by J. N. Colon
The setting sun beamed down on my back and shoulders, still high enough to heat my skin and reflect light on the shimmering pool. My legs absentmindedly moved in the water as I sat on the edge, pensively staring into the crystal-clear depths.
How had things gotten so out of hand? Only a few weeks ago my biggest problem was breaking my deal with the voodoo king.
Okay, so that was a pretty big problem, but my life had grown even more complicated. My conduit powers weren’t so easily controlled. The slightest slip of my barriers and those electric cords lashed out, searching for something to suck up or infuse. And that latest something had been Etie while he was performing a dark voodoo spell.
It couldn’t get much worse than that.
Oh wait, it could. Lucas fell asleep in my bed and Etie found us together. The brujo was lucky to be alive.
My fingers brushed the toujou branded above my collarbone. Even if Etie knew nothing happened, the betrayal emanating from him had been thick and suffocating. I could only imagine what he was feeling right now.
The thought of losing him was enough to tear my heart out, and it wasn’t because of the soulbind. I liked Etie—more than liked. I always had. I was kidding myself thinking it only stemmed from Abuela pushing us together and then the gwo-bon lyen. My feelings ran deep, and no amount of coercion or manipulation could create them.
Etie had my heart whether he believed it or not. His darkness wouldn’t turn me away. But would my uncontrollable powers push him to the point of no return?
The back door closed, and Marisol’s shadow emerged across the concrete patio surrounding the pool. “You’re still moping, Flaca?”
I shot her a narrowed glare over my shoulder. “I’m not in the mood for your teasing.”
She held her hands up. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” She kicked her sandals off and stepped into the pool, her gold bikini catching the fading rays of the sun.
Ugh. She looked like a freaking goddess.
“He’s going to be fine,” she said, grabbing a bright pink raft from the other edge of the pool. “He just needs to cool off.”
“It’s not that simple, Mar.” I rubbed my forehead with the edge of my palm, wishing I could erase the last day of my life. “I made him lose control. He’s suffering because of me.”
She jumped on the raft, laying on her back. “Etie doesn’t blame you. That’s the last thing he would ever do.” She flicked her sunglasses over her face. “He’ll come back as soon as he’s calm.”
I choked down the lump attempting to rise in my throat. “I’m not so sure. He wouldn’t even let me touch him.” My hair fell around my face, hiding the tears shimmering in my eyes.
Marisol dipped her hand in the water, paddling closer. “Etie just needs to cool off after finding Lucas with you.”
Crimson bled into my cheeks, and it had nothing to do with the sun. “You heard about that?”
“Bastien told me.”
“He told Bastien!” My voice came out as a shrill screech, and I almost fell into the pool.
Marisol laughed and splashed water on me. “Don’t worry, Flaca. Bastien knows it was all Lucas.”
I splashed her back, but she’d floated out of my reach. “Don’t call me that. And it wasn’t Lucas’s fault. He didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
She pulled her sunglasses down her nose and shot me an incredulous expression. “Are you joking, Angel?”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
She shook her head and replaced her glasses, hiding her big brown eyes. “He may not have meant to fall asleep, but he sure as hell meant to crawl into your bed. That boy’s got it bad for you.”
I yanked the hair tie off my wrist and swept my hair into a messy ponytail. Lucas had said he would never try to get in between Etie and me. We were soul mates for crying out loud. That wasn’t something you could just break up. Lucas made an honest mistake of falling asleep. That was all. Right?
“I can see you don’t believe me,” Marisol said, interrupting my warring thoughts. “You’ll have to find out the truth the hard way.”
I scoffed. Lately, the truth had only come to me the hard way.
The back door opened again. “Speak of the handsome devil,” Marisol mumbled. “If I weren’t taken, I’d be all over that brujo.”
I hid my face in my hands. Were we even related?
“How are you?” Lucas asked as he stopped beside me. The fading sun haloed his head and made him look like a heavenly creature.
