“I’m hoping for gigs every night during the Thanksgiving week. I have to give the managers some time to clean up their clubs before I start calling them again. We have one guaranteed gig at Thanksgiving and Mardi Gras, the Blue Bayou wants us back.” Kat had been holding out on us.
“What? The Blue Bayou? Are you nuts? You do know what happened last time, right?” Rico was pacing the floor by the door and throwing his arms around.
I knew something went down, but it didn’t affect us. “Rico, there were no issues for us. Those witches were just messing with you. I’m sure it’ll be safe. Just bring more of your pack if you’ll feel safer. Maybe even get us some of those protection charms you keep talking about?”
“Oh, I spoke with Joseph about them. He said, in a couple of days, he was going to see his witch friend, and he’d ask about getting us protection charms. He didn’t seem to think it would be a problem. Where is he anyway? I thought you guys were together all day?” At least Indie had some good news.
“He’s coming. I left him at Uncle Wong’s. He was chatting with his friend from the morgue. They brought in another body today with questionable marks. I’ll wait for him to tell you all about it.” Rico calmed himself down by taking a few cleansing breaths before heading to the kitchen.
“Help yourself, girls. Jimmie packed up two large containers each of wonton soup, orange chicken, sweet and sour pork, pork-fried rice, and kung-pao chicken. There should be plenty of white rice too.” Rico took the containers out of the bags and put them on the counter.
He had been here enough, he also knew where we kept the plates and silverware. It was odd having him pulling everything out in our kitchen for dinner. Although, somehow, comforting as well.
Halfway through dinner Joseph showed up.
“Hi, everyone. I hope you saved some of the fortune cookies for me. Those are my favorite!” Joseph grabbed a water bottle and looked through the bags for the cookies.
“Don’t forget to eat the cookie before reading your fortune! Or else it won’t come true,” Indie yelled from the living room.
“No worries, I love eating these cookies. The anticipation of what my fortune will be makes the wait excruciating, but the cookie makes it worthwhile.” Joseph cracked open his fortune cookie and pocketed the fortune before eating the cardboard.
I always thought the cookies tasted like flavored paper. My favorite were the almond cookies. Of course, I always ate my fortune cookie, if for no other reason than to get a fortune.
“Let’s see. What’s in my future?” Joseph had inhaled the cookie before pulling the small, white piece of paper out of his pocket.
“You will meet your soulmate under the light of the next full moon.”
“Huh, that’s only three days from now. I wonder who I’ll meet then?” Joseph looked directly at Indie who held his gaze.
This was getting interesting. Everyone thought Rico and I would get together. I might have to make a wager on Indie and Joseph hooking up first.
Chapter 11
Jenna
“Joseph, what happened at the morgue today? Do we have rogue vampires? Or do you think they just took advantage of the coming hurricane to steal a few women?” I couldn’t help it; I was chewing my nails again.
Every time I think I have kicked the habit, something pops up to make me so nervous, I bite my nails until they’re practically bleeding.
“I’m not going to sugar-coat it. I believe we have rogues on the loose.” Joseph looked to Rico, who was shaking his head.
“I disagree. With only two bodies, I think they took advantage of the storm.” What could make Rico think that?
“That doesn’t make sense, Rico. Two bodies that we know of were bitten by vamps. Those weren’t gator marks, and we all know it.” When the storms brought in higher water levels, the authorities always found bodies.
“Wait, does this mean all of those people who have been discovered after a big storm were murdered by blood-suckers? Even in other states, when they said it was animal bites?” Indie slouched down in her seat and put her plate of Chinese food on the table in front of her.
“I think I lost my appetite.” Sam’s face fell just like the rest of us.
“Not all reports of death by animals are vamps. Don’t worry, the gators and other animals in the swamps still kill humans.” Rico sure had a way to cheer us up, not!
“Then please, explain why you think these latest bodies were just vamps taking advantage.” Normally I would defer to Rico’s judgement in this type of situation. However, I think Joseph may be on to something more.
“Because, there were only two bodies. If we have rogues in the area, there will be many more bodies.” Rico pursed his lips and continued to look at Joseph. There was more going on than what Rico was telling us. I just knew it.
“What about all of the missing girls? Is it possible they’re dead and their bodies will show up soon?” As much as I hated this idea it was very plausible.
“No. Since the girls have disappeared over the past few weeks, I believe some are doing what their notes said. Others probably were recruited by the vamps. You heard what the University said, this is normal behavior for freshmen.” Rico made a good argument, but I didn’t agree.
“So, what? These vamps get a free pass since they couldn’t pass up a free buffet?” I was not going to accept this. No matter what the reason, they broke their own laws.
“No, it means we get to go hunting.” Rico’s eyes darkened, and a scary smile crept up his lips.
“How are you going to find the vamps responsible? If they are part of the local coven, then the queen won’t be giving them up. We already know she protects her own. Well, until you have actual hard proof. How do you get it?” Kat questioned.
“With good old-fashioned investigative work. The coven will protect their own, but once word gets out we’re investigating, certain vamps will go into hiding. Those are the ones we will find. If we’re lucky, we might even find a few acolytes who will have a hard time keeping their mouths shut.” Rico was really good at his job. I just hoped he could find the ones responsible.
