Page 5 of Ride or Die (The Body Shop #5)

Even though I wished they had stayed in NOLA, where it was safer for them, I couldn’t deny the warmth spreading through my chest. Josie.

Harrow. Carter. They had come for me, and I wouldn’t forget it.

Their arrival gave me a much-needed morale boost, and their determination to see this through convinced me that together we could find and free Kierce. Even with Ankou underfoot.

“He’s not up there.” Josie grinned at me when she caught me searching the ledge. “Matty’s with Vi.”

“Thank the Lord,” I gusted out, relief making my knees weak.

“Josie locked him in the bathroom with orders for Vi to set him free after we left.” Carter shook her head. “He’s going to strangle her when we get back.”

Hand dragging down my face, I let out a groan. “I’ll make it up to him.”

Until we were certain there were no lingering effects from the affliction that resulted in their joining the Midnight Parade, Vi, Matty, and Rollo were under house arrest. Safe behind wards I had since tailored to contain any souls that might slip free.

Before allowing them to venture out on their own, unsupervised, I wanted confirmation their spirits were stuck tight.

I crossed my fingers that line of reasoning worked in our favor when it came time to earn his forgiveness. He had agreed to the restriction, but that was before I was taken. Ankou vanishing me would have lit a fire under him and burnt away his reservations about venturing into Abaddon.

“What’s with the new jewelry?”

Leave it to Josie to notice my new lethal accessory. “Oh, that’s Ankou’s insurance policy.”

From the lambent green in her eyes, I knew she had noticed the spur and how it pressed into my skin.

Quicker than a blink, a lush vine shot out of Josie’s pocket straight for Ankou’s throat. It wrapped around his neck, squeezing until his face purpled, and then it sprouted thorns longer than my finger that pierced his skin everywhere they touched him.

Belatedly, I recognized the rich purple leaves and vicious crimson spikes as the same otherworldly ivylike variety Vi grew at the townhouse.

Josie must have pinched a leaf and propagated it.

No surprise there. Josie’s bloodthirsty streak meant any plant with offensive potential held a special place in her heart. And, apparently, also in her pockets.

“Let my sister go, dirtbag, or we’re going to play a game I’m calling Pop Goes Ankou’s Head .”

“Fine,” he wheezed, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, and summoned the anklet to him.

The warm bone slid across my skin, eliciting a shudder from me, and flew into his open palm.

“You good, Mary?” Josie kept Ankou pinned under her stare. “Anything else you need saving from?”

“I’m good.” I made a show of rubbing my ankle while she preened. “Thanks for the rescue.”

Pale light flashed overhead, and a tall man with dark skin and midnight eyes stepped up beside Harrow.

I had been so stunned by the size of my rescue party, I hadn’t noticed the extra member hanging back.

He emitted a faint glow, and thick braids hung around his handsome face.

He also, I noticed, held a cup with the Café du Monde logo printed on it.

“Allons-y.” He inclined his head to me then took a long drink. “ Love at Sea comes on in an hour.”

“Ohhh.” Josie snapped her attention to Papa Legba. “I love that show.”

Yet another reality TV show about finding love. And by love, I mean getting horizontal for the cameras.

“You love nipples.” I rolled my eyes. “I bet you can’t name a single contestant.”

“That’s not true.” She folded her arms across her chest. “There’s…that guy. With the pink hair. He likes a girl whose bikini may or may not be entirely made from strategically placed stickers.”

“I rest my case.” I pushed out a slow breath as I fought against the urge to beg the loa to zip them home, but I couldn’t afford to waste this opportunity, or his favors. “Since we’re all here, we might as well stay. Does that work for you, Papa Legba?”

Each of them carried one of the packs we had filled with supplies, so they came ready for anything.

“You sure?” Papa Legba swirled the contents of his cup. “I thought this was a rescue mission.”

“It is,” I assured him, willing my determination to show. “But it doesn’t end with me.”

For the first time since I fell through reality into Abaddon, I held on to hope this would actually work.

“Hmm.” He tugged a bright clay bead off the end of a braid. “Crush this when you’re ready, and I’ll come for you.” His gaze slid past me to the landscape. “Just be careful, yeah?”

“I will.” I accepted the token, gratitude tightening my throat. “Thank you for your help.”

