Predestined (Existence Trilogy #2)(44)
I wasn’t sure if he was directing me or the car because I wasn’t about to pull over but the car pulled over and came to a stop without my help.
“What is it I need to know?” I asked hitting the stupid steering wheel for betraying me.
“You aren’t going to like this. I didn’t want you to ever know. But when you refused to accept that your soul was the restitution for the life my father granted you, my father decided he’d take his restitution elsewhere.”
What in the world did that mean? Did this mean he was paid in full and I could get away scot free now because if so there wasn’t anything about that I didn’t like.
“Pagan, look at me,” Leif ordered and I turned my head to meet his steady gaze.
“Wyatt’s death was only the beginning. Ghede will take more. Everyone close to you. He’ll take them one at a time until you either cave in and agree to come with me or there is no one else left to take.”
Numbness settled over me as I stared back at Leif. It was as if he’d just spoken in a different language. I’d understood what he said but the meaning behind it was almost impossible for me to accept. I wanted to push it back, shove it away. He couldn’t possibly have said what I just heard. There was no way that this restitution on my soul could affect others. Just me. Not... not Wyatt. No, I’d been there. I’d seen Dank. Leif was lying.
Shaking my head almost violently I yelled, “NO! YOU are lying. You are a liar. I saw Dank. I saw him draw out Wyatt’s soul. Dank would have never taken a soul for your father. He would have never--”
“Dank didn’t know.” Leif interrupted me. “Did he tell you about it beforehand? Did he prepare you for the death of your friend? No. He didn’t. Because Wyatt’s death wasn’t that of fate. My father used his power over your unpaid restitution to kill the body Wyatt’s soul inhabited. Dank was drawn there to retrieve the soul from the body because that’s his job. He was as surprised as you were.”
I had no response. Dank hadn’t told me. He never prepared me for it. Could this just happen? Could this spirit lord of the dead just take souls because I didn’t do his bidding?
“But... but you said my death and Wyatt’s death were to be the tragedies this school year. That would mean Wyatt’s death was fate.”
“I lied to you. I wanted you to be angry at Dank. I could feel your pain and I knew you were staying away from him.”
Lies. Leif only seemed to know how to live by lies. He wanted me with him so he’d lied every way he could to get what he wanted. And now, his father was going to kill innocent people I loved if I didn’t give in. Who would be next? My mom? Miranda? I couldn’t wait and find out. This would not happen again. Dank had said he was bigger than this. He could end this but it was too late now. Wyatt had already lost his life because of me. I couldn’t sit back and wait for someone else to die. The pain and guilt would be worse than an eternity with Leif. I let go of the tight grip I had on the steering wheel and my shoulders sagged in defeat.
“Okay. I’ll go with you.”
Leif didn’t respond right away. The car started and it pulled back out onto the road. I watched in a haze as it drove itself toward the bridge. Instantly, my head slammed back on the headrest from the speed of the car and I reached frantically for the steering wheel and began pumping the useless brakes.
“Leif! Help me!” I cried and the steering wheel made a sharp turn to the right as soon as we were on the middle of the bridge.
“I got you Pagan,” Leif’s voice was calm and even as the car broke through the railing and we went careening out over the ocean waters below us. There wasn’t even time for me to scream before everything went dark.
Dank
Gee appeared in front of me stopping me from going any further on my pursuit of voodoo spirits in their main mecca of New Orleans. I knew they had a portal here somewhere that led to Vilokan, the voodoo spirit afterworld. Only three places in the world had a portal. Over time New Orleans had become the most popular portal for the spirits. The humans here welcomed and celebrated them. Even the Catholics began accepting them and integrating them into their religion here.
“We have a problem,” Gee’s words weren’t laced with sarcasm or humor. She was serious. Which meant whatever the problem was, it involved Pagan.
Bracing myself I asked, “What?”
“I went to check on her like you said. There were cop cars at her home. Her mother is very close to an emotional breakdown, if she hasn’t already suffered one, and there are rescue boats, helicopters, and ambulances swarming the East Gulf Bridge. Pagan’s car was found a mile or so down the river. There are skid marks on the bridge and a car sized opening on the railing where her car crashed through.”
“She’s not drowned,” I stated, knowing Pagan’s body was not dead. I’d not been summoned.
“Of course she isn’t. But they all think she has. She brought Miranda home last night and Miranda was drunk. Leif helped get her to the house according to Miranda’s mother. They’re now guessing that she was probably intoxicated too and of course Leif is also missing, again, and they think both of them were in the car when it drove off the bridge.”
“Vilokan,” I growled. Leif had taken her to Vilokan. It was known to be an island under the water. But only voodoo spirits could enter through the bottom of the sea. The portals were the only way for anyone else to get in.