Page 77 of Blackwood

Sabine grins. “Thank ya, baby.” She tosses him the keys. “You can go wait outside. Us girls have it from here.”

He tips his head and saunters off, disappearing into the shadows without another word.

I climb the porch stairs behind her, my heart pounding harder than I want to admit. The wooden boards creak under our weight.

Sabine pushes open the door and there he is.

Carlos fucking Lucero.

Tied to a chair in the middle of the room, wrists and ankles bound tight, head slumped forward.

He stirs at the sound of us entering, slowly lifting his head. When his eyes meet mine, I smile, cold and hungry.

“Hi, Carlos,” I say. “Miss me?”

Carlos thrashes in the chair as the door creaks shut behind us. He tries to speak through the gag—muffled sounds, frantic and useless. His face is already slick with sweat.

Good. He’s scared.

“Do you know why you’re here, Carlos?” I ask, voice calm and cold.

He grunts again, panicked now, shaking his head like it might buy him mercy. It won’t.

Sabine smiles as she strolls toward Carlos, the hem of her long black dress whispering over the warped floorboards. Carlos’s eyes cut to her and then go wild when he sees what’s coiled around her wrist.

A snake. Thick. Yellow. Smooth as shadow and nearly silent as it slides down her forearm.

“Revenge, baby,” she purrs, eyes never leaving Carlos. “That’s why you’re here.”

Carlos jerks in the chair, trying to lurch away, but he’s bound tight. The chair creaks beneath him. His breathing goes ragged.

“Sabine! Where the fuck did that thing come from?”

Sabine chuckles. “Left it for me, he did. My man Jacques always knows what I need.” She strokes the snake’s head with one painted fingernail. “This little darling can sense the soul, you know. Knows if a man’s good. Or dirty. Knows if he’s got blood on his hands.”

The snake flicks its tongue in Carlos’s direction. Carlos lets out a muffled shriek, his whole body trembling now.

I glance at Sabine. “Your man left us a soul-sensing snake?”

I flash a wicked grin. “Perfect.”

I step forward, arms crossed.

“Okay, Carlos, this is Sabine. Sabine, this is Carlos.” I point lazily to the snake still curled around Sabine’s arm. “And this… is also here for you.”

Sabine lifts the snake gently, cradling it with eerie tenderness.

“Her name’s Celeste,” she says with a hint of reverence.

“Celeste,” I echo flatly. “Lovely. Apparently, she’s here to see if you have a soul.”

Sabine leans in, “To see if it’s a good soul… or a wicked one.”

“Spoiler alert, babe. It’s wicked.”

Sabine shrugs. “Never hurts to check.”

She steps closer and carefully lays the snake across Carlos’s lap. He loses it. He tries to scream but it’s muffled by the gag. His body thrashes in the chair. The ropes hold.