Witches of Bourbon Street (15 page)

I sent Pyper a look as Kane tugged me out the door. She shook her head and followed.

Chapter 11

When Kane and I got to the bottom of the stairs, I stopped him and waved Pyper on. As she disappeared into the back door of the coffee shop, I wrapped my arms around him and planted a heartfelt kiss on the lips I’d come to know so well.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

He studied me with serious eyes for a long moment. My soul ached to know what was going on inside of him. It wasn’t until the lines around his eyes crinkled that I knew he’d forgiven me. “I know. And I shouldn’t have stalked off. You have someone waiting. We’ll talk later, okay?”

I nodded and let him lead me into the back door of The Grind. My curiosity was only mildly piqued as I wondered who the heck I’d had to come down to the café to meet. “Who is it?” I asked again.

Kane held the swinging door from the back room open and gestured for me to go ahead of him. “See for yourself.”

My body blocked the doorway while I scanned the café. I didn’t see anyone at first and frowned. But as I turned to question Kane, I caught a glimpse of her curly gray hair and gasped. “Gwen!” I cried and ran to my aunt, sweeping her up in a giant hug. “What are you doing here?”

Her strong, steady love washed over me, filling the void Kane’s energy had left. Happy tears sprang to my eyes and she laughed. “My sweet Jade. When did you get so sentimental?”

The old joke made me chuckle. I’d lived with her a full year before I’d allowed her to see me cry. The first time was my sixteenth birthday, and I’d been missing my mother something terrible. Instead of letting her throw me a sweet sixteen party, I’d requested a sleepover with Kat. My only friend really, besides Dan. And no matter how cool Aunt Gwen was, no boy could be invited for a sleepover.

So Kat and I planned an in-home makeover, followed by a bake-off of chocolate cream cheese cupcakes, double chocolate brownies, and chocolate peanut butter cookies, all designed to keep us awake for our all-night movie fest. It wasn’t a glamorous sweet sixteen, but it was all I wanted.

But then, Kat caught a case of the chicken pox and had to cancel. There I was, on my sixteenth birthday, with my mother vanished and my best friend sick. When Gwen had suggested she take Kat’s place, I’d burst into tears.

She’d grabbed my hand, leveled her gaze at me, and said, “My sweet Jade. When did you get so sentimental?” The curious matter-of-fact tone had startled me into a laugh. I hadn’t realized she’d never seen me cry before. In the year I’d lived with her, I’d dealt with the loss of my mother and the horrific foster home experience by blocking it out, not letting myself feel anything.

My laughter had turned to sobs. Gwen had held me while my body shook, purging itself of the bottled-up sorrow. Afterwards, she’d dragged me into the kitchen and, despite my protests, helped me bake every last cupcake, brownie, and cookie. We’d spent the night gorging on sweets and watching
Sixteen Candles
and
Say Anything
. It was still one of my favorite memories. To this day, anytime she sees me cry, she utters the same words.

I looked around. “Where’s your luggage? And why didn’t you just come up to my apartment?”

“Always so many questions.” She picked up a large paper coffee cup and handed it to me. “I got you a chai latte for the road. Something told me you’d need it.”

Something. Yeah, that something was her psychic tendencies. Just how much did she know about what had happened? “Gwen,” I called after her as she headed toward the door. “I need to talk to you about something. It’s important.”

“I already know. We’ll talk about it later. Right now, you need to grab that young man of yours and hurry up. We have someplace to be.” She strode out the door before I could protest.

“You heard the lady,” Kane said with a smile, guiding me to the door. “We have someplace to be.”

“Do you know where?”

“No idea. But it doesn’t seem wise to argue with your aunt Gwen, does it?”

The knot lodged in my chest from earlier started to ease. Everything would be fine now. Gwen would know what to do. She always did.

***

The shock of Gwen’s unexpected visit was nothing compared to when we parked in Bea’s driveway, and Gwen ordered Kane to unload her luggage.

“You’re staying here? How? Why? Never mind,” I sputtered. “Forget it. You’re staying with me.”

“In your tiny place? Where would I sleep?” she scoffed.

“In my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“That’s where Duke sleeps,” she said flippantly. “At least, that’s what you told me, and I don’t want to be responsible for displacing an old golden retriever. Besides, you two young people need your privacy.”

“Gwen!” I said in a hushed whisper.

“Ms. Calhoun, you are welcome to stay at my house. It’s much closer to Jade’s and I have a spare guest room. I imagine if you stay there, we can convince Jade to stay over as well.” The glint in Kane’s eyes made my face grow hot and my ears burn.

“That’s a kind offer, Mr. Rouquette. Thank you. But like I said, you two young people need your privacy. Now, could you help me get this suitcase inside?”

“But you don’t even know Bea!” I cried.

Gwen stopped at the base of Bea’s porch and gazed at me thoughtfully. “Why would you think that?”

“What do you mean?
Do
you know her?” I asked, unable to hide the accusation in my tone.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

Just then, the door swung open and the woman in question glided out onto the porch with a wide, welcoming smile. “Gwen!”

My aunt made her way up the short stairs onto Bea’s porch and held her arms open for a hug. The pair embraced as if they were friends reunited after many years. When Gwen pulled away, she had tears shining in her eyes. “Thank you for looking after my girl.”

Bea held onto Gwen’s hands, shaking them slightly as she spoke. “It’s truly my pleasure, my friend. Besides, she’s probably done more for me than I have for her.”

I stood frozen at the first step of the porch, staring at them. What the heck was going on?

“I’m so glad you took me up on my offer to stay here,” Bea told Gwen.

“It’ll be like old times.”

“Old times?” I snapped out of my trance and took the stairs two at a time. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Jade,” Gwen chided.

