Sweet Evangeline (Moon Magic Book 2) (22 page)

“Why assume it’s a girl?” Eric asked.

“Because the Romee witches don’t bear male children,” Jade explained.

“Never?” Not that it mattered to Eric, but he was curious.

“It’s never happened, yet,” Tyler stated.

“Well, congratulations, regardless.” Eric was happy for Tyler, but that wasn’t what was on his mind. “Evangeline would want to go anyway, it’s her mother,” he said slowly, wishing there was another way. But, if he had his way, she wouldn’t go anywhere near the actual conflict.

“And we have Zak.” Jade spoke up. “He’s as powerful as the women.”

“More powerful,” Eric spoke-up. “I’ve seen him flat-out disappear.”

“That could come in handy.” Jade commented as the three men put their heads together to come up with a plan.

* * * *

Tyler Garrison took charge with Elizabeth as his adviser. Basically, if you took magick out of the equation, this was a take-down of a drug cartel. And this was territory the detective knew well. He was coordinating his efforts with Detective Robicheaux of the New Orleans police department. Full cooperation had been promised and was being counted on. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was questioning Zak about what to expect.

“They keep guards at every entrance and if they have had the time, extensive surveillance equipment will be everywhere.”

Elizabeth was making notes. “Are the guards inside the house or outside?”

“Outside, usually.”

“Tyler and the guys can take out the guards at one door and then you can slip in and get the lay of the land.”

“Yea, and then I can come back out and let you know what we’re up against and maybe even where Aimee is in the building.”

“When we start to go, we need a big distraction. What can we do?” Elizabeth poured herself and Zak a cup of coffee.

Tyler spoke up—he had been listening carefully. “We know Evangeline can affect the weather. What if she did this…”

* * * *

All was nearly ready. Tyler had gotten both Eric and Jade a firearm and they were waiting to be picked up by a New Orleans police department SWAT team vehicle. Eric was spending a few moments alone with Evangeline. He had led her up to her room, away from prying eyes. “I need to talk to you.”

That’s all it took. It didn’t matter that they were about to embark on a dangerous mission to rescue her mother, if Eric wanted her attention he got it. She looked at him, he was so still. Stepping up to him and placing both palms flat on his chest, she met his eyes. “I trust you. Everything is going to be all right.”

“Yes it is, and to ensure that I want to firm up some plans with you.”

“All right, love.” Then out of nowhere he was down on one knee. The sight of him kneeling at her feet brought tears to her eyes. He took her hand and kissed it.

“Evangeline, I adore you. Loving you has changed me completely. I don’t want to live another day without the assurance you will be mine forever.” Evangeline did not hesitate for a moment; she joined him on her knees and wrapped her arms around him.

“Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes!” He captured her lips with his own, slanting his mouth to give himself full access to her sweet kiss. Knowing he did not have time to do what he wanted and needed to do, he reluctantly pulled back.

“I don’t have a ring to give you.” His tone was contrite and his eyes apologetic.

“I know I will love any ring you give me. But babe, what you have given me today is much more precious and valuable than any ring could ever be.”

“And what would that be?” Eric asked her holding his breath.

“You.”

* * * *

The LaLaurie House on Royal had a unique and terrible history. Dating back to the 1800’s, its most infamous owner had been Madame Delphine LaLaurie. She had the reputation of being a cruel woman and legend says she tortured, mutilated and perhaps even murdered a number of her slaves. Tales of haunting and ghostly activities had plagued the house for generations. The actor Nicholas Cage purchased the home in 2007, but didn’t keep it long. Wonder why?

They chose to begin their mission shortly after two in the morning. The police spread out over several blocks and stealthily approached the house. Tyler chose to take out the guards on the side entrance. Zak shimmered to invisibility and waited. Jade approached the two huge Cajuns by asking for directions and when they stepped forward to get rid of him, the massive fireman tackled them. Between the three friends, it was over in a matter of minutes. Zak gained access without anymore delay. The two guards were taken into custody and everyone dropped back to wait for Zak’s return.

Due to the late hour, the LaLaurie house was quite. The guards at the other three entrances were unaware than their security had been breached. Quickly, Zak located the control center and only one guard manned the monitors and he, thankfully, was asleep. All of the bedroom doors were open, save one. No one wanted to be surprised. Zak counted ten men in addition to the guards outside the doors. Assuming that Aimee was behind the closed door, he opened it ever so slowly—just in case someone was watching. Stepping in, he saw that she was chained to the bedpost, lying on the bed, facing away from the door. Being as quite as he could, he approached her. Taking care not to startle her, he gently whispered in her ear. “Aimee, it’s Zak.” He saw her eyes flash open. “Don’t move. You can’t see me and neither can anyone else. I’m the invisible man.” He knew that now was not the time for humor—but, flat out, he was scared. There had been a lot of guns in the bedrooms he had looked in prior to this one.

