Charmed Again (Halloween LaVeau) (28 page)

“Yeah, I guess there was something to this necklace after all,” I said
, touching the pendant.

Liam looked down at his shoes. “Um, do you want me to stay in your room with you tonight?”

Wow. I hadn’t expected him to ask. The thoughts whirled in my head, but I knew I had to turn him down. I didn’t need him to babysit me. I didn’t know what I needed.

I picked at the hem of my shirt, avoiding his persistent stare.
“I think I’ll stay up and look through the book more. I want to know everything about my duties now that I can read understand the book. I’m not saying that I’ll know what it means, but at least I can try now.”

He nodded. “You’ll come get me if you need me?”

I nodded. “Of course. Thank you.”

Liam placed his lips against mine and kissed me softly. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the moment. When I opened my eyes, he turned around and walked up the stairs without looking back.

At some point in the night I’d fallen asleep sitting on the stool at the counter while reading the book. Looking around the room, I wasn’t sure what had startled me awake. Something seemed off though and a chill ran across my body.

A strange vibe hung in the air again. I’d thought I’d moved past the blackout spells
thanks to the necklace. The sound of footsteps caught my attention, so I eased over to the kitchen door, looking out into the parlor. I saw nothing, but I thought I heard voices. Was it Catherin and Claude? Had they returned?

Adrenaline pulsed through my body. I’d have to confront them. If the Coven wouldn’t tell me what the necklace meant, then I expected Catherin to give me a straight answer.
She’d obviously known my great-aunt.

I followed the sound of the voices. When reached the foyer, I spotted Catherin and Claude. They
stood side by side, watching me as I moved toward them. It was as if they knew what I was about to ask them.

“I’ve missed you two,” I said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

I didn’t sound very convincing though.

“Hello, dear,” Catherin said as they stared at me. “Is everything all right?”

There was no time to be wasted. I’d get right to the point.

“I’m sorry I was in your room, but I found this necklace.” I pulled it from my pocket and flashed it at them.

Catherin’s eyes narrowed. “Thank you for finding it. I’ll take it back now.” She wiggled her fingers.

Claude and Catherin stepped closer, until finally they surrounded me. Liam had said to get him if I needed him, but I couldn’t get past them. And by the looks on their faces, I was sure now was the time I’d need him.

“Are you going to tell me what this necklace means?” I asked. “I’ve seen it at the New Orleans Coven. Plus, I found the postcard you sent to my great-aunt back in 1938. You said you hadn’t been back until now. You lied to me.” I gave her my most evil glare.

Neither
Catherin nor Claude answered as their faces darkened. Who exactly was I dealing with?

Catherin reached out and snatched the necklace from my hand, then ripped the necklace from around my neck. “The necklace is mine and I’ll take it back,” she said with venom in her voice.

As much as I wanted to grab the necklace back, I couldn’t. It was like I was unable to move at anything other than a snail’s pace.

Without being able to stop myself, I moved across the foyer and to the front door. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Liam as he walked down the stairs. Thank goodness he’d be able to help me now.

“Liam, I can’t stop,” I said as I reached the front door.

The next thing I knew, I was on the veranda. Liam walked out the front door too. S
omething had pulled me outside. A force beyond my control. I couldn’t stop the pull. The front door slammed shut with such force that it rattled the wood. I ran over to the door and turned the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. Liam ran rushed behind me and tried the door. It still wouldn’t move.

I threw my hands up in the air.
“They’ve locked us out. I think they cast a spell that threw me out of my own house. They took my necklace. I can’t believe this.”

Liam pounded on the door, but it was no use.

“That thing is solid, there is no way it’s coming down,” I said.

“Is the back door locked?” Liam asked.

“Yes, and so are all the windows. Safety, you know?” I shrugged.

Liam grabbed my hand. “Come on. We have to stop them.”

Liam and I raced down the steps, but stopped when we reached his car.

“What do you suggest we do now?” I asked.

“You can try a spell that pulls energy from other witches,” he said matter-of-factly, as if this would be the easiest thing in the world.

“
You make it sound so easy, but we’ll need to get another witch here,” I said, blowing hair out of my eyes.

“
My car keys are in the house.” He pointed toward the front door.

Of all the luck. What would we do now?

“We’ll have to walk somewhere and use a phone. There’s a shortcut through the woods,” I said, pointing at the line of trees at the edge of the property.

He blew out a deep breath. “Okay. I’m getting a bad vibe from this idea, but I don’t think we have any other options.”

I looked up at the house one last time. “What are they doing in there?”

Every light in the house had been turned on, but other than that, there was no sign that Claude and Catherin were even still in there. Liam grabbed my hand and we took off across the yard into the dark woods. We could have traveled down the road, but since it looped and
curved, the distance through the woods was much shorter. The nearest house was about a quarter mile away. With any luck, the neighbor would let us use the phone.

I considered myself somewhat of a brave person, but being surrounded by the tall trees and darkness was unsettling. If you’d told me a month ago that I’d be running through the woods in the dark of night with a vampire warlock, I would have told you that you’d been drinking way too much. Fallen branches snapped under our feet and the rustling of leaves stirred high in the treetops.

Up ahead I spotted movement. If it was some kind of wild animal I would freak out. Witches, vampires, demons, I could handle. What if it was a werewolf? No, I didn’t want to think about it.

“Did you see that?” I asked Liam as we continued our trek.

“See what?” he asked without looking at me.

“That!” I pointed.

