Page 21 of Ride Me

“Bone Daddy paying a visit without a body. Giving pleasure without getting the benefits, as it were.”

“Oh my. Did he really?”

Allegra felt a little like screaming. “You two are scaring me. Is that bad? What does that mean?”

“I wouldn’t say bad.” Michelle’s mother was tapping her chin thoughtfully. “If I had to guess, I’d say it means he likes you.”

He liked her?

“He definitely does.” Elise looked irritatingly cheerful about it. “Sexual energy gives him his power, Allegra. Some spirits need rum or smoke, some need sacrifice. It’s different for everyone. But unless the stars align or a proper door is opened, Loa can’t experience or channel that power without riding a physical body.”

“So he left Rousseau to, um, visit my apartment?” Allegra was confused.

“He didn’t. I would have known. He must know how to keep hold and still go exploring.” There was an expression of pure admiration on her face. “He is a true mystery, isn’t he? But I bet that needed an extra jolt of juice.”

“Sex. What you’re saying is that sex gives him energy? That’s why he won’t leave Rousseau alone or let him make his own decisions? Can he? Make his own decisions?”

What if it was the Loa who was interested in her, and not Rousseau?

“Bone Daddy would never take your man down a road he wasn’t willing to walk, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Elise said with a smirk, knowing it was. “He’ll drag him kicking and screaming if he only wishes he didn’t, or thinks he shouldn’t. But he wouldn’t push his own desires on the boy. He’s all about symbiosis.”

Mambo Toussaint nodded in agreement and Allegra found herself relaxing a little at their certainty. Not entirely, because this was a lot to take in. A voodoo priestess and a psychic were telling her that the man she wanted was, well, conflicted. At best.

“Is there any way to release him from the possession? I mean, if he wants to be. He does want to be?”

Elise’s smile disappeared. “He truly does, dear. It’s one of the more intriguing conundrums of this particular pairing. It isn’t like Bone Daddy to stay where he isn’t wanted.”

“Unless he’s needed.”

Elise glanced at Annemarie in acknowledgment. “Yes. Some people think he’s needed. All I know is that my son hurts for his friend, and wants to help. And so do I.”

At Allegra’s expression she chuckled. “Oh, Allegra, you think because he joins in occasionally that he doesn’t care? If he didn’t play with Bone Daddy, Celestin would be suffering alone, wouldn’t he?”

“Ben, is great. I didn’t mean to imply—”

“I know. But until you came along, Ben was the only one who knew the truth and stayed, even after the party was over.”

Until her.

“Okay then.” Allegra sat up straighter, feeling a bit more like herself. She was wild, yes, but mission oriented. “How do we do it?”

“We don’t,” Elise said apologetically. “You do.”

“Me?” she squeaked. “You can’t mean—what could I do?”

“All we know is who, not how.”

“Well how do you know it’s me?”

Annemarie chuckled. “How do we know the sun is going to rise? I can’t imagine there’s a practitioner in the city that didn’t feel the change in the air as soon as you moved to town. There’s power in you, Allegra. Your will is a force to reckon with. What fascinates me is that Bone Daddy doesn’t seem to recognize it. If he really knew you could spoil his fun, it would be more like him to chase you away.”

“Rousseau was trying to do that for him,” Allegra admitted wryly.

“No.” Elise’s confidence was absolute. “He held you at a distance, but he never let you go too far.”

Allegra gripped her hand. “Can’t you sense anything? Give me some hint about what I need to do?”

Annemarie answered for her. “You’re a smart girl, Allegra Jarod. I’ve always thought so. With a little help from the powers that be, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

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