“Zak,” she whispered. “Did you find Evangeline?”

“Yes. And everyone is here to rescue you and end this. So, don’t be surprised when you hear the commotion. I’m going to go out and tell them what I’ve found. If you hear gunshots get under the bed. We’ll be back after you as soon as it’s over.”

Aimee swallowed hard. “Is my daughter here?”

“Of course. Did you really think we could keep her away?”

“Oh, God. Please help us,” Aimee breathed a prayer.

* * * *

Eric stood with his arms around Evangeline. “It’ll be over soon. Zak should be out any minute. When I go in, you stay back. I’ll return to you as soon as I can.”

“Didn’t Tyler tell you?” Evangeline readied herself for a battle.

“Tell me what?” Eric held his breath.

“I’m going in with you.” She found his hands with her own, willing him to understand.

“The hell you are!” He stepped back, glaring at her for a moment, then clutching her to him the next.

“I’m going in first, Eric. I’m providing the diversion.”

“God, baby. I don’t know if I can stand it.” About that time, the door opened and Zak materialized in front of them. He quickly explained what they were up against and Tyler turned to Evangeline and held out his hand.

“Showtime, Evangeline.” Eric had no idea what she had agreed to do. But he stepped up to follow her, whatever she was up against, he would be right there with her.

Evangeline had done some preliminary spell work before she left Constance Street, and now she just set it into motion. Soundlessly, she threw her request out into the universe. Raising her hands, she willed the moisture in the air to adhere and crystallize. Walking deeper into the house, she petitioned the Goddess for her beneficent aid. Eric and the other men stood behind her, waiting for the signal. No one knew what to expect, except Tyler. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she could pull it off. It only happened about once every four years - and he was sure it had never, ever happened indoors. But sure enough, as Evangeline stood with head held high, eyes closed, hands lifted in supplication—it began to snow. Large, fluffy, white flakes began to fall on the wooden floor of the LaLaurie house drifting down from the ten-foot ceilings. Eric smiled.

Seconds later, noises erupted from the bedrooms. The snow was falling on the sleeping beauties as they lay next to their assault rifles. They awoke slowly, wondering where the cold dampness was coming from, and then they wandered out into the hall—marveling at the falling snow—without their guns—and right into the hands of the police.

It all seemed too easy. Way, too easy. Tyler and the New Orleans PD began to round up the dumb-founded men, but there was no sign of Duvalier or Black Eddie.

“Shit! Shit!” someone yelled. “There are snakes in here. Big snakes! And they’re everywhere.” Sure enough, they turned to look and snakes were coming down every wall. Eric, Tyler, Jade and Zak all backed up. Eric grabbed Evangeline to get her out of harm’s way. These weren’t harmless snakes. They were King Cobras, mambas, rattlesnakes and Taipans. The deadliest of the deadly. The hissing probably wasn’t as loud as it seemed, but to the startled rescuers it was deafening.

“God, I hate snakes,” Jade complained.

“This is their diversion. If we don’t do something fast, they’ll disappear with Aimee and we’ll be right back where we started from,” exclaimed Tyler. The NOPD started in with their guns, but Zak stopped them.

“You can’t just start shooting; there are innocent people behind these walls.”

Evangeline pulled out of Eric’s grasp and forced her way forward.

“Let me in, I can stop this.” The snow continued to fall and at least thirty snakes undulated around the floor, not knowing what to think about the falling cold concoction landing on their scaled bodies.

Eric stepped up to shield Evangeline from any danger from the reptiles. “It’s all right, baby,” she assured him. “I have an idea.”

To Eric’s dismay, Evangeline stepped into the room with the snakes and knelt down on her knees. Raising her hands, she called out to the elements.

“Snow that falls and around us flies

Turn to ice right before our eyes

Lower the temperature in the room

Make it cold as death, cold as the tomb.”

In a few moments, the snow began to change to ice and the air that the men breathed out from their lungs became visible to the naked eye. The colder it got, the more docile the snakes became. Within minutes, the snakes were still and the police gingerly stepped over and around the serpents. “Let’s find Duvalier and Mr. Black.” Jade stepped forward.

