Seduction's Kiss (The Allure Chronicles) (10 page)

“Can I help you?” A guy
who was probably in his mid-twenties asked from the doorway.

“Oh. Sorry. I was just
looking for someone who used to have a store here.”

“Oh. My dad’s had this
place for two years now. He got it at a steal because the guy who
had it before him up and left without paying the rest of his lease.
”

I thought about the
photographer. He didn’t seem the type to just dash out. Either way,
it meant one thing. There was no way I was going to find him now.
It wasn’t the end of the world though. The real person I needed to
see worked at the voodoo shop. “Thanks for your time.” I started to
walk away.

“Wait.”

I turned back.
“Yes?”

“This is going to sound
a little bit forward, but I’m going to ask anyway.”

Ugh. I decided to meet
his question head on. “Sorry, I’m seeing someone.”

His face fell. “Oh,
would he really mind if we went out for coffee one time?”

“He wouldn’t, but I
would.” I walked away quickly. I never knew when the after effects
of the magic concoction I’d been given my last time in town would
kick in. A witch had tried to remove the remnants of it from me,
but she hadn’t been completely successful. I definitely attracted
way more attention than I had before, and some guys (and girls)
were more affected than others. By the footsteps I heard behind me,
this guy was one of them. “Wait!”

I didn’t turn.
Hopefully he’d get bored and leave me alone.

“Wait up. Please.”

The desperation in his
voice made me feel sorry for him. I stopped.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to
scare you off. You’re just the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,
and I didn’t even get your name.”

“I’m not the most
beautiful. If you take a few deep breaths and think about it,
you’ll realize that.”

“What?”

“Try it. Really look at
me. Am I really that attractive?” This usually worked. It let
people see through the magic to who I really was. I wasn’t ugly,
but I wasn’t a knock out beauty either. I fell somewhere in
between.

“That must be the
lamest way to get rid of a guy I’ve ever heard.” He stuffed his
hands in his pockets. “I bet you were making up the boyfriend
too.”

“I don’t look any
different to you?”

He looked at me
seriously. “Nope. But maybe you will after coffee, or drinks, or
dinner, or
anything
else you want to do.”

“Anything? Like if I
wanted to have sex right here on the sidewalk you’d be down for
that too?”

He grinned. “I’d
definitely be down for that, but I’ve heard the jails here
suck.”

“I’ve got to go.” I
turned around.

“Where are you
going?”

“Shouldn’t you be
watching your dad’s store? You left it open.”

“Good point. Wait
here.”

I didn’t reply.
Hopefully I’d lose him. I’d dealt with clingy guys on a regular
basis since being given the magic paste appropriately called
Seduction’s Kiss, but this guy actually seemed nice which made it
worse. It was easy to ignore jerks, but this guy seemed like a
decent one. I picked up my pace hoping he’d go back to the
store.

“You really won’t
wait?”

“I told you, I’ve got
to go.”

“Fine.” He pulled out
his phone. “I’ll text my dad and tell him to come by and lock
up.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are
you listening to yourself? You’d risk your dad’s stuff just to
follow me?”

“Sure. He’ll
understand. This is fate.”

“Fate?” I raised an
eyebrow. “Nice try.”

“You don’t agree?”

I wanted to tell him
the truth, it was magic, but the only thing that would accomplish
would be making him think I was crazy. Wait. That could work. “You
want to know what it is?” I stopped walking.

“What?”

“Magic. It’s
magic.”

“Like there’s magic
between us?”

“No, magic is making
you think I’m more desirable than I am.”

He laughed. “You really
do have the best excuses.”

I groaned. “Seriously?
Don’t you think I’m crazy?”

“Not any crazier than
me.” He grinned sheepishly.

“Goodbye, whoever you
are.” I started walking again. I needed to lose this guy before I
reached The Midnight Cauldron, the Voodoo shop where I got the
stupid paste.

“I’m Evan. And you
are?”

“No one you need to
remember.”

“Come on. Do I have to
guess your name?”

“What part of goodbye
don’t you understand?”

“Those two words have
nothing on fate, and this is fate.”

