Midnight, New Orleans Style 2
Magical Redemption
When five college friends reunite, one night changes their lives forever.
Dani O’Brien is an introverted astrophysicist who spends most of her life staring at the stars and never allowed other people’s opinions to dictate her life. Her four best friends are the closest she has to sisters and their annual gathering to celebrate a friend’s life is one of the highlights of her year.
Identical twins Gavin and Maddoc McDryw are Druids with the ability to influence the energy that every living being emits. They alienated themselves from their clan after allowing a woman they thought they loved to manipulate them. The brothers can’t figure out why they are so drawn to the quirky human but the longer she’s with them the stronger their feelings for her become. But, not everyone is happy with this burgeoning relationship. As negative forces tear them apart, can they trust in the magic of love to hold them together?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal
Length: 46,841 words
MAGICAL REDEMPTION
Midnight, New Orleans Style 2
Corinne Davies
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
MAGICAL REDEMPTION
Copyright © 2014 by Corinne Davies
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-425-0
First E-book Publication: October 2014
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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DEDICATION
For Chris, My best friend and hero.
And for the awesome group of ladies I had the honour of writing with. Alicia, Tara, Karen and Marla. I had so much fun working with you all. Thank you!
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
About the Author
MAGICAL REDEMPTION
Midnight, New Orleans Style 2
CORINNE DAVIES
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
An instinctive warning of disaster nagged at Dani O’Brien’s subconscious. In life, the smallest mistake could turn disastrous unless caught in time. She scanned the layout in front of her, looking for any inconsistencies. The next few days were going to be stressful enough for her—she couldn’t forget anything.
Everything in the world had a proper place, from the smallest cluster in the farthest reaches of space to the atoms that made up the fabric that clothed them. One gravitational shift and entire galaxies could be sucked into a black hole, not that she was too worried about a space anomaly in her suitcase.
Dani took another step-by-step perusal of everything laid out in order on her bed before it clicked. “Damn, the wand!” She rushed over to her closet and pulled out the costume bag she’d placed in there earlier. Reaching down into the bottom of it, she pulled out the thin blue stick topped with a nauseating bedazzled star on the top of it. Not that stars are really this shape, they are balls of gas. Still, modern convention has accepted this form to represent the lights in the sky. Placing the wand next to the costume she’d chosen for this year, she felt the nagging sense of unease lighten.
Most people didn’t understand the way her brain was wired, and if asked she wouldn’t have been able to explain it because she’d been this way her entire life. As a child she’d been called lazy, special, a slow learner, but it was when a teacher referred to Dani as being “retarded” that her mother had enough with the school system and their labels.
Her mom had homeschooled Dani for the next four years, then scrimped and saved to send her to a private high school and then to college. It wasn’t until she was in her late teens that a specialist had thrown out a word they’d never heard of before—Asperger Syndrome. Not that she’d been allowed to use that as an excuse. Her mom did what she always did—shrugged, adapted, and then focused on helping Dani learn the best she could. It wasn’t always easy, but a college professor had recognised the passion Dani had for the heavens and mentored her throughout her higher education. The older she got, the more she understood the sacrifices that her mom had made to help her get to where she was today. Since her dad had gone out to watch a football game with some buddies when she was little and never came back, they’d gone without the little things they loved in order to make certain she could survive in the fast-changing world around them. Graduating at the top of her class from Ole Miss and now employed as an astrophysicist, Dani was devoted to her mom and the small group of friends she’d made in school. They were her support system. The ones that had helped her to get to where she was today.
She and her four closest friends always got together this time of year. After graduation they’d ended up spread across the country, and their yearly vacation together was their only chance to get catch up�
�a vow the five of them had made all those years ago—and vows were something Dani never took lightly.
Driven by a need she’d lived with for as long as she could remember, she scanned the entire surface of her bed, again making triply certain this time she had everything. This was the ritual she had to follow every time she went on a trip. Everything had to be laid out and checked three times before she could bring herself to pack it. Last year, she’d tried to jam it all in and force herself to move forward, but then almost annihilated her schedule when she unpacked it all in the middle of an airport parking lot and checked it because she couldn’t live with the anxiety that had pounded through her senses.
