Shadows of Bourbon Street

by Deanna Chase

  Girl? Had he just publicly claimed Kat in front of this psycho? Idiot! He could’ve just put her in danger. I glanced at Kat to find her beaming, and I suspected this was the first public declaration that they were indeed a couple.

  Damn Lucien. Obviously he was marking his territory. But she didn’t seem to mind in the least. I struggled to keep from reaching over and smacking the back of his head.

  “Hello.” I held my hand out. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  Mitch stared at my hand as if I’d just offered him a flaming bag of dog shit.

  “Something wrong?” I asked, not backing down.

  “No, no.” He quickly shook my hand. “Just in a bit of a hurry. The crew is waiting.”

  I let my arm fall to my side and actively forced myself to not wipe my hand on my jeans. It was itching with unease. There was something seriously off about him. If Vaughn was anything like this guy, Matisse was right. We wouldn’t want him anywhere near her. I prayed he wasn’t.

  Kat held her hand out to him, and he smiled, taking her hand and holding it in both of his. Interesting. He was definitely hiding something from me, either because I was an empath or because I was a witch. But he knew Kat was neither. I’d guess he was trying to spell her, but I couldn’t sense any magic.

  “It’s lovely to meet you, Kat.” Mitch flashed her a thousand-watt smile. She smiled shyly and didn’t seem to notice he hadn’t let go of her hand yet. I glanced at Lucien, who was scowling.

  I tugged on Kat’s other arm, gently pulling her away from him. “You don’t want to hold him up.” I gave Mitch a fake smile. “If you don’t mind, can we wait here for you? There’s something we need to ask you about.”

  The alluring charm he embodied so well slipped, and irritation flashed over his features for a second. Then it cleared just as fast. “I don’t know how long I’m going to be. It might be better if—”

  “We only need a few minutes, Mitch,” Kat said with that flirty smile of hers. “If you don’t mind, maybe we could walk back with you and we could chat on the way.”

  He regarded her with what appeared to be genuine interest, and although I couldn’t sense anything he was feeling, I got the impression he was calculating something. But what? And why? He had no idea what we were going to ask about. Or did he? “Sure, sugar. You can walk back with me. I think that’ll be just fine.”

  Lucien stepped forward, and I thought he was going to burst a few blood vessels, judging by the veins trying to pop out of his forehead.

  I put my hand on his arm, holding him back. Leaning in, I whispered, “Let her schmooze him.”

  Lucien gave me an incredulous look. “You’re joking, right?”

  Kat fell in step beside Mitch, and the pair slipped through the fence back into the amusement park.

  “No,” I said to Lucien as we trailed behind him. “He’s clearly not pleased to see you and he’s suspicious of me. But Kat? He’s interested.” I took a breath, gathering courage. Letting her deal with a snake like him put me on edge, too, especially if he was a black magic user. But I was right behind her. I could step in at the first sign of any trouble. “And this gives her the opportunity to help us. You know how hard it is for her, always being on the fringe of the supernatural world.”

  A thick fog of jealousy clouded around him as he shot eye daggers at the back of Mitch’s head.

  “Deep breath,” I said. He turned his murderous gaze on me, and I held my hands up in defense. “Hey, I’m on your side.”

  “Just watch him. He’s bad news.”

  “Oh, I am.” We quickened our pace, catching up with Mitch and Kat. We walked behind them, listening in on their conversation.

  “I understand you’re an assistant producer on this movie,” Kat said to him. “What does that entail on a daily basis?”

  Mitch awarded her attention with a smug smile. “Why don’t you spend the day with me and find out?”

  Lucien ground his teeth together but said nothing.

  Kat laughed and playfully touched his arm. “Oh, I doubt your boss would be too thrilled about that.”

  He gave her a mock frown. “A gorgeous girl like you? The boss wouldn’t mind. Not at all. Now that guy—” Mitch jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Lucien “—his ugly mug wouldn’t be welcome for long.” He laughed and shot Lucien a smirk.