With a final swish of his cup, he disappeared, doubling our party from three to six members.

“Okay.” Josie squared off against Ankou, arms still folded, tapping her foot. “Who wants to go first?”

“Ankou is attempting to extort me,” I outed him without mercy, “but negotiating with him, on his terms, sets a bad precedent for the next time he wants a favor.”

“You got your little privacy bubble to chat, Ankou.” Harrow narrowed his eyes. “Why bring her here?”

“She held the home field advantage in New Orleans and would have refused to negotiate with me until after Kierce was safe. I hoped a glimpse of Abaddon, a visual aid for Kierce’s fate, might spook her into cooperating with me without the haggling.”

That wasn’t the story he told me, but he lied so much, I wasn’t surprised he couldn’t keep them straight.

The others showed as much enthusiasm for his scheming as I had, but a temporary alliance was the best chance I had of accomplishing my goal to topple Dis Pater from his throne.

The only reason we held an advantage was because Kierce was incapacitated until he healed enough to be dispatched on another mission.

Which meant I had to reach him before Dis Pater ordered him to do what couldn’t be undone.

We couldn’t do that without Ankou guiding us.

“Speaking of…” Josie scanned the area below us. “How far are we from Birdfriend?”

With an amused rumble of sound, Anunit abandoned Harrow to stand with me.

“A few more hours.” Ankou worked his jaw. “Not that we have a solution for our most immediate problem.”

“As far as I can tell,” Carter demurred, “ you are our most immediate problem.”

Josie cackled, offering her hand for a high-five, but Carter left her hanging.

“Do you ever think ahead?” Ankou repeated his same old argument. “If she frees him now, he’ll kill her.”

“Do we think ahead? Do you ? You kidnapped Frankie.” Josie scoffed at him. “Have you learned nothing about us Marys? You knew we would come for her.”

Staring down his nose at her, he drawled, “That was kind of the plan, yeah.”

“This ‘plan’ of yours.” Carter brought out an insulated water bottle and took a long sip, delighting in the sourness twisting his features. “Does it involve you two climbing without a drop to drink?”

“Last one to Abaddon brings the snacks.” He studied his dirty nails. “It is known.”

“Sure, pal.” Carter handed me the bottle, her expression going stern. “I’ve got more if you need it.”

Thirsty as I was, a refill was a strong possibility. “Thanks.”

Tongue darting out to wet his lips, he watched as I gulped noisily. “What about me?”

“Last one to break Josie’s heart dies a slow, painful death. I hadn’t planned on dehydration, but I’m willing to improvise.” She bared her teeth in a sharp grin. “It is known.”

Cartoon hearts filled Josie’s eyes as she gazed at Carter in adoration, and that was all Harrow could take.

“Let’s get this show on the road.” He gave Anunit a wide berth. “Frankie, we brought these too.” He placed a packet in my hand. “Homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were all we could swing in a rush.”

Probably the tart strawberry pepper jelly Vi canned each year with Jean-Claude’s organic peanut butter. I could taste the fresh brioche from the corner bakery, and the reminder of NOLA was a flash of warmth and color in this drab world.

“Thank God.” I ripped open the butcher paper and crammed half in my mouth. “You guys are lifesavers.”

“Now that the anklet is out of commission—” Carter collected the bottle of water from me so I could focus on tearing into my food, “—can you or Anunit teleport to Kierce, jailbreak him, then we crush the bead and call it day?”

“Dis Pater wards his property heavily.” Ankou stuffed his hands into his pockets. “No one can teleport onto his land. You have to walk into the lion’s den.”

No one could teleport into his home in Massachusetts either, but I was an exception to that rule.

“Anunit?” I rubbed her ear between my fingers. “What do you think?”

“His wards accept you in your world.” She angled her head toward me with a pleased rumble in her throat. “I do not see why they would rebuke you in this one.”

“Say that immunity gets you in,” Harrow interjected. “Could you find your way to him?”

“Hmm.” I found myself mimicking her head tilt. “That’s a good question.”

When Anunit teleported me to Dis Pater’s house to retrieve a saint bone, she located it by following a trail my essence left each time I astrally projected myself there. Unless she could somehow track Kierce using a similar method, we would be out of luck. Still. It was an idea. A chance.

That was more than we’d had a minute ago.