Witches of Bourbon Street (21 page)

She looked up, her face pinched with pain. It took only a moment to notice the blood seeping between her fingers.

“Oh my God.” I stumbled to her side and inspected the jagged scrape near her temple.

Gwen touched my shoulder. In her other hand, she held a thick white towel. “Let me.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Kat, check the bathroom for a first aid kit.”

Kat got halfway up the stairs before Bea spoke. “It’s in the hall closet, dear.” Her small, wobbly voice made her sound like a feeble old woman.

Kat nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

I scanned the room for Pyper. A strangled cry escaped my throat when I spotted her feet poking out from behind the loveseat. I sprang up. “Pyper?”

Her foot twitched, but she didn’t respond.

“Oh, no.” My feet prickled as my limbs started to come back to life, but it wasn’t enough. Right before I reached Pyper’s side, I fell. Hard. I landed with a thud and curled into a ball, holding my shoulder. All the numbness had fled, and fireworks exploded down my arm.

“That was graceful,” she whispered in a shaky voice.

I rolled over and grimaced at the stain of blood on the carpet. “You’re hurt,” I said.

She grunted in agreement.

My initial inspection found several shallow scrapes. Then I spotted it. She had a sizable shard of glass sticking out of her thigh. Around it, only a small amount of blood stained the dark denim. I frowned and looked at the blood-stained floor. “Where did that come from?”

Pyper turned, revealing a gash on the side of her head. “Scalp wound.”

“Son of a…Kat, I need that first aid kit.”

Kat hurried over, took one look, and whipped out her phone.

“No ambulances!” Pyper demanded.

“But—”

“No. I’ll go to the hospital, but I won’t be the one riding the emergency express again.” She tried to sit up, but winced and lay back down.

“Pyper,” Kat said. “How are we going to get you in the car?”

“Kane can carry me.”

Silence filled the room.

“What?”

Kat bit her lip and glanced at me.

I swallowed and my voice cracked when I finally spoke. “Lailah abducted him.”

Her face scrunched up in confusion. “What does that mean? There’s no way that waif of a girl could overpower a six-foot-two, one-hundred and eighty-pound man.”

“With magic,” I choked out, fighting the sobs building in my throat. “Just like my mom.” My voice cracked on the word mom, and suddenly, Gwen was there with her arms around me. All the terrible emptiness I’d worked so hard to suppress after my mom had disappeared came rushing back.

I vaguely heard Kat talking to someone about fetching Pyper. Relieved to have someone taking over, I buried my head in Gwen’s shoulder and silently let the tears fall.

Sometime later, I excused myself to the restroom. I stood there, staring into my vivid green eyes, appearing a deep emerald rather than their usual jade color. It must have been a side effect from the magic. The sadness reflected in them made me straighten my spine. I wasn’t a helpless fifteen-year-old anymore. Whatever it took, I’d find Kane and bring him back. Even if it meant taking down an angel. Surely waging magical attacks and abducting people wasn’t in her job description.

While splashing my face with cool water, the front door slammed. A moment later, a muffled male voice stood out among the chatter. My heart sped up. Kane? I hastily dried my face and ran back to the living room.

Disappointment stopped me short at the end of the hallway. Ian had knelt beside Pyper and was smoothing her hair back. Tension and worry filled the room, but no one’s emotions were stronger than Ian’s. And all of it was directed at Pyper. My gaze landed on Kat. She stood apart from the rest of the group, her eyes trained on Ian. A tiny frown tugged at her lips. I couldn’t help but feel a little pang of sadness for her. It was obvious that Pyper and Ian would end up together sooner or later. I hoped Kat’s heart didn’t get battered in the meantime.

A small moan brought my attention back to Pyper. Ian now had her in his arms as Gwen held the door open. I followed them out. “I’ll meet you in the ER.”

“No,” Pyper said over his shoulder. “You work on finding Kane. I’ll be fine. If you leave, send me a text letting me know your whereabouts. Otherwise, expect to see me back here in a few hours.”

Ian already had the door open and was depositing her in his car.

The fierce determination surrounding her strengthened my own. I found myself nodding. “Fine. Get yourself put back together. I have a feeling I’m going to need you.”

“Jade,” Ian warned. “She has a two-inch piece of glass in her leg.”

“She knows that, Ian,” Pyper said. Her pointed gaze met mine. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Ian sighed and shut her door.

I cocked my hip and sent him a defiant look. “You’re always the one dying to do paranormal readings. Here’s your chance. Bring your equipment when you come back.”

His face shifted into cautious surprise. “Why this time?”

“Because I want every piece of data we can get. Even if it turns out to be useless, it’s worth a shot.”

His energy shifted and a hint of defensiveness tickled my senses.

“Don’t be offended. You study ghosts. I’m asking you to measure anything paranormal. I want to see what you can come up with.”

He made a concerted effort to relax. “I’ve already experimented a little with that. I’m sure we can find something useful.”

His car door slammed, and a moment later, the tires squealed when the car darted out of the driveway.

Leaves rustled from a light wind. I shivered in the chilly air. Still, I stood on the porch, staring into the night. How had this happened? Kane’s disappearance felt like some surreal dream. People didn’t vanish into thin air.

Except people I loved, apparently.

Not too long ago, I would have taken that as a sign to distance myself from those I cared about. Only, to help Kane, I needed them. This time I’d do whatever necessary to bring him back. Even if it meant embracing my inner witch.

I marched through the front door and found Bea in the kitchen. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Are you?” Her tone implied she had her doubts.

“More than ready. Where do we start?”

She reached up, pulled a copper mixing bowl out of the cupboard, and handed it to me. Over the course of five minutes, she filled it with various herbs, spices, and wheat flour, and then finished by adding a can of condensed milk to my haul.

