Witches of Bourbon Street (17 page)

“What exactly did you see?” I asked.

No response.

“Charlie?”

She stepped sideways, just enough to be out of my reach. “I’d rather not say. It’s better if you talk to him.”

I closed the gap. “You brought this up. What is it I deserve to know?”

She cast a glance once more toward Kane’s office and licked her lips. “I…damn it. I walked in on them kissing.”

All the air in my lungs vanished. With great effort, I choked out, “When?”

“Ten minutes ago, but—”

I stalked off, not caring what else she had to say. I had my hand on his office door knob when Charlie caught up to me.

“Wait.”

I stared at her hand on my arm, wishing I possessed pyrokenisis. That would be a cool gift. Though, in my state of mind, I’d likely burn down the entire building instead of the traitors presumably on the other side of the door. I shook off the ridiculous thought. It wasn’t Charlie’s fault my boyfriend was a cheating asshat. She was only trying to help.

“Jade, there’s something off about him. I’ve never seen him behave that way before. And yeah, I’m pissed he was tongue-wrestling with that crazy broad, but it’s so far out of character I’d almost think he was spelled or something.”

“Oh, God! You too? Not everything bad that happens is caused or fixed by a spell.” Without another word, I flung the door open.

Shock rooted me to the floor.

Kane lay shirtless on the desk, Lailah straddling him. All the anger that Charlie’s announcement had conjured fled. Pain stabbed my heart. Neither seemed to notice the intrusion. I couldn’t breathe as I stood there staring while Lailah clawed and bit at his chest. Her hands moved lower and a strangled cry ripped from my throat.

An electric shock tore through my body at exactly the same moment Lailah flew off the desk, off Kane, and slammed into the wall of the office. She seemed to slide down the wall in slow motion, landing almost gracefully on the balls of her feet. She peered at me in what appeared to be only mild annoyance and moved once again toward Kane, who lay waiting for her.

Pure disgust erupted from deep inside. I spun and ran. I vaguely heard someone call my name. Kane, maybe. But he was the last person I wanted to talk to.

I burst through the back door into the courtyard, gasping for air. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to fill my lungs. Clutching my chest, I collapsed into a wrought-iron chair and doubled over, staring at the ground. My vision blurred and I didn’t notice the stinging until my tears spattered on the faded bricks.

My body shook with silent sobs as the vision of Kane and Lailah played over and over in my mind. Soon, my pain turned to bitter anger. It consumed every part of my being, filling all of my senses.

I heard nothing. Felt no one. Only the betrayal of the one I loved. And that’s the only reason I didn’t sense Dan sneaking up on me.

Chapter 13

The heavy dose of black licorice on my tongue made my stomach lurch. I curled into a fetal position and moaned. The licorice, combined with the aches in my arms and legs, meant one thing. I’d been knocked out with a very powerful enchantment spell. The same one my mother’s coven leader had used on me the night Mom had disappeared.

My eyes didn’t seem to want to focus, and I had to blink a few times to clear my vision. After propping myself up on the torn leather couch, I glanced around. A small, thirteen-inch, box-style television sat on a four-person table. A ripped canvas lawn chair was its only seating. The rest of the place, other than the couch I’d been deposited on, was empty.

I stood on wobbly legs, moved toward a window, and fumbled at the latch for some fresh air. The stench of stale beer and fast food burgers in the room turned my unsettled stomach. The latch shifted, but in typical New Orleans fashion, the window had been painted shut. No, not painted shut. Bolted shut.

Shit
.

My internal panic finally kicked in, and I ran toward the door. Just as I reached for the handle, it swung open. I dodged, barely avoiding being clocked in the face.

“You’re up,” Dan said in a conversational tone. He shut the door, but instead of throwing the bolt, he took out a key and locked it from the inside.

“Dan,” I breathed. “What’s going on here?”

