“Hallie, is everything okay up there?” Nicolas called out from the bottom of the steps.
When I reached the top of the stairs I peered down at him. “I’m coming down. She’s not up here.”
“I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”
Of course he had to say that. But at least he was trying to make me feel better and I appreciated the effort.
When we stepped outside, I pulled the door shut and locked it behind us. I had to go to Baton Rouge now, but I’d try to call Annabelle on my way there. If she didn’t show up soon I’d have to go into full freakout mode.
Nicolas drove us back to the manor. Liam was waiting in his car when we pulled into the driveway. I’d never seen him look so frazzled. This no-magic thing was freaking him out even more than I realized.
“You ready to go?” he asked when he stepped out of his car. “You want me to drive?” he asked, looking at Nicolas.
Nicolas must have realized the same thing as me because he said, “I’ll drive.” Liam didn’t really look up to it at the moment.
We hopped back in Nicolas’ car and Liam climbed in the back seat. It was a good drive to Baton Rouge. There would be time for me to worry and wonder about everything and that was something I had hoped to avoid. I tried finding different stations on the radio, but it was hard to concentrate.
We discussed the reasons why someone might be doing this. And honestly, the best scenario I came up with was that the vampires had found a way to get revenge. If they had had someone cast a spell against the witches of Enchantment Pointe then I had to do my best to reverse that magic.
After the long drive, we finally pulled up to the coven leader’s house. Thank goodness Liam knew exactly how to get there. We pulled into the driveway and Nicolas turned off the car.
“How well do you know the leader?” I asked.
“She has been the leader for about ten years. She takes the job seriously and she loves all the witches in her coven like family.”
Well, that was good to hear. I hoped she was nice to me as well. I needed all the help I could get. We got out and went to the door of the brick townhouse. The gaslight lantern flickered even though it was still light outside.
Chapter Nineteen
The woman answered the door right away and ushered us in. She wore a long black dress with black flats. She had blonde hair that reached to her shoulders. She wore little makeup with just gloss on her lips. Her cheeks seemed to have a natural glow. I’d thought she was probably about forty-five.
She gestured for us to enter. We stepped into the room. It was neat and orderly with a sofa and two chairs. Bookshelves lined the far wall with a lot of hardback books filling the space.
“Please have a seat,” she said.
I sat on the edge of the sofa cushion and Nicolas sat beside me. Liam took the chair across from us. I didn’t want to get too comfortable because I didn’t plan on staying long. We had to find the board members.
She took the seat next to Liam and folded her hands together in her lap. “So you are Halloween LaVeau. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I nodded.
“You’re looking for the board members?” she asked.
I bet she had heard a lot of not-so-flattering things. “Yes, I need to speak with them.”
She didn’t ask why and I was glad that I didn’t have to explain. I wasn’t sure if I should warn her about what had happened in Enchantment Pointe.
“I heard what happened at Enchantment Pointe and I’ve warned the witches here to be on the lookout for the same problem.” She pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
So I guessed someone had already told her.
“There isn’t a problem yet?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, and I am thankful for that. I’ve written down the address of the board leader. He is new to all of this, but I think he is a nice man.”
Had she met the same board members? I guessed it was only me they weren’t nice to.
I took the paper from her outstretched hand. I pushed to my feet. “I hope you’ll understand that we need to go to the address right away.”
She nodded. “I hope you’ll come back to visit sometime when things aren’t so hectic.”
I smiled. “I’d love to.”
We waved goodbye and headed toward the address she’d given us. It was a white two-story house about five minutes away. It sat near a busy road with only a few other houses around it. The other buildings were offices and that sort of thing. Nicolas pulled into the driveway.
Again we all hurried out of the car and to this man’s front door. I bet he would be surprised that I had tracked him down all the way in Baton Rouge. Why had he left without saying anything? It was suspicious that he had left just as all hell had broken loose in Enchantment Pointe. And I expected answers for that too.
A man opened the door and looked us up and down. “May I help you?”
I stepped forward. “I’m Halloween LaVeau and I am looking for Dave McCoy.”
“Hello, Halloween. It’s a surprise seeing you here.”
“Do I know you?” I asked.
He smiled. “Well, we’ve never met. I’m Dave McCoy.”
I stared at him. My mouth probably dropped a little. What was he talking about? “You aren’t Dave McCoy. I met him. He was at my house.”
He frowned. “I’ve never been to LaVeau Manor. I would love to visit someday.”
“We met someone else who said he was you. Maybe you can explain what is going on.”
He shook his head. “I haven’t left my house recently.” He pulled out his wallet. “Here’s my ID if you’d like to see it.”
I studied the name and the picture. It said he was Dave McCoy. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I hadn’t expected this turn of events. “The man was at the manor and he was pretending to be you.”
He frowned. “Did he say what he wanted?”