“What does this mean for us? Is there any way we can help? If we can find acolytes, maybe I can help somehow? Or Indie can use her voodoo skills to trick them?” Helping to figure this out was something I needed to do. I don’t know why, maybe because of Derek? Either way, I needed to help.
“It means you and your sisters will stick to the Quarter and help clean up. Operate your store and continue your training. If you promise to spend at least two hours a day on cleanup duty or helping your neighbors with their stores, then the pack and I will focus on teaching you more defensive maneuvers and sparring.” I couldn’t believe Rico was actually going to spend less time with us.
It wasn’t a bad thing, but this was weird. I really expected him to hover over me for the next month, at least. He’s hiding something.
“Rico, we always help with clean up after a hurricane. That’s a given. However, I need to help these girls. One of them was my customer. I feel drawn to this case in a way I haven’t since Acadia went missing. You know what happened then, so you better include me.” I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest.
Kat, Sam, and Indie all joined me. The four of us stared Rico and Joseph down.
“Dude, if Jenna wants to help find the guys who killed her customer, then we’re all helping too. We aren’t training our butts off just to sit around and stay safe. Now that we know the truth, it’s up to us to help protect the innocent.” Kat could be difficult when she set her mind to something. I’m just glad she’s backing me up and not Rico.
“Kat, it’s too dangerous. Maybe in another year, or two, you all will be far enough along in your training to help. Right now, you’ll just get into more trouble. Or worse.” Rico could be a real jerk.
Six months of blood, sweat, and tears had turned us into fighters. Sure, we didn’t have special powers, but we could fight. I am proof of it.
“Joseph, t
ell Rico we can help. With the protection charms you’re getting us, we should be able to do more. Can we use other spells? I know we aren’t witches, but you sometimes use spells created by them, don’t you?” Indie looked pleadingly into Joseph’s eyes.
“Indie, I want you to be safe. I don’t want you or your sisters out there fighting vampires. It’s too dangerous. Even I don’t go out alone to fight them, and I grew up training for this.” Joseph rubbed his hands along Indie’s arms.
He did seem to care for her and for us.
“How about this? We start out patrolling with several in your pack. It will help us learn more and, also provide protection, while we are out working to locate either more of the missing girls, or the vamps who need to die.” This was a great idea! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.
“Hmm. You’re going to go out whether I work with you or not, aren’t you?” Rico rubbed his face with both of his hands. “It might work. As long as you promise to stick to the group I assign you to.”
“Thanks! You won’t regret it!” I practically jumped with my excitement.
This was my chance to actually do something good, while still having some protection.
“You have to wait until Joseph can get you all protection charms. Once you have them, never take them off. Shower with them, workout with them, swim with them. If it looks like the device they are attached to is wearing out, let Joseph know before you lose the actual charm.” Rico mumbled under his breath. I couldn’t understand him, but I bet he was regretting this already.
“Rico, you won’t regret this. Just like last time, we would have gone out on our own if we had any leads. So working with us is actually keeping us safe. Plus, I bet we can get acolytes to talk to us better than you can.” This was one challenge I intended to win.
“Jenna, you haven’t encountered an acolyte yet. I think you’ll change your mind when you do. They are more like members of a cult than anything else. You can’t reason with them.” I wondered how many times Rico had encountered acolytes.
“Most of the time it takes torture or months of counseling to get them to see the truth. By then, their information is usually outdated. So torture is the most expedient way to gain intel. Can you torture a girl your age?” Rico had a point.
Torture was not something I ever wanted to deal with. Well, I could probably torture a vampire if he had info about a loved one, but a girl? No, I couldn’t do it.
How much practice did Rico and his pack have with torturing?
“Alright, but if there is a chance I can reason with one, I want to try that before you torture them.” These girls may have chosen to serve vampires, but I doubt they understood what they were getting into when they volunteered to be blood bags.
“Fine, if you can reason with one, go for it.” Rico sighed and sat back down on the couch.
“Just do me one favor?” Rico asked.
“What?” I almost said, ‘anything,’ but I don’t trust him right now.
“Don’t tell the next vampire you’ll jump his bones?”
I couldn’t help it; I busted up laughing, and all three of my sisters as well as Joseph joined me.
“I promise to never jump the bones of a vampire, unless it’s in a killing sort of way. How’s that?” He had to know I would never, ever, in a million years want a vampire touching me.
Chapter 12
Jenna
“Help! Someone help me!” I heard a woman screaming outside of the shop.
I ran outside to see what was going on. It was early morning and most stores and restaurants hadn’t opened yet. I was inside setting up some of the voodoo dolls we had made over the past few nights.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” After I looked around, I couldn’t see a reason for the yelling. There wasn’t anyone else on the street yet.
“Oh! Thank God! Please, you gotta help me!” A terrified young woman, who looked to have just barely made it through the hurricane, followed me into the shop.
She turned her wide eyes out the window and locked my door. Then she went and hid behind the counter. “Quick, before he sees you. Get over here and hide!”
