by Rose Pressey
“Well, I’m sorry about bringing you here. I can help you get back,” I said.
He frowned. “Get back to where? New Orleans? That would be great. Thank you.”
“No, I could help you get back to the other side.” I gestured toward the front door as if that was the portal to the other side.
He scowled. “What the hell? Why would I want to go back there, for heaven’s sake? Look at this ugly suit they dressed me in. Would you want to spend eternity in this thing?”
I looked at his clothing and shrugged. As a matter of fact, no, I wouldn’t want to spend eternity in that, but that was neither here nor there. But he had to go back. As I said before, I didn’t want to be the one who brought these people back. That was not going to be my thing.
“Well, I can offer you a place to stay until you can get back to New Orleans. I’m not planning a trip there this evening,” I said.
Liam scowled. It might not seem like it, but I had a plan. I had a plan to make this darn spell thing work and send all these ghosts out of here. I prayed that the ghosts that had been stalking me outside didn’t return. They had been lurking around outside since I’d discovered I could reanimate the dead. I hadn’t seen them since for a while now, but I was positive they would be back. My collection of ghosts kept growing.
“So are you going to tell me who you are?” he asked with a smile.
“Oh, where are my manners?” I’d been a terrible hostess to my latest ghost guest. “My name is Hallie LaVeau. This is Liam Rankin. And my friend Annabelle Preston.” I gestured across the room.
“Pleased to meet you,” he said.
Annabelle and Liam returned the greeting with less than exuberant jubilee. I stood and gestured for Claude to follow me.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Liam and Annabelle.
They were staring at me as if I’d lost my mind. I wanted to get Claude out of the room so that I could perform another spell and get rid of him. With the help of Liam, I’d be able to perform it correctly this time, right? I was obviously doing something wrong. Liam would be able to spot my mistake and point it out. Yeah, that was what I was telling myself.
“Come on, Claude. I can show you to your room. Would you like something to eat?” I asked.
“I’d love something. Do you have cupcakes?” he asked.
I froze with my foot on the bottom step. I spun around and looked at him. “Why do you ask for cupcakes?”
He held his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t know it was against the law. It’s my favorite. I thought I’d take a shot and ask. I haven’t had one in over ten years. Forgive me,” he said sarcastically. “Should I have asked for steak?”
I stared for a beat. “It just reminded me of someone else.” I looked him up and down as he frowned.
The last ghost had been a huge cupcake fan. Could he be Isabeau in disguise? That would certainly be a connection to LaVeau Manor. Yes, I definitely had to get rid of this man as soon as possible.
I led him to the second floor and down the hallway. Since Catherin was staying in the room across from me, I’d have to put Claude in the last room down the hall. Not that he’d be staying for long if my plan went smoothly.
“You have a great home. Do you live here all alone or was that your husband down there?” he asked.
“Thank you. No, he’s not my husband. And yes, I do live here alone,” I said.
As I neared Catherin’s room, I noticed the door was wide open. When I peeked in, the clothing I’d given her to wear was on the bed. I scanned the room, hoping that I wouldn’t catch her walking around wearing no clothing. Technically, I shouldn’t be snooping around in the first place. So if I did catch an eyeful it would be my own fault.
The room was empty and the bathroom door was wide open too. Did I dare peek in there too? Where had she gone? I stepped through the room and over to the bathroom door.
“Catherin, are you in here?” I called out.
There was no answer.
“Do you usually snoop on your guests?” Claude asked.
I glanced over my shoulder and frowned. “No.”
Okay, I had been snooping on my guests a lot, but only because it had been necessary. It was pure necessity.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed the closet door was open. Where was the dress that Catherin had been wearing when she’d arrived? It wasn’t hanging in the closet and I didn’t see it anywhere else in the room either.
I let out a sigh. “I guess she stepped out for a while.” I tried to give a professional smile. It wasn’t easy though.
Had I sent Catherin back and replaced her with Claude? Was that even possible? Now that I thought of it, I knew that it was very much possible. I had a way of making the simplest spells the most complicated. I had created such a tangled web that I’d probably never escape.
After showing Claude to his room, I rushed back downstairs to figure out how to get rid of him. And with any luck, not bring Catherin or any other ghost back in the process.
Chapter Fifteen
Liam and Annabelle were waiting for me in the parlor and I knew I had some explaining to do.
“What are you going to do with him?” Annabelle whispered when I sat down.
I blew out a breath. “I’m going to do another spell and get him to go back where he came from.”
“Don’t you think you should figure out what went wrong with your last spell before you try another one?” Liam offered the sweetest of smiles.
“Well, yeah. I had planned on asking for your help.” I smiled sweetly.
“What did you have in mind?” He leaned back in the chair.
“I figured I can tell you what I did and you can let me know what I did wrong?” I asked with a quirked eyebrow.
“I don’t think that sounds like the best of plans. Perhaps you should consult the book,” Liam suggested.
“That’s what I did with this last spell and look what happened.” I tossed my hands up.
“Are you going to tell me why you were casting the spell in the first place? Not that it’s any of my business,” he added.
I hesitated, then said, “Catherin was a ghost that I accidentally brought back.”
