** I dressed quickly. Sweat stains were already showing through my white blouse. Seeing the altar for the very first time pushed my nervousness to an entirely different level. It was large, heavily accented and decorated with sparkling jewels, bric a brac, flowers and bottles of rum and wine. And the candles - dozens of them, not yet lit but bright with innocent colors of blue and pink, Erzulie's veve painted on some of them. When I came out of the bathroom and back into the room everyone was already dressed, having taken less time hyperventilating since a ceremony like this isn't unfamiliar to them. As a supplicant, I was the one that was to tell Erzulie what I wanted. The hard part was if she was going to listen to our plea for help anyway. The dozens of candles that crowded the a

** It was ironic, how quickly the tables had turned. The last time we'd known each other, Hezekiah intentionally bed me without even "bedding" me at all, successfully using me as a passage to steal what belonged to Mama and the Coterie. I felt like an idiot for letting that happen. My body gave into him so easily, hypnotized by his touch and his mastery of the female body. Goddammit, I was completely submissive to him that night. But now, the tables have turned. Oh, how they've turned. Now, my hands were pushed into Hezekiah's firm chest until his back was against the couch completely. I let him know that this time, I was in control. And he was willing to play along only because I had teased him to the point of him needing me

Mama hadn't said a word after Sajida left. Even when she went into the basement and saw Hezekiah's body asleep in the coffin we put him in, she was speechless.  Kizzy and I stood back and just watched her, waiting for what she would do next. My pendant was still in her hand; she hadn't given it back because she did come in contact with me other than the deathly look I got from her when Sajida left.  Aza stood beside her, wanting to explain, but waiting to see if Mama was ready to hear it. She just continued to stare at Hezekiah's body like she refused to believe or like she was struggling to understand how this was possible right under her nose.  "I was trying to find the right time to tell you," Aza said softly, like trying to calm a lion. "I was going to tell you, A

I felt like the Coterie's footsteps were chasing after me. One by one, the click of a heel right after the click of my own on the steps, half a second after my own. They were onto me, literally and figuratively. When we reached the bottom of the staircase, we all began walking through the living room, the House members staring on as we marched towards the Undercroft. I felt a chill come through - a draft the closer I got to the door, even in the intense summer. Two male House members stood by either side of the door. They opened it silently, the portal dark on the other side, save for the occasional lantern hanging on the wall's descent to the basement. Aza stepped ahead first, walking down the wooden staircase with a sense of pride and self-worth in her stride. She wouldn't let the Coterie see right through her and deteriorate her sp

** I didn't know where to start. Realistically, how would you even start with a creature like Hezekiah Mercier? He didn't want to answer any of my questions. Our interaction earlier that day was proof enough of that. So frankly, me being down in the undercroft again with my pajamas on and a candle in my hand was almost counterproductive. However, that instance earlier, I was under the supervision of the Coterie; the questions I asked were the questions they wanted to know the answers to. This time, as Hezekiah and I stood across from each other this late and forbidden in the night, I had different questions. The tides had shifted significantly that day, and I could no longer trust anyone in the house. The only person I felt I could trust had run off back into the city, practically exiled by the Coterie she belonged to. She was