by fox, angie
The magical pentagram vanished as a blanket of peace settled around us.
“Wow. Nice,” Pyper said. “We should do that more often.”
“Then what would we do for fun?” Kane asked, tugging me to his side. He winked at me. We both knew if true evil wanted in, there was no stopping it, but a protection spell would deflect any random acts of supernatural trouble.
Kat shook her head and smoothed her short skirt while we all laughed.
***
Pyper and I were behind the bar mixing drinks when Kat came running up, her face flushed. “Oh my God, look who’s here again.” She pointed across the room at Julius, who was standing around looking completely lost in his linen pants and smeared body paint.
“What the hell is he doing?” Pyper shoved a beer at one of the guests and ran out from behind the bar straight for him. A moment later, she was pulling him out of the party toward the meeting room where she’d painted the rest of the models.
“Do you think she needs help?” Kat asked.
Grinning, I shook my head. “I think she can handle him. Besides, there’s too much to do out here. Can you check on the caterers? The food was supposed to start coming out of the kitchen ten minutes ago.”
I waved at Kane’s club manager, Charlie, who was talking to one of the three dancers. She nodded and strode over, dressed as a badass biker chick, her staff badge clipped to the bottom of her jacket. “Hey,” I said. “I could use some help. Pyper got called away.”
“Sure thing, gorgeous.” She winked and turned to the next customer. “The dancers are set to get going in the next few minutes.”
“Thanks.” They were dressed as slutty angels and were going to dance in the cages high above the crowd just as soon as the theatrics started.
It took no time at all for Charlie and me to fall back into a regular working rhythm. I used to tend bar with her regularly at Wicked before Kane and I had gotten married. It was fun to be at it again.
“Hey, boss lady,” Charlie said. “Looks like you’ve still got skills. Are you cheating on me tending bar somewhere else these days?”
“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “And I’m not the boss. Cut it out.”
“You are tonight.” She jerked her head toward Kane, who appeared to be socializing more than anything. “Looks like the boss man is in his element.”
I nodded. “It’s one of his gifts.” Ever since he’d been turned into an incubus, people of all walks of life were drawn to him. It was as if they couldn’t get enough. And I couldn’t blame them; I felt the same.
“Gift, right.” Charlie snorted. “Lucky bastard.”
That made me laugh as I poured half a dozen shots of tequila for the group standing in front of me.
Charlie smiled at a cute coed wearing a barely-there peacock outfit.
I turned to the next customer, but all the lights went out, leaving us in pitch-black darkness. The crowd gasped, and a scream came from the corner.
I glanced up and waited. The hallowed organ music filled the club, followed by three spotlights aimed at the three cages. Each angel was perfectly still in the moment. Then the music stopped for a beat, followed by the dramatic shift of Pink singing about getting the party started.
Soft lighting lit the room, and a cheer went through the crowd as the angels started to dance.
“Nice touch,” Kat said, slipping behind the bar to grab a couple bottles of beer.
“Everything going okay?” I asked.
“Perfect.” She nodded to the body-painted models making their way through the crowd, each carrying an appetizer tray. They were covered in an array of intricate designs, from a blooming forest with day-of-the-dead skulls, to gruesome vampire victims, to mutilated zombies. Pyper’s skills were simply amazing.
I glanced back at the door where she’d disappeared with Julius and frowned. Was she okay? The thought sent a ripple of unease up my spine. Something wasn’t right when it came to Julius, the way he’d disappeared and then returned so disoriented. Maybe he needed help?
I was just about to send Kane to check on them when Julius walked through the side door, Pyper close on his heels. His chest had been repainted with the skeleton hand appearing to rip out his heart, but his face had been left untouched, unlike the rest of the models. And damn if he didn’t look even more handsome in the dim lighting. Who could blame Pyper for sticking with him? He had her hand tucked in his as he led her to the middle of the dance floor.
“Who’s that?” Charlie asked.
I shrugged. “Some model named Julius.”
“They look good together,” she said.
They did. I couldn’t keep my eyes off them. Julius placed one hand on her waist and held her hand with his other in a traditional dance stance. They stood facing each other for just a moment. And then they started to move.
The music suddenly cut from a popular Black Eyed Peas song to a fast song from the Roaring Twenties. The lights came up and shone on the makeshift dance floor.
“Whoa. Was that part of the plan?” Charlie asked me.
But I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I was too busy gawking at Julius and Pyper.
They had morphed from gruesome dead guy and zombie bride to a shiny, happy, swing-dancing couple from the twenties. The body paint was gone, replaced by Julius in a white suit and Pyper in a blue-and-white polka-dot dress.
“Oh my God,” I heard Charlie whisper.
Then I tore my eyes from my friend and sucked in a hard breath as magic pooled automatically at my fingertips.
The center of the room had morphed into a nineteen-twenties dance party, and everyone on the dance floor along with it.
Chapter 4
I glanced down at myself. A rush of relief washed over me at the sight of my slutty devil outfit. Charlie hadn’t changed either and was still clad in her biker leathers. “You see what I see, right?”
Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “You mean the roaring party that’s going on and the fact that three-quarters of the guests are doing the Charleston?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. I see it. But I don’t believe it.” She glanced up at the former angels, who were now wearing flapper dresses and kicking their feet back as they danced with abandon to the new music.
I glanced around, looking for Lucien, and spotted the half-dozen body-painted models standing off to the side, gaping. A handful of other guests were transfixed, watching with interest.
“It’s not magical,” Lucien said from behind me.
I spun. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “We’d feel a magical signature.”
Of course we would. I was in the habit of closing down around too many people to protect myself. That meant I was working without one of my most powerful resources. I took a step back and released all my guards, letting all the emotions slam into me. Wonder, elation, joy, and an underlying trace of despair.
And as the music sped up, the despair intensified.
“Do you feel that?” I asked Lucien.
He took a step closer and peered at the dancers. “What?”
“Their pain.”
He startled. “No.”
Threads of hopelessness bubbled to the surface. I had to figure out a way to bring everyone back, to snap them out of this weird trance. My attention fixated on Pyper and Julius just as Julius twirled Pyper halfway across the dance floor, leaving a clear opening to see the rest of the dancers.
My heart all but stopped. Kane and Kat were right in the middle, dancing their hearts out. Both of them appeared to be having the time of their lives, seemingly oblivious to what had happened.
“Kat!” Lucien cried and tugged me out from behind the bar.
I went with him willingly, but stopped him before he could pull us onto the dance floor. “Wait.”
He frowned. “For what?”
“We don’t know if we’ll be affected if we cross over. I think it might be better to try to break the…” Shoot. I was going to say “spell
,” but it wasn’t one. Lucien was right. I couldn’t feel even an ounce of magic radiating from the area. “Have you ever heard of a time warp?”
He shook his head. “No. You think that’s what this is?”
“I don’t know. It’s not a spell.” I circled the wooden stage until I was closer to Kat and Kane. Then I called, “Kane!”
No answer.
“Kat!” Lucien waved, trying to get her attention.
Neither noticed us. No one did.
The rest of the guests were gathering around us, moving closer to the dancers. Even Charlie. They were moving toward the stage as if they were in a trance, not at all disturbed by the turn of events.
“Charlie?” I asked, touching her arm.
She shrugged me off and kept moving.
“Hey, Charlie. No!”
But it was no use. She stepped up onto the stage. As soon as she crossed the plane, her clothes switched from badass biker bitch to sweet swing dancer with jeweled high heels. My eyes bugged out. I’d never seen Charlie in anything other than jeans and formfitting T-shirts. Dresses were definitely not her thing.
Before long, every last person in the ballroom had crossed into the time warp except for me and Lucien.
We met each other’s gazes.
“Should we call the coven?” I asked Lucien.
“Probably, but they aren’t going to be able to get here anytime soon. The crowds and traffic tonight are nearly as bad as during Mardi Gras.”
He had a point. All of us who were here either lived in the French Quarter or were staying over with someone who did. The parking and traffic would be awful right now. Still, I’d call if I had to, but I wasn’t even sure what any of us could do, if anything.
I pulled my phone out and called my mentor Bea.
“Happy Halloween, Jade,” she said cheerfully. “What can I do for you?”
“Thank the Goddess,” I said and took a step away from the stage. “We seem to have a situation here.”
She let out a low laugh. “It’s Halloween. Of course you do.”
“Bea,” I said. “It’s not funny. We seem to have some sort of a time warp going on. We’re putting on a party for one of Pyper’s clients, and suddenly everyone on the dance floor shifted to some weird alternate reality from the nineteen twenties. They’re wearing period clothing, their hairstyles are totally different, and the music that’s playing isn’t from our sound system. It’s like a worm hole or something.”
“Magic?” she asked.
“Neither Lucien nor I can feel anything.”
“Are there any spirits present?”
It was a reasonable question and one I should’ve thought about. We were in the French Quarter, where practically every building was haunted. “Possibly, though I don’t see any.”
Bea sighed in exasperation. “Jade, it’s about time you start to use your gifts instead of running from them.”
I clamped my lips shut, knowing she was talking about my empath gift. I’d spent the majority of my childhood trying to forget I could read people. I had kept it a secret from everyone I could, because when I read someone’s emotions, it made both of us uncomfortable. It was an intrusion of epic proportions. So it was usually my last resort, especially in highly charged situations like a party. I’d already opened up once, but hadn’t probed too deeply, nor had I wanted to.
“Use your gift to find the spirit. Then you and Lucien can cast a spell to isolate him or her. Everyone else should snap back into reality.” She said all of this in a matter-of-fact tone as if we weren’t in the middle of an emergency situation. Compared to demons and black magic, I supposed we weren’t. But it was still worrisome.
“Isolation spell. Got it. Thanks,” I said.
“And, Jade?”
“Yes, Bea?”
“Try not to trap anyone in the past.”
“Funny.” Although, I didn’t think her comment was meant as a joke. “Sorry. I’m a little tense. Can I call if we need more help?”
“Yes, but I’m not even in town, so if you need backup, call Lailah.” She was referring to our resident angel who was in charge of keeping souls safe.
“Okay. Thanks.” I hit END and trotted back over to Lucien. He hadn’t moved as he kept a close eye on Kat.
