Voodoo Love (And the Curse of Jean Lafitte’s Treasure) (5 page)

"Si, it was a recent purchase. One more thing to add to my many holdings."

The brunette sat back down, some of her frostiness melting away.

A good lie always placated women, Juan mused. He knew Diego didn't own anything. Not really. He stole what he wanted, including Laveau's Lounge. According to Juan's client, the bar had actually belonged to Euralie until a day ago. He'd used fear and threats of death to take it from her, while continuing to make her read Tarot cards for the tourists. Juan doubted that Euralie got to keep any of the money she made though.

"What's your name?" Carla asked.

"Diego Martes."

"Well, where are you from? I'm betting you aren't a
Louisiana
native with that accent."

"You have a good ear, senorita. I am from
Mexico
. And you, miss? Where do you live?"

"We're from
Texas
."

"Ah,
Texas
. I know it well."

Juan listened as Carla and Diego continued to chat. The round of drinks was served, and things might have gone in Diego's favor if one of the other girls hadn't suddenly gotten sick at the bar. She'd stood up as if to go find the ladies room, but then released a stream of alcohol scented vomit all over the floor.

"Party's over," Carla announced with a frown.

Out of the corner of his eye, Juan saw the customer with Euralie stand up. Her attention wasn’t focused on her sick friend as she faced the tarot card reader.

"One of them will kill me?" Juan heard her say. "What kind of fortune teller are you?"

"I just do as the spirits say and repeat what the cards tell me," Euralie said. "And I said one of them will
try
to kill you. Doesn't mean they'll succeed."

"That doesn't make me feel much better." The woman started to move away.

"Now, now,
Cher
, don't fret. Sometimes the cards are cranky. Here. You take this one. It's my personal card. We should do another reading in a more private place."

The woman stared at the card Euralie offered. Juan couldn't see the expression on her face, but her next words had him straining to see her better.

"This is a business card?" the woman said. "It looks like an old piece of parchment. I don't think I'll be needing it. This is all just a lot of hocus pocus anyway. You should just keep it."

"Put it in your bag!"

Juan looked at Euralie. Something in her demeanor had changed. Gone was the sultry expression she usually wore.  Her eyes were wide and dilated, her mouth slightly open.  A pale green glow surrounded her.

"Don't be a defiant child," Euralie said, but the timbre of her voice had changed. It was rougher, gravelly almost, and didn't belong in her feminine frame. "Take the paper and start your destiny. You have much to do."

Euralie blinked and shook her head, almost as if she were trying to focus but couldn't quite manage it. What was wrong with her, Juan wondered.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked.

"Yes. I’m sorry. I get these fierce headaches sometimes. That's the tough part of being a medium to the dead." Euralie gave her wan smile. "You need to get going. Your friend is ill."

The woman turned. Juan had never believed in love at first sight, but his heart sped up as he got a good look at Euralie's customer. She couldn't have been more the 5'6", but something about her whispered of power. Her brow was knitted in frustration and concern. Maybe it was the way she unconsciously lifted her chin a bit as she surveyed the situation going on with her friends or the way she straightened up to her full height before moving forward--he didn't know--but whatever it was worked for her. She moved past him, her long brown dark hair swishing with the rhythm of her hips. In one hand, she clutched the small paper Euralie had given her.

"Uh-oh. That's a definite party foul," she called to Carla.

Juan wanted to get a closer look at the paper Euralie had given her. But how?

"
Elizabeth
, can you help get Nicole up?" Carla was busy covering the offending vomit with bar napkins.

Elizabeth
. So that was her name. Regal. Somehow exactly right for her.

"C'mon, sweetie."
Elizabeth
draped an arm around the sick girl. "We need to get you back to the hotel. Carla will settle the tab."

The other two girls in the group giggled and whispered together, watching Elizabeth support Nicole who looked like she could have given Linda Blair a run for her money when it came to projectile vomiting. Carla gave up on cleaning the vomit and threw money on the counter, eager to be gone.  As they all staggered out of Laveau's Lounge, Juan glanced at Diego who stood watching the whole thing, a look of disgust on his face.

"Hold up a second."
Elizabeth
yanked her purse strap off the shoulder. "I need to put this paper in my purse. It's old and crumbly."

Diego's face turned from disgusted to thoughtful as the women left the bar. He slanted a look over at Euralie who was stacking up her tarot cards.

