by Deanna Chase
“Stay away from my brother, Emerson,” the woman who had to be Mia said. “You already have half the county as your minions. You don’t need him too.”
“Clearly I do if I’m to keep you in line,” he shot back, stalking toward her.
Neither had so much as glanced in my direction. I couldn’t tell if they knew I was there or not.
Emerson reached out and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her a couple of inches off the floor. Bo rushed forward as I reached for my dagger. Adrenaline rushed through me, igniting the growingly familiar magic inside me.
“Put me down, Emerson,” Mia ordered.
Her words made me pause. Someone who was being choked shouldn’t have been able to speak so clearly. I studied her. Emerson’s hand was indeed wrapped around her neck. His knuckles were going white with the force of his grip. But she appeared unaffected, as if he wasn’t even there at all.
“You son of a bitch!” Bo cried and tackled Emerson.
“Bo! No!” Mia landed easily on her feet, but Emerson and Bo crashed to the floor. Bo landed a punch to Emerson’s temple that had the biker rolling and scrambling to get away from him.
I moved in, blue magic racing up and down my dagger.
But Emerson, who never even looked back at me, shot a bolt of magic right at my chest. On reflex, I brought the knife up, barely managing to block the spell before it blasted me across the room. The electric power crashed into the wall, sending splinters of rough wood across the room.
“You ungrateful little bastard,” Emerson snarled at Bo. “This is what I get for taking you in after your father abandoned you?”
“You think you get credit for giving me a cot and letting me make you your meals? Or for running tourists around the bayou when all you ever paid me was gas money? And the whole time you’ve had my sister locked away in this camp, cultivating your special pot plants and mixing hallucinogens? You’re sick.”
Pot? Hallucinogens? Emerson wasn’t just running a chop shop but manufacturing drugs too? I glanced through the open door of the kitchen and spotted a long table full of herbs, mason jars, plastic bags, and scales. I’d been so focused on Mia and Bo when I’d come in, I hadn’t even noticed. Jeez. What had we stumbled into?
“You need to shut your mouth, boy.”
Bo’s face turned a dark shade of maroon, and he once again lunged for Emerson. But the biker was too fast. His hands came up and he shot raw power at Bo.
“No!” Ida May materialized out of nowhere, solid and once again in human form, and took the electric magic right in the chest. She froze, her eyes wide and her mouth open in an O shape. Everyone stilled as we watched her body turn to ash, then vanish into thin air.
Even though I knew she was a ghost, it was still jarring to see her erased so completely. My ire rose to unbearable levels, and I clutched my knife harder.
“You destroyed her!” Bo raged and swung, bashing the big biker in the side of the head.
Emerson stumbled sideways, grabbed a nearby wood chair, and hurled it at Bo. The teenager was too agile though and leaped over it right onto Emerson.
Mia and I both ran to help Bo, but Emerson let out a roar and threw Bo into the wall. His head hit the wood siding with a sick thunk, and he slid down the wall in slow motion, crumpling when he hit the floor.
Holy hell. If we didn’t stop Emerson, he was going to kill Bo. I was certain of it. Mia skidded to a stop and retreated back to Bo. But I didn’t. With each thunderous beat of my heart, my magic built. It coursed under my skin, itching to be used.
Running forward, I raised the knife, determined to stop him one way or another, but when I was two steps away, Emerson flung his hand out toward me. An invisible force field appeared, keeping me trapped and helpless on the other side.
“Mia!” I cried, getting her attention.
She glanced up from her position where she was crouched beside Bo, holding his head as she whispered to him.
“Get him out of here,” I yelled.
Too late. Emerson grabbed her by the ankle, spun her around, and sent her flying into the nearest wall. She hit and bounced right back on her feet, already moving toward him.
“Consto!” he shouted, pointing at her.
She froze midstep, her eyes narrowed and fists clenched.
“Damn you, Emerson!”
He ignored me and stalked over to Bo.