He chuckled. “So you’ve established a pattern of bringing back the wrong ghosts.”
“Certainly not on purpose,” I said in my defense.
“The truth is…” I looked at Annabelle and Liam. They watched with wide eyes for what I was about to say.
“Nicolas’ mother came back here,” I said nonchalantly.
Liam almost fell out of his chair. “She what? She came back here?”
“She was here the morning I told you I saw the ghost in the cream-colored dress. Gina asked for me to bring her back. But by the time I got the book to do the spell, she was gone. But I did the spell anyway. That’s when Catherin appeared.” I snapped my fingers. “Just like that.”
“Where is Catherin?” Annabelle asked, looking around the room.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I might have sent her back when I brought Claude from the grave.”
The more I talked the worse it sounded.
Annabelle frowned. “She may have been a ghost previously, but I thought Catherin was nice.”
“I don’t know what to think. Catherin claimed to be my great-great-great aunt. But something seemed off.” I couldn’t deny the nagging thought that was settled in the back of my mind.
“Something seems off about this whole thing,” Liam said.
I had to agree with him on that one. I didn’t know who to trust and I didn’t know who was real anymore.
We sat in silence for a moment. Liam was probably thinking the worst. The doorbell rang again, disturbing the quiet in the room and sending my stomach into a nose dive. If another ghost was at the door and I’d brought the person back to life, then I’d probably cry.
“Do you think I have to answer that?” I asked.
Liam nodded. “Let me get it.”
Once again, Anna
belle and I followed Liam to the door. Liam peeked out the hole, then didn’t hesitate to open the door. A tall muscular man with blond hair stepped into the foyer.
“How do you do?” he asked with a smile.
Liam shook his hand. Who was this man? At least it looked as if Liam knew him. I glanced over at Annabelle and her gaze was fixed on the good-looking blond. I waved my hand in front of her face. She finally snapped out of the trance.
“Hallie, this is Jon Santos.” Liam gestured toward the man.
Jon stuck his hand out toward me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m honored to meet the new leader.”
I followed his gaze to Annabelle. Why was I not surprised that another gorgeous guy had shown up? Did all the good-looking men work for the Underworld? I knew he had to be connected in some way. What were the odds that he wasn’t involved? Gorgeous men didn’t just show up at my door. Sadly, I’d discovered that the hard way.
I shook his strong hand. “It’s nice to meet you too.” I looked from Liam back to Jon. “Who are you?”
“I was called in for backup.” He exchanged a look with Liam.
Annabelle stepped closer and cleared her throat. I took the hint. “This is my best friend Annabelle Preston.” I gestured with a tilt of my head.
“It’s a pleasure.” Annabelle batted her eyelashes.
Jon’s eyes sparkled as he placed his lips on Annabelle’s hand. Her face turned a deep shade of red. Liam and I might as well have been invisible.
“So you called for backup?” I asked Liam.
“Don’t you think I need it? I can’t handle both of you, not to mention all the ghosts you keep bringing back to life,” Liam said.
Jon finally looked away from Annabelle and quirked his brow at me. Yeah, he’d heard Liam correctly. The new leader was a screw-up. Deal with it, people.
“I figured Jon can escort Annabelle to her house since I know she doesn’t want to stay in your creepy manor, as she calls it.” Liam winked at Annabelle.
“Yeah, I guess that’s a good idea.” I looked Jon up and down. “But you’d better take care of my best friend. Got it?” I poked him in his hard chest with my index finger.
“Yes, ma’am. You have my word on it,” Jon said with a little salute.
“I’ll just get my bag,” Annabelle said as she ran across the room.
It looked as if there would be little chance of me convincing her to stay. Oh well, it was better if she wasn’t around this craziness anyway.
I hugged Annabelle. “I’ll call you later.”
Annabelle and Jon were chatting as they walked down the front steps and to his car. He opened the door and she climbed in, giggling the whole time. He must have told a very funny joke because Annabelle rarely giggled. Annabelle flipped her hand up in a little wave, then focused her attention back to the conversation with Jon.
“Well, it looks like they’re going to get along just fine,” Liam said.
“It appears that way.” I turned to Liam. “Why didn’t you tell me that you’d called for backup?”
Liam folded his arms in front of his chest. “You were too busy bringing ghosts back and didn’t give me a chance.”
“When are you going to let me live that down?” I asked.
“Probably not for a while.” Dimples appeared on his cheeks.
It was strange being alone with Liam. Well, besides the former ghost that was upstairs and the other one who was missing. My thoughts shifted to Nicolas. Where was he? Most importantly, was he okay? Liam must have read my thoughts.
He stepped closer and placed his hands on my arms. “We’ll get all of this worked out. Try not to worry about it, okay?”
I nodded. “It’s hard not to think about it.”
Liam rubbed my arms, sending a chill down my body. He leaned in closer and placed his warm lips against mine. A warm tingly sensation zipped through my body. I didn’t resist his kiss. It was hard not to succumb to his chemistry. The room began to spin as his tongue moved across mine. I pressed my body closer to his.
Finally, my thoughts broke through the fog and I pushed him away. “I should check on my guest,” I said without looking at Liam.