Zak, following Tyler’s instructions, headed to retrieve Aimee. Keeping his eyes open, Zak just knew that something else was wrong. He had learned the hard way that these two men would stop at nothing to further their dark deeds. Hurrying to loosen and unlock Aimee, he realized there was more to come. Just where it would come from was the question. The police gathered up more of the criminals, but Black Eddie was not one of the men that were being hand-cuffed and escorted out to the police wagon.

“Zak, where is my mother?” Evangeline started down the hall. Eric, helping Tyler gather up the firearms and other evidence tried to keep an eye on her. Before she could get to the door of the room where Aimee was held, a crash sounded and the ceiling opened up. A door that gave the inhabitants access to the attic crashed open and Duvalier dropped down on top of Evangeline, knife in hand.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you, cher. What took you so long?” He roughly turned her around and held the knife to Evangeline’s neck. At the clamor, Eric turned and faced his worst fear. “Let me walk and I’ll let her go—maybe.” Duvalier wasn’t used to compromise. Time seemed to stand still. Eric couldn’t charge him, he was afraid the small, wiry man would cut Evangeline’s throat. The fluffy snowflakes kept falling, giving the whole scenario a surreal quality. The snakes that lay around like stage props only added to the unreal scenario. Tyler walked back in. Jade stood as till as a statue. Eric dared not move. But none counted on what happened next.

Zak and Aimee walked out, quietly, right behind Duvalier. Aimee turned and met his eyes. She gave him the smallest of nods. He knew what he had to do; he knew what they had talked about. He shimmered into invisibility and while the black-hearted bastard threatened the life of their Evangeline, Zak grabbed the arm that held the knife with one hand and the vial that hung around his neck with the other. The vial was flung to the floor and as soon as its contents exploded into oblivion, Aimee raised her hands and slung an energy ball into Duvalier that sent him smashing into the far wall. Enraged, he ricocheted off the hard surface and rebounded toward Evangeline and Aimee with hands curled into claws. Tyler had no choice and he did not hesitate—he shot Duvalier dead just as he placed his hands around Evangeline’s neck.

Aimee held Evangeline all the way back from the Quarter. Tyler worked it out so she didn’t have to go down to the station to answer questions. “I’m so sorry I gave up on you, Mama.” Evangeline lay with her head in her mother’s lap.

“You had no way of knowing, Evangeline. Duvalier covered his tracks carefully and Black Eddie not only harnessed my powers, he stole the ones he didn’t want me to have. I mourn the time I was away from all of you, but I thank God I found Zak. He literally saved my life, in more ways than one. And he had nobody, Evangeline.”

“Now, he has us. We’ll be his family.” Evangeline assured her.

“Tell me about that handsome man who can’t keep his eyes off of you?” Eric had encouraged Evangeline to ride in the car with her mother, but she had no doubt he would be waiting for them when they arrived back at the Morning Glory house.

Evangeline got a dreamy look on her face. “He’s a dream come true, literally. I broke all the rules and consulted the scrying mirror for my one true love. Then I couldn’t wait and I called him to me, in every way that your sister and I could think of.”

“He certainly doesn’t seem unhappy about it.”

“We are incredibly happy, Mother. He means everything to me.”

“I’m glad, baby. I hope nothing ever happens to take that away from you.”

The reunion continued. Nanette was ecstatic to have her whole family back together—with the exception of her darling husband, of course. But the gift of the daughter that everyone had presumed dead was more than she had ever anticipated. “I can’t believe that none of us ever sensed you at all, baby.”

“That was black magic, mother. You weren’t supposed to.”

“Did they hurt you, Aimee?”

“No, we were too valuable. We were contained and controlled, but not deprived of the necessities of life.”

“But what about Black Eddie?” Arabella asked. She hated to bring up the fact that their greatest threat was still out there.

“We’ll have to deal with him sooner or later. I vote later,” Elizabeth chimed in.

Tyler put his arm around his wife. “We won’t give up looking for him. I’m sure he’ll resurface, but if what Zak says was true, Black Eddie was working for Duvalier. And with Duvalier out of the picture, the whole organization will have to regroup. They won’t be as strong or as focused as they were.

“He won’t forget or forgive,” Nanette sighed.

“Well, I suggest we start working on a solution to that problem,” Angelique interjected as she joined the group. “We are powerful, we can take on one creepy little sorcerer.”

“What was he doing with all of those snakes?” Jade was still worried about the snakes. He visibly shivered as he thought about them. The snakes had been collected by the New Orleans Animal Control a few hours after the human snakes had been gathered up.

“They had their fingers stuck in a whole host of pies; one of them was the illegal wildlife trade. There’s a very profitable black market for poisonous snakes,” Tyler explained.

