Shadows of Bourbon Street

by Deanna Chase

  “So what was this about?” I pointed to Kat’s tree-of-life necklace secured around my neck.

  She shrugged. “Like I said, it doesn’t hurt.”

  I flopped into a chair, totally frustrated. “Now what?”

  Kat stepped forward and handed me my engagement ring. I slipped it on my finger and clutched my hand, grateful to have a piece of Kane. “Here,” I said, reaching up to give her the necklace back.

  She shook her head. “Keep it. I like knowing you have something of mine with you just in case.” Then she held her phone out. “I got a text from Lucien. He says he thinks he knows where to find Vaughn’s brother.”

  I let my vision slip to the shadow world one more time and stared at the white light shining from the portal. I hated leaving Matisse there. How long would Bea’s pills last?

  “Jade?” Kat called, startling me from my trance.

  My vision cleared and I shook my head. “Yeah?”

  “Did you hear that? We need to meet Lucien.”

  “Right. Sorry. Let’s go.”

  ***

  Kat and I pulled to a stop in front of Lucien’s house in Mid-City. Bea and Lailah were a few minutes behind us. As soon as we climbed out of Kat’s Mini, Lucien strode across his porch and waved for us to meet him at his car. “He’s there now. We have to go.”

  I changed course mid-step and climbed into the backseat of his Jeep. Finding Vaughn was priority number one.

  Kat cast me a questioning glance as she held the front passenger-side door handle. I waved for her to get in. I wasn’t going to make her sit in the backseat of her boyfriend’s car…even if they weren’t officially dating. Whatever they were doing, they were obviously together.

  After we jumped in the car, Lucien peeled out of the driveway, and a few minutes later we were on Interstate 10, heading east away from New Orleans. Cars were stacked up miles deep trying to get into the city, and I had heart palpations thinking about getting back home later. Traffic was going to be a bitch.

  “Where are we headed?” I asked Lucien.

  “Six Flags.” He shifted lanes, cutting someone off.

  My stomach dropped to my feet and I grabbed a door handle. “Whoa, what’s the hurry?”

  “I don’t want to miss him.”

  I glanced at Kat. “Six Flags?”

  She shrugged and pulled her phone out. “I’ll text Lailah and tell her and Bea to meet us there.”

  “But I thought it was closed. Why would anyone be there?” After Hurricane Katrina, the theme park had never opened again. As far as I knew it was abandoned.

  “There’s a film shooting there today, and Mitch is a production assistant. If we hurry, we can catch him before they wrap for the day.”

  “Ah.” The line of cars on the interstate trying to get into the city was not thinning. Damn. “Have you spoken to him?”

  Lucien shook his head. “No, but I got a hold of his mom. She told me where he’d be.”

  Kat’s phone buzzed, indicating an incoming text. Her fingers flew across the screen as she sent a reply.

  I caught Lucien’s green gaze in the rearview mirror. “And she gave up the information just like that?”

  The back of Lucien’s neck turned red, and that was when I knew he was holding something back.

  “Lucien? What’s going on?”

  He met my eyes in the mirror once more and grimaced.

  Kat caught his look and raised curious eyebrows at him. “Lucien?” she asked quietly.

  He let out a long breath. “Sorry. When I heard the name Vaughn Paxton, it sounded so incredibly familiar but I couldn’t place why. I mean, the guy is ten years younger than I am. It’s not like I run in the same circles as he does. But when I started researching, I found his half-brother Mitch.”

  I scooted forward, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, I said, “And?”

  Kat reached over and turned the radio off. The road noise filled the Jeep.

  Lucien’s knuckles went white as he clutched the steering wheel. “I went to high school with Mitch. And we were at the same college for a few years before he dropped out. We weren’t friends. More like acquaintances, really. But I did spend a lot of time with him. We were on the basketball team together. It’s hard to avoid a guy in that situation. It gave me credibility when I asked about Mitch. When I casually inquired about Vaughn she was pretty vague. I’m hoping we can get more out of Mitch.”

