by Amie Nichols
“So are we ready to go?” I ask dryly now in a sour mood, but I am trying to talk myself out of it. It is no one’s fault and I don’t want to take it out on them.
“Yep,” Jacob says getting up and he walks over to me. “You still look too sexy,” he whispers softly as he walks by me and follows Emma toward the garage.
“You mad at me now?” Luke questions. He grabs my arm and swings me around before we walk out the door. He puts one hand on my face and traces my jaw with the tip of his thumb. He is looking down at me and I can’t help but give him a smile. He’s so cute, and with his sad I’m sorry puppy dog eyes, how could I be mad. I take fistfuls of his shirt and tug while I rest my forehead on his hard chest. He takes my shoulders in his hands and pushes me back. He takes his fingers and hooks it in my shirt at the top. He peeks down my shirt. I have on a white lacy push up bra that just barely covers my nipples and Luke inhales a sharp breath.
“You are incredibly sexy you know,” he says and leans down to kiss my neck.
“Are we going?” Emma yells from the garage as Luke straightens up. I notice that he is excited when I see the bulge in his loose fitting khaki shorts.
“You better walk in front of me,” he smirks. He turns me around and wraps his arms around mine pinning them to my side. He picks me up and I can feel his erection push against me. He carries me into the garage with my legs dangling and I can’t help but start giggling.
“You think this is funny do you?” Luke says in my ear and then starts to nibble on it. It makes me laugh even harder. He sets me down in front of a large black SUV with tinted windows. I was so distracted by Luke that I never noticed it till now.
“Where’d this come from?” I ask. The front passenger side door opens and Jacob is in the driver seat. I see Emma in the back behind him looking impatient.
“It is your new mode of transportation. It is bullet proof and state of the art just like the president has,” Jacob answers me with pride as he rubs the dashboard of his new toy. I turn to Luke and just like with the clothes I’m not going to argue. He opens the rear passenger side door for me and I slide in next to Emma. After Luke gets in the front passenger side seat, Jacob picks up a small walkie-talkie type device. “M.S.L.F. is secure and on the move,” he speaks into it and starts to back out of the garage. I hear some chatter coming from the device that I can’t make out and Jacob responds, “Over,” then puts the device in the console between Luke and him.
I turn to Emma for some answers to what just happened and she shrugs giving me an I don’t have any idea look.
“What just happened, and what is M.S.L.F?” I question them scooting up in my seat and placing my head between Jacob and Luke.
“M.S.L.F. is your code name and all the security are supposed to know where you are at all times,” Jacob answers like it is just standard everyday procedure.
“What does it mean?” I’m puzzled at the random set of letters.
“No idea, you’ll have to ask Luke. He gave it to you,” Jacob states looking at me in the review mirror shrugging.
I turn towards Luke, who has his head facing me smiling down at me with that sexy wicked little grin.
“If you think about it, you’ll figure it out,” is all he says and I can tell by the way he says it that he is not going to tell me. I sit back in my seat and I start to think about the letters when a smile comes across my face as I figure it out.
“By George! I think she’s got it,” Emma says when she notices the expression on my face. “So are you going to share?” she says, and I see Jacob looking at me in the rear view mirror anxiously waiting for an explanation to what the letters mean. Luke turns in his seat and glances back to me. I see him shoot me a quick wink before he straightens back in his seat.
“No, I’m not going to share,” I tell them knowing what the letters mean, My Sweet Lilly Flower. I want that to remain between Luke and I.
Chapter 34
When we arrive in New Orleans and find a parking spot, we make our way through the crowded streets of the French Quarter. Luke keeps me on the storefront side of him and Jacob walks directly behind me, both of them on high alert. When a teenage boy bumps into me coming out of a store, Jacob grabs the poor kid by the shoulders and Luke instantly wraps me in a protective embrace. They see the look of fear in the kid’s eyes and Jacob lets him go telling him he’s sorry. The kid takes off in a fast jog down the street.