  Lucien didn’t take the bait, but Kat was going to need to do some major sucking up to coax him out of his shitty mood after we left.

  Kat’s emotional energy was a whirlwind of disgust and irritation, but she did a fantastic job masking her body language. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled at Mitch as if he was oh so amusing. “Do you get to bring guests to the set often?”

  “Nah. Most days it’s not that exciting. Like today, we’re just filming scenery shots.” Mitch waved at the cameras.

  Kat pushed her lip out in a mock pouty expression. “That’s too bad.” Then she flashed him another smile. “I’d love to learn more about the process. Maybe we could come back another day when there’s more action?”

  “Sure, gorgeous.”

  “Where is she going with this?” Lucien hissed in my ear.

  I shrugged, not sure myself.

  But then Kat did a double take and eyed one of the other workers. He had dark hair and was sort of the same build as Mitch. She glanced between the two. “Wow, that guy kinda looks like you. Brother, maybe?”

  Mitch scoffed. “Heck no. My brother builds motorcycles for a living and spends his time trolling bars. If it’s not something that’s going to get him laid, he’s not interested.”

  Motorcycles? That was interesting. I made a mental note to check the city’s shops.

  “I see.” Kat bit her lip and glanced around. “You said they’re just filming scenery? So no actors or actresses are here?”

  “Not today.”

  She glanced around the park and focused on the film crew. “That’s disappointing.”

  “But you’re here.” He inched closer to her.

  “Mitch,” I said, my senses on high alert. He was invading way too much of her personal space.

  He turned and his smile fell.

  “Sorry to interrupt, but did you just say your brother builds motorcycles for a living?”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “Oh, good. Is there a way I can get in touch with him?”

  Mitch pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Oops. Too obvious. He shifted, appearing agitated, but I still couldn’t sense one emotion from him.

  “It’s just that my fiancé has been talking about a custom bike for months now, and I’d love to surprise him, but I don’t even know where to start. If I had someone I could—”

  He held his hand up. “NoLa Custom Choppers. His name is Vaughn. But I don’t know his hours. We don’t talk much.”

  I reached out and touched his arm. Still no emotions. This guy was like a stone. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  Mitch draped an arm around Kat and tugged her toward a trailer.

  Magic shot to my fingertips as Lucien growled and moved to follow, but Mitch stopped mid-step and twisted, throwing an ugly gray ball of magic right at us.

  “Watch out!” I cried, throwing up a protective shield, and then tackled Lucien just in case. We hit the asphalt and pain shot through my knees on impact just as Mitch’s ball slammed against my magical barrier. The invisible wall flashed a putrid shade of yellow green and sizzled as it shattered to the ground.

  “Kat!” Lucien scrambled to his feet, a thin sheen of magic pulsing around him.

  It shouldn’t have been possible. Bea had neutralized his magic, but he was pulling it from somewhere.

  Kat let out a yelp as Mitch pushed her forward into an abandoned souvenir shop.

  “Lucien!” I jumped up and ran after him. “No!”


  He took off in a sprint, magic rapidly gathering around him. And then suddenly darkness crept over him, tainting his magic.

  I stopped mid-run, a cry caught in my throat. Lucien was consumed by black magic.

  Chapter 18

  My heart stuttered and nearly broke in two. My best friend was being kidnapped by a psycho, and Lucien’s soul was being claimed by black magic right before my eyes. If I didn’t stop it, he’d be lost to us. The kind, powerful witch would be a force of evil we’d have to contain, and he wasn’t likely to survive it. There was no way to save them both.

  With tears in my eyes, I said a silent prayer that Kat could find a way to escape and called up my magic from the depths of my being. The magic burned white hot as it seared through my veins. When it hit my palms, a cry ripped from my throat and a bolt of my energy zapped across the park.

  The magical energy coated Lucien, clinging to the black energy consuming him. A hollow feeling took up residence in my chest. A second later, I fell to one knee, too weak to keep standing.

