Witches of Bourbon Street (33 page)

“You go ahead. I’ll lead the coven in a healing prayer,” she said as if it were a normal day and not the first time I’d seen her in twelve years.

“You have to come. Gwen’s there.”

“I’ll be more useful here.”

“But—”

“You’re the leader of this coven. If you can’t be here to lead the healing prayer for your friend, then who will?”

“Lucien can do it,” I snapped. “Mom, you have to come with me.”

Her eyes went dark and slanted as her face transformed into the mother-knows-best look I’d longed to see many times over the last several years. Now that the moment was here, I wondered what I’d missed about it. “I’m staying. Go.”

I didn’t have time to argue with her, so I told her to stick with Lucien and I’d call as soon as we had word.

Lailah caught up with me near the giant oak trees. “What happened to Bea?”

I shook my head, too winded to speak, and gestured for her to follow me. I didn’t know what had put Bea in the hospital, but assuming she was still bound in black magic, Lailah was our best hope.

Chapter 25

Pyper squealed around a corner and slammed on her brakes, skidding to a stop at a red light. “What in damnation happened back there?” she demanded.

I shot Kane a desperate look from the back seat.

“Which part?” he asked.

“The part when Jade turned scary-evil witch and ended up crossing to the dark side.”

“I didn’t use any black magic!”

“No, but you were on the verge of it.”

Kane twisted in the front seat, shooting me a worried look. “You were?”

Tension built near my temples. “I didn’t know it was happening. I was so focused on defeating that demon that it came out of nowhere. I mean, it’s not like I planned it.” I exhaled and softened my voice, turning grateful eyes on Kane. “But then you showed up, and all the terrible darkness vanished. You saved me.”

His face softened. “All I did was come back to you.”

“That’s what I needed.”

We stared at each other until Pyper cleared her throat. “And how exactly did Lailah get her power back? Didn’t Bea take it from her?”

I hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. Maybe when we bound Bea, it broke the spell.”

Pyper slid into a space in the hospital parking lot. “Only one way to find out.” She slammed her door and headed off to the emergency room.

“Kane,” I said in a small voice.

He reached back and took my hand. “Yes?”

“Don’t ever leave me like that again.”

He pulled me forward and leaned in. His lips barely brushed mine. “If you make me a promise.”

“Anything.”

“I’ll do my best to stick by your side, but you need to promise to never compromise your soul to save mine.”

I leaned back. “I can’t do that. I’d give up everything for you.”

“I’d do the same. But black magic? It’s worse than…” he shuddered. “I’d rather die than lose you to such a terrible existence.”

Silence filled the car.

“Promise me,” he said again.

“I promise.” I gave him a sad smile and opened my door. “We need to check on Bea.”

***

Gwen let out a small cry when I found her in the waiting room. “Jade!” She jumped up and wrapped me tight in her arms. Then she pulled back and gave me a little shake. “I thought I’d lost you.”

I ignored her admonishment. “Mom’s back. We found her.”

“What?” She dropped her arms and took a step back.

“She’s here.”

Gwen whipped her head around, searching the hospital.

“I mean, here in New Orleans. She wouldn’t come with us.” I shook my head. “She was determined to take my place with the coven to cast a healing charm for Bea.”

“What was she thinking? For the love of…”

“She’s okay, as far as I can tell. I’ll fill you in on everything, but first, what happened with Bea?”

Gwen’s face went white. “I had a vision that she would have trouble breathing. It’s why I stayed with her, just in case. But really what happened is she stopped breathing altogether. She was lying there one minute and the next, I just knew something ominous was in the room. But the minute I touched Bea, it disappeared. I called nine-one-one and administered CPR right away. She’s breathing now, but the hospital thinks she suffered a heart attack.”

“CPR? Her heart stopped?” I sank into a cold plastic chair.

Gwen nodded. “But only for a minute.”

“She died,” I whispered.

“Oh, no, honey. She’s alive.” Gwen waved toward the beeping machines. “See, the hospital says so.”

A sardonic chuckled rumbled from the back of my throat. “I can see that. Your prediction was, ‘she’s going to die.’ It was Bea.” I stood, gave my aunt another hug, and whispered in her ear, “You saved her.”

Gwen pulled back. “Anyone else would have done the same thing.”

“Of course,” I agreed, dropping it. Gwen didn’t care for people making a big deal of her gift. The last thing she wanted was people coming to her for predictions. “Do you think it was a heart attack?”

“No. I think something evil came for her, but I scared it away.”

“When did this happen?”

“Not too long ago. The ambulance was on its way when I called Ian. We got here minutes before you did.”

Something evil. No doubt Meri had come for Bea’s magic and soul. Demon, my ass. That bitch was a soul-stealer. If we didn’t bring Bea back soon, she’d be lost and Meri would claim her. I was sure of it.

I asked Pyper for her phone and called Lucien.

***

Thirty minutes later, Lucien arrived with my mother in tow. Gwen rose slowly then hurled herself in Mom’s direction. The sisters hugged, hanging on tight for so long, I finally had to gently pull them apart. Both had tear-stained cheeks. It was enough to make my own eyes well up again. I handed Gwen a twenty and the keys to Kane’s house.

“A cab is on its way. Please take Mom back to Kane’s and wait for us there.”

Gwen protested, but Mom stepped in. “It’s okay, Gwennie. Jade has work to do, and worrying about us is the last thing she needs right now.”

I hugged and kissed them both goodbye, but a little piece of my heart went with them.

“They left without a fight?” Pyper asked.

“Not much of one.”

“I didn’t realize the Calhoun clan could be so reasonable.”