“She looks upset,” he said.
I nodded. “There’s a weird undercurrent of desperation and despair coming from the dance floor. But I can’t tell who it’s coming from. More than one person, I think. It might be spreading like a cancer.”
His fists clenched in frustration. “What did Bea say?”
“She suspects a spirit might be anchoring everyone to the past. If we can figure out who it is, we can isolate him or her with a spell and then this could be over in a few minutes.”
We both turned and stared at the crowd. Because this was a party we were hired to plan, we didn’t know most of the guests. I wasn’t even sure if the host was here yet. Bea had said to use my gift, and it appeared that was exactly what I was going to have to do.
“I’m going to start reading people. If I look like I’m going to pass out, take my hand, okay?” I said.
Lucien nodded. He knew that once I opened my senses and took on everyone else’s emotional energy, I’d be toasted emotionally and physically. But if I could focus on one person, especially someone I knew well, I’d be okay.
I cast Lucien one last glance and then braced myself as I focused on Kane. At first all I got was a shot of humor, followed by elation. But as I slipped past his barriers, the happiness slowly faded away and I was left with a cold emptiness. As if his soul was missing or buried.
My heart sped up, and my entire body went cold with fear. Kane. No. This couldn’t be happening.
“Jade? What’s wrong?” I heard Lucien ask.
But I didn’t answer. I was too horrified by what I was sensing. Kane wasn’t really in there. He was like a shell of a person, with superficial happiness radiating from him. As if whoever or whatever was pulling the strings wanted everyone to appear normal when really they were being sucked into an abyss.
I didn’t want to let go of my hold on Kane. It was too painful, too awful, but I had to find out if he was the only one affected or if everyone was being pulled under.
With great reluctance, I shifted my focus from Kane to Kat. And although her emotional signature was completely different, her emotions felt exactly the same as Kane’s. Superficially happy and elated, but underneath, there was nothing. Not even a twinge of hope, or sadness, or reluctance. Nothing.
Frantic, I hopped from person to person, experiencing the same lack of emotions, the same zombified dancers…until I got to Pyper.
Wonder radiated off her as she stared into Julius’s eyes, followed by a small underlying trace of trepidation. But she wasn’t fearful. No, more like cautious, as if she was afraid what she was feeling wouldn’t last. I focused on her smiling face and did my best to shut out all the artificial joy that was overwhelming the rest of the dancers. All I wanted was Pyper’s emotions.
Hope. Nervousness. Curiosity. Desire. They were all there, swirling around her in a thick cloud.
I opened my eyes and peered at Julius. His expression was soft, tender as he watched my friend stare into his eyes. But as I tried to penetrate his senses, once I pushed through the initial spark of hope, I was overwhelmed with deep-seated hopelessness and despair. All the negative emotions permeating the room were coming from him. His emotions were disconcerting, but they were real. Just like Pyper’s, but unlike everyone else’s.
What was different about the two of them? Why did they each have their own emotions when no one else did? Was something sinister infecting everyone else and not them?
But I hadn’t felt anything sinister. Nothing even close to evil, except the apparent lack of soul from everyone else in the crowd.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said abruptly to Lucien.
“What do you mean? Have you found the spirit yet?”
“No. I mea
n, I’m not sure.” I kept my gaze on Pyper and Julius. Pyper certainly wasn’t a spirit. And Julius was clearly a solid man. All the ghosts I’d met before had been apparitions. All of them except Camille, who’d managed to possess people to take on a form. My stomach rolled with unease. “Oh, no. I think it’s Julius.”
“You think?”
I nodded. “I’m not too sure. All I know is Pyper and Julius are the only ones with real emotions there. Everyone else is in a trance. And I can’t sense any other emotional energy like I usually can when ghosts are present but not visible. I know Pyper isn’t a ghost. Her emotional signature hasn’t changed. I’d recognize her anywhere. That leaves Julius as the odd man out.”
“No one. Not any of the servers or guests?”
I shook my head, more and more convinced. “No one. Julius disappeared today and then came back out of the blue. No one knows where he came from. And add in the fact that this all started right after Pyper and Julius started dancing. It has to be him.”
“Okay, then. I trust you.” Lucien held his hand out to me. “Let’s go get him.”
I glanced around, trying to calm the panic setting in. I had no idea what was going to happen once we stepped onto the dance floor. But we couldn’t isolate Julius from here. We had to separate him from Pyper first.
Blowing out a breath, I took Lucien’s hand in mine, and together the pair of us crossed the plane into the nineteen-twenties.
Chapter 5
A flash of heat washed over me and then my body went completely numb. But I didn’t seem to care. Life was free. Happy. Full of celebration. I turned to Lucien. “Care to dance?”
He inclined his head, bowed slightly, then swept me up in the music. My feet seemed to move on their own. All I saw was Lucien’s smiling face and flashes of color as he twirled me around and around among the other dancers.
The music played on one continual loop, never pausing, and soon enough, although I didn’t want to sit the dance out, my limbs became heavy. But no matter how much I wanted to stop to take a breath, my limbs wouldn’t respond to my mental commands. And worse, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.