“Geez, you boys need to relax a bit,” I tell them embarrassed by what just happened. The pedestrians are slowing down and staring at us.
“Sorry, Lil’, just a little jumpy,” Jacob says taking his place behind me again as we start to walk toward Bon Dieu’s.
When we reach the store and enter, I make a straight dash for the beaded curtains that lead to the back of the store. Emma and Luke are on my heels not sure what to expect. Right before I go through the beads, Luke grabs my arm and pulls me back.
“What exactly are you looking for here?” Luke asks looking around the store apprehensively and then to the beaded curtains. “What’s back there?” He asks nervously.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. That woman came out of there,” I say pointing to the curtains. I give Luke a reassuring smile then part the beads and step through. It is poorly lit and the hallway is long and narrow. As I walk, I feel like I’m going downhill. It is a ramp. At the end of the hallway is a large opening that looks similar to the front of the store, except darker. All of the windows are blackened out just like the front, and there are shelves full of vials with small jars, but most of them I can’t read because they look like they are labeled in another language.
I walk around the shelves and see a small counter at the side of the room. Behind it is large black woman with all her long hair piled on top of her head wrapped in a scarf. She is reading a really old looking book and doesn’t look up. I am not sure if she even knows we’re here. There are a few candles lit and a dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
“God help us,” Jacob says as he steps into the room after Emma. This gets the lady’s attention and she looks up from her book. She looks old, but I almost think she is not as old as she looks. Her face has deep wrinkles and her eyes are deep set and tired. As she stares at us not saying a word, she takes a cigarette case off the counter and pulls out a long skinny brown cigarette. It looks like a cigar, but way too skinny. Lighting it and inhaling a long drag, she finally speaks.
“Ou pafèpatiisit la,” she says to us smoke billowing out with every word. I turn to Emma to see if she can translate.
“What did she say?” I ask her after a couple of seconds of her staring dumbfounded. She finally gets what I want her to do and she fumbles with her phone to get the translation.
“She said you don’t belong here,” Emma says as I am watching the woman’s reaction. She seems amused by us and takes another drag off her cigarette, the smoke wafts around her. She grins just enough that I can see her teeth are stained yellow.
“Why do you say that?” I ask the woman and the grin disappears from her face. She flicks her cigarette, the ashes landing on the floor.
“Sa ovule,” she says in Haitian. I know she understands what I have said by the look on her face. My eyes never leave hers as I wait for Emma to translate.
“She said what do you want?” Emma finally answers.
“I want to know who Samantha James was,” I blurt out staring straight into the woman’s dark eyes that now look like she is getting angry. Luke comes up behind me and grabs my shoulders.
“Let’s go Lilly,” he pleads with me sensing the tension rising in the room.
“Ou pa ta dwepozekesyon de bagayou pa konprannkounye a kite magazenmwen,” the woman says angrily now standing and staring right at me. Her eyes feel like they are boring holes in my head.
I step closer to the woman wriggling out of Luke’s grip and stare back. I am not going to let her intimidate me. I want answers and I want them now.
“She said we shoul
d not ask questions we don’t understand and that we need to get out of her store,” Emma translates. My face burns red and I am instantly mad. How am I supposed to understand if I can’t find the answers?
I slam my hand down on the counter and lean in so I am close to the woman’s face. “Tell me what happened to my mother?” I shout at her and she takes a step closer so she is against the counter, her face angrier. Luke grabs my waist and guides me back a couple of steps away from the large angry woman.
“Foolish child,” the woman shakes her head and speaks English in a heavy Haitian accent. This makes us all step back in shock. “Her was not your mother,” she says clear as day. “Now leave, this is not place for you.” She waves her hands motioning for the door dismissing us.
I’m frozen, what does she mean she was not my mother? “Come on, Lil,” Emma says as Luke and her start escorting me toward the beaded curtain where Jacob still stands.