“Fine,” I lied. I was so far from fine it was laughable. My body was beginning to ache, and a ball of anxiety continued to grow in my chest. The gwo-bon lyen hated when Etie and I were separated. So did I.
Marisol waved from the center of the pool. “I’m fine, Lucas. Thanks for asking.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks flushing. “Hi, Marisol. I didn’t mean to make you feel left out.”
She shrugged. “No big.”
He motioned toward the edge of the pool beside me. “Mind if I sit?” When I shook my head, he folded next to me and stuck his legs in the water. His brown eyes lingered on me. “Haven’t heard from him yet?”
“No.” I mentally slapped myself for the whiny, pathetic tone.
“It’s my fault. Maybe I could try to track him down—”
I gripped his arm, keeping him in place. “That would be a bad idea.” I could only imagine the things an unbalanced Etie would do to Lucas when I wasn’t around. “It’s best if you leave him alone.”
His shoulders slumped. “Are you sure?”
“She’s sure,” Marisol interrupted. “Unless you want to wake up without eyeballs or some other kind of balls.”
Lucas made a face. “I’d like to keep all my body parts.”
She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’d be sad to see any of them go, especially—”
The rest of her words were drowned out by a searing pain across my lower neck. I hissed and slapped my hand over the toujou as it scorched my skin.
“Angel? Angel, what’s wrong?” Lucas’s frantic voice barely penetrated the sudden panic flooding me.
My heart tapped out a frantic beat, crashing violently against my ribs. There was only one reason my mark would burn like this.
Etie was in trouble.
Chapter 22
I directed Lucas down the empty street in Monroe, my entire body tingling. We were getting closer to Etie.
“Are you sure this is right, Angel?” Lucas’s eyes roamed back and forth as if danger was about to jump out at us.
After the searing hit my tattoo, all I could think about was Monroe. Something deep in my soul knew where its mate was, and I had to get to him.
We stopped at an abandoned factory, two stray dogs sitting in front of the double doors. I glanced at the crumbling brick façade, my brow furrowing. Things weren’t as they seemed. Faint tendrils of magic swirled through the air.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Lucas muttered, his gaze trained on the strays.
I surveyed them, meeting their intelligent eyes. Too intelligent. “Loogaroo.”
Lucas gave a curt nod. “They're guarding this door. It leads to a club.”
My head snapped around. “What kind of club?” Why would Etie be at a club?
“A place for the magically gifted.” His fingers curled around my wrist. “We shouldn’t go in there.”
I swallowed a hard rock down my throat, feeling it sink all the way to the pit of my stomach. A club full of witches and voodoo casters? This was bad news with a capital B. If the wrong witch or voodoo caster realized I was a conduit, I was in deep doo.
But I couldn’t leave. Not without Etie. There was a reason my mark flared.
“Etie’s here. I have to find him.”
The two black dogs parted, and I pushed the doors open, Lucas grumbling in my wake. A wall of magic slammed into me, and I fortified my barriers. If they stayed in place, I’d seem like another witch among them.
Bodies gyrated
on the dance floor. Eyes glowed brightly with voodoo magic while others took on an electric violet hue. The art deco style was opulent and lavish with striking angles in gold and silver mixed with deep black and soft velvet. A long bar stretched across the left, tall onyx-and-gold chairs lined in front. The bartender’s blue mohawk gleamed in the lights behind the liquor bottles. He froze mid-stir of a drink. His eyes lifted to mine, purple melting over the dark brown.
He was a witch.
Tingles radiated down my spine as he continued to watch me, forgetting all about the thirsty patrons.
“Keep your walls up, Angel,” Lucas hissed behind me, stealing my attention away from the witch bartender.
“I will.” When I turned back, the guy was at the other end of the bar, serving a group of scantily clad girls.
My lips thinned. Was Etie somewhere around here, flirting with a girl like that? Maybe my toujou was trying to warn me he was unfaithful.
My teeth ground as I choked back the waves of jealousy. I just needed to find him.