I glanced at my friend and laughed. “Neither did I. Come on. We have a witch to rescue.”

You’d think smuggling a comatose person out of a hospital would be difficult. Not when the smugglers were a bunch of witches. Lucien and Rosalee set a memory spell and suggested to the staff that Bea was just fine. After that, Ian had carried her out in full view of everyone. No one said a word.

Despite the coven’s pleas to take her to the circle, Lailah had insisted we move Bea to her house. “She has special wards that will keep her safe there. Better than the circle. You’ll have to trust me.”

It was odd to watch the coven do as Lailah asked. I’d never seen her as a leader. Only a rival and a screw-up. Still, she had a lot more knowledge than I did, and I had little choice but to follow along.

Lucien and Ian laid Bea out on a blanket in her backyard while Lailah pulled me aside. “You’ll need to reinstate my magical privileges now.”

“Wait, what? But I thought you had them back. You dueled with the demon.”

“I was only able to do that because I was connected with the coven. You didn’t notice?”

“Um…no.” There were so many people there, what was one more?

“Bea took my magic. Not my ability to
use
magic. To do this, I need you to give it back.”

“Why me? I don’t know how to do that.”

Impatience flickered on her face. “You’re the coven leader. You’re the only one who
can
do it.” Lailah’s emotions were still hidden from me, but the disgust in her voice was more than enough to let me know what she thought of me and my new title. “Bea must have been really desperate to hand the coven over to you.”

The words were on the tip of my tongue to tell her exactly what I thought of her commentary when my heart hardened. A powerful foreign current ran through my limbs, and an image of striking the angel filled my brain.

Whoa. Where’d that come from? I took a step back and focused on something positive. Like Kane standing next to me. Flesh and blood. Real. Solid.

His hand touched my back and my nerves settled. “You okay?” he whispered.

“Yeah.” How was he so strong and steady after what he’d been through? I placed a hand on my hip and asked them both just that. “How come you two don’t need rest, or food, or a psychiatrist?”

“There are things that need to happen first,” Lailah said.

Kane placed his hand on the small of my back. “I’ll rest when you do.”

It was then I noticed the dark circles under Lailah’s eyes and the slight hunch of Kane’s weary shoulders. Okay, so they didn’t have as much strength as I’d thought. Time to get the show started. “All right. Lailah, tell me what I need to do.”

She led me inside. “It’s better to reinstate the magic where it was taken. All you need to do is declare the ban lifted. Put intent behind your words and you should do fine.”

I nodded and held my hands out to her.

She stared at them, lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “You want to hold hands?”

I bit back a snarky reply, reminding myself we needed her to help Bea. “Yes. It’s easier for me to control where my magic goes if I’m in physical contact.”

She wasn’t quick enough to hide her annoyance, but reluctantly held her hands out.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed them.

Nothing flowed from her. I wondered if I’d be able to penetrate her walls. I didn’t really care about knowing how she felt. I could tell. She didn’t like me and, to be honest, I didn’t like her. But we were on the same team. “It would probably be easier if you dropped your mental barrier.”

“Excuse me?”

“You always shield your emotions from me. I think this would go smoother if you let your guard down.”

Her fingernails dug slightly into my palms. “If I wanted you to know how I’m feeling, I’d tell you.”

I snorted. “Your actions and body language tell me everything I need to know. Fine. Keep your shield, but I’m not guaranteeing this will work. I’m a newbie, remember?”

She huffed. “Fine.”

Annoyance so strong it made my skin itch radiated from her. Its overpowering nature almost made me drop her hands. But then the guilt and suffering trickled in, and I found myself pitying her. It made me regret suggesting she let me in. I didn’t want to know how badly she suffered. It was easier to just keep blaming her.

It was that moment that I dropped my grudge against her. Hadn’t I been the one who’d been spouting the dangers of magic all these years? The poison and Kane had both been the work of Meri. I knew that in my head. It was time to embrace the truth in my heart. If I’d learned anything in recent months, it was that I needed to depend on others. Lailah, for all I’d gleaned from her, did have goodness streaming through her, and she truly loved Bea. And that was enough.

“By the power given to me by Beatrice Kelton, former coven leader of New Orleans, I hereby lift the ban of magic bestowed on Lailah Faust, angel of God.”

A warm spark of power jumped from my center and our hands glowed for a second.

Lailah let go first and stepped back, staring at me in awe. “What was that?”

“What do you mean? I gave you your power back.”

“Yes, but you also gave me some of yours.”

“What?” No. I’d only sent a little bit of power to evoke hers. Right?

“God above. You
are
powerful. The spark wasn’t needed. My power came back the moment you said the words.” She frowned as she studied my face. “Great. Good going, Calhoun. Now we’re magically linked.”

“As in…?”

“As in I’ll always know what you’re up to, and you’ll always know what I’m up to. Perfect. Just what I needed.” She turned and stalked outside.

I didn’t even want to know what that meant.

Outside, the coven had arrived and already formed a circle around Bea. I hung back with Kane and let Lailah lead. This was her deal, after all. When she was ready, she called me over. I gave Kane a quick kiss.

“Be careful,” he whispered in my ear.

“I’ll do my best.”

A pentagram had been drawn around Bea’s body. Lailah had me stand at the northern-most tip. She took the place next to me where Rosalee had stood in the park. The black-haired beauty took a place next to Lucien, who stood with his head bowed. The group was much more somber than they had been earlier. Did they doubt Lailah’s ability?

“No,” Lailah said. “They realize if this fails, we’re likely to lose Bea.”

“What? How—”