“You need to get laid
or something. You’re a little bit pathetic.” I wasn’t one to make
fun of people, but this guy had moved quickly from nice to
annoying.

“You could help me with
that, you know.”

“Ugh. Shut up.”

“Hey, you’re the one
who suggested sex on the street.”

“I wasn’t being
serious.” I stopped and glared at him. “Leave me alone, ok? This
isn’t fate. I have things to do, and you’re going to get in my way.
Nice meeting you, and goodbye.”

I rounded the corner,
and The Midnight Cauldron came into view. Evan was still following
me.

“I’ll leave if you give
me your number and your name. A real number. Not a made up
one.”

“You sound like an
obsessed stalker.”

“If it helps at all,
you’re the first girl I’ve done this to.”

“Gee, great.”

“So? What’s your
name?”

“I’ll meet you at
Razzoo’s for a drink at nine.”

“Really? You’ll
actually be there?”

“Sure. Just please let
me do what I need to do.”

“How do I know you’ll
actually show up?” He shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“You don’t.”

“That’s not good
enough.”

“It’s all you’re
getting. The alternative is I scream really loud and get you in
trouble.”

“Fine, I’ll trust
you’ll really be there, but how about your name?”

“It’s the name of a
flower.” I took a few steps.

“Daisy?”

“Do I look like a
Daisy?” I asked without turning around.

“Yes.”

I shook my head. “See
you later.”

“Can’t wait.”

I looked over my
shoulder. He was actually walking away. Phew. I had no desire to
have a drink with the guy, but he at least earned points for
persistence. I’d have to figure out what to do later. First I had
to survive my next encounter with the witch.

Three
Daisy

I waited until Evan had
disappeared around the corner before stepping through the open
doorway of The Midnight Cauldron.

The smell of incense
still filled the small space, transporting me back to the Halloween
that changed everything. Every little detail of the store looked
the same. Candles lined the window sills, and the racks displayed
the same little gifts and novelties. There was some comfort in the
sameness. At least this place hadn’t changed.

When I reached the
counter I noticed a few differences. The rack of vials had
disappeared. It had been replaced by keychains and other
knickknacks.

I hit the bell on the
desk. I wasn’t thrilled about seeing Kalisa again, but I hoped
she’d lead me in the right direction. She owed me after all the
trouble she’d caused.

“Hi, can I help you
find something?” an older woman asked. She was dressed in a flowing
floral dress and had her hair tied back.

“Hi. I’m looking for
Kalisa.”

“There’s no one here by
that name.”

“She owns this store.
At least she did a few years ago.” I tried to ignore the panic
setting in. What the hell was going on? How did this woman not know
the name of the owner?

“I’ve owned this place
for over two years now, and it was sitting empty when I bought
it.”

Another store sitting
empty? Nothing was adding up. “Are you sure? This store was open
when I was here about two and half years ago.”

“Maybe you’re thinking
of another Voodoo shop.” She gave me a funny look I immediately
recognized as the ‘you are crazy’ gaze.

I needed to stop before
she tried to get me help. “Oh. That’s got to be it. Sorry.”

“It happens, but I’d be
happy to help you find anything you need. Maybe a Voodoo doll? Or
maybe a frog’s leg?”

“No thanks.” I hurried
out of the store. Either that woman was lying, or Kalisa was long
gone. Had she screwed over other innocent tourists and been run out
of town, or was there something else at work?

I broke into a near run
as I moved on to the next place I’d seen that Halloween. I wasn’t
actually going to step foot into the vampire bar, Gravediggers, but
I needed to know it was still open.

I stayed on the far
side of the street, confused when I noticed a crowd congregating
outside the open doors. The last time I’d been there the place had
been dead—no pun intended.

I tentatively walked
over. A pretty girl dressed in a tight black dress smiled at me.
“Two for one martini night tonight.”

“At Gravediggers?”

“Uh huh. Want to come
in?”

“That’s okay.”

“Are you sure? You can
take shots off me.”

“Uh, no thanks.” The
Seduction’s Kiss paste was working at full force that night. Maybe
being back in New Orleans made it stronger.

