WitchLove (20 page)

After I reached the bridge I stopped and checked it out. The flow of traffic across its two separate spans was not by any means busy and yet had enough traffic to make me nervous. I was sure that if Eva were here she would dart to its top most rails and skim across like a dragonfly, her feet barely touching the iron; but I didn’t feel nearly so confident. I briefly considered attempting to travel the underbelly of the bridge, swinging like a monkey, but I soon discarded that idea too as the inky swell of water underneath flipped my stomach. In the end I thought like a witch and returned to my tricks of old… I busted the lights.

Staying in the shadows I connected with the earth energy beneath me, compressing it to such a degree that when I let it out in one succinct blast the lights gave a little shudder, before the circuit popped and every single bulb lost power. Assuming I had moments before a secondary power system started up I raced forth, darting out of the way of the headlights as the drivers slammed brakes on and beeped their horns at one another, thrown into panic by the power loss.

Across the bridge I stuck to the secondary roads, pausing only occasionally to check the map. I arrived in Estelle, happy to see there was still no sign of an encroaching dawn and set to work finding the Doucet’s church. The town was clustered together, sandwiched between two parallel roads and on the far sides of the roads, two parallel waterways. One side of the map was a magnified street map of New Orleans, the side I was looking at was a regional one, so Estelle itself wasn’t very detailed. The circle was more to the left than the right so I picked that route and began jogging down the boulevard that took me east. The houses were packed close together on both sides, but as I reached the edge of town the swamp appeared, like a vast dark forest, its land criss-crossed with a labyrinth of waterways, some as wide as rivers and some so narrow they were little more than a series of joined up puddles. A heavy, earthy smell hung in the humid air, which got stronger the farther I went.

The boulevard was still lined with housing estates on my left hand side, but the right was barely built upon. Occasionally I’d come across a lone building backing onto the bayou, with moss-draped hardwood trees looming up behind, like sentries to the underworld. I ran on, and as the buildings petered out the lights disappeared with them, leaving me searching beneath the eerie glow of the moon.

It didn’t take long for me to run the length of the town, and soon the houses had died out altogether, so that I began to wonder if the Voodoo witch had been wrong. I ran for a while along the road, which dived straight into the impenetrable darkness with nothing to see but trees, shadows and thin twisting trails, but after a while I decided to turn back and check along the last bit of habitation, before the swamp had taken over. I ran back to the edge of the town and that is when I spotted it, buried amongst some dense overhanging willows, hidden in the shadows. I would never have seen it, if it wasn’t for a couple of lights shining through the darkness, lighting up the windows in what I had thought was a derelict building.

Once upon a time it would have been a stunning white clapboard church, picture perfect in any setting, but whether it was due to the vicious hand of Katrina or simply years of neglect, the church now looked unwanted. Where the paint had not completely peeled away, it was yellowed and flaking, several of the windows were boarded up, and all but a couple black as the night which surrounded me. I hesitated, then crept nearer, careful to keep to the great inky depths created by the trees, avoiding the light which escaped from a ground floor window.

Chapter Fifteen

I stood to one side of the window, listening, but the windows were all closed and the voices inside were mingling together as several people spoke at once. I crept nearer and edged my face millimetre by millimetre round the window frame until I could see into the room. Brittany was there, smiling… happy. Three other women and a couple of men were also in the room. The two men spoke quietly to themselves and the women crowded round Brittany chattering like finches.

Phew!…
I breathed out slowly, these did not seem to be the dangerous people I’d been warned about, and they were obviously happy to see a new member of their family. I rested my hand on the rotting wooden wall and wondered what to do.
Maybe I should just knock on the door
? I peeked back round the window in time to see the oldest woman whom I presumed must be Brittany’s grandmother, but who had her back to me, whisper something to another before turning and leaving the room. I wondered at that…
why the need to whisper
?

‘Good mornin! Brittany said the cavalry might turn up. Were you a plannin’ on spyin’ on us all night or were you goin’ to knock?’

Hearing the front door quietly creak open, I spun round to face the grandmother, who was now standing on the porch, her face grim, green eyes looking strangely out of place in her coffee-coloured face and flashing dangerously.

‘I’m so sorry. You’re right though. I came to see Brittany… my best friend. She left without telling me. I was worried about her,’ I said, wondering how much Brittany had told the woman.