  Lucien writhed, his arms flailing as if my magic was burning him alive.

  “Oh my God.” Horror filled my soul. I barely noticed the tears spilling down my cheeks. This couldn’t be happening. It was too awful to even contemplate. But it was real, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I wanted to reach out to him, to somehow siphon the magic off him, to take it into myself and make it go away. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t even stand up. I grabbed a nearby table and tried to get my feet under me, but shadows clustered around me as I slipped into the shadow world.

  I whipped my head to the side to find a hooded man inching toward me. My heart sped up and I blinked. Everything shifted again. Both of us were in the amusement park, the man covered in the same black magic. The energy pulsed and moved as if it were alive.

  “What do you want?” I demanded, shaking with the effort to focus. I’d spent all my magic trying to save Lucien from whatever had come over him. I glanced in his direction. He was lying on the ground, his body twitching and his eyes unfocused.

  Desperate, I crawled forward, trying to get to Lucien, but I only got a few feet when the man reached for me. My vision became fuzzy and my head started to spin. Then I felt a tug. Invisible hooks had clasped onto my remaining energy, and the little bit I had left was slowly being leeched from my reserves.

  “No,” I forced out and curled into a ball, trying to cut off the intrusion.

  “Jade!” Bea’s sharp voice cut through my haze.

  I opened my eyes to find her and Lailah with their arms raised and magic bursting around them. My attacker hissed and turned his attention to Bea and Lailah, his dark magic growing around him.

  “Get up.” Bea’s magical signature washed over me, and coven magic filled that place below my heart. I scrambled to my feet, fortified by the coven connection.

  “Now!” Lailah cried and without conscious thought, I joined them in the focusing of unwieldy power. Our light slammed into the man, his back arching from the onslaught of power funneling into his chest. His mouth opened and out came a roar. Where black magic met white, a fireball erupted and the connection was broken.

  “Again!” Bea demanded, and I felt her tap the magic that connected us. But before we could continue our attack, the figure turned and ran. After a few steps, he disappeared entirely.

  I blinked twice, not sure I was comprehending what had happened. But as I stared at the empty pavement in front of me, I couldn’t deny he was gone.

  “Lucien!” I said to no one and ran to his side, panic making me tremble.

  “What happened?” Bea asked, kneeling beside me.

  “Kat.” My voice broke on her name and I glanced in the direction I’d last seen her with Mitch. I swallowed hard. “Mitch kidnapped Kat, and when Lucien tried to stop him, he called forth black magic.”

  “Goddess above,” Bea whispered. “It’s the black heart curse.” She glanced over her shoulder at Lailah. “I could use your help.”

  Lailah didn’t hesitate. The pair went to work on pumping Lucien full of their magic.

  “Jade?” Lailah asked when I didn’t join them.

  “I’m sorry. I have to go after Kat.”

  I’d already started running when Bea called, “Go. Do what you have to.”

  With the strange man gone and Bea and Lailah working on Lucien, I sprinted across the park, sending my emotional energy out as far as I could. A faint trace of Kat’s signature brushed against my psyche, but I couldn’t tell if it was left over from our walk through the park or if it was her active energy.

  I sped up, gasping from the sob clogged in my throat. I’d failed her. I’d brought her into this and hadn’t done anything to help when that bastard Mitch had taken her. Kat didn’t have any way to fight back. She was a jewelry silversmith, for God’s sake. Her only power was to help stabilize my energy when I overdid it. And even that was because we’d known each other for so long, she knew me better than anyone else, not because she had a special gift. Outside of a few self-defense classes in college, she was helpless.

  I rounded the corner, and the trailer where we’d first found Mitch loomed in front of me. Kat’s energy was stronger there. A healthy dose of fear and anger made my arms itch. Kat. She was just ahead. Without knocking, I barged into the small trailer and came to a full stop.

  There was no one there. Just a mountain of cables, lights, filters, and tools. “Kat!” I called, climbing over the cables toward the back of the trailer.

