New Orleans Magic: Urban Fantasy Series (The Voodoo Dolls Book 1)

by J. L. Hendricks

  “Tell me, what happened? Who did this to you? And where are they? Should I get my cousin to teach this animal some manners?” Jimmie’s cousin was in a gang.

  I wanted nothing to do with them. I had enough trouble just keeping up with a pack of wolf-shifters.

  “I don’t think you have to worry about him. He won’t be coming around here.” Did Jimmie know the truth? How should I handle this?

  A little voice in my head said Change the topic.

  “Jimmie, I thought the hurricane was going to dissipate before hitting land? According to the news,” I pointed to the TV over the bar. “It looks like we might be seeing another hurricane hit our poor town. Turn up the volume. I want to know when it’s going to hit land.”

  “Don’t worry, it won’t be hitting until sometime tomorrow early afternoon. Sasha, she’s my favorite weather girl, said it wouldn’t be any stronger than a cat 2. She thinks it might even be downgraded to a tropical storm by then.” Jimmie had goo-goo eyes for Sasha, the local weather girl.

  She wore those super low-cut and very tight dresses that the men loved so much. I didn’t think much of her, she was usually wrong. However, most of the time all of the weather people were wrong, didn’t matter how hot they were.

  “Is that why the place is empty? Are people evacuating? Has it been ordered yet?” I looked over my shoulder at all of the empty tables and booths.

  “We closed early tonight. I only stayed here for you to pick up your order. When you came in, I was in the middle of packaging all of our leftovers to take on the road. I was going to leave once it was all packed up. Now I know why you were so late.” Jimmie scrunched his nose.

  “Jenna, you need a bath. Sorry, but you stink.” He leaned away from me enough to let me know he wasn’t kidding.

  “Sorry, Jimmie. I fought back. We were in an alley that was filled with rotten vegetables and who knows what else. Probably dead rats too.” I shivered.

  We both turned when the bell above the door rang.

  “Damien! Thank you so much for coming so quickly! Were you the closest?” I stood up to greet my friend who also happened to be a pretty tough wolf-shifter and the pack’s beta.

  “Jenna, thank goodness! Rico is out of his mind with worry! Hi, Jimmie! You have any more food? I think you’re going to be inundated with a few pack members.” Damien came over and was about to hug me, but he scrunched his nose and stepped back.

  “Jenna, you need a shower. Badly.” He fanned his nose.

  “Sure thing, Damien. How many are coming?” Jimmie asked when he stood up.

  “Probably at least a dozen. You know how they get when they’re patrolling. I would imagine they’re going to be very hungry.” Damien took a seat at my table.

  When Jimmie went to the back, I leaned forward and whispered, “Does Jimmie know? About you guys?”

  “Of course, most of the shop and restaurant owners who stay open really late have had run-ins with vampires. Not all know we’re shifters, but Jimmie does. One of my guys saved him and his wife from an attack a few years back. Now, this is one of our favorite places to patrol. Jimmie always gives us wonton soup when we come in.” Damien looked up to the TV.

  No wonder Jimmie’s wife was never here at night.

  “Did you see the report? Looks like the city is going to get hit with a hurricane after all. What do you guys do during hurricanes? Do you evac?” I had never considered what they would do during an emergency.

  Last hurricane season I didn’t know these guys. This was the first one heading our way since I’d met them.

  “We have a place a few hours north of here. If the hurricane is projected to be cat 4 or above, we send our young and elderly there for safety. Otherwise, we can withstand quite a bit.”

  “Yeah, you guys are pretty tough and fast.” I reached up and massaged my neck close to where the stupid vamp bit me. The muscles were sore. Stupid vamps!

  “How much did he drink from you?” Damien’s eyes darkened when he looked at my neck.

  “Not a lot. I tricked him into letting my neck go before he got too much. Although, it still hurts. It wasn’t as bad as the last time I was attacked. That blood-sucker must have wanted to inflict as much pain as possible. I’m just glad you all arrived when you did and were able to tear him apart.” Sighing, I tried to push out the memory from over six months ago when I first met Rico and his pack.