I banged on the solid force field, and when all I did was bounce off, I clutched my knife, took a few steps back, and then rushed the wall, dagger raised. The moment the tip pierced the invisible wall, fiery pain shot up my arm. I screamed, the agony nearly making me pass out.
“Pyper!” I heard Julius call from behind me, then felt a cooling sensation splash over me as if I’d been doused in cold water.
My dagger clattered to the floor, only mere inches from Emerson’s reach.
“No,” I breathed.
Julius’s strong arms wrapped around my waist, steadying me. “I got you.”
I glanced up into his green eyes and was almost knocked over with the concern shining back at me. “Thanks,” I said, already spinning out of his embrace as I heard Emerson start a chant.
Mia was still frozen in place. Bo was propped up against the wall, trying and failing to get to his feet. He was hurt. A knee or ankle since he wasn’t able to put any weight on his right leg.
Mist rose up around Emerson as he reached down and picked up my dagger. With pure evil shining back at me, he met my eyes and placed the dagger against his palm. Then he turned toward Bo and started the incantation. “Bound by blood, bound by bone, let my offering be the promise that you will never be alone.”
“Binding spell,” Julius gasped out and ran forward, his powerful magic lighting up his hands. Emerson saw him and once again sent the invisible force field up. Julius didn’t let it stop him. His magic blew a hole in it with no trouble, sending a million tiny little cracks through it until it shattered. Live magic flew through the air, a good portion of it landing on Mia. The second the magic cloud hit her, she sucked in a gasp of air, her chest heaving.
“Whoa.” That amount of magic should’ve been deadly. But she had survived it. How? And if she was that powerful, what had kept her here for so long? A binding spell, or fealty? She sure hadn’t seemed like she was following orders.
“Blood and bone, blood and bone,” Emerson chanted, magic radiating off him in waves. “From now until the end of days, your heart is as cold as stone.” Black ropes of magic spewed from his fingertips, snaking their way toward Bo.
I sucked in a sharp gasp and turned to Julius. “We need Jade.” She was the only one I knew who could fight black magic and win.
“Go!” Julius pointed toward the door as he moved to somehow help my brother. But before I got to the door, I heard Mia’s high-pitched scream and turned around just in time to see her jump in front of the black ropes.
I clasped my hand over my mouth to keep from crying out and watched as the ropes slid easily into her, winding and twisting and invading every part of her until her eyes went pure black. Then she rose in the air, palms out, long hair flying behind her.
“You stupid—” Emerson was cut off by her scream.
Mia’s mouth opened, and the black smoke vines came pouring out, wrapped around her body, and tightened. She went silent and hung there for a second, her big, round black eyes seeing nothing. Then her body turned to ash, just like Ida May’s had. The particles floated down but vanished before they hit the floor.
Mia was gone. Just like Ida May. That could mean only one thing: Mia was a ghost.
25
“Mia!” Bo called from his spot against the wall. He forced himself to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall to save putting weight on his right leg. “You killed her!”
Emerson shrugged. “Five years ago, but she’s bound to me, so she’ll be back soon enough. And you’ll be right here waiting for her.”
Julius and I shared a glance. Black magic was nothing to be messing with.
Finding Jade would be ideal, but the fact that she hadn’t made it up to the camp meant she was still handling things below. I gestured to the door and mouthed her name, but Julius shook his head. Instead, he pulled out an item I’d forgotten about completely.
The jar of green slush he’d gotten from Avrilla that day at the Swamp Witch. Then he produced the gator claws and tossed them to me. I studied them, wondering what I was supposed to do with them, trying to recall what Avrilla had said. For protection.
Emerson held my knife up, pointing it toward Bo. “You’re turning out to be more trouble than you’re worth.”
“So kill me too then,” Bo shouted. “I don’t have anybody anyway.”
My heart seized, and suddenly it was hard to breathe. I’d just found him, and the fact that he was ready to surrender to his abuser was more than I could process. I ran forward and put myself between them. “You have me, Bo. Always. And I’m not letting anyone get in the way of my knowing my little brother.”