He kept his eyes trained on me, but didn’t say another word. Standing there, staring at me, he looked every bit the same man I’d known and dated…until he started to walk. His stiff limbs jerked unnaturally as if he was suffering a full-body spasm. Suddenly he froze, and when he started walking again toward the kitchen, his gait was normal.

“Dan,” I said again.

He ignored me and rummaged in the refrigerator.

The last time I’d read Dan’s emotions, it had made me physically ill. I’d vowed to never intrude on his personal energy again, but I didn’t know what else to do right now. I was locked in a dirty shoebox of an apartment with a crazy ex-boyfriend. I had to know his intentions.

I took a step forward and sent my energy toward him. When nothing registered, I moved closer, sending a stronger probe. A weird thing happened. My energy seemed to swirl around him. No, more like it bounced off him, leaving me nothing to read. It was as if I were trying to read a concrete statue. I gathered my energy together and coaxed it in his direction, pressing when it tried to rebound.

He straightened and turned to face me. “I can feel that. If I were you, I’d stop. Now.” His tone had taken on an authoritative edge, making me cringe. His eyes were hard and clear. “When we’re done here, you won’t be burdened with that particular nuisance of a problem.”

“Dan! What has gotten into you?” I cried, balling my hands into fists to keep them from shaking. I was in real danger here. If I couldn’t talk my way out of this…“Abduction? Sleep enchantments? This isn’t who you are.”

“You have no idea who I am.” His energy was void, almost as if it had been sucked away.

I shrank back. Everything about him was different. His tone of voice, hard and icy. His empty expression. His awkward stance. He wasn’t at all the person I’d once known. I didn’t see him for over a year after we’d broken up; not until he’d shown up in New Orleans and started dating Kat. I’d noticed a change then. It would be hard not to, considering he’d morphed into a complete ass. But this was different. His physical being radiated with cold, calculating maliciousness. The kind you don’t need empath abilities to know is there.

He stalked forward.

Utter panic took over. A fear I hadn’t felt since I’d been fifteen, trapped in my foster parent’s house. Only this time Dan wasn’t defending me, he was the one hunting me.

“Stop!” With that one word, the spark I’d first found at Bea’s house flared through my limbs. The power hummed through my body. It finally dawned on me; it was the same power that had been there all along when I was scared, angry, or frustrated. When my torch had flared out of control while I’d been thinking about Lailah. When I’d unlocked Dan’s car. And when I’d thrown Lailah off Kane’s body after catching them together at the club.

To my surprise, Dan did stop, but only for a moment. Then he stumbled forward once again in those awkward jerky movements. His mouth gaped open, and his speech came out stilted. “No more…witch…bind power.”

For the first time, I noticed a plastic bottle filled with a neon blue liquid in his hand. Something sinister and heavy touched my senses. It took me a moment to register it wasn’t Dan; he was still a void. It was what whatever was in that bottle. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Dan raised his arm and aimed the bottle right at me. The fluid splashed out in large droplets.

Instantly, I jumped back and crossed my arms over my chest in defense. My inner spark expanded, and power exploded from me. I fell backward, landing on my rear with a muffled
oomph
.

A strong honeysuckle stench sweetened the stale air. I wrinkled my nose and glanced around, finding Dan sprawled on the couch covered in blue juice.

“Jade?” He asked in a confused tone.

I scrambled to find my feet.

“What’s…wait. Why are you here?” He frowned and glanced around. “How did you know where I live? Kat doesn’t even know.”

I studied him, taking in his slack, tired expression, the dark circles under his eyes, and general state of disarray. “What was in the bottle, Dan?”

“Huh?” He wiped liquid from his face and glanced around.

I inched toward the window, nodding at the bottle near his feet.

When he rose, I ran. I had my hands stretched out, intending to break the glass with either my power or sheer physical force.

“What are you doing?” He caught up with me and grabbed my wrist. Instantly, the residual power still in my system disappeared.

