Read Online Hunting Down Dragons (Moonlight Dragon #2) by Tricia Owens - Free Book Online
Authors: Tricia Owens
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head. "Celestina no like. She thinks very fake."
I found his Serbian accent cute, but Lev was a tricky one. While he reminded me of Wolverine from the X-men in that he was kind of wild-looking even in his human form, he also had that great body. His wolf got a lot of exercise, apparently, and anyone with eyes couldn't help appreciating it.
But if Celestina ever caught you checking out her boyfriend when he wasn't in his wolf form…well, let's just say a wise woman wouldn't cross a Vodou priestess. Not that Celestina actually was a priestess. She was second generation American who'd become a surfing champion in Huntington Beach. But when your grandmother used to be a well-known mambo in Haiti and later in Santo Domingo, you commanded respect.
I did the zipping motion with my fingers and lips. "Never again," I promised Lev.
He grinned, revealing slightly overlarge canines, and patted me on the arm. "We will learn good things," he told me enthusiastically. "Not to worry, Anne. Celestina is very skilled. You will see."
He was sweet and I wanted to hug him, but I also didn't want to see my effigy hanging from the ceiling tomorrow, pierced with needles. I'd already experienced being a living Voodoo doll during Vale's exorcism.
I walked to Celestina and handed her my panda pin. "This was my mom's. She gave it to me when I was three or four."
She held it in her hand for a moment, eyes closed. "Yes. This will do, Anne. What was her name?"
"Iris."
"Fine."
She'd pulled her dark, braided hair back beneath a multi-colored scarf, which told me she was in business mode. I belatedly noticed the pop music was gone. I took a seat on one of the ottomans beside Melanie.
"How is this supposed to work?" I asked.
Celestina placed the pin face up in the middle of the talcum powder symbol, beside the candles. "All magickal beings have a Name," she said, though she didn't look at me. Her dark gaze was fixed to my right, on a point somewhere above and beyond the candles. "I'm going to request the Lwa to call upon that Name and bring your mother's spirit here."
I was familiar with the concept of Names. Vale had once refused to give his, citing the power it gave someone to curse him or worse. A Name wasn't what was printed on your driver's license. It was like a magickal fingerprint unique to each person. I didn't know what mine was, and though I'd never admitted it, I worried I didn't have one. I was only half of a Chinese dragon. My dad had been a non-magickal human. Maybe being a mutt made me ineligible for the cool stuff.
"How do we know what my mom's Name was?" I asked.
"We don't." Celestine shook out her shoulders and visibly relaxed. She rolled her neck to loosen it. On the table in front of her sat a steak knife and a shallow dish containing powdered herbs. "But a sorceress leaves traces of herself even after she passes into another existence. All magickal beings do. We cling. Not to our bodies, but to our Names." She picked up the knife. "If we're fortunate, the Lwa will be able to pull that Name from your pin."
"What's the knife for?" I asked, alarmed.
"I'm going to scratch a gad ko into my skin. It will protect me while the Lwa that inhabits my body calls for your mother's Name."
"Why is protection necessary?" Christian asked, sharing a concerned look with me. "What's the danger involved?"
"The wrong spirit may answer." Celestina used the tip of the knife to quickly scratch a symbol into the skin on the back of her left hand. Beads of blood welled slowly from the cut, telling me it was very shallow. As she rubbed some herbs into the wound, she went on. "It shouldn't be a problem, but better safe than sorry."
On Melanie's other side sat Christian. To my left was Lev. I looked down as he squeezed my left hand with his heavily callused one. His bright blue eyes were soft as they gazed at me.
"It will be fine, Anne. Don't worry. Better to know, than not."
"I'm not worried. I want this."
But what was that they said? Ignorance
I found his Serbian accent cute, but Lev was a tricky one. While he reminded me of Wolverine from the X-men in that he was kind of wild-looking even in his human form, he also had that great body. His wolf got a lot of exercise, apparently, and anyone with eyes couldn't help appreciating it.
But if Celestina ever caught you checking out her boyfriend when he wasn't in his wolf form…well, let's just say a wise woman wouldn't cross a Vodou priestess. Not that Celestina actually was a priestess. She was second generation American who'd become a surfing champion in Huntington Beach. But when your grandmother used to be a well-known mambo in Haiti and later in Santo Domingo, you commanded respect.
I did the zipping motion with my fingers and lips. "Never again," I promised Lev.
He grinned, revealing slightly overlarge canines, and patted me on the arm. "We will learn good things," he told me enthusiastically. "Not to worry, Anne. Celestina is very skilled. You will see."
He was sweet and I wanted to hug him, but I also didn't want to see my effigy hanging from the ceiling tomorrow, pierced with needles. I'd already experienced being a living Voodoo doll during Vale's exorcism.
I walked to Celestina and handed her my panda pin. "This was my mom's. She gave it to me when I was three or four."
She held it in her hand for a moment, eyes closed. "Yes. This will do, Anne. What was her name?"
"Iris."
"Fine."
She'd pulled her dark, braided hair back beneath a multi-colored scarf, which told me she was in business mode. I belatedly noticed the pop music was gone. I took a seat on one of the ottomans beside Melanie.
"How is this supposed to work?" I asked.
Celestina placed the pin face up in the middle of the talcum powder symbol, beside the candles. "All magickal beings have a Name," she said, though she didn't look at me. Her dark gaze was fixed to my right, on a point somewhere above and beyond the candles. "I'm going to request the Lwa to call upon that Name and bring your mother's spirit here."
I was familiar with the concept of Names. Vale had once refused to give his, citing the power it gave someone to curse him or worse. A Name wasn't what was printed on your driver's license. It was like a magickal fingerprint unique to each person. I didn't know what mine was, and though I'd never admitted it, I worried I didn't have one. I was only half of a Chinese dragon. My dad had been a non-magickal human. Maybe being a mutt made me ineligible for the cool stuff.
"How do we know what my mom's Name was?" I asked.
"We don't." Celestine shook out her shoulders and visibly relaxed. She rolled her neck to loosen it. On the table in front of her sat a steak knife and a shallow dish containing powdered herbs. "But a sorceress leaves traces of herself even after she passes into another existence. All magickal beings do. We cling. Not to our bodies, but to our Names." She picked up the knife. "If we're fortunate, the Lwa will be able to pull that Name from your pin."
"What's the knife for?" I asked, alarmed.
"I'm going to scratch a gad ko into my skin. It will protect me while the Lwa that inhabits my body calls for your mother's Name."
"Why is protection necessary?" Christian asked, sharing a concerned look with me. "What's the danger involved?"
"The wrong spirit may answer." Celestina used the tip of the knife to quickly scratch a symbol into the skin on the back of her left hand. Beads of blood welled slowly from the cut, telling me it was very shallow. As she rubbed some herbs into the wound, she went on. "It shouldn't be a problem, but better safe than sorry."
On Melanie's other side sat Christian. To my left was Lev. I looked down as he squeezed my left hand with his heavily callused one. His bright blue eyes were soft as they gazed at me.
"It will be fine, Anne. Don't worry. Better to know, than not."
"I'm not worried. I want this."
But what was that they said? Ignorance
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