Spirits, Beignets, and a Bayou Biker Gang

by Deanna Chase

  I glanced over at my battered boyfriend, then at the motionless witch lying in front of me, and then turned to check on Hale. He was pressed up against the garage wall, wearing only his pink boy shorts and black socks, clutching an oversized wrench. His eyes were wide with shock and his mouth hung open.

  “Are you all right?” I asked him.

  He nodded slowly, then glanced down at himself, dropped the wrench, and hastily tried to cover his man-junk with both hands.

  I shook my head in disbelief. The man had almost gone up in a fiery inferno, witnessed a magical showdown to end all showdowns, and still found the energy to be worried someone was looking at him in his questionable fashion choice? I ignored his lack of clothing and eyed his legs, wincing at the blisters already forming. “You’re going to need medical attention.”

  He nodded again.

  “Soon. You might want to try to find some clothes before the ambulance gets here.”

  “No.” He swallowed thickly as he forced the words out. It appeared whatever I’d done to Emerson had neutralized the spell he’d put on Hale. “No ambulance. I’ll go to the emergency room.”

  “Hale—” Too late. The man was already hobbling down the gravel lane toward a white truck parked behind the office. “Why did he stay during the magical fight?” I asked Julius. “If his truck was here the entire time…”

  “I’m guessing he was either compelled to stay here by Emerson or he was too afraid,” Julius said. “It seems obvious Emerson was forcing him to work for him. We just don’t know how or why.”

  “Yeah. Makes sense.” But nothing else did. Not yet anyway.

  Julius put his arm around me and pulled me in close. He pressed his warm lips to my temple and whispered, “You saved me.”

  I turned into him, burying my face against his chest. “No. It was Avrilla. If she hadn’t given me the knife…”

  “Pyper,” he said and pulled away from me slightly. “Your magic neutralized him. You saved me and Hale.”

  “But I don’t have magic,” I insisted. “Or at least not any that I can tap. It was the knife. And when we were on the ship it was Vienna Vox’s magic. I appear to just be a conduit.”

  “I don’t think so.” Julius peered over my shoulder at Emerson’s lifeless body. “Otherwise any old blood would have worked on that knife.”

  I wasn’t sure what to make of that. However, my mother had shown up and said I just needed to unlock my power. Did that mean I had magic I could tap, or would it forever be locked in the knife? I wasn’t exactly sure if I wanted to find out. At least not right at the moment. “Shouldn’t you call someone? Like the council?”

  Julius let out a sigh. “Yeah. Let’s hope they send someone this time, because I don’t know how we’re going to haul him in on my bike.”

  While Julius dialed, I studied Emerson Charles. He was sprawled on the ground, arms and legs bent at unnatural angles while his eyes were wide open, staring at nothing. If it hadn’t been for his chest rising and falling with each breath, it would be hard to convince me he wasn’t dead. I moved over and nudged a hand with the tip of my boot.

  Nothing.

  Kneeling, I placed my hand directly over the left side of his chest and nearly yanked it back when I felt the steady strum of his heart. But still there was no movement, no magic coating his body, and nothing to indicate he wasn’t totally incapacitated.

  Good. Because if there was ever a time to search his property, now was it. Without so much as a whisper of guilt, I rummaged through the man’s front pockets until my fingers closed around his keys. No doubt one of them would open his office. If he was stupid enough to leave any records around that led to either Bo or Mia, I was going to find them.

  Mentally and physically exhausted, I tightened my grip around the keys and started down the gravel lane back toward the office.

  “Pyper!” Julius called.

  I turned and glanced over my shoulder to find him waving frantically.

  “Hurry. It’s the knife.”

  A jolt of adrenaline shot through me and I ran flat out back into the garage. The knife had turned electric blue and was slowly but surely working its way out of the Emerson Charles’s chest.

  “What the hell?” I asked and moved closer. Emerson blinked up at me, his eyes glittering with hatred. But when he moved his mouth, no sound came out. “Oh God. He’s waking up.”

  Julius, still on the phone, relayed the situation to the council member, but I’d stopped listening to him. The warm magic I’d felt earlier started to strum through my veins, and my hand itched to reach for the knife. There was a strange pull that connected me with the object.

  “You need to reconnect with the knife,” Julius said from behind me. “It’s your magic keeping him neutralized.”

  My magic. I could feel it pulsing everywhere. My skin heated and I felt invincible. Was this what it was like to be Jade? The high was incredible… and also terrifying. No one should have so much power over another person.

  “You… are a dead witch… walking,” Emerson forced out between cracked lips.

  Anger made my mind buzz, and all other thoughts vanished as I knelt down and whispered. “You first.”

  Then I grabbed the hilt of the knife and slammed it back into his chest, twisting it for good measure.

