Angels of Bourbon Street (7 page)

Mom took a place beside Kane. “I’ll be with her. I can ward off a spirit.”

Philip eyed her. “For how long? And what if there’s more than one? She already said she saw some at Bea’s house. It sounds as if they are following her around. You can’t keep a twenty-four-hour vigil. And worse, if Camille shows up again…you saw what happened in there. It took three of us to break her hold.”

Mom crossed her arms over her chest and set her jaw stubbornly. “I’ll get Bea and Lucien to help me set up wards. Lucien is Jade’s second in command of the coven. Surely he and Bea can handle it.”

“And if one is already haunting Kane’s house? What then?”

Lailah, who seemed subdued and her normal self again, put a tentative hand on Kane’s arm. “I know you don’t want to hear from Philip right now, but he’s right. Jade isn’t safe.”

Kane clutched me tighter. He stared at the shop door, his body vibrating with restrained action, and for a second, I thought he was going to ignore them both. But then he met Lailah’s eyes. “What do you suggest we do then?”

Philip and Lailah shared a glance. Lailah nodded and turned to me. “We need Meri.”

“No,” I said automatically. Even though Meri had asked the council to restore my soul to me, the fact remained that she was at the center of almost everything, starting with when my mom was abducted and taken to Hell. I understood she’d fallen and the person she was today wasn’t responsible for everything that had happened. Still, I found it hard to be around her without all the pain of years past overtaking me.

“But, Jade—” Lailah started.

I pulled back from Kane’s chest and twisted to meet her worried gaze. “I said no. She took my mother, Kane, you, Dan, Bea, and half my soul. Whatever she has to offer, I don’t want any of it.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Philip said evenly.

Kane’s whole body tensed, and his left hand squeezed my arm so hard I winced. “Sorry,” he whispered and relaxed his grip, though his murderous gaze stayed trained on Philip. “Don’t ever tell her what to do.”

Lailah took a deep breath. “He’s not.” Then she turned to Philip. “Go in the other room. Your presence isn’t helping.”

Philip hesitated, but after a pointed look from Lailah, he nodded and retreated to the lab where Ian was still taking measurements.

“Look,” she said to us. “The problem is Jade’s soul.”

“It’s fine,” I said stubbornly.

“It’s not fine. It should be, but it isn’t. The reason Camille is able to possess you is because she’s able to invade your soul. Philip thinks, and I agree, that if you and Meri are together, your soul will be stronger, and you’ll be able to fight any spirits off yourself.”

“There’s got to be a better solution,” Kane said. “What are they going to do, spend every waking hour together?”

Lailah’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know, but it’s the best answer I’ve got right now. At least until we can come up with something more concrete.”

Mom moved from the shadows and caressed my hair. “I think you need to do this, honey. The three of us got rid of Camille for now, but she’s very strong. We won’t last in another fight.”

The worry in her eyes made me close my own and press into Kane once more. He was heated, barely holding back his frustration. I glanced up at him, a silent question on my lips.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “We can try. At least I’ll be able to get you home and to bed.”

Bed. That was all I really wanted right then. I nodded. “All right.”

“Good,” Lailah breathed. She hit a button on her phone, and not thirty seconds later, the front door opened, and in walked Dan—my ex—and right behind him was Meri, her board-straight mahogany hair hanging in a sheet down the length of her back.

“They were outside this whole time?” I shot at Lailah.

“Put her down, Kane,” Meri said in a soft, commanding tone.

He stared at her with one raised eyebrow.

“Trust me,” she said, and I had to hold back a snort. “In order to get her home safely, the two of us need to join our energies. I can’t do that with yours in the mix.”

The storm raging in Kane’s eyes told me he’d rather do just about anything other than listen to Meri. I sighed and nodded at Kane. The sooner we got this over with, the sooner I could lie in his bed with his strong arms keeping me safe. He frowned but gently placed me on my feet.

My knees instantly buckled.

Kane caught me and pulled me to him. “This isn’t going to work.”

“Trust me,” Meri said again and reached a hand out to me.

I stared at it as if her fingertips were fangs.

“Jade,” Dan said. “Please, Meri’s only trying to help.”

Yeah,” I huffed. “Every time someone tries to help, all hell breaks loose.”

