Page 77 of Fratelli: Eternal Bloodlines

Who took him?Darlene asked.

“Lucio had him removed from the Bellagio. He’s sent him to Reno. Does that mean anything to you?” Nzinga asked.

Darlene glanced at Dolly, who smiled.

“See? I told you,” Dolly said. “Lucio is trying to help us.”

Darlene’s gaze hardened.

“Your Grace, my sister Kaida—your friend Sonya—the consiglieri, Phoenix, has her. And he is the worst of them. The brothers know little about us compared to him. Phoenix was part of the war that ended us. He’s dangerous, and Sonya’s in serious trouble. We must save her.”

If she dies, she returns to the realm,Darlene muttered with a dismissive shrug.

“No, you don’t understand.” Charmaine’s voice grew urgent. “If she dies, so does Sonya. And neither of them will return to the realm. Julia Brown’s curse binds them both to this universe—and even Vittorio. Julia anticipated that the First People would try to summon Guardians. She trapped us here. If they die, they belong to Papa Legba, and they both end up in a place worse than hell.”

Dolly stepped forward; the weight of the revelation sunk deeper. “What?Hell?”

“The darkness is a deep and vast void. You were in it. We felt you being trapped there with the Draca and Domencio’s soul. Mortals, religion has a name for it. Christianity called it purgatory. Islam calls it barzakh, a barrier or intermediate realm where souls await the Day of Judgment. It’s not purgatory, it is a place of waiting where the soul experiences consequences of past actions, before the final judgment. Hinduism calls itnaraka,and Judaism?—.”

“We get it,” Darlene huffed.

Charmaine nodded. “That black void. The nothingness. It’s vast. It’s permanent.”

“What do we do?” Dolly asked Darlene, who looked confused.

“I have brought you some defense,” Nzinga said. “Weapons that belong to you. We don’t know what they are for, but Greenlee says you will need them.” Nzinga shoved the duffle bag toward them.

Check it out.Darlene said to Liora.

She did. “We can use these. Especially to keep back the supernatural’s.”

“There is more,” Nzinga said.

“More?” Charmaine asked.

Nzinga looked up to Dolly and Darlene. “We will have to go into the Mojave. We have an encampment there. My people had foreseen this and are prepared. They didn’t dare approach you with any plans after what happened in Louisiana. But they have what you need. You can trust me.”

Darlene stepped back into Dolly. The sisters became one. Charmaine stood. The two of them stared at Nzinga. Dolly reached into Nzinga’s mind and read her deepest thoughts.

She’s telling the truth. There is an encampment,Dolly said to Darlene, who was now inside of her.

She’s blocking something. I can sense it, but I don’t feel the source, said Darlene.

Maybe it’s not her that’s blocking it. Lucio did this to me when I met Domencio, and to you when you met Domencio. Someone else is shielding her,said Dolly.

Vampire?

I don’t think so. It’s something else. I don’t even think she knows it. They are using her. To bring us to the desert, said Dolly.

Then let’s kill her and go to Reno instead. Lucio and Domencio can meet us there, said Darlene.

No. We don’t run. Russell is safe. Sonya is in trouble. We need our Guardians for the big death. We need knowledge and information, Darlene. You and I need to prepare.Dolly said.

Telepathically, Darlene went silent. She was juvenile and impulsive, but when it came to this strange new world they were forced to live in, Dolly felt she was wiser than any of them. And she trusted her judgment.

Let’s go. Might be fun.

Dolly nodded to Nzinga. “Fine. We’ve agreed. Take us to your camp in the desert.”

---