The Prophet

“Darius.”

Another shiver crawled up my spine. “Why would she tell him?”

“They were very close. Like brother and sister. He hated me for taking her away from what he considered her rightful place. He wanted her to go back to Africa with him, but instead she chose to stay in Charleston with me. It was the only time she ever went against him. She was the most headstrong woman I ever knew, but Darius held some kind of power over her. If he wanted the gun, she would have given it to him.”

“Even if she knew he meant to murder an innocent man?”

“Yes.”

His blunt answer shocked me. How could he have stayed with such a woman for so long? What kind of hold did she have on him?

“Robert and I both knew that Darius was bringing in gray dust,” Devlin said. “It was hard to go after him because no one wanted to admit such a drug existed. And because he was—is—well connected. But people were dying from that stuff, and we were both determined to shut him down.”

“And yet, you, yourself, took the very drug that you knew to be potentially lethal.”

“Yes.”

I put a hand to my forehead, trying my best to process his story.

“I did warn you,” he said softly. “You don’t know me. You have no idea about my past.”

I was painfully aware of that.

“Should I go on?” he asked.

I nodded.

“It was only a matter of time before we collected enough evidence to make an arrest. Darius must have felt the heat, so he came up with a plan to kill Robert and have me take the fall. I was the perfect patsy. I had means, motive and opportunity. And that night, I played right into his hands.”

“But I don’t understand. How could he have known that you would come to see him? Or that Robert would be in Chedathy Cemetery at just the right time? That’s all too convenient.”

“Not if Darius arranged to meet Robert in the cemetery after he’d seen me.”

“Did Darius already know about Shani and Mariama?”

“Yes. Otherwise, he would have suspected a trap. He would never have given me the drug.”

“So, you were supposed to be found in the cemetery with Robert’s dead body and your bloodstream full of an illegal substance that may or may not be anything more than a powerful hallucinogen.”

“That’s what I think, yes.”

“But the .38 wasn’t found in the cemetery. If Darius was trying to set you up, why didn’t he leave the weapon?”

“That’s just it. I’m sure he did leave it. Someone else must have come into the cemetery and taken it.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know for certain, but I’ve always suspected Tom Gerrity.”

I felt my eyes widen in shock. “Gerrity?”

“He came to me after the shooting. He said he had proof that I was in the cemetery that night, and he could make things very difficult for me if I didn’t pay up.”

“Did he have the gun?”

“He didn’t come right out and say so, but in the two years since that night, no one else has made contact.”

“Did you pay him off?”

“I called his bluff. Gerrity had been on the take for most of his career. With very little effort, I could have dug up enough dirt to make things just as uncomfortable for him. He knew that. It became a standoff until Darius returned to Charleston.”

“And you decided to go after him again.”

Devlin was still gazing into the candle flame. “You said you followed Gerrity to a house on America Street. He was probably hoping to make a deal with Darius.”

“No wonder you were so desperate to find that gun. That is what you were looking for tonight, I assume.”

“Yes. But I was too late.”

“So, who do you think killed Gerrity?”

“Darius, of course. Probably with the gun he bought from Gerrity. There’s an irony for you.”

“But you didn’t see the body. How do you know he was shot?”

“An educated guess.”

I glanced at him fearfully. “If that gun turns up now, it can be traced back to Robert’s murder. If the police find out that you were in the cemetery the night he was shot and that you broke into Gerrity’s office on the day he was murdered…”

“Means, motive and opportunity,” Devlin said grimly.

“What are you going to do?”

“I have to find that gun before the body turns up.”

“That won’t be easy if Darius has it. Ethan said he has devotees all over Charleston.”

“I’m not without my own connections in this city,” Devlin said, rubbing his thumb over the silver medallion.

“So, this is why you didn’t want to go to the hospital,” I said slowly.

“There’s a broken window in a dead man’s office. Not a good time for me to be treated for a cut arm,” he said.

“And it’s why you said we should keep our distance.”

He put his hand on my knee. “I didn’t want Darius coming after you to get to me.”

“He already knows about me. And there’s no way to stop him because he can come to me in my dreams.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Devlin said. “The only power he has is the power you give him. Don’t let him get to you. Don’t let him in.”

“I think it’s too late,” I whispered as a draft blew out of nowhere to snuff out the candles.

Chapter Thirty-Four

“It’s just a draft,” Devlin said. “Someone probably opened the front door.”

I sat there shivering in the lamplight. It wasn’t just a draft. I could feel a death chill seeping down into my bones. Darius was coming. Or was it Mariama?

“Can’t you feel it?” I whispered.

“Feel what?”

“The cold. It’s like an icy breath.”

“I don’t feel anything.”

He was lying. I could see it in his eyes. He knew something was in that room with us. He just didn’t want to admit it.

I watched a large beetle crawl down the wall and disappear into a crack in the plaster.

“There are things in this world that can’t be explained,” I said. “You must know that. Why else would you have taken gray dust?”

He glanced away. “I already told you. I was desperate that night. Out of my mind with grief.”

“I think you’ve tried to convince yourself of that for a very long time. But when you lost Shani, you retreated back into your belief in the supernatural. You never would have gone to see Dr. Shaw or Darius unless there was some part of you that still believed you could contact the other side.”

He looked shattered for a moment, but the mask slipped quickly back into place. “Why are you doing this?”

“I have to make you open your eyes.”