  Lucien’s expression turned troubled as he focused on the road. Kat touched his knee and when he glanced at her, she sent him an encouraging smile.

  “What do you know about him?” I asked. “Whatever it is, you need to tell me before we get there.”

  “He’s a witch.” Lucien glanced over his shoulder and gave me an apologetic look. “But he’s not really discerning about how he uses his magic.”

  My mind immediately jumped to black magic, and fear mixed with anger coiled in my gut.

  Lucien must have sensed my unease, because he didn’t even glance at me before he started speaking again. “It’s not what you’re thinking. He uses it to manipulate people to do what he wants. Small things like getting a girl to kiss him when it’s pretty obvious she isn’t into him. Nudging professors to give him a better grade. Taking every opportunity to better his situation, even at the expense of others. He also crosses lines, and I don’t trust him. Never have.”

  “And no one ever called him on it?” I asked, feeling sick to my stomach. It might not have been black magic, but it sure as hell wasn’t ethical.

  “A few of us tried, but we could never prove it to anyone who mattered.” He shook his head. “I despise the guy.”

  “I already do and I haven’t even met him.” Entitled bastard. “You said he was a production assistant. If he’s so determined to get ahead, why wouldn’t he use his magic to run the show? Or hell, even star in the movie?”

  Lucien shrugged. “Probably because he likes to stay under the radar. That kind of thing would shine too big of a spotlight on him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was hired as an intern and forced a promotion within hours.”

  If Mitch was still up to his old tricks, then that made sense. “And you say this Vaughn guy is his half-brother?”

  “Yes. But I don’t know him at all, other than I’d seen him around some of the basketball games. But he’d been a kid then. Like seven or eight? I have no idea what he’d look like now. Not like Mitch, that’s for sure. Mitch’s mom married Vaughn’s dad, and Mr. Paxton adopted him. Mitch never talked about his real dad. Not once.”

  I sat back and took a deep breath, trying to get a grip on my anger. “How long has it been since you’ve seen him? Ten years? Maybe he’s changed.”

  Lucien glanced over his shoulder and then shifted lanes to take the exit to five-ten. “I doubt it. His tendencies were getting worse the older he got. There was a rumor he roofied a girl. Only she tested negative for any traces of drugs.”

  That got my attention. As a witch, if he had any skill at all, he wouldn’t need narcotics to alter a girl’s cognitive state. “Do you think he assaulted her?”

  Kat’s lips formed a thin angry line. We’d been put in a position when we were fifteen that had our friend Dan not stepped in, one or both of us surely would have been attacked. I knew that day was running through her mind, just as it was mine.

  “I honestly don’t know. But I wouldn’t want either of you left alone with him. He’s just one of those people I’ve never trusted.”

  “Noted,” I said and blew out a breath. I wasn’t so much worried for myself. I could hold my own in a magical battle, but Kat? That was a different story. “Kat?”

  “Yeah?”

  “When we meet him, do me a favor and stay close to me.”

  She frowned, her eyes squinting with annoyance. “I’m not a five-year-old. I think I’ve already figu
red out I should stick close to one of you.”

  Lucien glanced at her. “No, babe. Not close to me. If there’s a magical duel, I’m useless. My power is neutralized, remember? Not to mention if I were to cast anything…well, it’s just not going to happen. Stick with Jade, Bea, or Lailah for now.”

  Her expression went blank, but she couldn’t hide what was going on from me. She was suppressing a very healthy dose of frustration and fear. I reached across the seat and squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll stick together like we always do, right? You’ll keep me balanced, and I’ll send a magical sucker punch to anyone who dares get in your way.”

  Her lips twitched and then she grinned. “Yeah. I can hang with that.”

  Lucien’s shoulders relaxed and relief swirled around him.

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him not to get too comfortable, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment. “Did Lailah text back?” I asked Kat. “Are they on their way?”

  “Yes, but they’re about twenty minutes behind us now. They had to stop for gas.”