  Jimmie came in with a bowl of wonton soup and a cup of tea for Damien. He also had a teapot on his tray and refilled my tea.

  “Thanks, Jimmie.” I took a sip of my full cup of green tea and sighed. It was the best tea, besides my rose tea, of course.

  “What did you do to trick the vamp?” Damien asked before taking a sip of his tea.

  Jimmie’s eyes widened. “You were attacked by a vampire and survived? Mad props, Jenna.”

  “I told him I wanted to jump his bones, if he let my neck go.” I blinked and watched as Damien choked on the tea he was drinking.

  Jimmie busted up laughing. “Oh, Jenna. I always knew you were my kind of girl! Free wonton soup for you!”

  “YOU.TOLD.HIM.WHAT?”

  I froze when I heard Rico’s voice. If he was angry earlier, I had no clue what this emotion was. Something primal inside of me knew to cower. Slowly, I turned around and could swear steam was coming off Rico’s head.

  The next thing I knew, a wolf was standing right in front of me and sniffing my body.

  Go on over to Amazon and pick up Hurricane of Magic and see what happens next!

  Sneak Peek of The Voodoo That You Do, inside Midnight Magic

  Men, be very careful when dating a woman who makes voodoo dolls for a living. You just might live to regret your mistakes.

  Indie and her three adopted sisters, the Voodoo Dolls, run a tourist shop in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA). They are also The Voodoo Dolls, an indie rock band who don’t believe magic is real.

  Voodoo dolls are just tchotchkes, right? A fun pin cushion which allows you to pretend you’re really hurting the object of your ire.

  But what happens when Indie’s boyfriend cheats on her, and she creates a voodoo doll that represents him? Using his own hair and a toenail clipping, Indie sets about to seek revenge for the pain Brian caused her. Only to discover that Voodoo Magic just might be real!

  Chapter 1

  Indie

  “Alright! That last set rocked the house! Kat, spring break is around the corner, what gigs do you have lined up for us?” I asked our band manager and lead guitarist.

  “We have three gigs each week this April. Until then, we have to focus on practice, girls. Indie, you might need to let Brian know you’re going to be really busy for the next few weeks. Remember, this is our future.” Kat put her guitar into her case as we all packed up our equipment from tonight’s gig.

  It was a minor club, but it was packed! Most of the front of the stage was filled with our fans who follow us from club to club. Sam, one of my sisters, is our web diva. She makes sure that everyone knows where we are performing and when. I can usually recognize a decent amount of fans at each club we play.

  I know that if we can double our fan base, we should be able to get a record contract. Twelve gigs in April should really get us out there and help to attract more fans, which in turn, will attract the record executives. The four of us have worked extremely hard to get where we are now.

  Kat started our band five years ago and has worked her butt off to get us within striking distance of our goal. The extra income hasn’t hurt either.

  “Can Brian come watch us practice? He started out as a fan, you know.” Brian and I had only been dating a few months, but it seemed to be getting serious. He had talked about us taking the next step just last week. I hope that meant he was considering proposing to me. Was I ready for marriage?

  “Sure, as long as he doesn’t distract you.” Kat walked over to help me take down my drum set.

  “I just hope you two can keep your hands off each other. Last time he
came over I about puked when I walked in on you two in the kitchen. He practically had your entire face in his mouth! Talk about gross!” Jenna started to laugh as she coiled up the cord for her mic.

  “What about when I walked in on them in the garage? I swear! They can’t keep their lips apart! It’s like you two super-glued your mouths together. Disgusting!” Sam shook her head and picked up her guitar case.

  Jenna was the lead singer, and Sam played bass guitar. Both were the best singers I had ever heard.

  “Oh, please! You’re all just jealous you don’t have hot boyfriends. Just admit it.” I threw a drumstick at Jenna who screeched and dodged the stick.

  “Who has time for a boyfriend right now? Between running our shop and our band, there isn’t any time for a guy. At least, not a serious one. How many times have I covered your shifts at The Voodoo Dolls Store, just so you could spend time with your guy? He isn’t even that cute.” Sam wrinkled her nose. She had never really liked Brian.

