Witches of Bourbon Street (9 page)

“Why would someone do that?” I asked, handing Bea a glass.

“Any number of reasons, but usually it’s done to control a spirit. Keep her from expelling any of her own energy.” Bea peered at us. “It’s a highly dangerous curse and not one condoned by the coven.”

“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “No one here is interested in working that kind of spell. We just need information.”

“Right,” Pyper said. “Now, is it possible to put part of a spirit in one object and another part in something else—say, a voodoo doll?”

Bea frowned. “Witches don’t use voodoo dolls.”

“We just want to know if it’s possible.” I fingered the rim of my glass.

She shook her head. “But one could trap the soul and the spirit separately. Such a curse would be very dark. Very dangerous.”

No one said anything.

“I think it’s time you filled me in.” Bea pushed her mortar away and clasped her hands together.

I closed my eyes then let it all out. I started with the night my mother had disappeared, and moved on to the portraits, my vision, Lailah running off with them, Felicia’s warning, Dan’s energy, and the voodoo dolls. When I finished, Bea got up and retrieved a notepad from a small desk.

“What does it all mean?” I finally asked in a hushed tone.

Bea looked up from her notes. “It means someone has trapped the souls of those three sisters in the dolls and their spirits in the portraits.”

The memory of what I’d felt from the dolls came rushing back. Love was the underlying factor. Bea had told me the soul was what gave humans their ability to love. Oh, man. No wonder I hadn’t detected anything warm and fuzzy from the portraits.

“Demons have souls?” Pyper asked.

“In the early stages of demonhood, yes,” Bea said. “When an angel falls, his or her soul gets corrupted. After enough time goes by, it will eventually die.”

I bit my lip. “Does that mean there’s hope to save Meri from demonism? If her soul is safe in one of the dolls?”

Bea frowned. “Unfortunately, no. Once angels fall, their souls are damned.” She made another note. “Someone has gone to an awful lot of trouble to get a few witches and a demon out of the way. Meri is beyond our help, but the other three we have to save.” Bea jotted down some notes then made a phone call. When she hung up, she smiled. “Lailah will be here shortly.”

“Three?” I asked, barely able to breathe. The two witches in the circle, the demon they’d summoned, and… “Does this mean you think we can find my mother?”

“If Meri isn’t too powerful, it’s a possibility.” Bea continued to scribble notes.

For the first time in twelve years, a small tremor of hope started to blossom in my chest. Tears blurred my vision. “How? When?” I whispered in a shaky voice.

“We’ll have to summon the three sisters from Hell, extract their souls from the voodoo dolls and their spirits from the portraits, and then reconnect both with their physical bodies. Meri will be an issue, but if her soul isn’t too far gone, the rejoining will weaken her, and we should be able to banish her back to Hell, where demons belong. Hopefully, Felicia will lead us to your mother.” Bea glanced at her calendar. “It’s best if we do it during the full moon. That gives us two days.” She eyed me. “You have work to do. I’ll need every bit of your strength to make this happen.”

I barely registered Kane’s apprehension or the hand he clasped around my arm. “Anything. Where do we start?”

“With Lailah.” Bea rose and crossed back to her desk. She pulled out a thick leather-bound volume. Only a lone pentagram graced the cover. “We’ll need her strength to deal with the demon. It’s her specialty. Plus, she might be of some use in finding out what your friend Dan has to do with this.”

“Excuse me, but can you explain something?” Pyper asked Bea. “Why would anyone split someone’s spirit and soul from their body? Especially if the person is in Hell?”

Bea pursed her lips. “Without knowing the details, I can’t say. But they could have been trying to save Felicia and Priscilla. Being trapped in Hell would make it hard to not turn to black magic. That’s just as bad as an angel falling.”

I froze. “What about my mom? Can she have survived this long?”

“We can’t know until we find her,” Bea said gently.

Silence filled the room, until finally Bea flipped to the back of her book and ran her finger down a list in the appendix.

Pyper cleared her throat. “How are angels different from witches?”

