Page 161 of The Cruelest Undead

Sorry?

Jacques and Flynn ignored them. They had bigger issues. From where he stood, Jacques began pacing, and his shiny leather shoes made no sound on the pavement.

It was crystal clear that he was struggling with this.

“Just say it,” Flynn offered.

When he came to a stop, he shared.

“What if Jolie raised a priestess, and then we put her back when we were done using her?” he asked.

They were confused.

“You just said you couldn’t raise the dead,” she admitted. “Now you want to raise the dead?”

He stopped her.

“I can’t, but you can. You raised Flynn’s parents, and we do know a priestess who understands our kind of magick. She’s handled us before. She gave us all tattoos, and they protect us to this day.”

Flynn blinked.

Oh, shit.

Mambo.

“Jacques, we know one priestess, and she died over a year ago. Mambo isn’t going to be magnanimous if we pull her from her death and drop this on her. Remember, she asked us to save her, and her son did too. We let her die because we said we couldn’t get involved.”

“Because we couldn’t save her at the time. We can give her some time now.”

“This is some sketchy shit,” Seth said. “Why do I get the feeling this is going to bite us in the ass?”

Oh, because it was.

It always did.

Everything had a cost, and there would be something sacrificed over this. Flynn would bet on it.

“If you don’t mind,” Logan said, “I’m out. If you won’t take me to Cerise, I can’t fight this fight.”

“If that’s what you want, Detective,” Flynn said.

“What I want is for you to send me to wherever you put Cerise. Since you won’t…”

He cut him off.

“Then, go.”

The man actually did. He walked away, leaving them standing there in the cemetery.

Yeah, he was pissed at them too.

Well, take a number.

When he was gone, they continued discussing the only plan they had to try and combat Marie Laveau.

“Mambo was one of the best priestesses. She was born to do what she was doing. She could help,” Death offered.

Flynn thought about the woman who had given them protection tattoos when they needed it.

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