Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 105939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Bastien stared at the burned symbol, understanding paradigm shift with complete clarity. Charlotte hadn't been trying to preserve her individual consciousness forever. She'd been trying to be found by future incarnations who could complete work too dangerous for a single generation.
“She knew we'd come back here.”
“More than that. She knew the entities would eventually move against the protections, forcing the choice between evolution and defense. She prepared for this exact moment—when love would either transcend the limitations they claim are absolute or fail in the attempt to preserve individual choice.”
“What do we need to do?”
Before she could answer, a new sound cut through cemetery silence—footsteps on gravel, multiple figures approaching with purpose that suggested either rescue or additional threat. Bastien’s hand moved to weapons while Maman traced protection symbols in the humid air.
But the voices that called out carried familiar accents, Quarter locals rather than otherworldly entities.
“Maman Brigitte? That you out there?”
Roxy Boudreaux emerged from shadows between tombs, tracking their location despite darkness and confusion due to her werewolf nature. Behind her walked Detective Novak and two figures Bastien didn’t recognize—a woman with pale skin suggesting vampiric heritage, and a young man whose nervous energy marked him as either fae or witch.
“Community meeting,” Roxy explained, her expression grim. “Word’s spreading about abductions, about marked souls disappearing from protected locations. People are scared.”
“They should be,” Maman replied. “We’re facing elimination unless certain choices get made before dawn.”
“What kind of choices?” Detective Novak asked, his years of impossible cases having taught him to accept explanations that violated normal reality.
“The kind that determine whether New Orleans remains a city where different beings coexist or becomes a harvesting ground for entities that view individual consciousness as resources to be collected.”
The vampire woman stepped forward, her movements carrying ancient authority. “Claudette Vire, representing interested parties from multiple communities. We’ve been monitoring developments, hoping for resolution that preserves existing territorial agreements.”
“This goes beyond territorial politics,” Bastien said. “We’re dealing with forces that view all community structures as obstacles to systematic harvesting.”
“Then cooperation becomes survival necessity rather than political choice.” Marcelline’s eyes reflected street light with predatory intensity, but her tone suggested alliance rather than threat. “What assistance do you require?”
Bastien’s phone rang with insistence that made his chest tighten. Delphine’s number, but the call came at an hour when she should have been safely asleep in her apartment.
“Answer it,” Maman said, recognizing the significance of timing that suggested emergency rather than casual contact.
“Bastien?” Delphine’s voice carried strain that made every protective instinct flare to life. “Something’s wrong. I’m at the Archive, and there are . . . things here that shouldn’t exist. Shadows that move like people, voices speaking languages I don’t recognize.”
His blood chilled. The entities weren’t waiting for dawn—they were moving against her now, while she was isolated and vulnerable.
“Get out of there. Come to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 right now. There is protection here.”
“I can’t. The shadows are blocking the exits, and they’re saying things about choices I have to make before sunrise.” Her voice grew smaller, more frightened. “They’re showing me books that aren’t in our collection, documents that describe things I didn’t know were real.”
“What kind of things?”
“Magic that preserves consciousness across death. Techniques for binding souls together permanently. Experiments conducted by someone named Charlotte Lacroix who shares my bloodline.” Terror made her words come faster. “Bastien, they’re telling me I have to choose between saving thousands of people or becoming something that transcends human limitations entirely.”
The assembled group exchanged glances that confirmed his fears—the entities weren’t waiting for conscious choice. They were forcing decision through fear and isolation, manipulating her when she was most vulnerable to coercion.
“I’m coming to get you.”
“No! They said if anyone interferes, they’ll begin harvesting immediately. Starting with everyone who’s been marked by the contamination.” Her voice broke with desperation that made him want to tear down the Archive doors with his bare hands. “I think I have to do this alone. But I need to understand what Charlotte really wanted, what she was trying to accomplish.”
Maman stepped closer to the phone, her voice carrying authority earned through decades of guiding people through impossible choices.
“Delphine, listen carefully. Your ancestor didn’t just experiment with consciousness preservation—she built defenses that have protected this city for over two centuries. But those protections need conscious maintenance from someone who understands their purpose.”
“And if I choose to maintain them?”
“You save thousands from harvesting, but you accept limitations that prevent your own evolution beyond human existence.”
“What if I want evolution?”
“You gain power to challenge the entities threatening us all, but New Orleans loses its defenses against the harvesting.”
Silence stretched across the phone connection, broken only by distant sounds that might have been wind or voices speaking in tongues that predated human language.
“There has to be another way,” Delphine said finally. “Charlotte was too brilliant to design a system with only two options. She must have embedded something else, some path that preserves both individual choice and collective protection.”