"Euralie," Diego called out. "Who was your pretty customer?"

"Just a girl looking to be told her fortune like all the other tourists that come in here."

"And did you tell it to her?" Diego moved closer, running a hand through his hair. He gave her a small smile, revealing yellow teeth.

"Only what she wanted to hear, of course. You know how these silly drunk girls are. They only want to hear about who will be warming their bed."

"You gave her something." Diego's force sharpened. "What was in her hand?"

"Some advice."

"What did you write it on?"

"Paper."

Diego ran a finger softly along her face. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you? Not after all we've meant to each other?"

Euralie shuddered and dropped her gaze.

"That wouldn't have been the missing piece of the map would it? The piece you claim not to know anything about? You see, Euralie, I never believed you. I think you tore that piece off yourself." Diego hissed the words and gripped her shoulders tightly. "You don't really think you can outsmart me, do you?"

"N-n-no. Of course, not," Euralie said, but even Juan could hear the lie in her voice.

Diego struck her across the face. The other people in the bar looked over at the scene, startled. Some of them even started to move forward to help her. The blond haired man at the far table had leapt to his feet, anger turning his face a deep red of outrage.

"I'll deal with you later," Diego spoke through clenched teeth. "Right now, I need to get that piece of the map back. You better hope she didn't just toss it into the street."

He strode from the bar. After a moment, Juan Carlos followed him.

****

             
I let go of Juan’s hand, the vividness of the past overwhelming. My palm burned a little where the gold coin rested. Juan pocketed it and I rubbed at the spot where it had been.

             
“How did you do that? It was like I was right there, inside your head,” I asked. "I could practically smell
Bourbon Street
. And your thoughts! I could hear them. I knew exactly how you were feeling."

             
And boy, had I been surprised at how he felt about me. It's nice to know every now and then that you can light a man's fire without even realizing it! I couldn't dwell on that though. There were too many other things to process like Diego and Euralie and their relationship. And that blonde haired man, he looked familiar, though I couldn’t put a name to him. And the piece of the map that Euralie had given me. It had been crucial to…something. The memories stalled.

             
“It’s a perk of being dead. I get superpowers now.” He smiled, but I couldn’t do the same.

             
Dead? I’d heard him that say just before the past sucked me in. But how could that be? I had held his hand in mine, squeezed it, felt the warmth of his chest as I cried. This was no dead man.

             
“You’re lying.”

             
“I only wish that I was.”
             

             
“Nobody gets superpowers when they die. If they did, we’d have ghost galore in the world.”

             
“I admit that it wasn't an easy thing to achieve. I had to make a deal with a powerful spirit in order to come back and protect you. You have the key to finding the treasure.”

             
“Protect me? From what? And I don't have any key! This is all just a trick, isn't it?  I want you to prove you're dead! Disappear and then reappear.”

             
“
Elizabeth
, we don’t have time for these childish games.”
             

             
“Yes, we do. After the things I’ve felt these last two years, we have time for at least one childish game.” I knew he was probably right. Still, I pressed on. “Disappear and then reappear!”

             
"I could show you in another way that I've got super powers, if you like." Juan lifted one eyebrow suggestively. "I seem to recall you liked a little role playing."

             
A delicious little shiver ran through my body, and flashes of the dreams I sometimes had about him at night came back to me.  As he leaned closer, I held my breath. He paused inches away from my lips, his eyes locked to mine. My heart was pounding and a part of me wanted to scream,
Go on! Kiss me!
  For a moment, I thought he wasn't going to follow through, that he was just teasing me, but then his lips touched mine.

             
Desire surged, tickling my senses, tugging at the most sensitive parts of my body. One of Juan's hands found its way into my hair, pulling me closer and making the kiss deeper, more exquisite. Somehow I found myself lying back on the couch, his body pressed against mine, able to feel the hardness of his muscles through his shirt as my hands ran along his back.

             
I wanted so much more.

             
My hands jerked at the back of his shirt, trying to pull it free from his body. I wanted skin on skin contact, needed to feel the heat of him against me. How else would I know that he was real, that he was alive, that he'd come back for me? With a soft chuckle, Juan tugged the shirt off and threw it to the floor, giving me a glimpse of tight, sculpted abs. His dark hair fell all around his broad shoulders and as he bent down to me, it created a soft curtain that blocked the world out.