“You want to go home, don’t you?” Meri smiled at me, her deep gray eyes almost appearing kind.

Damn, I wished I could read her to make sure I understood her current emotional state. She could be totally faking. But it was either take her hand or stay in the store all night. And I had catering samples to taste.

I reached out my right hand and clasped hers. The effect was immediate. My heart fluttered, and the space below my breastbone seemed to swell. All the masked pain dissipated, and for the first time in a month, I felt normal, one hundred percent myself, ready to face anything. Just the way I had before I’d lost half of my soul.

“Feel better?” Meri asked, her eyes going wide with surprise.

“Yes.”

“Me, too. Let’s go figure out how to make this permanent.”

I was so alive. So happy. So myself. I turned to Lailah with a look of wonder, ready to ask why she hadn’t told me this would happen, but her shocked expression stopped me. “Lailah? What is it?”

She blinked. “You’re…holy shit.”

“Whoa,” Philip said softly.

“What?” I demanded, getting more irritated by the second.

“It’s your aura,” Lailah said. “It’s just shifted from purple-tinged to pure white.”

“Yeah, so?” Purple was the sign of an intuitive. I was somewhat surprised the color hadn’t changed as soon as Meri had taken my empath gift. “Mixing with an angel could certainly mask the purple or wipe it out altogether.”

“No, Jade. Meri’s is still purple-tinged. Yours faded to pure snow white. Something’s changed. It’s the sign of a full-fledged angel’s soul.”

Chapter 6

Everyone decided to meet us back at Kane’s house except Bea. Concerned about our ghost sighting, she opted to go home and strengthen the wards around her house. And to also research ghost possessions. With three angels and my mother watching over me, I had more than enough keepers.

“A full-fledged angel?” I whispered from Kane’s couch for the third time and glanced at Meri sitting in the chair across from me.

She craned her neck to check on Dan, who was sitting by himself in the dining room. Normally, I wouldn’t invite my ex into the home I shared with Kane, but she’d given me no choice. She’d insisted he come with her. She seemed to sense my gaze and stared back, studying me.

“Do you think they’re right? Is it possible that I have some sort of angel gene?” I asked her. She was an angel, after all, and a former demon. She should have some knowledge.

Kane shifted beside me and squeezed my leg.

Slowly, Meri shook her head. “No. I’ve never heard of a witch turning angel. Besides, the soul you and I share is exactly what I’d expect from a powerful witch, not an angel.”

Angels existed to protect souls. It made sense she’d know what mine was supposed to feel like. “What about whatever you did to me back at the shop? We shared some sort of energy. You could’ve transferred a part of you.”

“It doesn’t work that way. I was only letting our souls connect so they could restore themselves. Nothing more.”

Good. I did not want to be an angel. After my experience with the angel council, I wanted as little to do with them as possible. Present company excepted.

The door rattled and swung open, bouncing with a crash off a stone umbrella stand. Pyper bounded in, Ian at her heels. He had his bag slung over a shoulder, a camera in one hand and his EMF detector hanging from another. Without stopping, he headed into the middle of the room, dropped his bag, and sank to one knee. A second later he had the rest of his equipment spread out around him.

I stiffened. “What are you doing?”

His head jerked up at my harsh tone. Frowning, he put down his equipment and stood. “I’m going to take some readings so we know the house is safe.”

“No.” I stood on shaky legs, staring him down. “Not after what happened at Bea’s shop.”

Kane rose, positioning himself to my right but just behind me. I sent him a slight smile in recognition of the gesture. He was there if I needed him, but he’d let me handle this.

“But—”

“No. You’ve already done readings here once before. Nothing was found, and I’m sure as hell not letting you invite anything else into Kane’s home.”

“
Our
home,” Kane interjected.

“Jade.” Pyper touched my arm. “He’s only trying to help.”

I turned on her. “Like he tried to help by kissing me after the ghost possessed me and I couldn’t do anything to stop it?” I clapped a hand over my mouth. Had I really just blurted that?
Shit.

Kane’s hand tensed on my shoulder as my words hung in the air. Pyper gaped at me, and then hurt clouded her bright blue eyes. She turned abruptly to glare at Ian. His face flushed bright red.