“Baking?”

She snorted. “Locator potion.” She pointed to her wooden table. “Sit.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Gwen asked cautiously.

“It’s fine,” I said before Bea could respond.

Gwen rested her hand on my shoulder. “It’s been a difficult day. Spells can and often do go wrong when the caster is under emotional stress.”

I stared at her. “How would you know?”

She sent me a look intended to put me in my place. “I am your mother’s sister. Just because I don’t have strong magical skills doesn’t mean I didn’t pay attention when she was learning.”

“Okay, okay. I’ve never heard you talk about any of this. I had no idea you were so well-versed in witch studies.”

“You’d be surprised at what I know,” Gwen muttered, taking the seat across from me.

Bea settled into a chair to my right and turned to Gwen. “You know, all of this would have been smoother for her had she learned the basics when she was younger. Witch knowledge ages and becomes refined over the years. Knowing she had the potential to be a witch would have primed her psyche for acceptance. For the talented ones, that’s half the battle.”

Gwen huffed. “You have no idea what you’re suggesting. This child would’ve preferred breeding snakes to learning magic back then.”

I shuddered. The thought of a snake made my skin crawl.

Gwen’s voice softened. “After her mother…”

Bea’s expression shifted to understanding. “My apologies, my dear friend. It wasn’t my place to chastise you.”

Gwen nodded her acceptance.

In the meantime, I’d unloaded the mixing bowl and had all the ingredients lined up. “If you two are done discussing my lack of skills and apparent shortcomings, can we get started?”

“Of course,” Bea said, returning to the commanding coven leader I’d expected. She paused then called over her shoulder, “Kat, grab another copper bowl. I have something for you to do as well.”

“Me?” Kat straightened her spine. “But I don’t have any powers.”

“Everyone has something to offer. Your intentions are all we need.”

Kat glanced in my direction.

I shrugged.

“All right.” A moment later, she sat in the fourth chair with an extra bowl in front of her.

“Good.” Bea lined up the supplies in front of us. “Each of you needs to channel all of your energy into the mixture. As I said, intentions are important. Jade, I want you to focus on Kane’s essence.” She shifted her gaze to Kat. “And Kat, you focus on your friend, Dan. We need to find out what or who is controlling him.”

“Why?” I interjected. “What does that have to do with finding Kane?”

Bea leveled an irritated glare in my direction. Clearly she wasn’t used to being questioned. “Maybe nothing. But since Lailah was assigned to him, whatever it is may be the same thing that’s controlling Lailah.”

I narrowed my eyes. “How do you know anything’s affecting her? How do we know she hasn’t turned into a fallen angel?”

Bea took a deep breath. “I would be able to tell. You’re letting your emotions get in the way of your common sense.”

“Am I? All I know is that whenever she’s involved, something always goes haywire. And Felicia said one of our own was close to falling. Seems obvious to me.”

All emotion vanished from Bea’s face. Her masked expression made me itch to probe her energy. Bea was a master at closing herself off, so it would have been an exercise in futility. I wouldn’t have done it anyway. With her power, she’d have noticed the invasion. It was one thing to read emotions people projected to the world. It was entirely another to go searching for them.

When she spoke, her voice held a hard edge. “You don’t know Lailah like I do. Someone is controlling her actions. She would never attack me and vanish. If you want my assistance, you’ll need to accept that we’ll be helping her as well.”

“Jade.” When I didn’t respond, Kat covered my hand with hers. “It doesn’t matter what you think of Lailah. What matters is finding Kane. She has a connection to him and Dan. Figuring out what’s going on with Dan could lead us to Kane. Besides, Dan needs help, too. No matter what he’s done in the past few months. We owe him that much.”

The tight ball that had formed in my chest constricted even more. God, I was selfish. Hadn’t I seen first-hand that Dan was, indeed, the victim of some other witch’s spell? Hadn’t he committed to anger management classes and followed through by apologizing to me? He
was
making an effort. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Of course we’ll do what we can to help Dan.”

“Good,” Bea said. “Kat, concentrate on Dan—the Dan he used to be before he started showing signs of aggression. Who he was before Jade moved to New Orleans.”

I cocked my head. “Are you implying whatever’s happening with Dan has been going on for months?” If so, it would explain a lot.

“I don’t know. It’s possible, but it’s better to focus on who he was before his energy became tainted. No matter what the reason. Believe it or not, if you concentrate on finding the good in people, it’s easier than finding the evil.”

“Really?” Gwen spoke for the first time. “I wouldn’t have thought that to be the case.”

Bea nodded. “Goodness has nothing to hide. Evil does.”

“If that’s so, then why is there so much negativity around?” I asked.

“Unhappy doesn’t mean evil. It also doesn’t mean unhappy people lack goodness. They just haven’t learned the skills to show it.”

“Okay,” Kat said. “I can do that.”

For the next half-hour, Bea instructed the two of us in dicing, measuring, and adding ingredients in the correct order. When we were done, I had a dense mixture of something that looked and smelled like an uncooked pumpkin loaf, while Kat’s resembled cuttings from a fresh Italian herb garden.

“Why didn’t we use the same ingredients?” I asked. “Isn’t it the same spell?”

“Yes, it is.” Bea stood and started clearing the table. “But ingredients are tailored for the ones involved in the spell. It yields a higher success rate.”

I glanced at my fake pumpkin loaf and wrinkled my nose. What did the ugly blob say about me?

When Bea was finished cleaning up, she strode to the door, her oversized canvas handbag slung over her arm. “It’s best to invoke the spells in a location tied to the subject. Kane’s house will be perfect for his locator spell, but where should we go for Dan’s?”

“Not his place. If he’s there, it’s too dangerous.” I glanced at Kat. “Your apartment? He used to live there.”