Witches of Bourbon Street (6 page)

“You expect me to believe that?” I crossed my arms defiantly.

Felicia’s eyes narrowed. “You think I made that up? You think I’d show you my demon sister and how she ended the three innocent lives of those who were only trying to save her?” Pure rage strummed through her. “Think carefully, Jade Calhoun. For one of your own is on the verge of the same fate. Help me, and I’ll help you before it’s too late.”

The world turned white for an instant, and once again I was in my tiny apartment on Bourbon Street.

“Jesus Christ, Jade,” Pyper said, now holding the portrait. “Where did you go?”

“Put it down,” I yelled from the floor at her feet.

Startled, Pyper dropped the portrait onto the couch and stepped back with her hands raised. “Sorry.”

I concentrated on air filling my lungs. In, out. In, out. “No. I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “I was back in Idaho. I saw…” The words clogged in my throat. I swallowed. “There are spirits trapped in those frames, and I think it’s best if we put them away.”

“You can’t be serious. I thought they just held an imprint of emotions,” Pyper said.

I studied my friend, the twinges of fear seeping from her. I didn’t want to think about what had happened, much less talk about it. I needed time to process, but since they’d both seen me check out, I had little choice. “Felicia’s in there. She sucked my consciousness into another dimension. Different than what we experienced with Roy, though.”

“How?” Lailah asked.

“I don’t know exactly. Partly because I was in a place I knew, here in this world. But the other part was it felt different. With Roy, I was trapped. With Felicia, I wouldn’t say that was the case. Just pulled there, but not imprisoned.”

“What did she want?”

“To be freed,” I said softly.

Lailah’s energy reached out, engulfing me.

I jumped to my feet and stepped back with narrowed eyes. “Stop it. I don’t want to be read.”

She cocked her head. Her voice turned airy and dream-like. “Something happened while you were gone. Your aura changed. Deep sadness has settled over you. Whatever it was, Felicia touched a nerve.”

“It’s none of your business,” I snapped, not caring if I hurt her feelings. It was rude to read someone when they didn’t want you to. Even worse to comment on it. Lailah and I just weren’t that good of friends. Not even friends. More like acquaintances. At least when I read people’s emotions, I kept the information to myself.

Pyper kept her gaze on the portrait as she moved to my side. She took my hand and squeezed it. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I’ll tell Ian he’s on his own.”

The contrition in her voice had me sending her a small smile of acknowledgement.

“No, he isn’t.” Lailah moved forward and grabbed all three of the portraits. “I can’t leave them in there.”

“But—”

She cut me off. “No. I have to figure out a way to free them. It’s an angel’s duty to help the lost souls.” Lailah sailed through my front door before either Pyper or I could say a word.

“Damn it!” I followed her, suddenly worried Felicia’s warning was about Lailah, but by the time I made it to the stairs, she was long gone. I trudged back into my apartment and flopped on my bed.

Pyper eased down next to me. “What happened?”

I took one look at her concerned face and all my defenses crumbled. I started with the day my mom disappeared, how the coven had told me a routine earth spell had backfired and Mom had just vanished, and then moved onto Felicia and the vision she’d shown me. By the time I was finished, a tight ball had formed in my gut.

A few moments of silence ticked by after I’d finished talking. Then Pyper’s deep blue eyes met mine. “Do you think it’s possible Felicia was telling the truth?”

“Yes.” I leaned against the ornate floral, wood-carved headboard. “I think it is possible, but if it is, I don’t know what to do about it.”

“It sounds like Lailah might be the one to ask.”

“Sure, if I didn’t think she was crazy.”

“But we have to if what Felicia said is true about your mom and…one of your own is on the verge of the same fate. Do you think she meant on the verge of turning evil?”

“I have no idea.” I rubbed my temples, trying to block out the tension headache seizing my brain.

Pyper shook her head then got up and moved toward the door. “I think you’re right about Lailah. She is crazy, but what choice do we have?”

I sighed. “Again, no idea.”

Pyper’s face softened. “I really am sorry. I thought facing my paranormal fears would help me feel more in control after what happened this summer, but seeing you mentally disappear like that…” She focused on my wide-planked pinewood floors. When she spoke again, her voice was barely audible. “It’s like it happened all over again.”

The strong woman I’d come to call my friend vanished with those words, leaving her weak and vulnerable.

A small tremor ran the length of my spine. I could almost feel the barbed wire that had been wrapped around my body while I’d been imprisoned by Roy. I shook it off, rose from the bed, and stepped in Pyper’s path. “It’s over. Felicia wasn’t anything like Roy. I wasn’t trapped so much as transported. Trust me—it wasn’t the same at all.”

When she looked up, her eyes seemed to have regained a fiery spark. “Good. I want to say it’s best we let it alone, but if there’s any chance of you finding your mom, you know I’m here for whatever you need.” She gave me a quick hug and left.

I crossed the room to my kitchen, and with shaky hands, poured an extra large glass of merlot. All I could focus on was Felicia’s words.
Hope is a slave to the otherworld
. Was that at all possible? If she was, there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Or could I? Bea and Lailah kept insisting I was a witch, but that wouldn’t solve anything. All I knew how to do was transfer a little energy.

Pyper was right; I’d have to seek Lailah’s help. A small tremor of apprehension rippled through me. What was she doing with those portraits? I picked up my phone and called her. It went straight to voicemail. After a quick message, I called my aunt Gwen. She knew about these things, though we rarely talked about them. As a teenager, after Mom disappeared, I didn’t want to have anything to do with the coven. Gwen, however, did. I knew she didn’t attend their rituals, but she did socialize with a few of them.

Again, the phone went straight to voicemail. I frowned and left a message for her to call me, but left out the details. Gwen always knew when I was upset. In fact, I was surprised she hadn’t already called herself. She has intuitive tendencies, especially when I’m involved.