It was that moment that I realized Nicolas was walking up ahead. How had he gotten there? Was it the real Nicolas? “It’s Nicolas… at least I think it’s him,” I hurried forward in hopes that I’d catch him.

“Nicolas,” Liam yelled.

We ran ahead after Nicolas, but within a couple seconds he’d turned to the right. When we reached the spot where he’d turned, we paused and searched for any sign of him. He was nowhere in sight.

“Where did he go?” There was nothing but trees as far as I could see.

Liam shook his head. “I don’t know. Do you know who lives in the house next door?”

“No. I never met them. I haven’t been here long, you know.”

“Hey, you don’t have to explain to me why you haven’t been neighborly. Come on, we’ll continue and see if he shows up there.” He reached out, gently lacing his fingers with mine.

When we came out into the clearing, I spotted the house in front of us.
We paused under the shadow of the sizeable red brick house. Cupolas, spires, and scrolled balconies decorated the façade. Each window was completely dark. Just what I needed, it looked as if they weren’t home.

“I don’t even want to think about what we’ll do if no one is home,” I said as we crept across the lawn like cat burglars.

“We’ll stay positive. Maybe they’re just sleeping.” Liam tried to sound optimistic.

“Good point. It is late. What if they call the police because we knock on the door this late?” I asked
while glancing over my shoulder.

Liam grinned.
“That would be a good thing. The police could give us a ride.”

We made our way up the front steps and to the front door. Liam rang the bell and I cringed at the loud noise. If someone was sleeping in there they wouldn’t be after that racket. After I was ready to give up on anyone answering the door, a shuffling sound came from inside the house.

“Who is it?” the little voice croaked through the wooden door.

“Oh no. We woke a little old lady. There’s no way she’ll answer the door for us,” I whispered.

“You talk to her. She’ll be more likely to speak with a woman,” Liam said.

“My name is Hallie LaVeau and I live next door. I’m afraid I locked myself out of my house. We need to use a phone
,” I yelled through the door.

I would have attempted a spell to call someone, but it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. Plus, I didn’t want to send out the magic, allowing Claude and Catherin to know where we were.

“Did that sound sincere?” I whispered to Liam.

He shook his head. “Not really. You sound like you’re the big bad wolf trying to talk your way in.”

I poked him in the side.

“LaVeau… O
h yes,” she said as recognition hit her.

The rattling of the lock made me flash Liam a smirk.

“Don’t get too cocky,” he said with a grin.

She opened the door just a little and peeked out. All I saw was an eye and a little bit of white hair piled on top of her head. She looked us up and down but the door didn’t open any further. If she didn’t let us in, I’d have to take back that smirk I’d just given Liam. Finally, she opened the door wider. She wore a blue robe and white slippers.

“I’ve meant to come visit you for some time,” the old woman said.

I supposed I hadn’t been a good neighbor. Maybe I could whip her up a batch of my magically made cupcakes if I ever got my magic mojo back.

“I’m sorry I didn’t stop by and introduce myself earlier. This is my friend Liam Rankin.” I wasn’t about to tell her he was my bodyguard. That would scare her to death.

She waved off my statement with her bony hand. “Think nothing of it. My name is Estelle Fairchild.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” I said, looking around trying to avoid the awkwardness.

“Again
, we are sorry for disturbing you at this late hour. Is it all right if we use your phone?” Liam said, looking over her shoulder into her home.

She stared at him for a moment and I thought she was ready to tell him to get lost. Instead, she said, “I do have some things that belonged to your aunt’s. I think you should have them.”

I hadn’t expected that. What could she possibly have of Aunt Maddy’s? “What kind of things?” I asked.

“Come inside and I’ll get them for you,” she said as she shuffled out of the way and motioned for us to enter.

The inside of Estelle’s home was dark except for the faint glow of light from a room in the back. The house was large like LaVeau Manor and had a lot of the same details. I imagined it had been built around the same time—maybe even built by the same architect. Estelle held up her index finger, then shuffled down the hall, disappearing into a room.

“What do you think she has?” Liam whispered.

I shrugged. “With my aunt it could be any number of odd things.”

When Estelle returned, she handed me a wooden box. Unlike the box that I’d found hidden outside of LaVeau Manor, this one didn’t have a lock. I looked up at her and she just gave me a knowing smile, motioning for me to open the box. By her expression, I assumed she’d already looked inside the box at its contents. I’d never seen Estelle at the Coven get-togethers, so I was almost positive she wasn’t a witch.

“When did she give this to you?” I asked.

“Hmm. Well, I guess I don’t know. My memory isn’t what it used to be,” she said
with a wave of her hand.

Apprehension ran through me as I eased the lid of the box open. My stomach turned when I saw that inside was another bound item, tied in the fabric with the same jute cord as the stake we’d found in the attic. I glanced over at Liam, but his expression remained resolute. In addition to the bound item, a small leather-bound book
lay inside as well. It looked well-worn and the gold letters on the front had faded years ago. Without even peeking at the bound item, I shut the lid of the box. I’d look at the items later. Right now we needed to use the phone and get out of there.

“Is it all right if we use the phone now?” I asked.

“Oh, please help yourself.” She gestured toward the small walnut-colored table in the corner of the room.

Liam picked up the receiver on the outdated phone and dialed the number. It took forever with that rotary spinning each number.

Estelle and I awkwardly watched each other.

“You loo
k like your Great Aunt Madeline.” She pointed at my face. “You have the same clear blue eyes and small button nose.”