“Let’s think about something happier,” Evangeline urged. “I’m ready to be happy.” Eric hugged her. He was ready to be happier, too.

“Your sister’s pregnant again.” Nanette couldn’t stand it. Looking at Aimee, she let the cat out of the bag.

“That’s great!” Aimee rejoiced. “And Arabella’s due any time. Both she and Elizabeth are married and Evangeline has Eric and Angelique has Philippe. A lot has happened while I was gone.”

“Yes, sweetheart. But we never stopped loving you or thinking about you, not even for a minute. If we had had any idea you were still alive, we would have moved Heaven and Earth to find you. But Katrina devastated us in more ways than one. For awhile New Orleans and the people of New Orleans wondered if we would survive, but we have. And we’ll only become stronger because of the storm.”

Evangeline spent precious hours with her mother, and Eric enjoyed watching her joy and animation. The last time she had been with her mother, she had been seventeen. There was so much for them to catch up on. But all he could think about was getting her alone, burying himself deep within her warmth, hearing her breath catch when he put his hand between her legs. Just thinking about the pleasure he would give her made him hard.

The whole family gravitated into the living room, all wanting to spend some time with Aimee, so Evangeline shared and gravitated back to where she truly belonged—with him.

She cuddled up to him, running her hands up and down his back. He held her tightly, and whispered in her ear, “Are you happy, love?”

“Perfectly. I have everything I could ever want. My mother is safe and I have you in my arms. Could life be any more perfect?”

A knock at the door got everyone’s attention. Angelique went to the door to find to her immense delight that it was Philippe, but the look on his face made it evident something was very wrong. He took the time to properly meet Aimee and then he asked to see Nanette and Angelique alone. They weren’t gone more than ten minutes when they returned and this time they all wore the same somber expression.

Evangeline looked at her grandmother and knew she was about to hear something that would completely change her life. She held on to Eric for dear life. “What’s wrong, Grandmother?”

“Knowing our history, I should have known this. What I’m about to tell you is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to say. And I am so sorry. Before I tell you what it is, let me say that I will do everything in my power to find an answer—to fix this—but you must all promise me you will follow my directions to the letter. It could literally mean the difference between life and death.”

“Life and death? For who?” Eric demanded. Evangeline’s life had been in danger so many times he didn’t know if he could deal with it another time. “I thought we had dealt with Duvalier. Is it Black Eddie? What else could it possibly be?”

“The ones in danger, Eric, the ones that we have got to take immediate and a decisive step to protect is you, Jade, and Tyler.”

“What are you talking about? What are you saying? How are they in danger?” The questions were simultaneous and came from every direction.

Philippe stood up and spread his hands. “I finished translating the diary. And what I found was not just history, but an explanation for a family peculiarity that the women in your family have chosen to ignore. It wasn’t intentional, but every generation was more aware of their own circumstances and their own sorrows. They didn’t take into account their history. Unfortunately, they didn’t see the big picture, or maybe this problem could have been dealt with before now.”

“Mother, you all are scaring me. What are you saying?” Elizabeth looked pale, and Nanette wished she didn’t have to tell her more. A woman who had just found out she was with child by her much loved husband did not need to hear what Nannette was about to say.

“I lost Alcee in Katrina, he wasn’t as young as you all are, but I certainly wasn’t ready to lose him. Aimee, you lost Rodney in the Gulf War and he was only twenty-nine. Elizabeth, Thomas was only thirty-two when he died in that oil-rig explosion. And when we look back at my mother and her sisters—at my grandmother and her sisters—at my great-grandmother and her sisters and on and on…all of them—without exception—lost their loves, their husbands, young, and always tragically.” Nanette looked around at her daughters and her granddaughters. Then, she looked at the men who loved them. All were waiting to hear what she had to say next. But she turned to the doctor and motioned for him to tell them what he found.

“Genevieve was treated cruelly by her husband. And he abused one of their daughters, which resulted in her death, if you remember. Her remaining daughter had an equally sad and disappointing union. In fact, during Genevieve’s lifetime she had no positive male relationships. She grew to be a bitter, hard, and very vindictive woman. And she was very powerful. That combination proved to be volatile. She felt so strongly about the trouble and despair the men in their lives had put them through that she took some decisive steps to see that it never happened again.”

“What did she do?” Arabella asked slowly and softly.

“She put into motion two very powerful and long-lasting spells. In fact they have lasted almost three hundred years.”

“What are you saying, Philippe? Are you telling me we are cursed?” Elizabeth’s voice had become sharp and frantic.