After my gaze traveled back and forth like a ping pong ball, my head lifted to the balcony above the dance floor. A swarm of hummingbirds fluttered inside my stomach. Etie was leaning against the railing, staring out toward the crowd.
Thank the voodoo gods—except Baron Samedi of course.
A beautiful woman was next to him, her dark mocha skin glowing in the flashing club lights. Her long fingers trailed down his arm in an intimate way.
My blood boiled. I wanted to chop that hand off.
“Angel,” Lucas warned. “Keep it together.”
I swallowed back the possessive emotions before they started affecting my powers. The walls protecting me had barely slipped. No one in the club noticed I was anything other than a regular witch. No one except Etie. Those mismatched eyes landed on me, widening.
My pulse spiked. No matter what was behind that look, seeing Etie always sent a thrill through my stomach. It only took a moment for his shock to pass and anger to drown those sensual features.
He brushed by the woman. Her gaze landed on me, a perfect brow arching. She was a voodoo caster, a powerful one. Now that my magic was unbound, my senses were opening to a whole new world.
As I held her stare, I got the very distinct feeling she wanted Etie—his power and his body. Not happening.
As if she heard me, her lips twitched in challenge.
“You brought her here?” Etie hissed, his eyes burning into Lucas.
My hands flattened on his chest, trying to put distance between the two guys. “I asked him to.”
His nostrils flared. “Why would you be so reckless, Angeline? You need to leave.”
“No.” Not without him.
Power rippled around him. “Leave or I’ll make you.”
He really had that Neanderthal thing down pat.
“I thought something was wrong.” I touched my mark. “My toujou was on fire, and all I could think about was getting to you.” My voice faltered, and I took a deep breath. “It led me here. What else was I supposed to do?”
Etie’s expression softened. “I’m not in any danger.”
My gaze flickered toward the woman. “Are you sure?”
Lucas grabbed my hand, a move that didn’t go unnoticed by Etie. “We should go. There are too many witches and casters.” His gaze was focused on the mysterious voodoo woman watching from the balcony. “It’s not safe.”
A growl rumbled through Etie’s chest. “Get your hands off my girl.”
Lucas didn’t release his grip. “Someone needs to protect her. It doesn’t look like her soul mate is doing a very good job.”
Uh-oh. Did Lucas have a death wish?
Etie stepped forward, sandwiching me between him and Lucas. “You think you can come into town and steal her from me? I know that’s what you want.”
“Etie, please.” I tried forcing him back. He didn’t even budge an inch. “Lucas is only here to help me.”
A barking laugh escaped his lips. “He’s here to help you—and to show you he’s better for you than me.”
When Lucas didn’t deny it, I glanced over my shoulder. He was giving Etie a hard glare, but no protests fell from his lips.
“I’m her soul mate, not you,” Etie hissed. “Even if you are better for her, you’re too late. She’s mine.”
“She’s not a piece of property.” Violet began to eclipse Lucas’s eyes. “You don’t own her.”
Without warning, Etie moved me out of the way and hit Lucas with a voodoo spell. “Tounen!”
Lucas soared backward, parting the crowd. People scrambled out of the way and turned their attention to the sparring magical beings.
“Stop it!” I shouted. “You guys are being ridiculous.”
“We belong to each other. Don’t you get that?” Etie lifted his hand. “Desann.”
Lucas crashed back onto his butt, sliding across the floor.
“Stop it, right now.” I marched after Etie, sensing tendrils of darkness slithering over his light.
“I’ll stop when he quits trying to steal you from me,” Etie growled.
Lucas shot a ball of energy at the voodoo caster from the ground, narrowly missing his head.
My eyes widened. “Hey!” I hadn’t expected Mr. Calm and Collected to use that kind of dangerous magic.
A sneer pulled at Etie’s mouth. “You want to play like that, brujo? You do know who you’re up against, right?”
