Brighid's Mark Read Online Free PDF Page B

truth. We have followed your instructions, and now await your answer.”
    At first, nothing. If anything the air grew more still, making it difficult to tell if the unnatural quiet was due to the perverse weather eccentricities of New Orleans, or of its Loa.
    Suddenly the shawl took to the air like a plastic bag drifting over a dusty street. The fabric furled and wafted with delicate folds until it draped itself in midair around invisible curves. Shifting moonlight drew darkness and light together until they coalesced into form. Clamoring instinct drove Callie several steps back into deepening shadow.
    The woman who finally appeared out of midnight was stunning. Tall and lushly curved as Venus, fire bright hair pinned in messy curls and eyes like summer sky. Elegant hands gathered the shawl more closely about her pale naked form, but her silky bright smile indicated she’d throw it off at least provocation.
    Liam visibly started. “You—”
    “You remember me,” the woman purred, clearly delighted. “Darling boy, how long it’s been. Have you been here all this time?” Her smoky laugh was meant for dark bedrooms and steamy nights.
    Callie was rendered frozen solid by a flood of recognition and unadulterated rage. Suddenly everything—Eva, the demon in Liam’s dream—made a horrible kind of sense.
    “Why would Legba open the gate for you?” Liam demanded. “What do you have to do with any of this?”
    Another bright laugh, jangling Callie’s already stretched nerves. The woman spread her hands like a master conjuror, the shawl threatening to slide from her shoulders. “Goodness, my sweet, don’t you know that everything is connected? You asked Legba to open the gate to truth, and here I am.”
    Callie’s rage shattered. She stepped into view, to the edge of the circle. “Hello, Maeve.”
    The woman’s head snapped around on her lovely neck, smile faltering. Then it blossomed again into a fully-fledged grin. “Hello, cousin .” The word sounded overly sweet and brittle all at once. “It’s been simply decades since last we met. When was that? Boston?”
    “Texas. Corpus Christi.” Callie laid the syllables in a neat, even line, each with a clang like iron.
    “Ah, yes. Aunt Brighid’s girls are so alike—I sometimes find it difficult to keep you all straight. Only there aren’t so many of you now, are there?”
    Anger and grief hurt more than her actual words. “Where’s Eva?”
    “Dead, didn’t you know?” A feigned start of realization. “Oh, you mean her soul. Well…” Her hand fluttered in the air with butterfly grace. “Now, if you don’t mind, cousin , I have Crossroads business to conduct.” Her eyes fixed on Liam with dark hunger.
    Liam’s smile could have cut glass. “What is this demon, and who summoned it?”
    Maeve clasped her hands before her, all demure innocence. “Valuable knowledge indeed,” she acknowledged. “Now here is my question in return. How much are you willing to sacrifice for the answers—and for the power needed to do something about those answers—this time?” She reached for him.
    Liam opened his mouth, but got no further.
    Callie launched herself between them. She grabbed Maeve’s arm and pulled her roughly back. Maeve stumbled, snatched her arm away with a hiss. Callie breathed hard, lip curling. “You will not touch him.”
    Now Maeve’s laugh was derisive, less playacted. “You would protect him? From me? You forget yourself, cousin . This is my realm, not yours.”
    Callie stalked a predatory circle, cross-footed. Maeve revolved in place to follow her movements. “Take another look, Maeve. This isn’t your territory or mine. We called you here for a purpose and you are compelled to answer whether you like it or not—or suffer the consequences.” Callie feinted left, stepped right as Maeve tried to get past her to Liam. Maeve hissed again, which Callie answered with a feral smile. “You can’t make a Crossroads deal here, as this is not