I dashed up the stairs and didn’t look back. When I got to the top of the stairs, I paused to catch my breath and listen. Would Liam come after me? On one hand, I wanted him to, and onthe other, I didn’t want him to. I couldn’t possibly be any more confused. Would Nicolas be angry that I’d kissed Liam? Given their rocky past, I knew the answer to that question. What would be the consequences for Liam and Nicolas’ shaky relationship if I was in the middle? There was enough animosity between them without me adding to it.
Without checking on my guest, I retreated to my room. Now more than ever I needed time to be alone and think. Once inside my room, I locked the door out of habit, and pulled out the Book of Mystics. I would read that thing cover to cover if it would just give me the answers I was looking for and the answers I needed.
The next thing I knew, I’d fallen asleep, leaning back against the headboard with the Book of Mystics across my chest. Luckily, the book didn’t have my drool on the pages. I really needed to get more rest so that I wouldn’t fall asleep while sitting up so often.
After searching through the book, I still didn’t have the answers I needed. Sure, it had instructed me on how the covens and vampire clans worked, but it hadn’t told me what to do with a problem like the one I was dealing with now.
I needed to ask another witch’s advice. The only catch was I didn’t really have any witch friends. Since I’d always been the outcast of the coven, most witches avoided me like a burning stake or a broken broom. But there was one witch who would be more than willing to lend me a wand… my mother. She would want to know more about Nicolas and Liam though and that was the problem. If I told her what was going on with them she might freak out. Unfortunately, she was my only option. There was still a little daylight left in the day. Just enough time to catch my mother at her shop before she closed and went home for the day.
I picked up my cell and dialed the number to Bewitching Bath and Potions. “I thought I’d come over for a bit,” I said when she answered.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with panic in her voice.
“Can’t I come see my mother?” I asked in defense.
“Well, you rarely volunteer to come by the store,” she replied with frustration in her tone.
I scoffed. “That’s because you always put me to work.”
“Just get here as quickly as you can,” she said around a sigh.
Little did my mother know that I wouldn’t show up to her shop as myself.
Chapter Sixteen
Grabbing the Book of Mystics, I headed downstairs to perform the glamor spell. There was one small problem though. If Liam was down there, I’d have to trick him into leaving me alone for a bit, just enough time for me to cast the spell and slip out of the house.
I had to change my appearance in order to go out of the house without protection. After all, Jacobson and his crazy coven members would be looking for me, not someone else. But who would I change my appearance to? I’d changed my appearance to Nicolas already and that had almost been a catastrophe.
Luckily, this time I had the counter-spell so I wouldn’t have to worry about being stuck taking on someone else’s appearance. Well, in a perfect witch world that was the way it worked. In my world, there was always some doubt. There was only one person who I felt I would be safe as… Liam Rankin. After all, he was my bodyguard and no one would mess with him. But what if they saw me out and thought that he’d left me home alone? They’d come to LaVeau Manor. It wouldn’t matter though. I wouldn’t be here.
I tiptoed through the rooms, hoping that I wouldn’t hit one of the creaky floorboards and notify the whole house that I was moving around. Where was Liam? I should have checked his room before I’d come down, but I didn’t want to accidentally bump into him while in such close proximity to his bedroom.
The house
was silent again except for the eerie tick-tock of that grandfather clock. I needed to get rid of that thing. The sound was just too creepy. It was as if I was perpetually running out of time. Maybe someone was trying to tell me something.
Fortunately, I’d made it through the house without seeing Liam. Once I reached the kitchen, I hurried and gathered my items—cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and bay leaves. Aunt Maddy’s giant cauldron was in the big stone fireplace in the middle of the far wall of the kitchen. I wasn’t sure when I’d stop referring to everything as Aunt Maddy’s. It was all my stuff now… for better or worse.
After adding water to the cauldron, I swiped a long match against the stone then lit the fire underneath. I dumped the ingredients into the cauldron and waited for the water to boil. Of course we all knew that a watched pot never boiled, so while I waited, I paced.
What would Liam say or do if he found out what I was doing? He’d laughed when I’d changed my appearance to Nicolas, but I knew he wouldn’t find this quite as humorous. I was slipping out of the house without him as my protection. If I was killed, it would ruin him. That was kind of selfish of me now that I thought about it. I didn’t want to ruin him—far from it. But it was just a risk I was going to have to take. I prayed that everything worked out the way that I intended.
Once the water came to a boil, I recited the words. This time I didn’t want to make any mistakes. It was too important.
“For a brief time, make my appearance not mine. Alter my look to that of Liam Rankin and no one’s beliefs will falter. So mote it be.”
The water bubbled like the angry sea and flashes of light zinged and zapped around the room. Within a matter of seconds, the commotion had died down again and it was just as peaceful and quiet as when I’d started the spell.
Apprehension coursed through my body. Had the spell worked? Of course I was nervous about making the counter-spell work too. Obviously, not nervous enough though because I’d gone through with the glamor spell. I was having spell casting remorse. It was too late to turn back now, right? Or was it? I needed to check the mirror to see if I was still me or if I’d taken on the handsome features of one sexy vampire warlock, Liam Rankin.