  The electric-blue magic that had been coating the hilt poured over him, encasing him in a thin sheet of ice-like magic. His limbs stiffened, leaving him with one arm slightly raised while his other hand lay mere inches from the hilt of the knife. He was frozen once again, unable to move anything… except this time he was conscious as he glared up at me.

  I stared down into his dark eyes and felt nothing but satisfaction.

  15

  “The council isn’t coming,” Julius said.

  I nodded from my place on the concrete floor. Nothing they did surprised me. Either they were the most incompetent magical law enforcement department ever, or the world was imploding and they were severely understaffed. Right then I was going for incompetent. But likely the truth was somewhere in the middle. “If we manage to get him back to the council, is there someone there to deal with him?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “All right.” I picked up my phone and dialed Jade.

  “We’re almost to Mayhem. Where do you want us to meet you?” she asked by way of greeting.

  I rattled off the address, then added, “And Jade?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Get here as soon as you can. We have a situation.”

  “You’re saying you did this?” Jade asked me as she knelt beside Emerson Charles, inspecting the knife.

  I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling very exposed and vulnerable.

  “How?” Kane, my best friend and her husband, draped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me in for a sideways hug.

  I glanced up at him and had to blink back the tears that stung my eyes. He’d been my person, my pseudobrother, for so long that just seeing him walk into the garage had brought on a well of emotion. I swallowed. Hard. Then cleared my throat. “Apparently my blood unleashed the magic from the knife.”

  Jade turned, her long strawberry-blond hair falling over one eye. But there was no missing the alarm in her expression. “It’s blood magic?”

  “Well, yeah, I guess,” I said hesitantly, an ache forming in my gut. Blood magic was dangerous, and despite knowing the entire time the knife required blood to unleash its power, it hadn’t even occurred to me to question the safety of the magical blade. I’d needed it and would use it again if I had to, but being affiliated with dark magic wasn’t something I was happy about.

  “It’s not what you’re thinking,” Julius quickly clarified.

  All three of us turned in unison, giving Julius our undivided attention.

  “That knife only worked when it came in contact with Pyper’s blood. For some reason, once her blood touched the blade, it unlocked her magic. But Emerson’s blood didn’t do it. And the knife stop
s working if she gets too far away. It’s as if it’s made for her and only her.”

  Jade frowned. “And you said a ghost witch gave it to you?”

  “Yes. My mom showed up too.”

  Jade’s eyes widened, and Kane’s grip around my shoulder tightened.

  “What did she say?” Jade asked.

  I relayed the short conversation we’d shared and then shrugged. “She wasn’t here for very long.”

  “Wow.” Jade nodded. “It does sound like it was made just for you. But why?”

  “That’s the real question, isn’t it?” Julius added. “But unless we find Avrilla again, I’m not sure we’re going to get the answer. And right now, we have other issues to deal with.” He waved at the still-incapacitated biker. “We need to get him to the council, and we still have to find Bo and Mia.”

  “I can take him,” Kane said, resting his hand on the dagger strapped to his side. He was a demon hunter and never left home without it. And even though it was specifically for battling demons, it was a useful tool in combating all kinds of magic.

  “Not alone. You need backup.” Jade turned to Julius. “You pretty much have to go, right?”

  Julius met my gaze, and after a moment, he nodded.

  I slipped out of Kane’s brotherly embrace and went to Julius’s side. He needed healing herbs, a shower, and a change of clothes. Not to mention a good night’s sleep and a hot meal. “You should stay with Jade. It makes sense that I go. As long as I’m with him and the knife stays buried in his chest, there’s no chance of another altercation.”

  “You don’t know that.” Julius slipped his hand around mine and squeezed lightly. “The magic could wear off any minute. Until we know more about this knife and what it means for you, we can’t assume anything.”

  “He’s right,” Jade said. “We can’t risk what we don’t know.” Then she dug around in her bag and produced a small metal tin. “Here.” She handed the metal container to Julius. “You’ll find turmeric healing lozenges in there along with a variety of teas that will help with pain reduction and stimulate healing.”

  “So you’re saying Kane and Julius are going to take Emerson to the council while we stay here?” I asked her, trying to fight the anxiety crawling up the back of my neck. The thought of sending the only two men in my life I’d ever loved off with the one who had just tried to kill Julius was too much.

  “I’m not sure we have a choice,” Jade said softly. “We could all go, but what about this young man you’re worried about? Or Mia? Five years is a long time to be held captive. Do you want to put the search on hold while we deal with this guy?”

  “He could be the answer to where they both are,” I said. “And the fastest path to finding them both.”

  Jade stared at the incapacitated biker. She narrowed her eyes, then stalked over to him, reached down, and yanked the knife out of his chest.

  His eyes bulged as he sucked in a large gasp of breath.