Oh, double shit.
I’d planned to tell Kane, but I hadn’t wanted to hurt Pyper. Before Kane and I got together, Ian had made no secret of his interest in me. But he’d been dating Pyper the last few months. I’d truly thought he was over his fascination with me.

“You did what?” Pyper asked through clenched teeth.

Ian backed up, his expression resembling a deer in the headlights.

Kane bent close to my ear. “A heads-up would’ve been nice.”

I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my head in his chest. He straightened, his body turning rigid. When he didn’t return my embrace, a tiny piece of my heart shattered.

I sucked in a shaky breath. “I was going to tell you after everyone left. I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that. He just made me so angry…” Tilting my head up, I prayed he saw the truth echoing in my eyes. “I really didn’t have any control over the situation. You know I don’t harbor any feelings for Ian. I never have.” And right then, I had a fair amount of contempt for the ghost hunter. “You don’t honestly believe I would hurt you or Pyper like that, do you?”

Kane sighed and wrapped one arm around me. His other hand came up and brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Of course not. I want nothing more than to deck the asshole, but it looks like Pyper might beat me to it.”

She’d backed Ian up against the front door and fisted his T-shirt in her hands. Visibly shaking, she gave him a verbal lashing in a hushed tone, making it impossible to hear what she was saying. But the expression on his face made it obvious whatever she’d said wasn’t pleasant. He didn’t even try to defend himself. He just stood there and took her wrath.

Smart move, considering how pissed she was.

“Bastard,” Pyper spat and shoved him against the door. “Get out.”

He reached a tentative hand out toward her, but she knocked it away. With her hands clenched in tight balls, she lowered her arms to her sides and took a step back.

Ian’s eyes never left hers as he reached behind him to open the door. He took one step forward and paused. “I do have an explanation when you’re ready to hear it.” He glanced at me and Kane.

Heat radiated from Kane, no doubt the anger he was trying to control.

Ian closed his eyes in defeat, and when he opened them he grabbed his bag of equipment, nodded once, and slipped outside.

Pyper slammed the door on his retreating back. “Shit,” she said and stalked back to the kitchen.

“That was…uncomfortable,” Meri said.

“I bet,” Dan said, sending her a look of sympathy. He leaned against the wall with one leg crossed over the other. Meri smiled at him and crossed the room, following him back into the adjoining dining room.

Twenty minutes later, I was sprawled on the couch, too exhausted to move, when Lailah, Philip, Mom, and Gwen showed up. They’d stayed at Bea’s shop to cleanse the space, making sure Camille and any other potential ghosts were gone. Everyone was too busy arguing to pay any attention to me.

“She’s not an angel,” Mom insisted, talking over Philip as they moved deeper into the house. They gathered in the dining room where there were more chairs. “There’s no possible way.”

“But her aura says otherwise,” he replied in a patient tone. “Whether she was one before or not, it’s clear she shows signs of being one now. I want to find out why.”

I grimaced at Philip’s words. I
wasn’t
a damn angel. White Witches could have white auras. Mine had happened to be tinged purple due to my empath gift. But I wasn’t an intuitive anymore. No wonder my aura had changed.

Kane emerged from the kitchen. “Hot chocolate?” he asked, holding an oversized red mug out to me.

I propped myself up on the pillows, smiling at him. Through all the chaos and uncertainty, he was there, offering me my comfort drink of choice, complete with homemade whipped cream. Tucking my feet underneath me, I gestured to the couch. “Sit with me.”

Kane settled in beside me, his strong, capable arm pulling me close to his body. He kissed the top of my head. “Looks like our brief reprieve has come to an end.”

“Where’s Kat?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “Maybe she went home?”

I raised my eyebrows and cast him a side-long glance.

He chuckled. “Okay, probably not. When they calm down, you could ask someone.”

“Yeah.” I stared into his gorgeous toffee-flecked chocolate eyes, remembering the gleam that had been there this morning, and shook my head sadly. “We’ll never get this wedding planned. And now, unless we find a way to banish Camille, I can’t go back to Summer House.”

His arm tightened around me. “Don’t think for a minute I’m letting my angel get away from me. The wedding will go on as planned.” His lips curved in a half-grin. “Even if I have to snatch a justice of the peace and marry you in the street.”