Page 57 of Girl Between

“The snake wasn’t poisonous, you know?”

Dana repeated herself. “What?”

“Ah, so you didn’t know? But you reacted anyway.” She grinned wider. “There are no poisonous snakes in Haiti. But that doesn’t stop us from turning snake charming into a business. We use them in almost every Voodoo ceremony. They become like family to us. Sacrificing them is never easy.”

Dana swallowed, thickly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for?—”

“I know, child.”

Her tongue suddenly free, Dana was unable to stop the question from tumbling out. “Then why did you kill it?”

“Sacrifice bears fruit.”

“Do you believe that?”

Marjorie shrugged. “I’ve seen a lot of sacrifice. Not a lot of fruit.”

Dana’s brows furrowed. “But you’re themanbo. Don’t you have to believe to practice?”

“I didn’t say I didn’t believe, bébé. But you’re not fool enough to think belief is blind. Belief and doubt. One cannot exist without the other.”

It was a sentiment Dana understood. “But the snake … it was coming for me.”

Marjorie smiled again. “Always our biggest critics, aren’t we?” Seeing Dana’s confusion, she continued. “When it comes to darkness, we believe we’re the only one it touches. Ask any woman who was inthis room. They will each tell you they thought the serpent was coming for them.”

“That’s why you do it?” Dana asked. “It’s a test.”

Marjorie shook her head. “More like a rite of passage.”

“But you saw it. The snake came right for me.”

“What I saw was you rise up to meet the darkness, stopping it before it could touch anyone else. You didn’t know the snake wasn’t poisonous, yet you stood in its way. You are a force of light, Dana Gray. The lwa honor you for that.”

Marjorie took both of Dana’s hands and pressed the snake’s lifeless mouth into each of her palms. Bile rose in Dana’s throat as she looked at the blood smeared across her pale skin. She couldn’t stop her mind from recounting all the blood she had on her hands.

Marjorie shook her head as though she could see straight into Dana’s mind. “Blood is more than death, girl.”

“I know,” Dana replied. “But sometimes my heart hurts more than my head can compensate for.”

An expression of understanding slid into place on Marjorie’s weathered face. “Ignorance dwells in darkness. But you are not ignorant, child. The lwa are the keepers of the crossroads. They came to you for a reason.”

“Why?” Dana asked, unable to mask the desperation in her voice.

“That is for you alone to understand.”

“But I don’t understand,” replied Dana.

“I think you understand more than you know. I saw the way you looked at my bible.”

“I’m sorry I stared,” Dana said, recalling how she’d practically gawked at the tiny vials of herbs and tinctures hidden inside the false book. “I’ve never seen a poison bible in practice before. They’re extremely rare, which I’m sure you know. The fact that you invited me into such a sacred act … I’m overwhelmed.”

“As am I,” Marjorie amended. “It’s been a long time since my son brought anyone home. I never expected it would be someone like you.”

“Someone full of darkness?” she asked.

Marjorie took Dana’s hands again. “We all have darkness, cher. But you’re a seeker of light. You’re a weaver, child.” Dana’s perplexed expression was enough to coax more from the priestess. “Surely you know weavers control the fates?”

Dana nodded.