Demons of Bourbon Street (9 page)

Even then she ignored me.

I tried one last time. “Kane brought po’boys. There’s one in the refrigerator for you.”

“
No, thank you,” she said, but her interest brushed against my psyche. I stifled a sigh and grabbed the sandwich anyway.

“
In case you get hungry.” I held the shrimp sandwich out.

She eyed it and then nodded. “Okay.” She turned to Kane. “Thank you, that was thoughtful.”

“
No problem.” He smiled and offered an arm to each of us. “Shall we?”

And even though I wanted to smack him, I said nothing as we both grabbed an arm and the three of us headed to meet the coven.

Chapter 6

The air blowing off the Mississippi held a slight chill, and I shivered as we made our way through the old oak trees to the coven circle. A faint trace of oil and gas mixed with the muddy stench of the river. I covered my nose with the sleeve of my sweater and wished for Lailah’s soothing scent charm.

The trees gave way to the hidden clearing. Candles flickered brightly around the edge of the coven circle, illuminating Lucien and Rosalee as they placed more candles in the center.

“
What’s all this?” I gestured, indicating the massive amount of tea lights.

Rosalee, a tiny, wide-eyed witch in her early twenties, faced me. She held up a diagram. “We’re creating a map of the two-hundred-mile radius you want to search.”

“
With candles?” I asked.

Lucien crossed the circle, careful to not knock over any tea lights. “Yes. See how we marked each city?”

Rosalee passed me the diagram. I inspected it, finding a candle marker in the circle for every decent-sized city within our target area. I nodded.

“
After we work the spell, if any other angels are near, their image will materialize over the candle, representing the city they’re closest to. That will give us a starting point.” Lucien pulled the diagram from my grasp and compared it to the scattering of candles on the ground. “I think we’re almost ready.”

“
Really?” I glanced around. “Where’s the rest of the coven?” There were thirteen of us. Spells had a much better success rate if the entire group was present. We could work the spell with the three of us and Lailah, but I’d have less of a collective to draw from. It was likely our reach wouldn’t cover as much distance as I hoped.

Lucien spied his watch. “They’re on their way.”

“
Jade!” a familiar voice cried. I spun, finding Kat stalking toward me. “Why didn’t you call me? You’re searching for Philip and you didn’t say anything?”

I stared at Kane, my eyebrows raised in question.

He shook his head and held his hands up in a ‘not me’ motion.

“
Sorry, Kat,” I said. “It’s just an information-seeking spell. I figured I’d fill you in on the details tomorrow.”

Irritation swirled around her and then dissipated. She had an uncanny ability to control her emotions, something most people never got a handle on. “Please. Have you ever conducted a spell that didn’t go wrong in some fashion?”

“
Hey! That’s not fair. I banished bugs from Kane’s yard. Bea taught me.” I eyed the silent man beside me. “Right?”

A sheepish smile spread over Kane’s face. “Sort of.”

I groaned. “What?”

“
You banished them, but when they came back, they tripled in number. I had to call the exterminator.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed lightly. “You never see them because they’re dead.”

“
Crap,” I muttered. The spell was supposed to temporarily relocate any vicious type of bugs. You know, fleas, chiggers, red ants. When humans left the yard, they’d come back. My blunder had resulted in a mass genocide of bugs. Icky bugs, but still.

Kat stifled a laugh. “See? You need moral support.”

The words ‘shove it’ were on the tip of my tongue, but I quickly decided it was good to have her around. She was my best friend and had just as big a stake in finding Dan as I did. “Hey, how did you know the coven was meeting?”

“
I told her,” Lailah said from beside me.

I jumped. She hadn’t spoken once since we’d arrived. I’d almost forgotten she was there. “Why?”

She shrugged. “Does it matter? It’s not like it was a secret.” She walked off in Lucien’s direction.

“
Did she call you?” I asked Kat.

“
Yep. A couple of hours ago. She had some questions she wanted answered.” She fingered the sterling silver, oak tree pendant at her throat. Kat was an accomplished silversmith; she’d made the piece herself. “The coven thing just came up. I don’t think she was trying to interfere.”

“
It doesn’t matter.” I lowered my voice. “What questions did she ask?”

Kat didn’t get a chance to answer. Right then the rest of the coven burst through the trees. Friendly chatter filled the air as they each made their way to their specific spots on the circle.

“
Showtime,” I said.

Kane grabbed my wrist, stopping me before I could join the coven. He pulled me to him and clamped his mouth over mine. The hot fierce kiss heated me to my toes.

“
What was that for?” I asked, breathless after he released me.

“
Luck.”

“
With luck like that, what could go wrong?” I quipped. Then frowned. “Sorry. Bad choice of words.”