They’re finally able to get me outside in the bright sun, my eyes squint. Luke and Emma let go of my arms after pulling me out of the store.
“I want to know what she meant,” I say turning to go back in the shop. Emma and Luke grab my arms and Jacob steps in front of the store entrance.
“Come on!” I shout, “She knows something.” I whimper and I just want to sit down and start crying.
“Lilly, stop it. I’m sorry that I got you started on this, but she was not going to give us answers,” Emma says grabbing my shoulders. “Look, we may never know and someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make sure no one knows,” she says staring into my eyes. I feel Luke come up behind me and he puts his hands on my waist.
“Lilly, let’s just take this one step at a time,” Luke consoles. “Another clue and we will find more and eventually we will piece it all together,” he says leaning down kissing me on the top of the head.
“Sorry guys, but I think we need to keep moving,” Jacob instructs standing nervously and motions for us to walk. The horde of us starts to walk down the street and I feel defeated.
“Let’s get something to eat,” Emma suggests and we walk in to a small restaurant on the corner. The hostess seats us at a half moon booth and we scoot in around it, first Luke, Emma, me, and then Jacob.
We look at the menus and decide what we want to eat. We wait on the waitress to take our orders.
“I need to go back there. She knows who Samantha was and she said she’s not my mother. So does she know who my mother is?” I ask chewing on my thumbnail not able to stop thinking about it. I never got to ask her about the article. “It’s like she knew who I was as soon as she saw me,” I tell them. Something about the way she looked at me.
“I agree. She knows something, which is why we needed to leave. Something horrible happened and she obviously was not going to tell us. It’s like a loyalty they have. They don’t talk about things they know with outsiders,” Emma interjects, “We’ll just keep looking. I think we need to go back to Cypress Grove and see what’s in all those books. We are sure to find some answers in there,” she says consoling.
“I think you need to just forget the whole thing. I think you have more than enough on your plate,” Jacob speaks up. “I mean, did you see the stuff in that room? Some of those jars had body parts in them. Some of them, I don’t know what the hell they were, and I don’t want to know,” Jacob says his face distorted into a disgusted look.
“Lilly, come to the bathroom with me,” Emma says pushing on Jacob to let us out.
“Where is it?” Luke says nervously not wanting me out of his sight.
“It’s just over there by the bar,” Emma points out as we slide out of the booth. “I won’t let her out of my sight,” she says to the boys to reassure them. We scoot out of the booth and walk into the bathroom. Emma starts to check her makeup in the mirror while I go into one of the stalls. Emma is freshening up her lip gloss when I walk out of the stall.
“You know we’ll figure it out,” Emma says as I wash my hands. She offers me her lip-gloss as she rubs her lips together and I put on a little.
“I know. It is what it is I guess. It’s all in the past, not like it will change my future, right,” I tell her as we walk out of the ladies room trying to make myself feel better.
“Hey gorgeous, come here and let me buy you a drink,” a man at the bar says to me. I ignore him and keep walking. Before I even comprehend what’s happening, the man grabs my wrist and pulls me to him so hard that I slam into his chest. I immediately start hitting at his chest to let me go, but his arm is now around my waist. He has me pinned to him. He smells heavily of whiskey and is very drunk. Within seconds, Luke and Jacob are in my sight. Jacob has his hand on the man’s shoulder and Luke is freeing me from his grasp. He pulls me off to the side and turns back to the man.
“You just messed with the wrong guy’s girl,” Luke says in a tone that I have never heard before, his fist tight. I think he is about ready to haul off and hit him, but Jacob and Luke exchange a look. The man looks like he is about to wet his pants he’s so scared. Jacob grabs the guy’s arm and starts to escort him outside. All the while, the man is pleading he’s sorry and didn’t mean me any harm. When they reach the door, I see Jacob nod to two men sitting at a small table near the entrance. They acknowledge him and get up to follow Jacob out of the restaurant
“You all right?” Luke asks as I stand there stunned, Emma next to me just as stunned.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s Jacob going to do with him? Who were those men?” I shoot questions at Luke who ignores me and guides us back to the booth. Luke is clearly shaken and I reassure him that I’m fine. I knew the guy was drunk but Luke and Jacob were near so I was in no real danger. I lightly touch his arm and it feels tense with all his muscles bulging. “Are you okay?” I ask him as I see his temple pulsate and his jaw tense.