“They are investigating me. They sent an investigator. Her name is Charlie. Do you know her?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’ve never heard of the name.”
Okay, this was getting even more bizarre. Something wasn’t right. If the people who had been at the manor weren’t the board members then who were they?
I gave him the rest of the members’ names. The leader moved over to a desk in the corner of the room. He pulled out a photo and handed it to me.
“This is a picture of all of us together. Are these the people who were at the manor?” he asked.
I handed the photo to Nicolas so he could look too. “No, those aren’t the people. I have to say this wasn’t what I expected.”
“I’ll try to help you any way I can.” Dave McCoy took the picture after Liam handed it back to him.
“I promise I will get to the bottom of why these people are impersonating you.” I tried to sound confident.
“Like I said, I will help any way that I can,” he said.
We walked toward the door.
“We’re heading back to Enchantment Pointe now. As soon as I have more information I will call you.”
We stepped out onto the porch.
“Thank you.” He nodded.
The leader seemed honest, but I really didn’t know who to trust now. Was this a trick too? He had shown me his ID, so I had to accept that he was really the leader. I hated that I was so suspicious of everyone.
Even more I hated to utter this sentence. “By the way, the spells aren’t working in Enchantment Pointe.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“It’s been a gradual process, but at the charity festival for the coven everyone ceased being able to perform magic.”
“Has it affected other regions?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Not that I’m aware of.”
That wasn’t a lie—so far it hadn’t reached other areas. Liam seemed to be the only one in New Orleans who had been a part of this spell.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that
,” he said.
“We haven’t either,” Nicolas said.
“Thanks again.” I turned around to walk away. I stopped and spun around. “You know, I just thought of something. If I can do a spell to change my appearance to look Charlie maybe you could tell me if you know her.”
Liam and Nicolas exchanged a look.
“That is quite a spell,” the leader said.
“I can give it a try,” I said.
“I’d be willing to try,” he said.
I moved closer to him.
“Would you like to go back in to do the spell?” he asked.
I looked around and noticed that no one was around. “Actually, if you don’t mind I’d like to try it here.”
He looked around. “I suppose that would be okay.”
Liam and Nicolas gathered around. Although I figured they would no longer be able to do the spell with me. I didn’t want the leader to know that their magic wasn’t working either. I released a deep breath and stared to recite the words. The wind didn’t pick up. There were no special lights. Nothing happened to make me think this magic had worked. I tried again, but with the same outcome. This was just not working.
I released their hands. “It didn’t work, did it?”
They shook their heads. “No, it didn’t.”
This was completely embarrassing in front of the leader of the Baton Rouge coven.
I looked at him. “The spell didn’t work. Sorry. I might need the Book of Mystics.”
His eyes widened. “It’s a tough spell that not many can do.”
He was telling me it was tough. I knew that all too well at the moment.
I walked back over to him. “I’m sorry for taking away your time.”
He waved his hand. “It was no problem. Maybe it will work another time.”
I nodded. “I’ll have to find a way to make it work. If I get the spell to work once I get back to the Book of Mystics I can take a photo of myself and text it to you.”
“That would be great. Let me write my number down.” He hurried back into his place and after a minute emerged with a paper in his hand. “Here’s my number. Call or text if you need me. If I can see this woman’s face I’ll probably know who she is.”
I stuffed the number into my pocket. I hoped that was true.
“Thank you again for all your help.”
So the board wasn’t investigating me after all. That was a huge relief. Now if I could just find out who the imposters were. It probably had something to do with the Book of Mystics. There was no way I would allow them to get their hands on the book. Why did these people think they could trick me out of the book? I hadn’t been born yesterday, although I was sure they wished that I had been. I would show them a thing or two.
The three of us piled back into Nicolas’ car.
“That was not the outcome I had expected,” Nicolas said as he pulled away from the curb.
“I’ll call around and see what I can find out about the people who are pretending to be the board members,” Liam said.
We discussed the options we had on the way back to town. Unfortunately, there weren’t many. I wanted to stop by and check on my mother and Uncle Fitz. I dialed Annabelle’s number again and I knew something was wrong when she still didn’t answer.
After the long drive, we finally arrived back in Enchantment Pointe. It was still like a ghost town around that place.
“I’ve never seen it so quiet and deserted around here.” I watched out the window as we drove down the empty street.
Liam shook his head. “I haven’t been around Enchantment Pointe much, but it is scary.”
I forced my attention away from the abandoned streets. “I have to get the powers back to these people now.”
We drove down Main Street and past my mother’s store. It was sad to see it closed. Every shop was closed. How long would it stay this way? I guessed until I found a way to make it better. I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. I couldn’t let the witches down.
We had made it to Mystic Street when my phone rang. I hoped that it was Annabelle. My stomach dropped when I saw that it was my mother’s number.
“You were supposed to call me as soon as you found out something.”
I had forgotten about that promise. Now I knew I was in trouble.
