Seduction's Kiss (The Allure Chronicles) (4 page)

“I practice many
different types of magic.” She moved around to my side of the
counter before walking over to the door to turn around the open
sign to closed. She locked the door. I assumed that was all part of
trying to create an authentic experience. Kalisa took things
seriously for the owner of a tourist trap.

What had I gotten
myself into? “You know, I really think I’m fine.”

“No honey, you are not
fine.” She took my arm and led me back around the counter. Every
part of me screamed to run, but one small part begged me to stay
and see what she had in mind. How many chances like this would I
have? Besides, I was in New Orleans. I might as well experience all
it had to offer. When in Rome, do what the Romans do, right? I
smiled to myself thinking about what Reyna would think of what I
was doing. She hadn’t called which meant she was still sleeping—it
must have been some night.

She gathered a bunch of
bottles and herbs and stuff as we walked into the back room. The
worn floor boards beneath us creaked as we ducked under the sloping
ceilings.

She started putting a
few vials into a pot cooking on an old stove. I watched curiously
until a large flash of fire had me stepping away. You couldn’t deny
that Kalisa had the theatrics down.

A strong breeze blew
out a few of the candles Kalisa had set up. I shivered. I glanced
around. There were no windows. Strange.

“Do you want to drink
this or use it as a paste?”

“Uh, the paste.” The
atmosphere was great and all, but I wasn’t drinking anything.

She laughed. “I was
only kidding. I’d get shut down if I gave you anything you actually
drank. Regulations and all.”

I laughed uneasily. “I
bet.”

Without warning she
pressed her thumb across my forehead. “I call this Seduction’s
Kiss.” She ran her finger back and forth over my skin. The mixture
was warm—nearly hot.

“Be very careful,
child. Seduction’s Kiss can be extremely dangerous.”

And she was telling me
this after putting it on my skin? If I’d actually believed anything
she was doing was real I’d have run the other way. This was just a
silly ‘rip off the desperate tourist’ routine I was positive I’d
pay an arm and a leg for.

I rested a hand on my
forehead as I ducked to leave the back area. I could feel the
beginnings of a headache. “What do I owe you?”

“Nothing, child. It’s
on me.”

“Are you sure?” I
glanced around the shop again settling on a rabbit foot. I could
use the good luck. She let me pay for that.

“Thanks, that was
interesting.”

She used a moist cloth
to wipe of the remainder of the paste. “Remember what I said about
Seduction’s Kiss being strong. Beware of the night.”

“Okay…” I stumbled out
of the store with a full on headache, but I knew it was probably
from the incense. I knew whatever she’d performed wasn’t real, but
she sure put on a convincing show. I’d have to recommend this store
to people looking for an authentic experience. I’d add in my
anecdote to the app when I got on Wifi again.

I checked my phone on
my way to the streetcar. Two calls from Reyna. At least she was
finally awake.

I called her back, and
she answered on the first ring. “Where are you?”

“I needed to get out of
there.”

“What happened? Shaun
said you were all weird today.”

I laughed dryly. “The
guy groped me last night. He told me I could stay in his room—I
assumed that meant alone.”

She gasped. “No
way.”

“Yes. He’s a creep.
This morning I woke up to him staring at me.”

“I’m so sorry, Daisy.”
I heard the ruffling of something. Was she back in bed? I assumed
if she’d talked to Shaun she was already up. “I promise I’ll make
this up to you.”

“It’s okay.” I expertly
slipped my money into the streetcar this time. I was learning. “I’m
just going to avoid him until we leave tomorrow.”

“That’s going to be
hard.”

“Why?” my stomach
dropped.

She didn’t answer.

“Why would that be
hard, Reyna?”

“We have reservations
for dinner already, and then we’re going out downtown.”

“Who’s we?” I knew I
wouldn’t like the answer.

“The four of us.”

“No way. I’ll just stay
in their apartment and watch TV or something. If he’s out of there
I’m fine.”

“I heard their other
roommate is really weird. I wouldn’t leave you alone there.”

“He was nice to me last
night.” Admittedly he did weird me out, but he didn’t scare me as
much as Shaun. At least Duncan seemed to know how to keep his hands
to himself.

