by Rose Pressey
“I think there’s something you might want to see in here.” She pointed toward the room.
We hurried toward the room. “Excuse me,” Catherin said in a sweet voice as she grabbed my arm.
I frowned. “Yes?”
“You don’t want to go in there. This place is spooky. Let’s get out of here.” She rubbed her arms as if fending off a chill.
I quirked an eyebrow. “I think we’ll just check out the room real quick, okay?”
She scowled, but didn’t argue.
On the farthest wall was another large mural. It took up most of the space, and it had the same writing and depictions that we’d seen at the little house by the swamp. My stomach flipped and it felt like the air had been sucked out of my lungs.
“How did you find this?” I asked Annabelle.
“I just walked over here and saw it,” she said.
“Why do you keep finding things?” I stared at her.
She looked at me and shrugged. “Well, I keep my eyes open and look for things.”
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew I needed the Book of Mystics to help me. I had to get back to LaVeau Manor as soon as possible.
“Never mind that now. Let’s just get out of here.” I gestured.
“I’m right behind you,” Catherin said with that same overly sweet voice.
Where were these clues leading us? In the right direction, I hoped.
Chapter Thirteen
As soon as we returned to LaVeau Manor I headed straight for the Book of Mystics. If it didn’t contain some kind of directions on how to fix this mess, I was totally screwed. I’d have to call for some kind of special meeting with the members of the surrounding covens. I supposed I would have to include the Enchantment Pointe Coven members, even though they’d snubbed me for years. I wouldn’t stoop to their level though. I’d show them I was a bigger person than that.
After grabbing the book, I rushed back downstairs. Annabelle had said she’d wait for me in the kitchen. I couldn’t keep her hostage forever. Sure, she said she wanted to stay and help me, but I had no idea how long this thing was going to drag out. It could take days, weeks, or heaven forbid, months. She couldn’t put her life on hold because I’d dragged her into this. And then there was the little matter of Catherin. I knew that Annabelle had taken an instant liking to Catherin’s sweet grandmotherly ways, but she just couldn’t stay forever. I didn’t want to be the witch who messed with bringing back the dead. I might have done it a couple times, but that didn’t mean I wanted to continue to do it forever.
From almost the first moment Nicolas and Liam had arrived at LaVeau Manor, I’d hidden the book. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them now, but I didn’t trust other people within the Underworld. If one person had wanted it, then that meant there had to be other people who wanted it as well. Why other people wanted to be the leader was beyond me. It wasn’t all that it had cracked up to be. Over and over in my mind I contemplated why I’d accepted the job as leader. The only answer I came up with was only because I felt Nicolas’ mother would have wanted me to. Even though I didn’t know her, she had been friends with my Great-Aunt Maddy and that meant something. Plus, my mother was thrilled with my new status as leader. I’d disappointed her in the witchcraft department for so long. I felt like I owed her this one. So I’d continue to hide the book. Maybe I needed to look into getting a safe.
When I reached the kitchen, Annabelle wasn’t there. With the book clutched to my chest, I ran down the little hallway and into the dining room. To my relief, Annabelle and Liam were sitting at the table eating sandwiches.
“Whew. I was worried that Jacobson had returned,” I said.
Annabelle chewed, then finally said, “Nope. Peanut butter sandwiches.”
Liam laughed. “She’ll be okay as long as I’m here.” He held up a plate with a sandwich. “I made you a peanut butter sandwich too. You didn’t have a wide selection of options.”
How sweet was that? He’d thought to make me a sandwich too. So what if it was only peanut butter on bread. He’d cut it down the middle just like I liked it.
“Yeah, I’m a little behind on my grocery shopping.” I smiled.
Liam winked at me and my stomach flipped. I loved Liam’s crooked smile. The way his lip twisted to one side made my insides flutter.
Liam patted the seat beside him. “Come and eat.”
If only I didn’t need to do the spell first. “I’ll be back in just a minute, okay?”
He smiled softly. “Don’t keep us waiting too long.”
Forcing myself out of the room, I headed back to the kitchen to collect the ingredients for the spell that would send Catherin back to where she came from. Sending her back would be the first step, then I could figure out what the mysterious writing and paintings meant.
I placed the spell book on the counter and ran down the list with my index finger. Luckily, everything I needed was right there on the shelves where my Great-Aunt Maddy had left it. She had an extensive collection of spell-casting ingredients.
With any luck, Liam wouldn’t hear the magic in progress. I didn’t want to tell him that Catherin had been a ghost. If I got rid of her, I could just say that she’d checked out and gone home. That wouldn’t be a lie. Well, not completely a lie. I’d been a screw-up with magic for so long. Now that I was the leader, I wanted to try my best to do the job right. Bringing back random ghosts was not the way to achieve that goal.
Since I was in a hurry, I didn’t have time to wait for the water in the cauldron to reach a boil. So I helped it along with a little spell that I’d read up on in the book.
“Bring heat my way, but without harm. The water will bubble like a charm.”
With a wave of my hand the water began to boil. This spell was only to be used in emergencies, but I felt this was one of those occasions.