“We were just on our way to your place. Have you heard from Annabelle?” I asked.
I wasn’t holding out much hope that she had.
“No, I haven’t heard from her. But I have another problem,” she said.
Those were not the words I’d wanted to hear. Hadn’t there been enough trouble for one day?
I readied myself for the worst and asked. “What is the news?”
“I can’t find Uncle Fitz. He is gone.”
Why was everyone disappearing? “What do you mean? You’ve looked around and still can’t find him?” I asked.
“Well, yes and no,” she said.
“Okay. I’m ready. Let me have the details.”
Nicolas glanced over at me as he steered through the streets.
“I looked all around the house and he’s not here, but he did leave a note.”
“He left a note? What does it say?” I asked.
Liam chuckled in the backseat and I glared at him from the mirror.
“The note says that he left so that he can help us. He’s gone out in search of who did this to the witches. He wants to fix the problem.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “Oh, this isn’t good.”
Nicolas gave me another concerned look.
“The note didn’t give any clue where he was going?”
“I’m afraid that he mentioned the Book of Mystics having the answer.”
“What?” There was no way that Uncle Fitz needed to go anywhere near that book. “I’ll have to stop him,” I said as we made another turn. “Just stay there and I’ll call you.”
“That’s what you said the last time.”
“I really will this time.”
“Sure,” she said as she hung up.
Chapter Twenty
When I hung up the phone Nicolas asked, “What was that all about?”
I put the phone back in my purse. “Apparently my Uncle Fitz thinks he can somehow fix this.”
“How?”
“I’m pretty sure that he can’t.”
“Where do you think he is?” Liam asked.
“My best guess is he went to the manor to try to get the book.”
“Does he know where it is?” Nicolas asked.
“As far as I know he doesn’t. But I guess we should go back there in case he actually finds it,” I said.
Nicolas turned on the next street so that we could get back to the main road. Now I had Charlie, Annabelle, and Uncle Fitz to worry about. Why were they all missing? I wanted to go by Annabelle’s again, but there was no time right now. I had to stop Uncle Fitz from getting the book. For a moment it crossed my mind that maybe that was his only reason for being here. He wouldn’t do something like that, right? He was family and even though we hadn’t spoken, I didn’t think he would do that to family.
My purse had been on the floor of the car by my feet. I reached down to grab the piece of paper that had Uncle Fitz’s number on it. When I did, a few items fell out. One of which was the necklace I’d gotten from the occult shop. I’d taken it out of my pocket and placed it in my purse for safe keeping. I still hadn’t seen Charlie to give it to her.
Nicolas glanced over. “What’s that?” He pointed at the necklace.
“It’s the necklace that the woman from the occult shop gave me. It was Charlie’s, remember?” I said.
Liam leaned forward in the seat. He peered over my shoulder at the necklace. “Whoa. That is the necklace you got?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Yes, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Nicolas looked over at the necklace again and said, “What the hell? I didn’t notice that until now.”
> “Notice what? You all are scaring me.” I stuffed the other items back into my purse.
“You should be scared.” Liam pointed at the necklace. “That thing isn’t good. You shouldn’t have it.”
I tossed it onto the floor of the car.
Liam chuckled mockingly. “That’s not going to be good enough to get rid of it.”
“Why shouldn’t I have it?” I asked.
“See that blue stone in the middle of the pendant?” Liam asked.
I nodded. “Yes, I see it.”
“When the stone turns to a dark blue like that it means there has been a hex placed on it. Whoever is in possession of the necklace will have the hex.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier when I showed it to you at the shop?” I asked.
“I just glanced in the bag. I didn’t get a good look.” Liam offered a half-hearted smile. “Sorry.”
“What about you?” I looked at Nicolas. “Did you just glance at it too?”
Nicolas looked at me. “It was hard to see in the bag. Sorry, Hallie.”
“A lot of good that does us now, guys. Why did Charlie have it then? The woman at the shop said she bought it. She wouldn’t buy a necklace to place a hex on herself. You mean I’ve been carrying around a necklace with a curse?” I asked.
“Did you have it the whole time?” Nicolas asked.
I looked at him and then turned my attention away. I was embarrassed to admit that yes, I had had the necklace with me the whole time. This was something I should have known about. Why was I so naïve?
“Unless the woman who gave it to you placed the hex on it and intended on Charlie having the hex.” I stared at the necklace that was still lying by my feet.
“I suppose that is possible. That necklace is bad news.” Liam leaned close again, peering down at it.
“Yeah, you already said that once,” I said. No need to remind me what a mess I’d made.
Nicolas turned onto Main Street. “That’s likely why the spells have stopped working for everyone.”
“How is that possible?” I asked. “I’m the one with the necklace.”
“I’m not sure exactly, but it is too much of a coincidence.”
He was right about that. Now I just had to find out how this necklace was stopping everyone from getting their powers back.
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