“Brother?” Emerson scoffed. “You’re related to that trash?”
“You’re the only one here who’s trash. Now back off before I stab you with that dagger.” I nodded to the knife in his hand, forcing my bravado. How I was going to get it away from him, I had no idea, but I was tired of being afraid of the bully. I tightened my grip on the alligator claws and waited for his next move.
He raised the dagger, inspecting it, then held it out to me as if taunting me to come and get it. Before I could do anything, he flicked his fingers at me as if I were an annoying bug. But the force behind the magic that followed slammed into my gut, bounced off, and left me relatively unharmed, as if I were wearing a Kevlar vest designed specifically for magic.
“What did you do?” he roared, moving toward me.
“Nothing.” But the gator claws in my hand had turned to dust, and I knew Avrilla’s advice had saved my life. I narrowed my eyes and gazed over his shoulder at Julius. He had the jar open, and the green goo was oozing out in a noxious cloud. The stench made me gag, but more importantly, it distracted Emerson.
He glanced over his shoulder, and whatever he saw made him drop his guard just long enough for me to rush him. Calling on my self-defense training, I grabbed his wrist, twisted it behind his back, and pushed him forward so he was leaning down. Total rookie move, but he’d been unprepared and dropped the dagger at my feet.
“You bit—”
Without hesitation, I brought my elbow down on his neck with so much force we both went down. He thrashed while I rolled, reaching for the hilt of my dagger. The cool metal hit my palm, igniting my magic and sending me bouncing up on the balls of my feet. My heart thundered, and it took me a moment to process what I saw.
Emerson was still on the floor, but the green gas had cleared. I blinked, certain my eyes were playing tricks on me.
But no. They weren’t.
Avrilla had emerged from the green gas and was now standing over Emerson, one spiked heel positioned against his neck. “It’s time to say good-bye, Emerson,” she said, her voice calm, almost soothing. “Your days of torturing my children are over.”
“Mom?” Bo asked, his voice full of awe.
I glanced between the two, understanding and wonder sending chills up my spine. Avrilla was a ghost as well and had done everything in her power to help free her daughter and to save Bo from his inevitable fate.
“Hi, honey.” She smiled at him, but when Emerson jerked, she pressed harder, her heel appearing dangerously close to his carotid artery.
“Go ahead, Avrilla. That might slow me down, but it won’t kill me,” he said with a growl.
“No, but this will.” She pulled an identical dagger to mine out of her dress pocket, and in one swift movement she slammed it into his back. He lit up with blue light but didn’t freeze as he had when I’d stabbed him. Instead, he rose up, and with rage in his dark eyes he took one look at her, then turned and unleashed a massive amount of power into Bo’s chest.
My brother rose off the ground, suspended by the magic, his body convulsing as if he were being electrocuted. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his skin turned gray.
“Bo!” Avrilla screamed and reached for him, but the moment Emerson’s power touched her, she vanished.
Instinct took over, and although I sensed Julius calling on an incredible force of power, I was already moving. Magic so powerful, so incredibly intense, vibrated through me, and when I leaped, I literally flew across the room and buried the knife in Emerson’s heart.
The biker went completely still, then fell with a loud crash.
I landed gracefully on my feet, dagger still in hand. It was then I realized I’d never let go. I stared down at the man who suddenly looked ashen. His eyes were sunken and his hair had turned gray. There was no blue magic keeping him in limbo. No dagger still in his chest. Nothing.
I’d killed him.
My dagger fell to the floor as I started to tremble. My knees gave out, and I would have crumpled to the floor if Julius hadn’t caught me.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You’re okay. Everything is okay.”
I leaned into his chest but then jerked back. “Bo!”
“He’s going to be fine too.” Julius turned us both so I could see Bo sitting up with Avrilla beside him. She had her arms around him and was holding him in much the same way Julius was holding me.
“Thank the goddess,” I breathed.
“You were amazing,” Julius said softly. “Incredible.”
I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. I’d done something no person should ever have to do.