He shook his head and walked toward a wrought iron bench set in front of one of the giant oaks. Kat gave me a hug and joined him.

“
Okay. Let’s do this.” I turned to Lucien. “Do you have the incantation ready?”

He pulled a folded piece of paper from his jeans pocket. “This should do it.”

I focused on the other members, noticing for the first time their casual wear. “No robes?”

He raised one pale eyebrow as his gaze traveled the length of my body.

“
Yeah, yeah. I’m not wearing mine either. It’s at home, and I haven’t been back to my apartment since we landed.”

He smiled. “Relax. You were right when you told Kat this spell wasn’t a big deal. Really minor in the grand scheme of things. It should only take a few minutes, and then we’ll have a plan.”

He moved to take his place on the circle, but I touched his arm to stop him. “What about the angels we locate? You said they’d be really unhappy to have their privacy invaded. ‘Angry angels’ doesn’t sound minor to me.”

“
True. But you’ll only have to worry about that once you catch up to them.”

“
Well, that’s something.” I followed Lucien and took my place at the northernmost point of the circle. Emotions sparked from the members, everything from excitement to boredom to indifference. And maybe even a little irritation. I’d probably be annoyed if my coven leader sprung a meeting on me at the last minute, too.

I clapped my hands and cleared my throat. “Thank you, everyone. I’m sorry if I ruined any plans, but I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important.”

Most of them murmured a casual “you’re welcome” or “no problem.” Only one stayed silent, and the irritation I’d felt grew.

Emotional energy is distinct. I can recognize it much the same way I can identify a particular voice or scent. I followed the thread of irritated energy with my mind to a young male witch. Before now, he’d almost always been ecstatic to be working with the coven.

“
Joel?” I asked. “Everything okay?”

“
Sure…I mean…yeah. Fine,” he stammered, confusion joining the swell of frustration taking over his body. He ran a nervous hand over his face and shuffled his feet.

Rosalee left her post and took Joel aside. She leaned in to whisper in his ear. He nodded, but made eye contact with no one. I bit my lip. His mood hadn’t improved in the slightest. Rosalee wrapped an arm around him, giving him a half-hug, and spoke again. This time whatever she said brought him a reassuring calm. She stepped back, grabbed him by both shoulders, and stared him in the eye. “Ready?”

His gaze found mine. “Yeah.”

“
Okay.” Rosalee moved back to her spot next to me. “Let’s find some angels.”

Hmm, what could that have been about? Whatever it was, I made a note to thank Rosalee.

I extended my hands to her and Anne, a tall, graceful witch in her sixties. When we touched, the circle glowed to life, fueled by the coven’s collective power.

Lucien’s voice rose clear in the still night. “Goddess of the light, send your protection to our circle. Guide us in our quest for knowledge. Keep us sheltered from the power of the black. Our hearts are pure, our intentions sound. From north to south to east to west, blessed be in our quest.”

The coven echoed his prayer, strong and unified.

The magical spark jumped to life in my chest. The warmth spread through my limbs, sending electric shocks vibrating through my core.

Alive. In this state, I could do anything.

But right now, all I needed to do was say the spell Lucien had dug up for me. “From here and there, to near and far, Angels of this night, show yourselves with all your might.”

The circle brightened, turning glaring white, almost blinding me. I squinted, trying to make out the activity within the circle. Faint familiar energy pulsed, energy not attached to any of the coven. It grew stronger, calling to me with its purity. Tears of emotion sprang to my eyes. I blinked them back, waiting as the shadows materialized into translucent forms.

Rosalee’s hand tightened on mine, and someone gasped from across the circle. The brilliant light slowly separated, seeming to funnel into two beings. As they formed distinct shapes, my attention stayed trained on the one closest to me. The energy, so intimately familiar and yet foreign, held me captive. I couldn’t place the signature, but something inside me recognized it all the same.

A blanket of electric blue magic flashed over the circle and then vanished. The candles winked out, leaving us standing in the dark, transfixed on the two glowing figures.

The one nearest me met my gaze.

His stocky build and pale emerald eyes were exactly as they’d been in Lailah’s memory. I’d been prepared for that. But I had no way of knowing his emotional signature would touch the part of my heart I’d locked away a long time ago. So familiar to the Dan I’d known and loved for all those years. Pure. Welcoming. Good.

I swallowed the sob forming in my throat and took a deep, ragged breath. He wasn’t my Dan. Not that Dan was mine anymore or even that I wanted him. But this man—Philip, Dan’s biological father—had all the emotional goodness I’d loved so much in the teenaged boy I’d grown up with. He brought back all the hopes, dreams, and fears of the young, scared girl I’d been.