I yanked my arm from his grasp and stared down at the blue stain on my wrist.

“Sorry.” He held both hands up in surrender, his regret brushing my skin.

What was in that bottle? And was it the reason I could suddenly tap into his emotions?

I didn’t get a chance to find out, however, because Dan stiffened. His eyes narrowed and panic flared from him, hitting me in the chest. “You have to go. Now.” This time he got an iron grip on my elbow and dragged me to the door. “She’s coming.”

“Who?”

He grabbed the door knob and pulled. Nothing happened. “Fuck.” He eyed it as if he couldn’t figure out why the door wasn’t working.

“It’s locked. Dan, who’s coming?”

He fished the key out of his pocket and fumbled for a moment before yanking it open. He shoved me out into the dank hallway. Fear, combined with sheer determination, rose to his surface emotions. His eyes bored into mine. “Evil. Now, run!”

His energy faded once again into a void state. Then his body stiffened and his expression turned stony. I bolted.

Two flights of stairs later, I burst through a door onto an unfamiliar dark street. My paranoid-girl intuition kicked in and, without pausing to get my bearings, I ran as fast as I could past abandoned and falling-down homes. It didn’t take long for my breathing to turn ragged, but I kept going despite my lungs screaming in protest.

More than a few catcalls came from faceless men sitting in shadows on stoops, but they only propelled me faster. A stitch formed in my side. When I finally made it to a four-way street light, I turned right and almost cried in relief at the sight of a small neighborhood grocery store.

By the time I limped my way to a cashier, my whole body was shaking. I gripped the side of the counter and fumbled for my cell phone. Nothing. I checked the other pocket and came up empty. “Shit.”

“Are you all right?” a young man with thick glasses asked. His genuine concern brushed my conscious.

I tried to smile. I’m pretty sure it came out as more of a grimace. “Bad night, but if I could borrow a phone for a minute, I’d appreciate it.”

He glanced warily across the aisle at a middle-aged platinum-blond woman.

She eyed him suspiciously. “We’re not supposed to let customers use the store phones.”

“Okay. I understand. Is there a pay phone?” I could call Bea collect if I had to. Everyone else only had cell phones. I crossed my arms over my body to try to stop the shaking. It didn’t work.

“No. Sorry.” He pulled an iPhone out of his pocket and handed it to me. “But you look like you could use a break. Borrow mine, unless you plan to call China or something.”

His generosity after the awful day I’d had brought tears to my eyes. I blinked them back. “No, just across town. Thank you.” At least, I hoped it was just across town.

He sidestepped, presumably to give me privacy, but I stopped him. “Wait, I know this is going to sound crazy, but where am I?”

He didn’t miss a beat. “Tulane Avenue.”

“Thank you.” Thank God. I was still in New Orleans, but not a neighborhood anyone should be wandering around in at night. I automatically started dialing Kane’s number, but stopped when the scene in his office flashed through my mind. Betrayal wound its way around my heart.

Instead I called Kat.

Twenty minutes later, she squealed to a stop in front of the market and double-parked. “Jesus, Jade. What the hell happened?”

I hadn’t given her any details when I’d called. It was too much to try to do over the phone. I’d only told her where I was and she’d come.

“Get me in the car and I’ll tell you everything.” The minute my butt hit the seat, all the survival adrenaline I’d been relying on vanished. My hands and feet turned numb, and I barely noticed the tears streaming down my face.

Kat took one look at me, patted my leg, and sped off.

“Go to Bea’s,” I got out before my throat closed.

Kat didn’t speak again until we pulled up in front of the white carriage house. “Want me to call Kane for you?”

“No!” I grabbed her arm. “Don’t you dare.”

“Jade, whatever happened, don’t you think he should know?”

“No. Not since I walked in on him and Lailah making out in his office.”

Kat’s eyes widened in shock then narrowed as what I’d said fully sunk in. “I’ll kill him.”