  That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear. With those two along, we could handle just about anything. Still, I was strong enough that I could probably handle Mitch on my own, even if he was an ass. And who knew? Maybe he’d grown up since college. One could hope.

  We pulled into the weed-infested parking lot of Six Flags and parked under a defunct lamppost. There weren’t any cars in sight. “Are you sure this is where they’re filming?”

  “That’s what his mom said.” Lucien pushed his door open and jumped out. Kat and I followed. We made our way to the chained entrance.

  I sent Lucien a questioning glance. “You still want to go in?” Trespassing wasn’t exactly something I made a habit of doing.

  “Do you feel any emotional energy?”

  I made a face. In general, I tried not to let my barriers down in heavily trafficked areas. Especially ones like an abandoned park. The emotions that lingered were usually the unpleasant ones. But if no one was there, I didn’t want to waste time exploring a deserted location. “Give me a second.”

  “I’ll be right here if you need me,” Kat said.

  “Thanks.” She was really good at calming me after an emotional overload. I hated to do that to her, though, since it left her a little weaker. And that was the last thing I wanted for her or any of my other friends right then. I paced in front of the gate for a few moments, and after I gathered my courage, I sent out an energy probe.

  An onslaught of every emotion imaginable slammed into me. The most prominent, terror and despair, collided in a tornado of chaos. My stomach lurched as I stumbled forward, clutching the chain-link gate. Bile rose from the back of my throat and I coughed, trying not to gag. There was a trace of excitement and joy as well, but the emotions were so faint they had zero effect on me.

  “Jade,” Kat said softly from behind me.

  If I reached back and touched her, it would all go away. I’d find peace. But if I did that, we wouldn’t find out if Mitch or anyone else was around. “I’m okay,” I said, though I wasn’t. Not really.

  You can do this.

  I had before and I would again. Pushing all the stale emotions aside, I let my gift take over and searched for those active emotions. The ones that belonged to a specific signature and were always changing. It took a few moments, but then a trickle of annoyance, mixed with greed, filtered through the noise. Faint traces of other active emotions brushed my psyche, but I couldn’t quite place them. We were too far away.

  I slammed my walls into place and stepped away from the gate. “There are people here. But they must be a ways away. I can barely feel them through the echoes.”

  “Echoes?” Lucien asked.

  “Emotions left by people who were here before,” Kat told him. She held her hand out to me.

  I shook my head. “I’m okay.”

  “For now. But what about when we get closer to them? You look a little pale. Come on, Jade. This is what I’m good at. Let me do it.” She stretched her arm farther, waiting for me to accept her touch.

  I couldn’t help but smile. That was what best friends were for. Taking her hand in mine, I let her calm energy give me the boost I needed to feel whole again. I squeezed her fingers gently and let go. “Thanks. Are you okay?”

  She wrapped her arms around herself. “Jeez. That was sort of intense.” Before I could apologize, she held her hand up. “I meant all those echoes. That was something else.”

  “You felt that?” Normally she just got a little tired. It was rare for her to feel what I did.

  “Yeah. Weird. Anyway. Let’s do this.” She glanced at both of us and then slipped through a hole in the fence.

  Lucien and I looked at each other. I shrugged. “You heard the lady.”

  Chapter 17

  The amusement park was a ghost town of creepy despair. We entered what must have been a quaint main street of shops at one time. Now the buildings were deserted, the windows broken, and debris lined the streets.

  “It looks like a zombie apocalypse,” Kat said, clutching Lucien’s hand.

  I had to agree. We walked in silence past each deserted and rusting ride, past the decimated building of what used to be Gotham City, and when we got to what used to be a Mardi Gras ride, I shivered at the giant, grinning, broken mask that had fallen and was propped against the wall. It was almost worse than the beheaded clown that stared at us from the asphalt.

  “Now that’s creepy,” I said, pointing at it.

  “I’ll never sleep again,” Kat added.

  “It’s just plaster,” Lucien said, but he quickened his pace, and I had to stifle a laugh.