“I really wanted to hit that guy, Lilly,” he says looking at me. Luke talking about it seems to make him calm down a bit.
“He was just a drunk idiot. If you weren’t two feet away I might have been nervous, but you were here and I knew you would be to my rescue.” I tell him this so that he knows that with him near me I’m not scared.
Jacob returns moments later and sits down not saying a word.
“What?” He asks puzzled by mine and Emma’s quizzical faces.
“Well first off, thank you. Second, who were, I mean are those men?” I say noticing them walk back into the restaurant and take their seats by the entrance again.
“Oh them, that’s Foxtrot team two,” he says so matter of fact, like we are supposed to know exactly what he is talking about. “You are so very welcome. You know that’s what I’m here for,” he says to my thanking him and gives me a warm smile.
“What in the world is FoxieFox team two?” I hold my hand up to him giving him a duh look to explain. Luke and Jacob both start to laugh at me.
“It’s Foxtrot team two,” Jacob says still snickering.
“What are they?” I demand and he answers this time.
“To put it simply, backup,” Jacob says. I can tell he is gearing up for a protest from me, but quite frankly I don’t have it in me. Even though I think it is ridiculous, I am not going to stop them from doing what they think needs to be done.
“So what did you do with the guy?” I ask and Jacob looks shocked that there was no comment about the backup.
“He just got a little lesson on how to treat a lady,” Jacob says. Just then the waitress arrives with our food and we all turn attention to eating.
After I take a bite of my burger, I start to nibble on a fry. “So Jacob, you really have never told me what you know about dark magic. I mean, I know you hate it, but I don’t know why.” I say to him and he finishes chewing before he answers me.
“I know enough not to be going around asking questions,” he bluntly tells me. “I also know that what happened to that woman in the article, you know the recently given birth and the burning is the darkest of all the magics. I was told a story when I was in
boot camp in Baton Rouge. My bunkmate told me that his great grandmother was into the dark stuff. He said that if there was a woman who was hated they would do a spell on her. They would sew the lips shut to keep the soul from escaping and then burn the body to torture the soul,” he says and all eyes are on him as he tells his horrible story. “The woman is still alive when they do all this also,” he adds the last bit of dreadful information. “And that’s not the worst part. He also told me stories of grimoires. They get their powers from human sacrifices and that might have been what happened to that woman in the article.”
“We found that book the Riders Grimoire at Cypress Grove,” Emma says. “Maybe the woman was a sacrifice,” Emma says choking down a bite of her sandwich. “That would make sense to have a woman who recently gave birth. I remember reading somewhere in old Creole days that it was believed that the baby’s soul would linger with the mother’s. If the mother died while she still had contact with the soul, the baby would die also,” she says staring at me.
“So how does that make sense? Why would they want to kill a baby?” I look at her dumbfounded.
“The soul of an innocent, such as a child, is said to be the most powerful of all. If they were trying to power a grimoire, they would want a child’s soul. A mother and child’s soul would be just as powerful as ten regular souls I would think. Right?” Emma looks at me like it makes perfect sense.
“Seems a little out there Emma,” Luke says rolling his eyes at her. “Besides, if it was Samantha, and I am saying a big IF, and Samantha is Lilly’s mom, then it didn’t work because she is still alive,” he adds for good measure.
“Just because that is what they believe doesn’t mean it really happens, and maybe Lilly’s soul was no longer with her mothers,” she argues back and all Luke can do is shake his head in disbelief.