Philippe hung his head and said the words they had all been dreading. “Yes. She sent two powerful incantations out into the cosmos that have never failed, as of yet. No male child has ever been born to a Romee witch and no man that ever marries or becomes involved with a Romee witch lives a full life. They all die young and tragically.”

Eric looked around at everyone else. The women looked like they had been hit with a bomb and the men looked confused. He glanced at his beloved and tears were running down her beautiful face. “What does this mean?”

Nanette sat down heavily in a chair. “Now, listen to me carefully. I want Aimee, Elizabeth, Arabella and Evangeline to return to Austin. Zak, I want you to go with them. Jade, Tyler, and Eric, you will stay here with us and we will try to come up with some kind of an answer. I don’t know if we can, but we have to try. We’ve got two babies on the way—we have to turn over every rock and try every avenue that is open to us.”

Arabella began to cry in harsh sobs and Elizabeth knocked everything off the coffee table, sending two glasses of wine flying across the room. Evangeline was so still that Eric feared she had turned to stone.

“We need a little time.” Tyler spoke up for the first time.

“Take it, but say your goodbyes.” Nanette spoke with finality.

Jade carried a crying Arabella from the room. Everyone was afraid this would push her over the edge and bring on her labor before its time. Tyler consoled Elizabeth, placing his hands over hers, which rested on her stomach and the tiny baby that lay beneath their touch. Eric took it all in, he was numb. He turned to Evangeline and she looked at him with a tortured expression. She rose to her feet and ran from the room. Eric followed.

He caught up with her in her small room. The room where just last night they had made love, where he had captured her cries with his kiss. She stood on the far side of the room, as far from him as she could get, that beautiful thick braid lying across one sweet breast. “What does this mean, baby? I don’t understand.” He refused to understand.

Her voice broke. “It means we can’t be together.”

“Bullshit!”

“I’m poison to you.”

“Again, I say bullshit!” He took one step toward her and she took one step back. “Don’t do this to me, Evangeline,” he begged.

“I will not be the reason for your death.”

“One day with you is worth more to me that a lifetime without you.” Eric fell to his knees in front of her.

“Eric, I can’t hurt you,” she whispered through her tears.

“You are hurting me.” Anguish washed over him. Eric didn’t know if he could catch the next breath. “Can’t this be fixed? You are witches, for God’s sake!”

Evangeline knelt in front of him, not touching, but near enough so she could look deep into his eyes. He reached for her, but she held out a hand to stop him.

“You are mine, Evangeline. Mine!”

“I will always be yours, Eric.” She covered her face with her hands, sobs erupting from her throat. “But I can’t be with you anymore. I can’t touch you. I can’t make love with you.”

“Fuck!” Eric felt like he was going out of his mind. He screamed, stood up, and paced the room like a mad man.

“I have to go, baby. I have to put some distance between us.” Evangeline rose to her feet, wanting to go to him so badly every cell in her body was screaming for relief. “Look back at how many times, just recently, your life has been endangered—undoubtedly, because of me. I can’t risk it, Eric. You are too precious. A world without you in it is not a world I am willing to live in. Never forget that I love you. I will always love you.” With that, she was gone.

Eric walked to the wall and leaned on it, then he drew back and with one powerful blow, he put his fist through the plaster. “Fuck!”

* * * *

The drive back to Austin was the longest Evangeline could ever remember. Elizabeth was the stoic one. Every few miles, she would repeat the same phrase. “Mother will find a way to make this right. I just know she will.”

Aimee was the calm one; of course, she had no man to lose. She had already lost hers a long time ago. “You’re right. Between she and Angelique, they can do anything.”

Evangeline sat stoically in the back seat, wishing with every fiber of her being that Eric was beside her. Zak kept glancing at her in the rear-view mirror, wishing he could console her in some way. Arabella slept fitfully.

“If she has to have this baby alone, there is just no justice in this world.” Elizabeth pushed her daughter’s hair out of her eyes.

Finally, Zak spoke up. “There is more power in this car than I ever thought I would be around. Let’s make it happen, ladies. Pour positive thoughts into the universe. Will an answer. After all, you are the Romee witches.”

When they got back to Austin, Evangeline called the Neumann Museum and had the statues of Eric brought home. They might be all of him she would ever have, and she couldn’t stand to think that they were sitting in some cold room away from her touch. When they arrived, she started spending her days and nights in the studio with them. She didn’t eat, she couldn’t. She felt nauseous all the time. She hadn’t known that heartbreak could make one physically ill.