With a quick check on the time to reassure herself she was still on schedule, she reached for her cell and tapped on Erin Holmes’s picture. Another step closer to being ready to leave, she had to call Erin and remind her of the time and her flights. Not that Erin would forget, but Dani was well aware of her friend’s spontaneous attitude toward life, and if she missed her flight Dani needed to know well ahead of time so she could plan.
She paced down her hallway as the call connected, and she could hear Erin’s phone ringing, and ringing, and ringing. “Pick up, Erin. Pick up, Erin.” There was a pause, and Erin’s answering machine clicked in, as did Dani’s anxiety. She paced back and forth along the narrow carpet as she waited for her chance to leave a message.
“You didn’t answer your cell phone. I know you’re there.” Dani actually growled, knowing that Erin would hear her. The old-fashioned answering machine allowed her friend to censor her calls without having to check a voice mail message. “Erin, pick up the phone.”
“Hi, Dani. I’m ready, just running behind schedule, a little.”
“A little? Oh, my God. You’re going to be there though, right? You can’t miss your flight.” Dani could feel her anxiety start to crawl up her throat and scramble her thoughts. Focus on what needs to happen and what you can control. “We’re meeting at the airport in New Orleans. You have exactly fifty-two minutes to be at the airport for check-in. We’re driving to the hotel together. You drive and I navigate. I’ve got the maps and everything.”
“I’ll be there, Dani. I promise.”
Erin had never lied to her, and if she made a promise she always kept it. The anxiety that had been climbing its way up her senses slowly retreated. “Good. I feel better. Guess what? You’re going to be proud of me.” Dani lifted the small glittery blue costume she’d picked out for this year.
“Oh yeah? Cool. What did you do?” Erin sounded truly excited for Dani, one of the things that she treasured about her friends. They never made her feel uncomfortable about her quirks and habits. They accepted her the way she was, and for Dani, finding them had literally been a lifesaver. She’d always been a natural introvert, but there’d been a while that a doctor had put her on medication for her anxiety that had spiraled her into a dangerous depression. It was almost magical the way she’d met Erin, Faina, Shayla, Heidi, and Lisette in the campus library one evening. They talked her into going out with them that weekend, and from there a lifelong bond had been created. Dani had already decided that the day she discovered a new cluster of stars she was going to name them after her friends.
Dani tucked her phone under her ear and lifted up the small dress with two hands as she described it to her friend. The sunlight streaming through the window made it shimmer even more than it had in the store. There were little LED lights sewn into the skirt that would flick on and off and “mimic shimmering stars,” according to the woman in the store. Dani wasn’t too sure of that since the only time a star stopped shining was when it went supernova. When she tried to explain that to the sales woman, she got the same strange look that she normally received from people who didn’t know her.
Normally, Dani would have left without saying anything else to make the situation more uncomfortable for both of them, but she’d been determined to do something a bit more outrageous this year. When she agreed to buy the dress, wand, wings, and shoes, the saleswoman had been much happier and nicer to her. Now Dani had a full costume she’d committed to wearing. Thank goodness Louisiana would still be warm. She’d been tracking the weather in New Orleans for the last month.
“Hey, sweetie, my shuttle’s here.” Erin suddenly cut her off. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you on my cell after I check in.”
Dani glanced at the celestial-themed clock on her wall. “Okay. Good. Run. You only have forty-six minutes. I’ll talk to you soon.”
After ending the call, Dani began to pack her bag with the same precision she did anytime she had to go somewhere. Everything had its place, and there wasn’t any superfluous waste of space in her bag. Her astrolabe was the last to be packed, and it went into her carry-on. It had been a gift from her mom when she’d graduated. Her mom had joked at the time that she should always keep it with her in case she became lost—she could always find her way home. There hadn’t been a day since that she left home without it. Rationally, she knew that he’d been teasing her, but it had become a type of safety blanket for her. As long as it was with her, nothing could go wrong during her travels.
