Witches of Bourbon Street (26 page)

He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his intense focus made me try to take a step back. Unfortunately I was already pressed against the door. Dan’s voice matched his unnatural jerky gait. “He’s lost. She’s taken him to the otherworld. You can’t get him back.”

My eyes narrowed as I held his gaze. “Watch me.”

“She’s too powerful. Save yourself.” He blinked rapidly. Then his posture shifted as muscles relaxed and suddenly tensed again. He glanced around as if to orient himself. His gaze landed once again on me, and recognition lit his face. When he spoke, his voice was tense, though familiar. “Jade, please. I beg you, don’t get involved. You can’t help him. None of us can.”

He seemed so normal I reached out to grab his arm, but pulled back at the last second. Instead, I leaned in. “What’s going on? What happened to you?”

“I…” His body started to go rigid again. “No time. It’s a trap. Stay away. Save yourself.” A tremor ran the length of his body. “Go!” he shouted.

Just then the door pushed open, knocking me into a flooded portion of the street. I fell hard on my knees and scraped my hands on the asphalt. I jumped up, ignoring the pain shooting through my palms, and hobbled with each step.

Dan moved toward me. His face tightened, hatred streaming from his constricted pupils. “You’re mine,” his disjointed voice croaked out.

“Like hell!” Pyper swung a black baseball bat. She connected with his shoulder, sending him crashing into the middle of the street. She reached over and pulled me into the club. From the doorway, I glimpsed a white SUV barreling toward his unconscious body.

“Stop!” I shouted, but the ominous slamming of the door cut off any hope that my cry would be heard.

The faint squeal of tires skidding, followed by the distinct sound of metal crunching, had me reaching for the door again.

Pyper jumped in front of me, blocking my way. “Stay here. I’ll send Ian to check.”

“Check what?” Ian appeared from the back of the club with Kat at his side.

“We heard a crash out front. Could you please check to see if everyone is all right?”

Ian quickened his pace. “Of course.”

“I’ll help,” Kat said.

I grabbed her hand. “It’s Dan.”

Her breath hitched, and suddenly she was running.

“Be careful. He’s was fighting it, but he’s still under a spell,” I called after her.

“Shit,” Ian said under his breath and raced outside.

Glaring at Pyper standing guard over the door, I sat in the nearest chair and inspected the damage to my burning hands. They needed to be cleaned. I moved behind the bar to run them under the tap. “If he got hit by that car, there’s no way he could have the energy to hurt me,” I said, not looking at her.

“If he was hit. What if he wasn’t?”

I whirled. “Then we just sent my best friend and the guy you’re in love with to battle with a possessed madman.”

“I’m not…” Her mouth hung open. She seemed to realize it and clamped her lips together. “I’m not in love with Ian.”

“Whatever you say.” I turned back around and fished the first aid kit out from under the counter.

“Why would you say that?”

I pinned her with a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. “Empath, remember? Every time you even so much as look at him, it radiates from you.”

“But…” She sank into one of the blue-velvet chairs near the stage.

When my hands were sufficiently bandaged, I gave her my full attention. Her face had gone white, and the chair she sat in wobbled with each nervous tap of her foot.

“Oh,” I breathed. “You didn’t know.”

She shook her head and in a small voice asked, “Does he feel the same?”

Ah, crap
. It was one thing to tell her what I felt from her. It was entirely another to talk about Ian’s private emotions. She’d have to wait until he was ready to tell her he was falling for her. “I’m sorry—”

Her hopeful face crumbled.

“No, no, no. I was going to say I’m sorry, it isn’t something I think we should be talking about.”

“You brought it up,” she fired back.

I moved to sit next to her. “I know, and I shouldn’t have said anything. I lashed out at you when you were only trying to protect me.” I gingerly took her hand. “It’s Ian’s place to tell you how he feels. It’s not right for me to betray what I shouldn’t know in the first place.”

She bowed her head. “You’re right. Sorry I asked. I’d kill you if you told him what you know about me.”

“Don’t I know it?” Smiling, I squeezed her hand and winced. “I will say he likes you, a lot. And that much is obvious to the casual observer. So don’t stress. I’m sure once this crisis has settled and we get Kane—” my throat closed on his name, “—home, you’ll have time to figure it out.”

“Yeah. Now isn’t the time.” She sat with her feet spread and knees angled together, elbows propped on her thighs. She reminded me of a pensive five-year-old. It took all my willpower to not wrap her in a comforting hug. She suddenly popped up out of her chair. “Come on.”

“Where?” I followed her.

“To help your best friend and the man I love. Good God. I’ve never said that before.” She pulled the heavy door open once again and glanced back at me. “It has a nice ring to it.”

I smiled, but felt a tug at my heart for when Kat found out.

A small crowd had formed out front in the steady rain. I craned my neck, barely glimpsing a flash of red curly hair. “Kat,” I called.

“Over here, Jade. Hurry.”

I stumbled past the spectators and found Kat by Dan’s side, clutching his limp hand. A blood-soaked, white towel was wrapped around his left arm and shoulder. Another one lay folded over his chest, held in place by Kat’s hand.

“Oh, no.” I clutched my throat with one hand and backed up a few feet.

“Where are you going?” Kat cried, peering at me with tear-filled, red eyes. “The ambulance is taking too long. He needs an energy transfer if he’s going to make it.”

I froze, rain drops splattering on my face. “You want me to give Dan an energy transfer?”

“Yes.” Frustration streamed off her in massive waves. “Damn it, Jade. He’s going to die. Look at him.”

And I did, taking in everything I’d missed during my initial assessment. One leg was twisted, lying out at an angle. Blood had pooled around his limp, pasty body. Kat’s hand on his chest barely rose as he sucked in extremely shallow breaths. The white SUV was nowhere to be found.