I tossed the phone on a small end table. Duke, my ghost dog, appeared and settled next to me. I looked at him. “You couldn’t have warned me about Felicia? You spent two weeks barking at Roy. What gives?”

The golden retriever turned toward the window, rested his head on his paws, and heaved a heavy sigh.

“My thoughts exactly.”

Chapter 5

I blame shock. It’s the only reason I remained on my couch, drowning my fears in a bottle of wine. If I’d been convinced what I’d seen in the vision was real, I probably would have hunted Lailah down or gone straight to Bea’s or even Ian’s house. But I couldn’t reconcile the events with the mother I’d known: The sweet, kind witch who drew her pure healing magic from the earth. Not a witch who messed with blood magic. The kind of magic that often resulted in horrific consequences.

Just like it had in the vision. The blood spell had failed, producing a demon instead of the angel they’d called. Or had it? One of the witches had said it was too late, she’d already turned demon. Then maybe the spell had worked.

A tiny thread of doubt sprouted in my mind. Had my mom agreed to perform blood magic because it was the only way to help the silver-robed witches?

My heart pounded. That I could believe. If I wasn’t mistaken, the silver-robed witches were trying to save an angel from turning demon. Would I do the same for Lailah? The answer came instantly, without thought. Yes. I didn’t know much about angels, but there was no way I’d let one succumb to such a fate. Even it if meant using blood magic.

Lailah needed to know what I’d seen. She was in danger. The warning had to be about her. She was the only angel I knew. I jumped up, ready to run over to her house, but the room tilted and my floor rolled. I sat and once again the world righted itself.

Maybe when the wine wore off. I stumbled over to my bed, climbed in, curled up in a tight defensive ball, and promptly went to sleep.

Passing out before your boyfriend shows up is the perfect way to avoid answering questions. That is, until he appears in your dreams demanding answers. Damn, a girl can’t even enjoy a good drunken stupor.

I knew it was a dream. Kane’s slight silvery outline gave him away. Anticipation curled in my belly. When he visited, things always got heated. I smiled up at him and ran a fingertip down his thigh. “What are you doing way over there?”

He sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at me. Usually he alerted me to his presence in a much more intimate fashion. He frowned. “What happened today when Lailah came over?”

I turned over on my side and propped my head up with an elbow. “Did Pyper tell you they ambushed me?” I asked, evading his question. I wanted to tell him when I was awake and sure I was thinking clearly. I didn’t always remember all the details when Kane pulled me into a dreamwalk. It wasn’t the best time for a serious conversation.

Irritation and impatience slammed into my consciousness, making me flinch.

“Sorry.” Kane made an effort to rein in his emotions. “My chat with Pyper did not go well.”

“Imagine that.” I flipped onto my back and stretched.

“What the hell was she thinking? You’d already told her you didn’t want to be involved.” Kane got up from the bed and started pacing the floor. “Christ.” He ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. “Why is she so stuck on exploring this?”

I rolled off the bed and crossed the room to stop in front of him. Wrapping my arms around him, I pulled him close. “Is it so hard to understand? Roy took something from her. It’s her way of getting it back.”

He closed his eyes, struggling to control the anger that always surfaced at the mention of Roy. I could relate. Roy had been an asshole when he was alive, and he’d turned evil in death. “He can’t hurt her now.”

I shrugged. “We hope not, but it really isn’t about him. It’s about how she sees herself. She needs to get her confidence back. Confronting the paranormal is how she’s chosen to go about it.”

He gazed down at me. “And what about you? Do you feel the same way?”

“No.”

Kane leaned down and kissed my nose. “Care to elaborate?”

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m not much of a fan of the paranormal world. It hasn’t exactly brought good things to my life.” I tried to pull away, but Kane’s arms tightened around me.

His lips twitched. “You can’t think of one positive thing?” One hand traced the length of my neck before he bent and nibbled my jawline. “Would you really trade all those dream hours away?”

I shook my head and leaned into him. “You might have a point.”

He trailed kisses along my neck, igniting the familiar hum I always felt when his lips brushed over my skin.

“Hmm,” I sighed.

He let me go then lifted me effortlessly into his arms. The gentleness of his gaze made my heart swell.

The next moment we were lying on the bed. My clothes had changed to a silky, jade-green night slip. I had to smile at Kane’s choice. He always loved to dress me in colors that matched my eyes.

He gathered me close with one arm, cradling me next to him. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered.

“I’m counting on it.”

His love fluttered over my skin before wrapping me in a protective layer. I glanced up with a warm smile and froze when my gaze landed on someone standing right next to the bed.

“What?” Kane sat up. “Lailah?”

Her black, cotton negligee rode up her thigh as she lifted her arm and crooked a finger at him.

He rose from the bed, clad only in his boxer briefs. A moment later he vanished. And took Lailah with him.

I woke with a start. Beside me, Kane slept soundly with a tiny smile on his lips. I placed my hand on his shoulder and nudged. When he didn’t respond, I lowered my lips to his ear. “Kane, wake up.”

“Hmm,” he mumbled.

“Wake up,” I tried again, my voice pitched a little louder.

He rolled over and I heard a low rumble of another woman’s name. “Lailah.”

A slow burn started in the middle of my chest. The thought of Kane spending any time at all with his ex-girlfriend, even in a dream, produced a variety of violent impulses. I pushed them back, grabbed my pillow, and headed for my lumpy couch.

***

The next day I gritted my teeth when Pyper asked about Kane.

“He must have said something to you,” she prodded. “I know he isn’t happy I’m working with Ian or that I brought Lailah to your apartment yesterday. But he’ll get over it, right? I don’t want to spend the next week fighting with him.”