“You were Mike’s sire?” Mike was the vampire who tried to have Jenna killed through a death curse. The type of curse the global witch’s council had outlawed before I was even born.
I looked between the vampire and his witch cohorts and wondered if they were the ones who concocted that spell. If they were, I had the right to kill them on the spot, no trial necessary. Even the local council would thank me.
“You know, I talked to your friend before he kidnapped Jenna. He never wanted to become a vampire. He originally went to Jenna looking for help to stop you. You forced him to join you.” Before Mike became a vampire, he went to Jenna looking for a spell to protect himself. Too bad Jenna wasn’t a real witch.
“I could kill you on the spot for murder. Your coven could be removed from the vampire rolls for this as well. Are you looking to start even more trouble for your coven?” I crossed my arms over my chest and arched an eyebrow.
“I was within my rights to turn him. Even my queen said as much. I knew nothing of the death curse, until after you brutally murdered him.” He turned to me and stepped inside my personal space. The two witches grabbed his arms and pulled him away from me.
“I’m going to be keeping an eye on you, Mr. Polyester.” I didn’t know his name, what was I to call the demon?
“Ferdinand. My name is Ferdinand. You would do well to remember it.” Ferdy turned and walked away.
“Well, sounds like someone didn’t get up on the right side of his coffin tonight.” I smirked at the dolt’s back. I knew he heard me and had chosen to ignore my impertinent remarks when he shook his head and continued on to the bar.
“Witches, I would say it’s been fun, but it hasn’t. Remember what your council does to witches who break their laws and get caught a second time.” I turned to leave and felt the amulet on my chest warm.
They were attempting to hit me with a curse of some sort. It couldn’t have been too strong or even deadly. The warmer the stone on my chest, the more dangerous the spell it’s fighting off. This felt more like someone was trying to give me a tail or force me to change on the spot. I had much more control of my inner beast than they could ever understand.
I turned my head and looked over my shoulder and said, “Nice try. If I catch you trying to use illegal magic again, I won’t be Mr. Nice Guy. If you were smart, which you probably aren’t, I would stay away from your new buddy. He’s going to get those around him into a lot of trouble.” I walked out of the club and checked my phone.
Luke had text to tell me he took the girls home. Good, I didn’t want them hanging around here while those three were up to no good. I hopped in my car and headed out of the parking lot. Before I could turn left, I noticed an official Witch’s Council insignia on the car turning into the parking lot.
The insignia wasn’t a five-pointed star like in the movies. The witches used a six pointed star and crossed two roses over the top. Each local council had its own color of roses. Ours had neon green roses.
Hopefully, this meant the troublemakers inside would be forced to toe the line. If anything happened tonight, I’d know the local witch leaders were the ones breaking the rules. It could also mean they were the ones who gave Mike the death curse. An official investigation had been started, but it stalled. It was probably never going to go anywhere.
I decided to stop thinking about the witches and political intrigue, for now. It was time I checked in on my favorite mundanes. They had better be safe, or I would tear NOLA apart looking for those witches and Ferdinand, the ancient vampire.
Chapter 10
Indie
“Amaline! Any news yet? Did you see anything on the video feeds which might lead up to your sister?” We had just walked into the apartment after unloading our gear in the garage.
“Not yet. I certainly haven’t seen the car or the guy who took Acadia. Although, there did seem to be a very large amount of strange-looking people heading out of the St. Louis Cemetery after hours. Not sure what’s up there.” Amaline got up and went to the kitchen to grab a soda.
“Strange, that cemetery is very strict about who enters it. They certainly don’t do after-hour tours. Did you point it out to Joshua?” I scratched my chin wondering who would be so bold as to break into one of the most famous cemeteries in town.
“He was on the phone with the witch’s council when I saw it. I did tell him about it after his call. Then we called Kyrie, and they’ve been on the phone ever since.” Amaline shrugged.
“Well, it probably has nothing to do with your sister, but if there is something else going on, then at least you did your duty. It’s too late in the year for the local fraternities to be hazing, so I have no clue who would be breaking into an ancient cemetery.” It was weird.
I knew sometimes regular people who wanted to try out voodoo would go to Marie Laveau’s tomb and try to call up her spirit. Only true devil worshipers could do something like that, as far as I knew. Certainly not something I ever wanted to do. The stories about that voodoo queen scared the daylights out of me, and everyone I knew. She was pure evil, but no one ever said that out loud!
I shivered thinking about real voodoo practitioners and walked to the kitchen for a drink. “Hey, what happened to the sweet tea? You guys drink it all while we were working?”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Some of the pack came by to check on us tonight so we gave them all tea.” Adalaide went into the living room and sat on the couch.
“No news at all yet?” Jenna asked when she walked into the room.
“Sorry, Jenna. I asked when I came inside too. Nothing yet. Except for a strange group of people coming out of St. Louis Cemetery.” I shrugged.
“That’s not creepy or anything.” Jenna hunched her shoulders and visibly shivered.
“Where’s Rico? Did he come back with you?” Joshua entered the room and looked around before asking his question.