  Nothing. Not one little sound. Then I heard the roar of an engine. I twisted, slamming my hands against a window. A small black truck shot by. And the only thing I could focus on was Kat’s horror-stricken face, staring out of the passenger side window.

  “Shit!” I burst out of the trailer and ran into the parking lot just as the truck’s taillights disappeared around a corner. Goddamned son of a… I hadn’t even been able to get a read on the license plate. Lucien’s Jeep was on the other side of the park. There was no way I could catch up.

  I stared at the spot I’d last seen the truck, praying they would materialize again. But I knew it wouldn’t. They were gone. Slowly, I turned around and then took off running back to Lucien.

  When I got to his side, Lucien was sitting up, holding his head in his hands. The rest of the film crew was standing around asking questions. They wanted to know what had happened and if Lucien was all right. Holy shit. Had they seen everything that had gone on? If so, they should be a lot more surprised than they seemed to be at the moment.

  “Lucien?” I asked as I kneeled beside him. “What happened?”

  “He fainted,” said a young woman wearing torn-up jeans. “He was just standing there and then…whoosh. He fell over. Could be an inner-ear thing.”

  I raised a curious eyebrow at Lailah.

  She shot a look at Bea and mouthed spell.

  Right. A suggestion spell.

  “Let’s get you up,” Bea said to Lucien and wrapped an arm around him as he staggered to his feet.

  He turned to me. “Kat?”

  I shook my head sadly and willed myself not to cry again.

  “We’ll find her,” Bea said firmly. “We need to go.”

  “Better get him to a doctor,” said one of the spectators.

  “We’ll take care of him,” Lailah said and grabbed Lucien’s hand. She whispered something under her breath and a moment later, Lucien stood up a little bit straighter.

  He met her gaze and gave her a small grateful nod. She nodded back, her eyes full of sadness.

  No one said anything on the way back to the cars. When we got to Lucien’s Jeep, I held my hand out for the keys. “Let me drive.”

  He fished them out of his pocket and dropped them in my hand.

  “Follow me,” I said to Bea and Lailah, my tone all business.

  “Where are we
going, Jade?” Bea asked gently.

  “Kat’s. We’re going to do a finding spell.” Without another word, I jumped into the Jeep and shoved the key into the ignition.

  ***

  The drive back to the French Quarter was hell on earth. The traffic was bumper to bumper and it took over two hours to go ten miles. By the time I pulled in behind a dented up green car in front of Kat’s apartment, my nerves were so frazzled I accidentally bumped the bumper.

  “Shit.” I grimaced and turned to Lucien to apologize, but he was already out of the Jeep and headed up to her apartment. I bolted, taking the stairs two at a time.

  When I caught up to him, he was standing on her porch, staring at the doorknob, a scowl on his face. I nudged him. “I got it.”

  He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and stepped aside without saying anything.

  With one zap of magic, I had the door open, and Lucien followed me inside. He strode to her kitchen and pulled out a small white dish and some herbs.

  “Kat has the herbs for a finding spell?” I asked, eyeing the items on the counter. We could’ve made do with some more basic ingredients, but the herbs were preferable.

  He nodded. “I’ve been stocking her cabinets with basics just in case.”

  In case what? In case he needed to do any spells while he was here?

  Before I could ask, he said, “That was before…the incident.”

  The incident. Right. That would be the day he’d used a minor spell and Kat had almost died. The day we’d found out about his black heart curse. And the last day he’d cast any magic until today. I placed a supportive hand on his arm.

  He shrugged it off, gut-wrenching pain radiating from him as he put a little distance between us.

  “Lucien.” I met his eyes. “It’s not your fault.”

  He shook his head, pulled out a knife, and went to work on chopping the herbs.

  A few minutes later, Bea and Lailah appeared. Bea nodded to me and went straight to Lucien’s side. Lailah came to a stop beside me. “Jade?”