Once the water was boiling, I placed the spices and herbs into the cauldron. Then I recited the words from the book that would with any luck take Catherin back.
“Element of Earth, I call to you to allow the spirit to enter earth again. Element of Air, I call to you to push the spirit away from to the living. Element of Fire, I call to you for knowledge and protection. Element of Water, I call to you for force and tranquility. Give the spirit the power to move to the next dimension.”
The wind whipped my hair wildly and the air around me was full of electricity. Dazzling lights flickered through the air and sparkled up from the water. After a minute, the wind died down and the lights flickered away. I released a deep breath. A weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I really felt as if I’d done things right this time.
Before returning to the dining room, I thought I’d try Nicolas’ cell phone. It was probably pointless, but I had to give it a shot. After ringing many times, I figured it would go to his voice mail. When he answered, it caught me off guard.
“Um, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” I said.
“I’m in New Orleans.” His voice was barely audible.
Uh-oh.
“I hope you’re not thinking of doing something stupid. Don’t try to confront Jacobson,” I said.
“What makes you think I’d do something stupid?” he asked.
The reception on the phone was spotty and his voice was going in and out, so I assumed that was what he had said.
“You need to let me take care of this without violence.” My voice probably showcased my insecurity.
There was no answer.
“Hello?” I said.
Still there was silence on his end. I looked at the phone and saw that the call had been dropped. It figured that he’d lost service just when I needed the cell phone coverage the most.
I dialed his phone again, but this time it went straight to voicemail. What could I do? I left a message warning him again not to confront Jacobson. My warning would probably fall on deaf ears though. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to ask him about the wallet or if he’d really bitten that woman’s neck.
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After the call, I turned around and spotted a single red rose on top of the counter. It hadn’t been there a second ago. There was no way I would have missed it. I picked up the beautiful fragrant flower and sniffed. It reminded me of the red roses Nicolas had sent to me when he’d first come to LaVeau Manor. I pulled a vase from the shelf, filled it with water, and placed the rose inside. Had I somehow conjured a rose while casting the spell? Maybe my subconscious had made it appear.
After staring at the rose for a few seconds, I returned to the dining room. I hoped I didn’t have guilt written all over my face. Liam and Annabelle had finished their sandwiches, but were discussing the various restaurants and shops in Enchantment Pointe. Liam scrunched his brow together when he looked up at me. I was so busted. He knew I’d been performing magic. What had made me think I could hide it from him? I was just surprised that he hadn’t figured out that Catherin was a spell gone wrong. I tried to avoid his stare and slipped into the chair at the end of the table.
He placed my sandwich in front of me. “You’d better eat. You must be starving after all that work.”
Ugh. He was just taunting me now. I took a bite from my sandwich, but still didn’t look up at him.
“Is everything okay?” Annabelle frowned.
I smiled. “Yes, everything is fine.”
After a couple seconds of my chewing in silence, Annabelle asked, “Where is Catherin, by the way? I haven’t seen her since we returned to the manor.”
Now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t seen or heard from Catherin even before I’d performed the spell to get rid of her. That was a bit strange. She had wanted to be involved in all the conversations before. But I wasn’t going to complain. She was gone now and I could focus on finding Nicolas. Getting rid of Catherin had been for the best. She would just cause more problems and I didn’t need that at the moment.
“Maybe she went to bed for a nap,” I said.
Why did I feel so guilty for lying? It had been the right thing to do.
Annabelle jumped up from the table. “I’ll go check on her.”
She bounced out of the room. Oh great. She wouldn’t find her. Plus, that would leave me alone with Liam. He would want to know what magic I had been performing. Not that I had to tell him, but with that sexy stare, it was hard to say no to anything he asked. Extremely hard.
I felt Liam’s eyes focused on me, but I continued to look down at my plate.
“You want to tell me what’s going on and why you’re being so secretive?” He fixed his eyes on me.
I placed my half-eaten sandwich down. “Do I want to? No.”
“Come on. You know you’ll tell me eventually. You might as well save the energy and tell me now.” He winked.
Why did he have to look at me like that? I bit my lip, stifling a smile. He was right though. Eventually I wouldn’t be able to stand it and I’d tell him about what I’d done. But right now was not that time. I figured I should take this opportunity to tell Liam about my recent conversation with Nicolas.
Finally, I admitted, “I dialed Nicolas’ number.”
Liam froze. “What happened?”
“He answered.” I studied his face for a reaction.
“You’re kidding. What did he say?”
I sighed. “He said he was in New Orleans.”
“What did he say about the wallet or the attack?” Liam asked.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask. The phone went dead. But I have to say, he didn’t sound like Nicolas.” Uneasiness sounded in my voice.
“I’ll try to call him again.” Liam pulled out his cell phone and looked down at the screen. “I guess I’ll have to wait. There’s no service here.”
Annabelle returned with a frown splashed across her face. She stood with her hands on her hips.
“I can’t find Catherin anywhere,” she said with her brow scrunched up.