Joshua was a cool guy. He totally understood where we were all coming from. Best part, he’s an alchemist. The guy knew his chemistry and herbology. Some people confused alchemy with witchcraft, but it’s not the same. Alchemy is rooted in science. Too bad they never did find a way to turn metal into gold. It would have been cool!
The door creaked open, and we all turned to see who walked in.
“Hi, guys. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Rico smiled and closed the door.
We all stood there staring at him. Finally, I shook myself free from my stupor. “Rico, what happened? Where’d you go?”
“I noticed some para’s in the audience who are normally up to no good, so I went to check them out.” Rico looked to Joshua and nodded.
“I called the council, and they said they’d dispatch someone right away,” Joshua explained.
“Yes, I saw them pulling into the parking lot when I was leaving. I can’t be sure, but I think the witches would have done something if we weren’t there. Can you get Kyrie to hack into their CCTV and keep an eye on the place for a while?” Rico ran a hand through his hair, and I noticed his muscles bulging against the tight sleeve of his t-shirt.
Jenna better jump at the chance to go out with him if he asks.
“Was it the same ones as last time?” Joshua inquired.
“Yup, and they have a new friend. An ancient vampire named Ferdinand.” Rico raised an eyebrow.
“Really? I know that name. Why do I know that name?” Joshua quirked his lips while thinking. “Oh! He’s the Spanish vamp who tried to overthrow the vampire queen almost a hundred years ago. He’s here? In New Orleans? I thought he was cast out of vampire society for the attempted coupe?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard of him before. He was all cozy with those two witches I busted at the Blue Bayou a few weeks back. This doesn’t sound good.” Rico shook his head and sighed.
“He was with Lola and Leana? This can’t be good. No wonder the council got there so fast. When I called them, they were very upset. They probably knew exactly who was causing problems there. There m
ust be something with that site or the owner.” Joshua narrowed his eyes.
“They were banned from ever going back there again. According to my contact on the council. He called me to let me know what was decided about them. They were also not supposed to be in public. They were grounded.” Joshua took his phone out of his back pocket and scrolled through numbers as we walked outside.
“What’s that all about? I asked.
“The witches and vampires never work together, unless it’s something really bad. They hate each other. There are too many situations lately where vamps have been able to use spells, meaning they’re working with witches. This doesn’t bode well for our city.” Rico ran a hand through his hair as he paced the length of the living room.
Kat had been silently watching and listening to everything going on. “Could this have something to do with all of the women going missing?”
“Probably, but it’s hard to tell. Disappearances happen all of the time. So far, the number isn’t at a record high. Although, there are many more humans dead or missing this year than last year. It makes me wonder if they aren’t slowly preparing for another coupe. Especially with Ferdinand here.” Rico sat down and exhaled. His shoulders slumped, and he stared at the ground.
“If there’s another coupe, what does that mean for the humans and the wolves?” Jenna sat next to Rico and put her hand on his shoulder.
Rico sat up and scratched the five o’clock shadow he was sporting this evening. “If there’s a coupe, the vampires will need an army. The only way to do it is to change more humans into vampires.”
“What do the witches have to do with all of this?” Kat straddled a fold-up chair and sat down, with her arms crossed over the padded back of the beige chair.
“Last time, the witches played both sides against each other. It’s probably the only reason the coupe failed,” Joshua said as he walked back into the apartment.
“Rico, I just spoke with my contact on the witch’s council. They picked up Lola and Leana but found no sign of a vampire. Do you think it was just a coincidence? Or is something else going on here?” Joshua put his phone into his back pocket.
“There are no coincidences where witches and vampires are concerned. There’s definitely something going on here. I’m betting it’s all connected, too. Those witches turned almost an entire club into frogs with their spell. That takes some serious mojo.” Rico narrowed his eyes.
“Tonight, they tried to use magic on me, but it was pretty low level. Either, they had recently used up all of their magic on an extremely large spell, or someone else created the frog spell for them. I don’t like this, not at all. We’re going to need back-up, and all of the allies we can get.” Rico sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
I caught Jenna looking at Rico. I half expected her to be ogling him. He was showing some nice muscles tonight. Instead, she furrowed her brow, and stuck her tongue into her cheek. Not a normal thing for her to do. She must have been worried for him, or ticked he hasn’t said hello to her yet.
Oh, well. It’s their love life. I’m gonna try to stay out of it. We have too many other things to worry about right now.
“Joshua, call everyone you know. Ask them if they know anything about what’s going down. I’m going to call the global council and alert them to what’s happening here.”
“I want to see if they can shed some light on this or give me more details about the last attempted coupe. I sure hope it isn’t a coupe this time. The streets of NOLA will be bathed in blood if that’s what’s happening.” Rico’s shoulders slumped forward, and he ran both his hands over his face. “Not good, not good at all.”
While everyone set off to get to work, Rico got up and headed outside.
Chapter 11
Jenna
“What has Acadia gotten herself mixed up in?” Adalaide said before slumping into the chair in front of the monitors.
All of us looked around wide-eyed and shocked. If what Rico suggested was true, Adalaide might already be a vampire. Or worse, a past meal. When we thought she was taken to be an acolyte, there was still hope of recovering her. Now, I still hoped, but reason was starting to kick in and make me think she may not be coming back.