* * * *
Dani grabbed her bag from the carousel and smoothly lifted it off and moved back through the crowd of people to Erin. Landing in a new place and trying to get her belongings was always stressful for her. The bright green pom-poms she always kept tied to the suitcase handle made it much easier to pick her bag out of the hundreds that passed in an endless roundabout that made them all look the same to her.
She glanced over at Erin, who had squeezed past a large group of people all wanting to get their luggage, too, and was struggling with her own bags. Erin looked elegant and beautiful as always, but something about her this time wasn’t quite right, only Dani couldn’t figure out what.
“You really need to start packing lighter if your bag is that heavy,” she called out, but Erin didn’t hear her. As the bag continued to move down the carousel and Erin didn’t, Dani worried that her friend was going to take a dive into the revolving baggage and get sucked into the depths of the airport.
“Erin!” Dani yelled, dropping her own bag before rushing to her side. “Are you okay?” She looked over her friend. Erin seemed to be physically okay, but her breathing was far too harsh for someone trying to lift a bag. “When it comes around again, we’ll both grab it.”
“Sounds like a plan. I think I’m just tired, that’s all.”
Yeah, I’ve heard that one before. “Funny, my ex used that same excuse when he couldn’t hold an erection.”
They both laughed, and when Erin’s bags made a second appearance they got them on the first try. They weren’t all that heavy after all, making Dani wonder why Erin couldn’t have lifted them before. She must have been off balance and just couldn’t get the right angle.
After that, gaining the car they’d reserved and travelling to the hotel went smoothly, and Dani was so relieved to be finished with that part of the trip. Unpacking in a strange place was almost as stressful as packing for Dani. She took a deep breath and tried to remember that this trip was different from others. She didn’t have the added stress of trying to fit in with work associates. This trip was all about being with her friends, and she could be herself.
They’d already planned to start their evening at the hotel bar, which is what Dani was truly looking forward to. It had been ages since she’d been out dancing. Going out to a loud crowded bar was such a charge for her. Normally when she was bombarded by lots of noise and lights she’d find it all overwhelming, but on a dance floor she could close her eyes and let the music waft over her and move with it. She didn’t care if she was dancing with anyone or herself. It was perfect to simply be.
Knowing that the stress of travel and being in a new place had her close to her sensory limits, she took a much-needed nap. A blindfold and noise-deafening headphones helped to soothe her agitated senses. When she woke up she felt a hundred times better and stronger. Dani sh
owered and sent a text to everyone letting them know she was up and checking on dinner plans. Having slept later than she’d expected, her friends had already gone out for something to eat, allowing Dani to order up some room service and take her time getting ready for their plans.
After showering and moisturizing her skin with her favourite coconut-lime body butter, she wiggled into the costume she’d bought for the occasion and looked at herself. Oh, god. I don’t even look like me. The woman looking back from the mirror looked like a stranger, and Dani tugged on a piece of her own hair to make certain it really was her. It was quite disconcerting, and for a moment she considered not dressing up at all, but that would go against her goal for this trip. Every year she tried to do something new, something to celebrate her life. Lisette had always encouraged her to do things outside her comfort zone. Since Dani’s comfort zone was very small, it didn’t take much.
When Lisette had been killed ten years ago, Dani swore that she would do something every year that challenged herself. When the five of them decided to visit New Orleans this year, she did her typical research and quickly realized that, being in such a mystical place over Halloween, maybe she could be something truly different.
Being an astrophysicist meant that Dani spent most of her life looking to the skies and stars, but not the way the term was usually meant. She was a tried and true realist. There wasn’t anything out there that couldn’t be proven one way or another. That is what her life revolved around—numbers and calculations, proving the things they knew were out there but couldn’t see. For this one night, she’d decided to dress up as her polar opposite. Everyone knew that magical beings weren’t real, but she thought it wouldn’t hurt to pretend for one night.
Magical Redemption Page 1