‘Come now, you can see her, though as you’ve already seen, you know she’s more ‘n alright,’ the woman said, smiling a wide, white-toothed smile which failed to reach her eyes.

I followed the woman inside, my stomach lurching. I was desperate not to lose another friend. I couldn’t… I
wouldn’t
. I would get us out of this and get us home.

‘Brittany, you’ve a guest,’ the woman said, pushing me ahead of her into the room. ‘Ladies, gents, it seems we have another teenage witch in our midst.’

‘Je..o! Brittany said, her eyes darting from me to the others in the room. ‘Urm… this is my friend
Jo
I was telling you about. The witch that helped me escape the school Dad put me in,’ Brittany said, staring at me hard.

What on earth? I knew some of her school stories, but not enough to pass for attending it if they decided to start quizzing me! However, I realised that in telling them this she’d avoided telling them who I really was, which was a relief.

‘Jo, welcome. I’m afraid my granddaughter’s forgotten her southern manners, leaving you without an explanation. You must a’ been worried to follow her all this way.’

‘Girl’s only just arrived herself, so you must a been hot on her tail,’ another woman said, her eyes the same deep, chocolatey hazel colour as the others. Only mine, Brittany’s and her grandmother’s were the tell-tale green of a witch.

‘You needn’t have come. I told Noah to tell you not to follow me,’ Brittany said, her face revealing her apprehension.

Brittany wasn’t planning on leaving. She thought she was safe with her family, but I knew she was also well aware that I may not be safe. I needed to find a way of getting Brittany home with the full backing of her family.

‘The thing is, Mrs Doucet,’ I said, hoping I’d guessed correctly. ‘Brittany and I were just about to take our Level Six examinations and get our licenses. With all due respect, if she stays here the Council may not allow her to take it. I
totally
think she should live with her family, but I also think she’d be better off passing her exams first,’ I said, crossing my fingers, which I’d shoved deep into my right hand pocket, where they brushed against the lucky mojo bag.

My guessing was that if the old Caribbean woman in New Orleans was right and this woman was power hungry, then having a licensed witch under her control would be a hell of a lot more appealing than a runaway teenager.

‘Is this true, Brittany? When are your exams?’ she asked, turning to my friend.

Brittany scowled at me quickly.

‘Yes… I don’t know, but I suppose we would have taken the exams soon, as we were about to start on the Level Six spells this week,’ she added reluctantly.

‘I see, well now… I can see that you’re absolutely shattered after such a long ley trip, and Jo, you too look very pale…’

I bit my lip to halt the smile and caught Brittany hiding a smirk.

‘So I’ll fetch you a nice warming drink each and Missy here will show you to a room you can rest a while in, before you return home.’

‘Oh no! Please, I came here to find you. I don’t belong there,’ Brittany said, her eyes filling with tired tears.

I walked over to my friend and put my arm round her.

‘Your grandmother’s right, Brit. You can always come straight back here, once you’ve got your license,’ I said.

‘That’s right. Now come on, let Missy show you to a room and we’ll sort this out for you. Shall I contact your coven, Jo?’ she asked, even though she knew we wouldn’t want the coven involved any more than she did.

‘No, it’s fine. If we rest, I’m sure we can get back to New York just fine, without anyone needing to know she left,’ I said.

The woman nodded and smiled in a way that made me want to grab Brittany and run.

‘I’ll fetch you those drinks then,’ she said, leaving another woman to escort us deeper into the old church, up some stairs and into a converted bare bedroom.

The walls smelled damp and the whitewashed floor was dull and slightly green. The room itself was empty apart from two single beds and a light bulb which hung from the ceiling. As soon as the door shut I turned to Brittany and frowned.

‘What on earth are you doing here? Luke told you they were dangerous…’ I whispered furiously.

Brittany shrugged, looking defiant.

‘She’s my grandma. She’s not going to hurt me. You on the other hand… You shouldn’t have come here.’

‘As if I’d leave you! As if I’d just say,
Oh well, never mind!
I wouldn’t do that Brit. I thought we were friends? I said.

‘We are. I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t want you to follow me. I didn’t think, but we can go back and everything will be fine. She’s not going to hurt us. I promise.’