Her total and utter panic washed over me, making my stomach turn. Worse would happen if I invaded Dan’s energy. “I don’t know—”

“I. Don’t. Care.” Her voice went hard and cold. “What part of ‘he’s going to die’ do you not understand? Use my energy or whatever you did with Ian and Bea. But do not sit there and let our friend go.”

I was about to say I didn’t know if I could, but not trying simply wasn’t an option. Dan had saved both of us once and we owed him a life-debt. Not to mention, right before he’d been hit, he’d tried to warn me, maybe even save me again, despite being under some black spell.

“You’re right.” I grabbed her hand and let her clean energy wash through me. We’d done this before, but then it had been me who’d needed her help. I threaded as much of her energy as I could hold. Her grip weakened in mine, and I shot her a worried glance.

She waved the attention away, clearly stressed I’d lost focus.

My body pulsed with the transfer. If it had been anyone else but Dan, I was certain I could have fed her powerful essence into the person without any problem. Unfortunately, I’d developed a sort of emotional energy allergy when it came to him. As soon as I touched him, heat singed my palm. The pain and instinct to recoil threatened my ability to concentrate.

No.
I would do what was right.

Kat’s unfaltering energy bubbled up. I reached for my magical spark buried deep inside. It came to life as if it had been waiting for my call. My body tingled; all my pain slipped away. A girl could get used to that kind of power.

I closed my eyes and imagined Kat’s energy feeding into him. It moved from my core down my arm, sparking in bursts of micro spasms along my skin. It moved quickly, building momentum as it traveled.

I tilted my head back in wonder, enjoying the rush, basking in it even, all the while coaxing it to Dan. The wave hit my fingertips and, instead of the magic pouring into him, it siphoned off into the ether.

Redoubling my effort, I used every ounce of strength I had to send the magic-infused energy into him. Still, the magic seemed to bounce right off him. The energy didn’t, though. Soon, color returned to Dan’s slack face and his weakened pulse beat stronger under my grasp.

His eyes started to flutter open. Kat’s hand went limp in mine. I glanced at her right as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She fell, her wet rain jacket brushing against me.

I abandoned my treatment on Dan and grasped her shoulders. “Kat? Are you okay? Are you awake?”

A tiny moan escaped her lips. “Jade? Where are we?”

“In the street. Helping Dan.”

“Dan? What happened to him?”

“He had an accident. You don’t remember?”

“Nuh-uh. Is he okay?” Her head rolled and she slumped back into my arms.

“Son of a…crud,” I grumbled.

“You went too far,” Bea said from behind me. “Transferring too much of your own essence is one thing, but stealing it from other people is dangerous and reckless.”

Her condescending tone made my ire rise. “Steal? I didn’t steal anything. She asked me to send him her energy. In fact, she demanded it. Yes, I went too far, but that was a mistake.”

Ian appeared beside Bea. “We know, Jade. We heard everything.” He crouched down and gently lifted Kat from my arms. “I’ll take her to your apartment.” He followed Pyper toward the courtyard and the side door of the building.

“Excuse me, miss. We’ve got it from here.” A stocky, black-haired EMT settled next to Dan and went to work checking his vital signs.

Dan’s head turned in my direction. His eyes locked on mine, full of something I didn’t recognize. Relief? No. It was wonder. I gazed back, unable to imagine what a near-death experience would be like. No doubt he was just happy to be alive.

Another EMT arrived and nudged me out of the way. I stood on extremely wobbly legs. My knees no longer hurt, but I hardly had the energy to stand.

Bea looped her arm around my waist. “You never learn.”

“What now?” Her accusation still rankled. If I hadn’t physically needed her help to get back inside, where it was warm and dry, I would have stalked off. Instead, I leaned on her as we inched our way toward my courtyard.

“You drained Kat, and when you couldn’t control your magic, you sent him not only Kat’s energy, but yours as well.”

“No, I…” The physical exhaustion. The irritation. The fact that I’d brought Dan from the brink of death with zero magic. I rubbed my forehead, stifling a frustrated scream. “I thought I’d figured it out. I don’t have any trouble accessing my magic. In fact, it’s still sparking inside me. Why the hell can’t I control it?”

My outburst made me dizzy. I paused and leaned against the brick wall beside the entry to my building.

Her eyebrows rose the way a teacher’s does when they have a point to make. “You didn’t count on competing with black magic.”

Adrenaline spiked through my limbs. I straightened and glanced around.

“Not here.” She chuckled. “In Dan. He’s still under a black spell.”

Anger spiked. “But you keep saying I’m a white witch. What’s the big deal if I can’t even negate the effects of a black curse?”

She pursed her lips and opened the door for me. “You think on that for a moment while we navigate your building.”

I took one look at the three narrow flights of stairs and desperately wished Ian would materialize and carry me as well. Kane would love that.

Kane.

We had to figure out a way to somehow bring him, Lailah, and my mother back. With determination, I put one foot in front of the other and slowly climbed one step at a time. When I got to the first landing, I stopped and gasped for air until I could speak. “Can any witch use black magic?”

“Nooo.” She eyed me cautiously.

“It takes a powerful one, right?”

“Yes.”

“And the powerful ones turn to black magic because…?”

The light went on above Bea’s head. “Now you’re asking the right questions.”

A few moments of silence ticked by. “But you’re not going to answer them?”

“I can’t. Only the witch in question can tell you that.”

I couldn’t imagine a worse time for a classroom-style question-and-answer session. I turned and worked my way up another flight of stairs, then the other. By the time we reached my door, I was trembling. Before going inside, I turned to her and forced out, “Witches only use black magic when they think they need more power.”

“That’s true for some witches.”

“And the others?”

“They’re just evil.”

“But the fact remains, black magic is more powerful than white magic, right?”