  He was right. It was just plaster. But most of the buildings were covered with graffiti that depicted hopeful messages such as NoLa Rising. Eight and a half years later, there wasn’t anything hopeful about it. The destruction was just sad.

  I led our little group to the back of the park, where a small film crew was set up in an open lot. Lucien left us to talk to a production assistant with a clipboard. Kat and I stayed back far enough to not be in the way. After a few moments, Lucien returned. “She says he’s probably at the production trailer.” He pointed behind a building that used to be the center of a food court. “This way.”

  We wound our way through broken plastic tables and eventually came to a gate with a rusted turnstile. The gate was closed, and instead of trying to open it, I jumped over the rusty metal bar.

  Kat laughed at me and went through a section of the fence that had been cut away.

  I shook my head. “Showoff. I didn’t see that.”

  “Obviously.”

  Lucien ignored us as he stared straight ahead. I followed his gaze and locked eyes on a black-haired man in his early thirties. He was tall, maybe six-two, with a narrow waist. His chest and shoulder muscles bulged against his white T-shirt. There was no mistaking he spent a lot of time at the gym.

  Lucien strode forward, his hand stretched out. “Mitch, it’s been a long time.”

  They were a mixed pair. Lucien had blond hair, was a few inches taller, and was long and lean with corded muscles. But the biggest difference was that Lucien had kind eyes and exuded goodwill. Mitch had suspicion swimming in his piercing gaze.

  Great. This would go well.

  “Boulard, what are you doing here?” Mitch, holding a coil of cable over his shoulder, took a step back.

  “Actually, we came to talk to you if you have a moment.” Lucien smiled pleasantly, seeming totally at ease. But the tension spiraling off him was making me dizzy. He didn’t trust this guy at all. This wasn’t a matter of a few nudges of will. Something had happened between the two of them that Lucien hadn’t told us about. I was sure of it. Because the emotional vibe I was getting from Lucien made me certain he would spell Mitch’s ass into Hell given half a chance.

  Mitch g
lanced over his shoulder. “Dude, I’m working here.” But then his gaze landed on me and Kat and his entire demeanor changed. The scowl disappeared and he stood up straighter, interest replacing the suspicion in his eyes. “Who do we have here?” he said with a charming, dimpled smile.

  Wow. That was some transformation. He went from creepy loner dude to cutie-pie dude in two seconds flat. However, seeing the way he reacted to Lucien before he realized he had an audience meant I didn’t buy his act for one damn second. Not to mention his emotions were locked down tight. It was almost as if he knew someone might be able to read him, and he was actively keeping his energy to himself. That didn’t usually happen unless the other person was an intuitive. And he wasn’t. His aura would’ve been tinged purple. His was a dark shade of maroon, suggesting his normal aura color was red, but right now it was tinged black, making it appear darker than it should.

  Tinged black? That could mean he was dabbling in black magic. It could also mean he was sick or severely depressed. After what Lucien had told us, my heart sank. All signs pointed to black magic. Please let Bea and Lailah show up soon.

  Was that why he had his energy locked down? Was he afraid another witch would sense it?

  A tickle of magic crept over my skin and made me want to recoil from the sheer sliminess of it. But Kat smiled and tugged me forward. “Lucien, aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?”

  Lucien gave her an odd look and then turned to me with a question in his eyes. I shook my head. I couldn’t say it out loud, but I knew exactly what had happened. Mitch had used his magic on us. Lucien hadn’t been able to feel it because his power was benched. But I had, and he’d clearly had an effect on Kat.

  Magic surged through my limbs as I imagined unleashing a magical takedown on Mitch’s ass, but that wasn’t going to help us find Vaughn or rescue Matisse.

  Lucien cleared his throat. “Mitch, these two lovely ladies are friends of mine.” He pointed to me. “Jade Calhoun. She’s our current…well, soon-to-be current New Orleans coven leader. Bea’s holding down the fort until Jade…uh, never mind. She’ll be back in charge soon enough. And this—” he draped an arm around Kat possessively, “—is my girl, Kat.”