewhere I could begin my search for how to kill Beeze in earnest, without another devil trailing me.

Getting out of Louisiana, however, won’t work for me. There’s no telling how long it would take me to find another option for taking on Ole Beeze. I’d never heard of this student or her curse before, and the devil wearing Tom knew more about her than me. If there was a chance he could bring me to her, then I had to take it now.

“Think you could give me a ride to this former student of Ole Beeze?”

“Hard as this may be to believe, the lifestyle downstairs gets boring pretty fast.” says the devil. “You’re about the same age as this student was just before she got interesting.”

The devil shrugs, then crosses the last few feet from the car. He climbs in, leans over, then pops open the passenger side door.

“Get in.” he says. “I think it’s well past time you meet Graham, The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.”



END