“Are you sure?” She
batted her eye lashes.

I watched as a large
crowd of girls all wearing matching t-shirts that said ‘Amy’s
Bachelorette’ walked in. There was no way these girls were going
into a vampire bar.

I took a deep breath
before stepping inside. Despite watching the other girls enter, I
half expected a vampire to grab me from behind. Instead I found
trendy twenty-somethings sipping martinis. It wasn’t a joke.
Gravediggers had become a martini bar.

“You okay?” The girl
touched my shoulder when I walked outside.

I shrugged away from
her touch as politely as I could. “Fine.” I wasn’t fine. Not at
all. Either everything had changed in two and a half years, or I
was losing my mind. It couldn’t be. It had all happened. Owen had
happened.

I headed back toward
the hotel. I couldn’t stomach any more time out in the quarter, and
I wasn’t in the mood for dinner. I wasn’t in the mood for anything.
Except a drink. I could definitely use a drink to help me
relax.

The hotel bar was
hopping, but I managed to find a stool all the way at the end. The
bartender, a guy probably in his early thirties walked over. “What
can I get you?”

“A Rum and Coke
please.”

“Captain’s okay?”

“Yeah.” Paying for top
shelf liquor wasn’t in my recent college grad budget.

He slid the drink
across the bar. “Should I open a tab?”

“No thanks.” I put a
ten down on the bar. If my drink cost more than that I was in
trouble.

“What brings you to New
Orleans?” Despite the crowd, the bartender was chatting with me. I
hoped it was out of boredom. I couldn’t take much more of the
crazed Seduction’s Kiss response.

“A job interview.”
Having a cover story was convenient. It helped with my parents and
with anyone I met while down there.

“Oh yeah? Anything
cool?”

“An internship at The
New Orleans Times.”

“Oh cool. Good luck
with the interview.”

“Thanks.” I picked up
my glass. “It’s tomorrow.”

“Is this your first
time here?” He opened a beer for another customer and handed it to
him.

“No. I was down here
for Halloween a few years ago.” I sipped my drink. Between the
alcohol and the light chat, I was starting to relax. I wasn’t
crazy, there had to be an explanation for everything.

“Halloween, eh? Pretty
crazy, right?”

“It was a crazier
weekend than you would ever believe.” My stomach growled. I really
needed to eat eventually.

“Are you staying
here?”

As much as I was
careful about sharing any personal info with people, I figured it
couldn’t hurt. “Yeah.”

“Cool. I was asking
because you should try the room service then. The food here is
great.”

“My stomach was that
loud?”

He laughed. “Kind of.
If I was getting off soon I’d offer to take you out somewhere, but
I have to be here until five.”

“Five a.m.? Are you
serious?”

“This is New
Orleans.”

I took another sip of
my drink. “I guess so.”

He smiled. “If you’re
still up, come back by.”

“Considering I have an
interview at nine, I better not be, but thanks.” I smiled. All
right, not a clinger. Maybe age helped dispel some of the magic’s
effect.

The bartender walked
off, and I started to people watch. One of the best ways to get
your mind off things is to focus on what other people are doing.
Most people have interesting lives to everyone but themselves.

“Hey, man!”

I turned to see the new
arrival to the bar. He was an incredibly attractive guy with brown
hair. He was probably a few years older than me, and I recognized
him. It took me all of thirty seconds to place how, and my whole
body froze. He was one of Owen’s friends that were with him when I
first saw him. He was my first clue. My first proof that what I’d
remembered happening that weekend had actually happened.

I waited. He was
surrounded by people. The bartender evidently knew him because he
immediately made and handed him a drink. “I assume you wanted your
usual?”

“Thanks, Alex.” He
accepted the glass of something brown. Probably whiskey.

I finished off my
drink, still waiting for an opportunity to talk to Owen’s friend.
What could I say? There was no way he’d remember me, but I couldn’t
let this opportunity pass me by. Maybe Evan was right about
fate—although it had nothing to do with me and him. This was about
finding Owen.

I took a few deep
breaths and walked over to where the guy stood with some friends.
“Excuse me?”