“Still, you have to
come. Otherwise it’s just going to be the three of us.”

“Can’t Chad just tell
Shaun not to come? Then you two could have time alone.”

“Why? So he can stay
back and annoy you? At least if you come with us we’ll be in
public, and I’ll protect you.”

“Protect me?” I lowered
my voice when I noticed the woman next to me staring.

“Yes. What have you
been up to all morning?”

“Not too much. Taking
pictures, getting breakfast, and hanging out at a voodoo shop.”

“A voodoo shop?” Reyna
didn’t hide her surprise from her voice. “You’re brave.”

I laughed. “Just trying
to enjoy what I can.” I noticed the woman staring again. “Ok, I
have to go. Are you at the apartment?”

“Yes. I’ll see you when
you get back.”

I don’t know what made
me agree to dinner. Sure, Reyna would have been annoyed, and it
would have made my living situation awkward, but Shaun was a creep.
Surely that won out. But I did say yes. I felt a strange surge of
confidence that made everything seem easier. Maybe Kalisa had
actually done something with that ritual. Only instead of
Seduction’s Kiss she should have called it Confidence’s Kiss.

Whatever the reason, I
found myself sitting next to Shaun at an Italian restaurant less
than twenty-four hours after creep-fest had started.

“I can’t wait to see
your costume.” Shaun took a big bite of his pasta. “I know you’re
going to look so hot.”

“Oh, I’ll look hot.”
I’d decided to take a different approach with Shaun. He wasn’t
getting the time of day from me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t
mess with him a little.

He swallowed hard, and
I struggled not to laugh.

“How was your morning
exploring, Daisy?” Chad asked.

I paused to take a sip
of water. “It was mostly uneventful.”

“Uneventful?” Reyna
laughed. “You found a Voodoo shop.”

“Like I said,
mostly
uneventful.”

“Was it down on
Bourbon? Because those places are all tourist traps.” Shaun sounded
proud of himself, like he was saving me from having the wool pulled
over my eyes.

“Yeah. I know.”
Something felt off agreeing with him though. Kalisa may have played
with me, but I didn’t like saying the Midnight Cauldron was a
tourist trap. If nothing else the ambience had its own value and
place.

Shaun set down his
fork. “You should have asked me to come with you. You didn’t have
to do that alone.”

I laughed dryly. “Yeah,
asking you wasn’t in the cards.”

Chad suddenly grinned.
“What? One night with him was enough?”

Wait. Did Chad actually
think something had happened? Hadn’t Reyna set him straight?

Before I could mull it
over for too long, I felt a hand settle on my leg. I was already
wearing the black skirt that was part of my cat costume. I’d packed
one far less short than the one Reyna had suggested I wear.

“What can I say? I wore
her out.” He slid his hand up higher.

I smacked his hand
away. “If by wearing me out you mean sending me out of his room
running and screaming, then sure.”

Chad laughed. “Ouch,
man.”

“To set the record
straight absolutely nothing happened last night except this jerk
trying to take advantage of me.” Take that. I was on fire. If I’d
felt this way the night before Shaun would have had a hand print
across his face and a sore groin from me kicking him.

Reyna shot me a funny
look, but I didn’t care. Chad should know that his roommate was a
total pervert. I hoped he didn’t already know it. If so, he’d
knowingly sent me to the lions and was not someone Reyna should be
giving the time of day. You can tell a lot about a guy by the way
he treats your friends.

“How drunk were you,
Daisy?” Shaun smirked. “I think you’re remembering things
wrong.”

Seriously? He was going
to play that game?

“Remembering things
wrong?” I tossed my napkin on the table. “No, I’m remembering
things perfectly. If we had such a great night, why did you have to
self-service this morning?”

The couple at the next
table turned to look at us. I didn’t care. I wasn’t holding it
in.

Shaun’s response was to
put his hand back on my leg.

I pushed my chair
back.

“Shaun, please stop
creeping out Daisy.” Reyna glared at him.

I headed to the
entrance without worrying about who would cover my tab. Considering
the circumstances, I figured I deserved a free bowl of pasta.

Reyna ran after me.
“Daisy!”

I stopped walking and
turned around.