Bea looked at me quizzically then turned to Gwen. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Not yet. I wanted to keep my visit a surprise.” Gwen gestured to me. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but then closed it. I didn’t even know what to say. These two knew each other and had kept it from me? The blatant betrayal made my heart ache. I turned, searching for Kane, and jumped when my shoulder brushed against him. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you were right behind me.”

He wrapped his arm around my middle and pulled me close. “Really? That’s a first. You always seem to know where I am.”

It was true. But since he’d been shielding his emotions, he’d been invisible to me. I sighed heavily. Maybe he didn’t even know he was doing it.

We followed Bea and Gwen into Bea’s sunny yellow living room. Bea ordered us to sit while she busied herself in the kitchen pouring drinks.

Kane led me to an overstuffed loveseat and tugged me down next to him. I leaned into him, grateful for the support.

Gwen mumbled something about helping Bea and followed her into the kitchen.

My eyes stayed glued to her as she awkwardly waited for direction. It soon became clear that if they really did know each other, Gwen had never been to Bea’s house. Or if she had, she’d never helped out in the kitchen. Bea told her where to find the lemonade pitcher no less than four times before Gwen uncovered it from the correct cabinet. She also had trouble finding the pantry and ended up battling a mop in the utility closet.

I stifled a giggle. “Aunt Gwen must be feeling really guilty right now. She never offers to help in the kitchen.”

“I can see why,” Kane said, wincing when Gwen knocked over the full container of lemonade.

It wasn’t long before Bea banished her and Gwen returned to the couch, her cheeks the color of her red T-shirt.

“I guess Bea doesn’t know you that well,” I teased, letting go of some of the betrayal that had been clutching my heart.

Gwen raised her hands in defeat and sat back, waiting for our host.

Just as Bea was heading into the living room, the stairs creaked with light footsteps. Kane and I turned our heads in unison. I tensed.

The so-called low-level angel glided up to the loveseat, waved cheerily at me, and sat next to Kane on the arm rest. When she rested her hand on his shoulder, I snapped.

“Why is she here?” I demanded, turning to Bea. “Didn’t she just poison you yesterday?”

“That was an accident!” Lailah cried, burying her face in her hands.

At least she wasn’t touching Kane anymore.

Bea leveled a benign gaze in my direction. “She’s here at my invitation, dear. Thank you for your loyalty and concern, but Lailah and I are working through what happened. When we’ve figured it out, I’ll be sure to fill you in.”

Poisoned?
Gwen mouthed in my direction.

I acknowledged her with a tiny nod of my head then leaned back with my arms crossed over my chest.

Kane rested his hand on my thigh. The weight was heavy and foreign, almost as if I were being touched by a stranger. Everything about the scenario grated on me. I jumped up and started pacing. “Can someone tell me what the h—I mean, what’s going on?”

“Where would you like us to start?” Gwen asked.

I’d like to know why Lailah was dreamwalking Kane. But I couldn’t ask that here in front of Bea or my aunt. God, I was starting to sound like a crazy, jealous girlfriend. Maybe it was because I was so used to reading his emotions. Being cut off wasn’t all I’d thought it would be.

Instead, I focused on Gwen. “Start with how you know each other.”

Gwen nodded. “Well, you know how you set up that Facebook page for me?”

“Uh-huh.” I’d set it up right before I’d moved to New Orleans from Idaho four months ago. I’d thought it would help us keep in touch. But as far as I knew, Gwen hadn’t been on the site since the day I’d first logged her on. She never posted anything, not even when I left her messages on her wall. Finally I’d given up, figuring she was a lost cause.

She chuckled. “I found my password about a month ago and decided to check it out. Right when I logged on, there was a friend request from Bea. And the rest is history.”

“Wait. You two met on Facebook?”

“Sort of.” Bea leaned forward, poured a glass of lemonade, and handed it to me.

I was too polite to refuse it, even though it was the last thing I wanted at the moment. Not unless she’d spiked it with a little vodka.

“Drink,” she urged.

The air warmed slightly and a faint trace of ocean tickled my nose. My arm seemed to move on its own, bringing the glass to my lips. After a few sips, all the tension eased from my shoulders, and I sank back down next to Kane.

“Better?” she asked.

“Much.” I once again leaned into Kane, forgetting all about Lailah.

“You spelled her,” Gwen blurted.

“Just a tiny one to help her relax a bit.” She winked in my direction.

Gwen pressed her lips together and shook her head. “She might be fine now, but when it wears off, she’s gonna be as angry as a cat on fire. And you said you knew her.” She snorted. “Jade hates magic.”

“I realize that,” Bea said. “But she has to get used to using it. Look at how susceptible she is to it. I barely put anything behind the spell and she’s acting as if she’s drunk.”

I grinned. It was better than being drunk. My senses were sharp enough, and I had no trouble following what they were saying about me. I didn’t care. Everything was right with the world.

“Oh, Lord.” Gwen rolled her eyes.

“Oh, Gwen. Stop worrying.” I waved a hand in her direction. “I’m still waiting to hear all about your Facebook connection.”

It turned out, Bea had found Gwen on my Facebook friends list and, on impulse, friended her. Once the two connected, they’d each pumped the other for information about me. If I hadn’t been spelled, I’d have probably been more than a little irritated about that, but understood it at least from Gwen’s perspective. I was over two thousand miles away and finding plenty of ways to get myself into sticky situations.

Bea wanted more information about my abilities and, given the fact she was the coven leader, I could understand why. Even if it did irritate me.

From there they’d become friends and eventually realized they’d spent a summer together at Summer Solstice, a camp for young witches.

“You went to a witch’s camp?” I asked Gwen, confused. “But you aren’t a witch.”

“Your mother was.” Gwen poured herself a glass of lemonade and turned to Bea. “Is this spelled?”