I sent her a silent thanks for thinking of all the questions I was too preoccupied to ask.

Bea cocked her head and eyed my friend. “They’re here to help people. God gives them special powers to aid them in their journey, but if they abuse them, they fall.” Her eyes turned sad and wary. “It’s a heavy burden to bear.”

Fall. If Lailah slipped up, she’d turn demon and be banished to Hell. I shuddered, wondering how bad she’d have to screw up to suffer that fate.

Light steps sounded on the porch. I looked up just in time to see Lailah stroll in, wearing a long peasant skirt and blouse cinched at her waist with a knitted belt. With her long, blond hair, she looked like she’d just stepped out of a nineteen-seventy’s fashion magazine.

Her smile vanished the instant she spotted us at the table. Something vaguely resembling unease crossed over her features. She waved, pulled a small tin out of her felted purse, and then handed it to Bea. “I have the supplements you asked for.”

“Thank you.” Bea popped the tin open and shook out two green pills, downing them with the last of her tea. She smiled at my worried expression. “Just a precaution. I’m fine.” She took two steps and stumbled before grabbing the back of one of her wing chairs. Her face turned pasty white right before she crumbled to the floor.

“Bea!” I cried, springing from my chair.

Her eyes fluttered open and her breath came in short, labored huffs. “Poison.”

“Oh my God.” I fumbled in my back pocket for my phone. It slipped from my grip and slid under the chair. “Damn it. Someone call nine-one-one.”

“No,” Bea said with enough force I almost believed it had been a false alarm. But when I touched her arm, her skin burned. “It’s a curse. Only a witch can fix it.”

Hatred seeped from my pores as I glared at Lailah. Was this the start of her impending demise? At that moment, I didn’t give a shit about what happened to her. I focused once again on Bea. “Where can I find the coven’s numbers?”

Lailah appeared next to me, her face pinched with fear and panic. “They can’t help. She needs a white witch. You need to help her.”

I pushed her back. “Get away from her.”

Pyper grabbed the angel by the shoulders and wrestled her against the wall. “What the hell did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything.” Tears streamed unchecked down Lailah’s stricken face. “I enhanced the vitamins like I always do. I didn’t mean to poison her!”

Pyper whipped out her phone and hit a button. “Stay,” she said to Lailah. After a short conversation, Pyper turned to me. “Ian’s on his way. He said to get her to her room. Something about positive energy.”

Kane carefully lifted Bea in his arms and headed toward the stairs. The only thing that kept me from decking Lailah right there was Bea’s wavering voice. “Not quite the way I imagined enticing a handsome man into my bedroom.”

I started to follow but stopped mid-step. I couldn’t leave Lailah in the living room with only Pyper to guard her. If Lailah wanted to, she could turn Pyper into a toad. At least, I think she could.

Pyper solved the problem by producing a roll a duct tape from Bea’s desk.

“Perfect,” I said, and sent Lailah one more death glare as I gestured to a chair. “Sit.”

She held her hands out, trying to back up, but the wall stopped her. “No, I didn’t mean to do it. I already told you it was an accident. I can help.”

“No.” I stalked toward the chair. “I don’t trust you, and Pyper can’t contain you by herself. Now sit, or Pyper and I will force you.”

Pyper stood poised on her tip toes, ready to pounce. The fierce determination streaming from her made me glad I’d never pissed her off.

Shaking, Lailah eased her way toward me. Shame and sorrow oozed off her. Without looking at either of us, she sat and didn’t move once as we bound her wrists and ankles together. Worried she could still wield a spell, I tore a piece of tape to cover her mouth. But the way she sat there meekly staring at the floor, I decided against it. What if it had been an accident?

I handed the tape to Pyper. “If she so much as speaks a syllable without being prompted, cover her mouth.”

“Will do.”

Pyper pulled out another chair, and sat with her arms crossed, keeping guard over the angel. I took off up the stairs.

It wasn’t even five minutes before Ian arrived, red-faced and winded. “What happened?” He tucked Bea’s hand in his and gave her his full attention.