  From the moment I introduced him to the group, she was always a bit standoffish. I thought she may have had a crush on him. We had all noticed him in the crowds of the bars we performed. He seemed to follow us around.

  Brian was a rarity. He had brown hair with hints of natural auburn highlights. His hair had that just got out of bed look, and he rocked it! Those smoky-blue eyes of his could see into my soul. I would spend hours just gazing into his perfectly chiseled face and wonder how I got so lucky.

  Sam said he had a different girl each time she saw him. That didn’t bother me. It just meant none of them were serious girls. He must have been waiting for me.

  I looked out into the crowd and saw Brian. He was waiting by the bar, talking to a tall redhead.

  “If you aren’t careful, someone else will be taking the next step with him instead of you.” Sam pointed to Brian and the home-wrecker.

  I scrunched my nose and said, “Her? You’ve got to be kidding. She’s probably just some chick he knows from work or something.” I watched as he laughed, and she put her hand on his arm.

  He saw me and took a step back from her, then said something and made his way to me.

  “Hey, babe. Great set as usual! When are you girls going to start singing some new material? Isn’t that the same line-up from your last four gigs?” Brian smiled up to me from the edge of the stage.

  I jumped down to give him a kiss. “I know. We have several new songs we’re going to introduce in our line-up for spring break. Kat is going to have us practicing a lot over the next couple of weeks. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have for dates, but you can come and hang out with us during practices, like you used to.”

  “We’ll see. Work is picking up too. I might have a few late nights and some weekend work prepping for a new ad campaign.” He shrugged.

  “Oh, hmm. Can you help us carry the equipment out to our van?” I pointed my thumb over my shoulder, indicating all of the heavy equipment we had packed up and ready to go.

  “Sure, just let me say goodnight to some friends, and I’ll come help you.” Brian kissed my forehead and turned back toward the redhead and her friends.

  “Huh, so he’s going back to the redhead? Why isn’t he helping us? He always does,” Kat asked.

  “He’s going to say goodnight to his friends, then he’ll come help. Come on. Let’s get started.” I bit my lip and reached up to have Kat and Jenna help me get back on stage.

  It took twenty minutes for Brian to say goodnight to his friends. We had already loaded the van when he showed up.

  “I’m so sorry, babe. Those were work friends. I talked them into coming and watching the show. They weren’t ready to leave and kept talking to me. I totally lost track of time.”

  “I see. Well, you can come back with us and help unload, right?” I wrapped my arms around his neck and nibbled on his ear.

  Breathing heavily, he answered, “Most definitely.” Then he kissed me like he hadn’t seen me in weeks, instead of hours.

  “Oh, gross! Come on, Indie. We’re all tired and want to get back to unload so we can go to sleep.” Jenna covered her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

  “Just wait, Jenna. When you get a boyfriend, I’m going to have a lot of fun paying you back.” I smirked and grabbed Brian’s hand.

  End of Sneak Peek

  Midnight Magic is available on Amazon

  Magic’s Not Real sneak peek

  When magic IS real, what would you do to protect yourself?

  Jenna and her three adopted sisters, the Voodoo Dolls, run a tourist shop in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA). They are also The Voodoo Dolls, an indie rock band who don’t believe magic is real.

  That is until someone tries to kill Jenna using a death curse. Rico and his pack are there when it happens. They decide to protect Jenna and the Dolls, while going after the evil that tried to kill the beautiful lead singer.

  What the dolls don’t realize is that everything from their nightmares is true! When they discover magic IS real, they all discover the terrible truth about vampires, shifters, and magic wielders. Will Jenna survive the evil which is after her? Will she be able to accept the assistance of a wolf shifter and his pack? Or will she fall prey to the creatures that live in the night.

  Chapter 1

  Jenna

  “Welcome to the Voodoo Doll’s House. How can I help you?” I asked the latest patron who entered my shop.

