Voodoo Queens of New Orleans - Vol. II | In Progress

Chapter Fifteen: 1881

AZA 

It felt like someone went ahead and put me on cruise control. I stumbled out of my study with Hezekiah still staring at all of us with this dumb look on his face like Esther was lying, or that we were all playing some sick twisted joke on him. But no, it ain't no joke. Lisa was gone, and now we knew for sure that the Council was responsible. And my intuition was telling me—telling all of us—that Sajida knew the whole time. 

But I didn't have the time to be mad at Sajida, although I could feel this unholy rage building up in my belly and damn near busting out. That's why I say it felt like I was on auto pilot or something—if I wasn't, I'd do something I'd regret. Go down to that bayou and get myself killed trying to confront her; now look at me. I couldn't even say her name no more. 

"Aza." Hezekiah's tone was firm but I knew, oh I knew, he was furious; he was hiding how he felt about the situation, but we could all tell that he wanted to let that monster out of him when he found out Lisa was in trouble. "Aza, where you going?" 

"I needa go tell Alize 'fore she go do something stupid." I didn't even have my sandals on. I planned to walk over to Alize's house in the dead of night with no shoes on while bloodsuckers be camping right outside my house. Couldn't bring my sense to me, though; I was in shock. I was in pain. 

Hezekiah was right in front of me 'fore I could reach the staircase. "Don't be foolish," he hissed at me, like I was a bad ass kid getting a scolding. His hand was around my arm, not too tight, but of course he could have squeezed harder. 

"Get off me." I yanked my arm away from him. At this time, the kids and Ben were out of the study. It wasn't wise for them to see me in this way, considering I was supposed to be a 'leader' of some sort. 

"Use your head, Aza." Hezekiah said my name, but he was talking to all of us 'cause he could sense the fury, pain and fear in everyone. "You no use to anybody dead. You hear me?" 

No one said a word—no sass mouthing or nothing. They just saw this man kill a member of the Council in my study like it was nothing; just smashed her head in and went on with business as usual. 

"You want us to sit here and do nothing while those devils got Lisa, doing God knows what!?" 

My words hit Hezekiah in a place where he didn't want them to. Still, he continued to hide that monster that wanted to come out of him; that monster that would lose his mind and go on to slash every member of the Council, involved or not, for what happened to Lisa. 

"What I want is for y'all to wait here until it's safe."

"And when is that going to be?" Kizzy asked. She was at Esther's side, holding onto her while she regained her strength; she was too weak to tell us everything she saw in her vision. She was like some vegetable, just limp and lifeless while Ben and Kizzy held her up. 

Hezekiah didn't have an answer. He didn't feel like he needed to give us one, but also, he didn't know. It was rare to see Hezekiah have that 'face' on him. I remember seeing this face of his years ago—he was at my house, talking to me through my bedroom window. My knowledge of his existence was a secret that I liked to keep, 'cause I was a little girl who got to talk to her ancestor who was also a vampire. My daddy would've had my neck if he found out; Mama had already died by then, but she wouldn't have minded 'cause she talked to him, too. 

"Do you ever get to go to heaven to be with your mama and daddy?" little-me asked him, tongue poking through the empty space where a baby tooth used to be. 

Hezekiah laughed. "How many times you gone ask me that, youngin'?" 

I shrugged, smiling at the fact that I made him chuckle. "I dunno. I just wondering if you get lonely, living forever and ever?"