She pulled me into a
hug. “I’m sorry. I’m being an awful friend.”

I didn’t disagree with
her there. If the tables had been turned I’d be finding a hotel
room or driving us home.

“It’s just that I want
things to work with Chad. I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel
this way.”

I believed her. The
emotion in her words and face seemed real, but it was the way she
glowed that made it impossible to deny. “I get that, but I still
don’t need this.”

“I know. I know. I’ll
leave tonight if you want.” She meant it. Reyna was a horrible
actress. That reality alone was enough to keep me there.

“I think I can handle
waiting until tomorrow. Just get Shaun to go out with you guys and
without me.”

We reached the
apartment, and Reyna unlocked the door. Chad must have given her
the key. “Why can’t we do the reverse? You come, and he does
something else?”

“Because I’m still
going to be the third wheel. I get you’re into Chad, and that’s
fine, but I’d rather do homework than tag along with you guys.”

“Daisy? Do you hate
me?” She gave me her puppy dog eyes again.

I sighed. She shouldn’t
have been the one making me feel guilty, but it wasn’t worth a
fight. “Hate, no. I just wish I’d stayed back at school. I can’t go
back and change that though. At least I had fun this morning.”

“And you can have fun
tonight.”

Shaun and Chad walked
inside the apartment, and I saw Reyna and Chad exchange a look.

“Don’t worry. I won’t
sit at home tonight.” I grabbed my cat costume from my bag and
walked down the hall to the bathroom.

“What the hell, man?”
Through the door I heard Chad. “Please don’t screw this up for
me.”

“I’m not doing
anything.”

I rolled my eyes at
Shaun’s denial.

“You groped the girl,
and from her reaction at the restaurant you were going there
again.”

“She’s into me.” Shaun
was delusional. Completely and utterly delusional.

“No, she’s not. My
girlfriend’s friends aren’t yours for the taking. If she wanted to
mess around then great, but she’s made her feelings abundantly
clear.”

Girlfriend? That was
fast.

“I’ll back off.”

“Stay away from her.
They leave tomorrow. Think you can keep it in your pants for a few
more hours?”

“Does Reyna have any
other friends she can introduce me to?”

I was about ready to
burst through the door and let him have it for that comment, but
evidently Reyna was listening in too.

“Not a chance, and you
owe Daisy about a million apologies. You were rude and gross to my
best friend, and that’s not okay.”

I heard the telltale
sound of a slap. Wow. Reyna’s path to forgiveness had just been
shortened considerably. I put on my cat ears and drew on my whisker
s before walking out of the bathroom.

“I’m sorry,” Shaun said
as unconvincingly as possible as he still touched his cheek.

“Great.” I started
toward my bag so I could drop off my clothes, but Duncan walked out
of his room at the exact moment, and we collided.

He put his hands on
both of my arms to sturdy me. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

He still didn’t let go.
“Nice costume.” His eyes had a faint ring of greenish-yellow color
in them that seemed out of place in his brown eyes. I wondered if
he was wearing contacts.

“Oh. Thanks.” I looked
at his all black ensemble consisting of a dress shirt and slacks. I
guess that was as far as he went to dress up on Halloween. Given a
choice, I would have skipped my costume all together.

“Do you have plans
tonight?”

“None I particularly
want to be part of.” There wasn’t a chance I was spending any more
time with Shaun.

“She has plans.” Chad
walked over. “We’re all going out.”

“Come out with me
instead.” Duncan looked at me seriously. “I’m going downtown to
meet some friends.”

“Daisy’s not hanging
out with you.” Shaun pulled on my arm. Duncan didn’t let go.

Duncan narrowed his
eyes. “Why would you have any say on what she does?”

“She’s coming out with
us.” Reyna said from somewhere behind me.

“Aren’t you guys going
downtown too?” I turned to look at Chad.

Chad nodded. “Yes, and
I promise you’ll have a better time with us.”

I turned, offsetting
one of Duncan’s hands. “Why don’t we all hang out together? Then
you can meet up with your friends, Duncan.” That seemed like a nice
compromise.

“No way.” Chad, Shaun,
and Duncan all said it at the same time. Why were they being so
strange?