  “I was looking for a charm.” The young, pretty blonde woman looked around and slowly walked to the counter. “I, um, well. You see, my boyfriend is cheating on me, and I want to either make him pay or get him to stop cheating. I don’t know which yet. Can you help me?” The young, twenty-ish girl with wide, blue eyes, looked at me, and asked, “What can I do? I heard you make the best voodoo dolls in all of NOLA. Should I punish him?”

  “Hm, yes, I see.” I tapped my chin and thought for a moment. “Do you love him?”

  “Yes, with everything I am.”

  “Then you don’t want revenge or punishment, you want him to love you in return. I have just the thing.” I walked to the other side of the small store and picked up a sachet of leaves and flowers, then handed it to my new eager client.

  “This is a tea that you brew and serve to the one you love. If your love for him is true, he’ll love you forever.” I winked at her. “However, if your love isn’t true, well, let’s just say that you might want to think twice before you give him this tea.” I frowned and watched her face for a reaction.

  “Why? Will he hurt me or something?” Her eyes went wide.

  “Not physically, but emotionally it will be quite painful. I must warn you. Only a few of my clients have actually come back to tell me that their journey ended in wedded bliss. Think long and hard about how you really feel for him. If you decide you love him - really and truly love him, like there would be no tomorrow without him, brew him this tea. You must drink it together and finish it while it’s still hot.”

  My business partner and best friend, Indie, came through the back door and watched as the young woman ate up every word I said. “Oh, really? He’ll propose and everything? Never cheat on me again?”

  “If your love is true, yes.” I nodded my head.

  “Oh yes! I know exactly how I feel. I want him forever and ever! Tonight, I’ll make him a special dinner, and then we can have tea with dessert! Tony - that’s my boyfriend’s name - isn’t really a tea kinda guy, but I’ll get him to drink it.” The customer reached into the basket and grabbed five more bags of the tea before turning to follow me to the register.

  “Miss, you won’t need more than one bag of tea. If it doesn’t work the first time, it won’t work.” I smiled at her, and when the lady turned to put the tea bags away, I winked at Indie.

  Whirling back around, the young lady questioned, “Oh, can I buy these for my friends? Do they make nice gifts? I have several girlfriends who are having trouble with their boyfriends or husbands. Yvette’s husband has already cheated once, that we know of, and she
could really use this, too.” The customer furrowed her brow and held on tight to the tea sachets.

  “Of course, they make fantastic gifts! I have some gift bags you could use too. How about an aphrodisiac to go with them? We have a fresh batch of fudge, my partner Indie, made just this morning. If your man isn’t in the mood, this will certainly help him get there, if you know what I mean.” I raised my eyebrows and walked to the next counter to grab six sets of wrapped fudge, one set for the customer and the rest for her friends.

  “Is there anything else you need help with?” I put the packages of dark chocolate and nuts, wrapped in red paper with a white bow, on the counter in front of my new client.

  The woman looked around, hunched her shoulders and whispered, “Can I try the fudge first? I mean, does it taste weird once you put your voodoo in it?”

  I put a hand over her mouth and giggled. “Of course you can taste it, but it must be a very small portion as it doesn’t take much to get the magic working.” I cut off a sliver of one of the bars of fudge and handed it to the woman.

  “Mmm, that is really good. Does the magic or voodoo or whatever you do make it taste better? Cuz that is some of the best fudge I’ve ever had.” She licked her lips and her eyes rolled back as she sighed.

  “Huh, I hadn’t thought of it before. But then again, I don’t eat the fudge.” I winked at the customer.

  I rang up the purchase and said, “That will be $109.59, please.”

  The lady pulled out her credit card and giggled. “Oh, right! That would be awful to eat the fudge and have to stay here at work the rest of the day, wouldn’t it?” The woman smiled when she handed her credit card over and gladly paid the bill.

  “I guess a hundred dollars is cheap compared to the counseling bills some couples have, or the divorce attorneys!” The lady shivered.

  The bell on the door rang as the smiling customer walked out the door. She had no clue she just paid over one hundred dollars for a simple rose tea and ordinary chocolate fudge. Those same items could be purchased for less than ten dollars at the grocery store.