“Is anyone tired? Feel free to hit the sack. I’m gonna stay up and watch the monitors for a while. I’m too wired to sleep right now.” There was way too much on my mind tonight to sleep.
Rico had me worried, and now all of this new information added to my disquiet. I doubted I would be able to sleep for quite some time.
“Thanks, Jenna. I think I’m coming down from the high of the night. I’ll go to bed now. Come wake me up when you get tired, and I’ll take over for a few hours.” Kat waved to everyone as she headed to her room.
“I’ll sit with you for a while. I’m not tired yet.” Sam pulled a chair over to the monitors where the two triplets still sat.
“Amaline and Adalaide, you should get some sleep. I think it’s going to be a crazy week going forward. This might be your last chance to get a full night’s sleep.” I walked over to stand behind them and looked at the images flashing across the monitors.
The monitors showed the areas we suspected the abductor, Lukas, to be located. Several were CCTV cameras Kyrie had tapped into. One was a camera located by one of the famous graveyards. People were coming and going from that place. Which is odd since the graveyards close at dusk.
Although, sometimes there are some night tours of “haunted” graveyards. Maybe it was one of those nights. Since learning magic was real, we had discovered that ghosts were not real. Thank goodness! Nothing else on the monitors grabbed my attention.
The triplets got up and said their goodnights and went to get ready for sleep. I sat down in one of the chairs they had been using and prepared for a long, boring night. At least it would give me time to think about everything going on lately.
“Goodnight, Indie. You should get some sleep too. Kat will probably want to wake you early to take over for her, or you’ll get to open the store tomorrow.” I smiled thinking about how I wouldn’t be getting up early. I totally got the best end of this deal tonight.
That is until Rico walked back inside. I thought he had left for the night. However, since he didn’t say goodnight, I should have known otherwise.
What’s with that longing look he’s throwing my way, and in front of everyone to boot.
“Rico, I thought you needed to head back to your pack?”
“I do, I just wanted to come back in and say goodnight. Great job with the gig. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam finds out you have hundreds of new followers on social media.” Rico waved and left again. Weird.
“What was that about?” Sam asked.
“I’m not sure.” I turned back to watch the monitors and tried not to think about the cute guy, to no avail.
He really was adorable and looked out for all of us. Rico was always doing something nice, like opening doors, or bringing back beignets for me when he went out for his lunch. One night he brought us all Chinese because it was too hot and sticky to cook. I just wasn’t ready to lose his friendship.
“Look, I’ve stayed out of this because you are a grown woman, but you need to figure out what you want. I have seen the longing looks on your side as well as his.” Sam turned her head and watched me squirm under her stare.
“There’s nothing going on. We’re just friends. That’s how it’s going to stay, too.” I couldn’t believe Sam, of all people, was interrogating me over a guy!
“Uh-huh, you tell yourself that, if it makes you feel better. Just don’t lead the guy on if you aren’t going to do anything. Rico’s a great guy and deserves a woman who will accept his love.” Sam was really making me uncomfortable.
“Who said anything about love? I just met the guy. Whatever you think is going on, isn’t. Hey, what’s that?” I pointed to the screen, not a moment too soon.
On one of the cameras, I saw a black sedan that might have matched what we were looking for.
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“Don’t try to change the subject.” Sam crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me.
“Sam, get serious for a minute. I think I saw Lukas’ car.” I hit the keys that should have brought up the camera in that section of town. Instead, I brought up the camera for Bourbon Street.
“I doubt he’s going to get his car on Bourbon Street with that parade going right now. Oh! Look! They’re throwing out the pink and purple beads tonight. How exciting! Not!” Sam smacked her lips and narrowed her eyes at me.
“I swear! I saw a black sedan that looked like a Cadillac. It was coming out of the St. Louis Cemetery.”
“Ugh! How do you work this thing? I want to look back at the cemetery, not what’s going on around the corner from us. Although, that dragon does look cool. We never watch the parades anymore. Why is that?” I shook myself and pulled the binder down off the desk.
Kyrie had set it all up for us and gave us a book with some seriously detailed instructions inside. It came with pictures and everything. He screen shot all he could for us.
“Sam, you’re good with computers. How do I get to a certain camera?” I was paging through the notebook looking for the control images.
“Scoot over, I got this.” She cracked her knuckles like she was about to hack into a system or something.
I shook my head, until I realized she kinda was. Her fingers flew over the keys faster than I could follow. Within a few seconds, she had removed the parade image and brought up three different graveyard cameras.
“Which one?” She focused on me, and I sat there with my mouth wide open. Man, she was good.
“Oh, uh.” I looked at the monitors and pointed. “That’s the graveyard I saw. Can you rewind and show me the past five to ten minutes?”
“Nope. We don’t have access to the recordings. All we can do is zoom in and choose the different cameras to call up. If we see something interesting we mark it in the book and text Kyrie. He’ll take care of it.” Sam pulled up the image of the St. Louis Cemetery.
New Orleans Magic: Urban Fantasy Series (The Voodoo Dolls Book 1) Page 7