“Accident,” she whispered. “Poison…need energy transfer.”

Ian scanned the room and his gaze landed on me. “Jade. Ready?”

Kane kissed my temple. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

“Thank you,” I said into his ear. Because I sensed Kane’s every emotion when he was near, it made it hard to concentrate.

When he was gone, I took a seat next to Ian. Bea’s sunken cheeks and paper-frail skin scared me. In minutes she’d gone from vibrant and capable to an invalid. Tentatively I touched her cheek, gasping at the heat radiating from her. “Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?”

“No,” Bea rasped. “The supplement Lailah gave me was laced with an herbal curse and only a witch can reverse it.”

“Lailah.” I stood and paced. “Why is it that every time something goes wrong, she’s involved? I thought angels were supposed to help people.”

Ian’s pale blue eyes pierced me. Every muscle strained with tension. When he spoke, his voice held barely an edge of control. “Jade. My aunt is moments from succumbing to whatever poison is eating away at her body. Can we just focus on the energy transfer for now?”

Normally easygoing and cheerful, Ian had transformed into someone I didn’t recognize. All the anger clutching my heart drained away, replaced by dread. What if I made her condition worse? I wasn’t sure I was a witch. Even if I was, I wasn’t a practicing one.

I looked up into Ian’s intense gaze and swallowed. “Of course. That will fix this?”

“To start.” Ian gently nudged me to sit next to him on the bed. “Then, once Bea gets enough to wake, she can walk you through the counter spell.”

Crap
! They wanted me to do a counter spell? Besides a few energy transfers, I’d never done more than a simple smudging. Swallowing hard, I held out my hand to Ian. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Someone had turned the air conditioning up to tundra level, making gooseflesh ripple over my arms. I tried to ignore the chill as I closed my eyes to center myself. This part was no big deal. I’d been doing energy transfers for years without knowing it. Of course, I’d have to be sure I used Ian—otherwise I might be too drained to work whatever spell was coming next.

At first I grasped Bea’s icy hand then decided to place my hand directly over her chest. With any luck, the energy transfer would go straight to her heart, where it could instantly pump life back into her waning body.

Bea’s essence held a mere whisper of energy. I sent my senses deeper, searching for something tangible to connect with. Holy Jesus. She was minutes from leaving us permanently. Panic seized my brain. There wasn’t any room for error. Wasn’t there anyone else in the magical city of New Orleans with skills better than mine? Surely there was a Voodoo priestess or some other witch…or angel who could pull this off better than I could.

Snap out of it, Jade.
I mentally shook myself. There was no time to call anyone else. And Lailah apparently caused this mess. So much for angels.

Ian’s hand squeezed mine, propelling me into action. I forced my anxiousness down and sent my awareness deep into Ian. Worry clouded every inch of his being. “Ian,” I said with as much calm as I could muster. “I need you to block out all your fears for Bea and think only positive thoughts. Right now, what’s coursing through you could make her worse.”

“Sorry.” He loosened his grip on my hand and shifted into a more relaxed position. Still, his energy remained tainted.

“Talk about her. A happy memory. Something that makes you smile when you think of her.”

He let out a ragged breath and ran his other hand through his hair. “A happy memory,” he muttered. Seconds ticked by, and I wanted to shout at him to hurry. There wasn’t anything I could do to keep Bea’s faint energy from slipping further from my grasp.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, although it was probably only a minute, he cleared his throat. “A week after I turned seventeen, a new family moved into the house across from me. The two oldest kids were fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. The girl, Jessie, was shy, the unassuming type, and the most beautiful person I’d ever met.” He raised his eyes to mine.

I smiled and nodded for him to continue.

“I wasn’t exactly Mr. Outgoing myself at that age, but we had a lot of the same classes, and it wasn’t long before we became friends. Of course, she had no idea I’d fallen in love with her at first sight. But her brother had. Jay was good-looking, the type all the girls had eyes for. Like Kane. And just as protective.”