I looked out the window but didn’t see anyone. As I turned around I did catch a shadow turning the corner. Without even thinking, I ducked down and shuffled over to where the girl was.
She had to be younger than me, maybe eighteen, and she had a rat’s nest on what looked to have once been long auburn hair. Her bugged-out eyes told me she was either strung out…or in total fear of her life.
“What happened?” Where did I begin? Should I call the cops or Rico?
“I ran away from them. They sent one of their goons after me. You’re the only person who has opened their door for me! Thank you! Do you have any weapons?” She huddled underneath the counter which held my cash register. My cell phone was sitting up on top of the counter.
“Who did you run away from?” I tried to move closer to her, but she pulled her knees up in front of her face and shivered. “Are you cold? Do you want some coffee or tea?”
I crawled to the back room and turned on the tea kettle. Without knowing what the shadow was, I didn’t want to draw attention to me. Especially since there weren’t any people out on the street yet. The sun had barely risen. Most shops were still closed while they continued their repairs from the hurricane.
It seemed most shop owners weren’t as prepared as usual. They listened to Sasha and believed it would only be a tropical storm, until she changed her mind at the last minute. Hurricane Gerttie passed us by, barely. However, it left a ton of damage in its wake.
Those who didn’t get their storm shutters up returned to major damage. Others, like us, got our storm shutters up and the ground cleared. Mold was the worst thing we were dealing with.
“Here, have some tea. This should help warm you up. I’m going to call a friend who can help you. Should I also call the police?” Until I knew what we were dealing with, I wasn’t sure I should involve the cops.
“Don’t call the cops! They can’t help. No one can. This is a voodoo shop, right? Do you have any spells to keep vampires away?” The girl sipped her tea and it hit me who she was.
“You’re one of the missing storm girls, aren’t you? Did you just say vampires?” I crawled over to the counter and peeked above to grab my phone and see if anyone was outside the shop.
A huge guy walked by and looked inside right when I peeked over the counter. Our eyes met, and he looked to be growling.
“Open up! I know she’s in there. Turn her over to me, and I’ll leave you alone.” The burly guy outside the door yelled before he began pounding on the door.
Ignoring him, I dialed Rico.
“Jenna, it’s a bit early isn’t it?” His hoarse voice answered.
“Rico! We’re in trouble. Some guy is outside my shop trying to break in. I rescued one of the missing girls. This guy was following her. Can you send anyone to help?”
“What? It’s light out, right? Then it can’t be a vampire. It must be one of their acolytes they use for daylight muscle. Do you still have a gun?”
“Yes! We put it in the store room after the last time we needed it. Do I shoot him? If he’s human, I don’t want to kill him.” That was the last thing I wanted, but I also didn’t want him getting inside and hurting me or this poor girl.
“Don’t worry about it. Be sure to protect yourself. Remember, he willingly works for the vamps. He’s most likely next on the list to be turned, which is why they sent him after the girl. If she really was taken by vamps.” I could hear Rico getting ready in the background.
“She told me she ran away from vampires.”
Rico put his hand over the phone and called out to Damien, “Do we have anyone in town? Jenna’s at the shop and in trouble. We need to send someone there right away. If not, then a cop you trust.”
“Jenna, is he still outside?” Rico calmly asked me.
“Yes, but he’s pounding on the door. He’s gonna break it any minute now.
” I ran to the store room and pulled the locked case down from the top of the rack. It held a handgun Kat had been keeping in our apartment upstairs.
“I’ve got the gun.”
“Where’s the girl?” Rico was running. I could hear the strain in his voice.
“She’s hiding under the counter and kinda freaking out. This is what you trained me for. I can do this.” I had to psych myself up for fighting a human.
At this point, I realized it would have been easier to fight a vampire than a human. I didn’t want to hurt a human but had no trouble killing a vamp if given the chance.
“Rico, I’m going to put the phone on the counter and put you on speaker so you can hear it all. Then I’m pointing the gun at the front door. The second he comes through, I’m shooting. Can I do that?” I wasn’t sure what the laws were concerning shooting someone who broke into my store.
Since it technically was part of my house, I might be within the bounds of the law. Or I might not be. I wasn’t going to prison for this cretan who worshiped blood-suckers.
“Open up! I’m not going to give you another chance! She belongs to my masters, and they want her back!” The guy sure did have a set of lungs on him.
If any of the shopkeepers on this street were in, they would most certainly be calling the cops. Fine, let them come and deal with the dangerous guy. In fact, it would be better if cops showed up instead of me having to shoot him.
“Rico, he’s making a lot of noise. Even though it’s really early, someone is bound to hear him and call the cops. Do you think they can deal with this guy?” I had already put the phone on speaker.
“It depends on who shows up. I’ll be there as fast as I can. Damien is looking to see if anyone is still in town. If not, he’s going to call a cop buddy of his who has an idea of what’s really going on. Hopefully, someone will arrive before he breaks in.”
Kat, Indie, and Sam all ran down the stairs. Each carrying a different weapon.
Hurricane of Magic Page 6