Would I be able to continue to lie? Oh, what a tangled web we weave. I should have just told everyone the truth about Catherin from the beginning. But once you tell one lie, you have to tell another, then another. I hated lying to Annabelle.
“Maybe she checked out and went home. Would you blame her?” I asked.
“No, I guess not. But she seemed as if she wanted to help,” Annabelle said.
“I think she was just being polite. We probably scared her to death.” I took a bite of my sandwich and chewed.
Oh, that was a bad pun. Good thing no one knew how bad it truly was.
After taking another bite, I said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t call the police on me. At the very least, she will give me the worst bed-and-breakfast review ever.”
Annabelle shook her head. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I almost forgot. You have another guest outside in the foyer. I was so distracted by looking for Catherin that I forgot to tell you.”
I jumped up. “What? I have a guest?”
Annabelle nodded. “Yeah. A man is standing out in the foyer. I asked him if he wanted a room and he said yes.”
Annabelle seemed awfully calm about this. After what had happened with Jacobson, I figured Annabelle wanted to keep her distance from strangers when at LaVeau Manor. I brushed past her and out the door and down the hallway. Liam rushed past me, stopping me from walking into the library.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“You don’t know who this person is. I need to go first and check them out. I’m your bodyguard, remember?” He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Hmm. I guessed I had forgotten about why Liam was there. I wasn’t used to having a person following me around.
I released a heavy sigh and reluctantly shook my head. “Okay. But be polite in case it really is a guest.”
His mouth twisted to one side. He looked as if he wanted to laugh.
I scowled. “What? I could have a real guest. Maybe. Well, one of these days it’s bound to happen.”
Wait. If he thought this wasn’t a real guest, had he known that Catherin wasn’t a real guest too? Maybe I had just thought I’d been fooling him all this time.
Annabelle and I followed Liam through the library and into the foyer. Just as Annabelle had said, a man stood in the foyer. His back was to us as he looked into the other room. At least he wasn’t wearing clothing from another century. His chestnut-brown hair was cut short and he wore a dark blue suit.
“May I help you?” Liam asked in his best tough-guy voice, which wasn’t hard for him, by the way.
“I was called here,” the man said a professional clipped tone.
Uh oh. I’d heard that statement before. My stomach flipped and I thought I might be sick. He didn’t have to tell me. I knew already that I’d done it again. This man had to have been brought back by me. I had brought him back from the dead.
“What do you mean you were called here?” Liam asked.
I had a feeling Liam already knew the answer to that question. And right about now he was probably figuring out what magic I’d been performing.
“By the magic, of course.” The man smiled. “I have to say I am elated to be here too. So whoever did it, thank you.”
Liam looked at me.
“I guess I should explain from the beginning what happened,” I said.
Liam nodded. “It would probably help, yes.”
“Do you mind if I come in?” The man stared at Annabelle as he spoke.
Something about his eyes gave me the creeps. Then again, a lot gave me the creeps lately.
Chapter Fourteen
I hesitated, but eventually stepped to the side and allowed the man to enter the parlor.
“Would you like to have a seat?” I was becoming a regular hostess to mysterious strangers. Only I had a feeling there wasn’t much of a mystery as to where this man came from. I’d brought him back from the dead instead of sending Catherin away.
“Well, first of all, I’d like for someone to tell me where I am. I mean, I realize I’m not dead anymore. For that I am thankful, by the way.
I was really tired of the haunting thing.” He plopped down on the sofa.
Annabelle let out a little gasp. “Another one,” she whispered.
She didn’t know the half of it.
I held my hand up. “Um. I’m the one responsible for bringing you here.”
Liam was staring me. I shrugged. What else could I do?
“Okay, but where am I?” he asked.
“This is LaVeau Manor. I own this place and run it as a bed-and-breakfast.” I waved my arm through the air.
“How quaint,” he said drily.
Great—another sarcastic ghost. I hadn’t dealt with enough of those lately.
I sat down opposite the man. “Where are you from?”
He eyed me up and down, then finally said, “I’m from New Orleans.”
I looked at Liam, then back at the man.
“Do you mind telling us your name?” I asked.
“Of course not. Why would I mind?” His tone held a mocking bite. It sounded as if he really did mind. “My name is Claude Hammond. I suppose you want to know more than that about me, huh?” He looked at all of us.
This had to be weird for Claude—three strangers standing around gawking at him. He’d been called here by me. It wasn’t as if he’d asked to be here. I really needed to stop casting the spell that was bringing the spirits back. Obviously, I lacked the skills needed to make it work.
“Well…” He waved his hand through the air. “I died in a tragic automobile accident ten years ago. I worked at a law firm. No wife and no children. That about sums it up.”
Didn’t he have some kind of connection to LaVeau Manor? Why him? It couldn’t have been a random selection.
“Do you have family in Enchantment Point?” I quirked a brow.
“No, not that I’m aware of,” he answered breezily.
Hmm. “And you’ve never been to LaVeau Manor?” I asked.
“Not until you brought me here.” His face split into a wide grin.
Liam and I exchanged a glance. He had to be thinking the same thing as me. This would be another mystery. Why had he been brought back? Was it something about the spell?