‘Noah is having a fit about you running out on him, and I feel bad, because I was snappy with him. I just couldn’t believe he’d let you go like that. We both need to apologise, when we get back… if we get back!’

‘Don’t be dense! Of course we’ll get back… and it wasn’t really his fault. I used an attraction charm we learnt at school. He didn’t stand a chance,’ she said, with a giggle which ended abruptly as we heard footsteps on the stairs below.

A minute later, the priestess opened the door carrying two mugs of a strange smelling, thick, hot drink. My stomach lurched and I hoped she wasn’t going to wait around to watch us drink them. Brittany however didn’t appear to have the same problem and took hers with a thankful smile.

‘Mmm, chocolate, this brings back memories,’ she said.

‘Chocolate?’ I asked. It didn’t smell like chocolate to me.

‘Cajun chocolate,’ she added. ‘They put spice and stuff in it. I remember having it when I was a little girl.’

The woman smiled, but I noticed a slight frown pass across her face, her eyes narrowing as she turned back through the door, shutting it quietly behind us.

‘Here, pass me yours, I’ll have that one too,’ she whispered.

‘Brittany, I don’t think you should drink these,’ I said.

‘Don’t be silly. Why?’

‘They don’t smell right.’

‘It’s just because you’re a vampire and you’ve never smelt our chocolate. It smells fine. You saw them. They’re happy I’m here, so they’re hardly going to poison me.’

I watched, the concern growing in my belly as she consumed both the mugs’ contents, grinning and giggling.

‘I’m not happy that you’re taking me back, you know,’ she said, when she’d finished. ‘But I
am
glad you came… kind of. I’m sorry. I was really stupid. India turned up at the flat and told us how Daniel had surprised you and how you’d basically jumped on each other and ripped each other’s clothes off…’

‘We did not!’ I interjected.

‘Well anyway, then you didn’t turn up when you said you would…’

‘I needed to talk to Daniel… obviously, but then we both got lost, because I couldn’t remember exactly where Noah’s place was.’

‘Well, anyway… you didn’t turn up and I just felt that even if it wasn’t today, then one day soon you were bound to forgive him, and you’d end up all loved up and I’d be on my sodding own again. I’ll be fine here. It’s home and I’m sure they’re not that bad,’ she finished.

‘Look, Dingbat! You’re not going to end up on your own. You’re my best friend and even if I do end up with Daniel… and no, I’ve not forgiven him yet, it was just a minor blip,’ I said, feeling my cheeks flush slightly. ‘…But anyway, I’m still not going to desert you, okay? I thought you wanted to be my bodyguard?’

Brittany grinned and then suddenly frowned.

‘Jess,’ she whispered.

‘What? What is it?’

‘I don’t feel so goo..’ Her voice slurred and suddenly she collapsed, the second mug falling to the floor with a thump.

I darted forward and managed to catch her as she fell, then gently lowered her onto the bed.

Shit! I knew something was wrong with that drink.

I leant over her and sighed as I felt her warm breath on my cheek, hearing her heart beat steady and slow. They’d put her to sleep, that was all. I looked around the room wondering what to do. I could bust through the window easily, but as I’d told Noah, I’d never flown with another person and after all the energy I’d already used that night, carrying her dead weight concerned me. I still had plenty of time before Noah expected us back, so I decided to use the time to snoop a little. The clan clearly expected us both to be sleeping, so hopefully they’d leave us alone for a while, but why did they want us sleeping? That was when I heard the voices getting nearer.

‘I’ll just check on them and then we can start the ritual,’ the priestess said from behind our door.

I had seconds to leap across the room and onto the bed, and then at the last minute decided it would look more natural if I flopped onto the floor, as if I’d just collapsed next to Brittany. I closed my eyes, reminded myself to breathe steadily and waited for her to open the door, which she did some three seconds later.

Her footsteps crossed the room towards us and halted just as they were within biting distance. I felt her stoop down and peer at me, the hairs on my neck standing on end as she reached down and brushed the hair back from where it was covering my face. It took all the control I could muster not to leap forward fangs bared, to attack her and defend Brittany, as every instinct screamed at me to fight. I resisted, instead pouring all my concentration into breathing slowly, like a sleeping human.