Lucas climbed to his feet, not one ounce of fear in his purple-tinted eyes. “How could I forget? The powerful pouvior bokor. Bring it on.”
“No!” The objection fell on deaf ears. Lucas was provoking a snake, and he was going to get annihilated. Where had my Zen master gone?
Lucas tossed another energy ball at the voodoo caster, missing. I ran between them before Etie could retaliate. He used voodoo to slide me out of the way and sent a wall of power toward Lucas. My heart shuddered to a stop as the destruction began to unfold. Magic swirled through the air, hard and dark.
They were going to kill each other.
My shields suddenly dropped, and a tiny purple tendril snapped out, latching onto Lucas. I sucked magic from him, and an energy ball formed in my palm. I didn’t even have time to wonder at what I’d done before tossing the crackling light at the wall headed toward him.
An explosion of sparks ignited, shaking the entire club. The other patrons watched the firework show with slack jaws.
Etie halted, his luminescent eyes shifting toward me.
“I said stop!” The command was filled with power, and for several moments, not one single person moved.
“Show’s over. Everybody out.” A smooth voice echoed above. The woman still stood on the balcony. The shimmer of excitement running through her eyes made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “The night’s over. Get out of my club. We’re closed.”
I winced from the power lacing her words. People scrambled for the door to escape her glowering stare. She wasn’t a bokor, but she was more powerful than your average voodoo caster.
Etie marched toward me and grabbed my hand. “Go. Now,” he hissed.
“Not you three.”
I glanced over my shoulder. There was no mistaking who she was talking to.
Great.
Etie’s jaw clenched, and a string of angry French poured from his mouth. It only took a minute for the other club goers to clear out. The doors swung shut, locking us in.
I shifted uneasily. I didn’t like this. Not one bit.
Etie’s fingers wove through mine, and he pulled me closer. “Don’t let go of me, cher.”
Yeah, not a chance.
“What do you want, Mama CeCe?” Etie’s eyes pierced her. “I’ll humor you for a minute, but let’s make it fast. I don’t got time for this.”
A dark smile crossed Mama CeCe’s lips as she slowly stalked down the red velvet stairs. “You been keeping quite the secret, Étienne.” Her onyx eyes lingered over me as if I were a piece of juicy steak. S
he even licked her lips. “What a powerful little bruja.”
Lucas moved closer, pushing me into Etie. I was the meat inside a hottie sandwich. “Back off, priestess.”
Her head tilted. “Smart brujo. You know your magic.”
And what exactly was a voodoo priestess? She couldn’t be more powerful than Etie.
“A pouvior bokor and a conduit joined.” Mama CeCe was practically salivating. “The power between you two is unheard of.” Her hand reached out, long fingers undulating in the air in front of us. “I can feel it.” Her lids drifted closed, and she breathed deeply. “Light and dark, electric and hot.”
“Back off.” Etie’s growl vibrated through my body, and tiny pops of electricity traveled between us. “You won’t touch my alimèt, Mama CeCe. And if you try, so help me, I will bury you inside this club as I bring it down.”
Her ominous laughter sent chills down my spine. “Oh, Étienne. You are something to be feared, that is for sure. But when faced with such a sweet combination...” She motioned one long finger toward us. “Well, the threat of death ain’t such a terrible thing.”
I choked back the waves of dread. This woman wasn’t to be messed with. Something about her reminded me of Baron Samedi, and it turned my stomach queasy. I didn’t want to tangle with her, and neither did Etie. I could feel his hesitation, but if necessary, he would take her on even if it meant losing himself in the darkness again.
I really didn’t want that. He was still so out of balance.
“He’s not the only one you’ll have to contend with.” Lucas’s fingers wiggled, a ball of swirling purple light taking form.
She laughed. “I’ll have you skinned before you can hit me with that thing, brujo.”
“Enough!” Etie snarled, his voice echoing hollowly through the empty club. “You want to challenge me, Mama CeCe? Prepare yourself.” The snake on Etie’s back began to move, a rattling filling the room.