“You did it. Oh my god, I’m free!” A woman’s voice pulled me out of my pit of despair, and I looked up to find Mia floating in the middle of the room, Ida May next to her, beaming at me.
“Way to go, Pyper,” Ida May said. “I really wanted to be the one to ice that a-hole, but if it wasn’t me, I’m happy it was you. Us NOLA girls really know how to get the job done.”
I refrained from rolling my eyes. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had a metric crap ton of help. If Avrilla hadn’t given me the dagger, instead of being an asset I’d have been a casualty. “So do the bayou girls,” I said, giving Mia a bittersweet smile. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to find you sooner.”
She gave me an odd look. “How long have you been looking?”
“Two, three days?” I couldn’t even remember how much time had passed since I’d first talked to Sterling. “We should’ve gotten here sooner.”
“Why?” She glanced at Avrilla and Bo. Avrilla was staring off in another direction while Bo rested his head against her shoulder. Then she turned her attention back to me. “What would you have changed?”
I waved a hand at her. “Look at you. If we’d found you earlier, you wouldn’t be a ghost right now.”
Her brow furrowed. “Pyper, I’ve been a ghost for five years.”
“But I thought…” I glanced at Avrilla. “Sterling said she was still alive.” It dawned on me Emerson had said he’d killed Mia, but for some reason my brain hadn’t registered that piece of information as truth. Why would it? Sterling had told me she was alive.
Avrilla shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry. We didn’t think you’d work as hard to save her if you knew she was dead.”
I stood up, and Julius mirrored my movement. “You can’t be serious. You put us through all this when there was no hope of saving her? We put our lives on the line for lies!”
The swamp witch got to her feet, and with no apology reflected in either her stature or her tone, she said, “Mia was a prisoner here. Emerson Charles put a binding spell on her before she died. Before he killed her. And it stuck with her in death. Because of her witch bloodline, she has the ability to appear human quite a bit of the time—just like I do—and because of that, he forced her to run his drug trade. I couldn’t stand the thought of letting her exist in such a state for however long Emerson Charles managed to live. I’ve been searching for the right person to help her
for almost five years.”
“And I was it?” I asked, incredulous.
She nodded. “You had… something. It was a feeling I couldn’t describe. But deep in my gut, I knew you’d save my daughter. Now I know why.” She glanced back at Bo, who was staring at all of us with fascination. “It’s your connection to Bo.”
I blew out a breath. Her explanation made perfect sense. And had I been in her shoes, I’d have done what I had to as well. But the thing is, I’d have tried to help her knowing she was a ghost. It was what I did.
“Not to mention, that dagger chose you,” she added.
“What do you mean?” I tilted my head.
“I had two. My grandmother gave them both to me. She was a powerful swamp witch, one of the most powerful around, and she spelled them. She said they help unlock one’s true potential. Mine used to be as powerful as yours… until they day I died. Then when you walked into my shop, the second one spoke to me. It chose you. It’s why you were able to end Emerson and I wasn’t.”
“But I stabbed him before and that didn’t happen then,” I said, confused.
“Apart, the daggers are powerful. Together they are deadly.” She picked up the mahogany-handled dagger—hers—and handed it to Bo. “This is yours now. Use it wisely.”
He ran his gaze over it, not saying a word, then nodded and took the knife in hand. A faint trace of blue magic skittered over the blade.
Avrilla smiled. “When the time is right, the dagger will be there for you.”
Bo cast his gaze at Emerson, still lying ashen and unmoving on the floor. “Did he kill you?”
Avrilla nodded. “Poisoned me in my shop. It’s where I’ve been ever since.”
My hatred for the man rose up again. Pure evil.
“He always wanted to possess me, to force me to work for him,” she continued, suddenly desperate to explain everything to her son. “When I refused, he finally got his revenge. But it didn’t stop there. He went after Mia, knowing she had my skills. I imagine that’s why he went after you too. Only it didn’t occur to me he would if he had Mia.”