  “Whoa! Jade, I don’t think—”

  Jade held up a hand to stop me. “Where are Bo and Mia?” she demanded, her hands on her hips.

  He pushed himself up, gripping the middle of his unmarred chest. “What?” He blinked, then zeroed in on me, his eyes shooting daggers. “You are going to wish you’d never been born when I get my hands on you.”

  Jade kicked him in the gut, knocking him over, and held him down with one foot. “Right now you have a bigger problem, buddy.”

  He snarled up at her. “You think you can take me?” Reaching up with one hand, he streamed magic from his palm, but it petered out instantly.

  Jade raised one skeptical eyebrow. “Looks like any one of us could take you right now.”

  He growled and grasped her ankle, but even as he tried to twist to cause her to lose her balance, she shot a bolt of her white magic straight into his chest at the exact spot I’d plunged the magical knife. He cried out and let go, lying there panting while we all stared at him.

  “Try something like that again and the next time, I’ll take an eye out. Got it?” She wouldn’t. I knew her better than that. Not unless she had no other choice. But there was no point in letting him believe otherwise.

  He scowled but didn’t answer her.

  “Pyper.” She held the knife out to me. “I think you’re going to want this.”

  The blue ice-magic that had coated Emerson still shimmered along the knife, but it didn’t seem to bother Jade. However, the moment I wrapped my fingers around the hilt, that warm jolt of magic shot into my arm and spread through my body, reenergizing me. All the fatigue and weariness vanished.

  I held the knife out, inspecting it. The magic was gone and it looked just as mundane as it had when I’d stuffed it into my pocket earlier that morning.

  Jade tilted her head to the side, contemplating. A slow smile spread over her face. “Pyper, my friend, it looks like you’ve just joined our little magical club. Because there’s no doubt the power contained in that knife is bound to you. If it wasn’t, I would’ve absorbed it when I grabbed it.”

  “But why?” I asked.

  “That’s a question we’ll answer later. Right at this moment, this creepster is going to tell us what he did with Mia.” She nudged him with her foot. “Right, dillweed?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Emerson said, his words clipped and full of menace. “My brother already paid the ultimate price for the disappearance of that meddlesome witch. Why the hell would I know where she is? Last I heard, the authorities pronounced her dead.”

  “But he says she’s alive,” I countered. “And don’t pretend to not know what I’m talking about. You banished his ghost earlier right here in this garage.”

  Emerson pushed himself up to a sitting position and gritted his teeth. “That ghost is not my brother.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

  “Exactly what I said. When those pieces of shit shot him, he died and whatever came back in his place is delusional. You can’t trust anything he says.”

  Julius and I shared a glance. He shook his head slightly. I’d come across my share of crazy ghosts before. The longer they were in ghost form, the more likely it was for them to start losing their minds. But Sterling hadn’t been gone that long. Just a few years, and he appeared perfectly sane to me.

  “Seems like the man who just tried to obliterate my friends is the one we can’t really trust,” Jade said, glaring at him. “Not to mention the black hole of toxic energy wafting off you. Now, I’m going to give you five seconds to tell us where Bo is and what you know about Mia or you’re going to find yourself trussed up and presented to the council with a big red bow.”

  His eyes darted between me and Jade, then to Julius before landing on Kane. “And who are you? Her manservant?”

  Kane chuckled. “Sometimes. But right now I’m here just to watch the show. There’s nothing sexier than watching my girl kick a dickhead in the balls.”

  “One…” Jade held a finger up as she started to count.

  “Shit.” The biker started lumbering to his feet. His movements were slow and deliberate, though not as if he was in pain. More like he was just watching us carefully. Whatever my knife had done to him before, it didn’t seem like the magic had left much of a lasting effect.

  “Two.” She waved her first two fingers in air.

  “Better start talking,” Kane said, moving his hand to the dagger on his hip.

  “Three.” Jade took a step forward.

  “He’s not going to say anything,” Julius added.

  I had to agree. Emerson’s eyes were now darting around the garage as if he was contemplating some way of escape. It was smart on his part, because there was no way we were going to let him go.

  “Four.” Static electricity started to lift Jade’s strawberry-blond hair, and her emerald-green eyes flashed. My body buzzed, and the unfamiliar yet intoxicating magic I was still getting used to coursed through me. Every molecule of my being was on high ale
rt, ready to strike at any moment.

  Emerson’s gaze swept over her, and then I felt rather than saw the torrent of magic rise within him. Power shot down my arm and straight back into the dagger, and then on instinct, I flung the blade right at him. It spun through the air, tip over hilt, and landed perfectly, once again in his chest, as if I’d been expertly trained in knife throwing.

  The magic he’d called up vanished instantly, and the big man fell backward, landing flat on his back.

  Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Kane let out a low whistle, and Julius began a slow clap.

  “Wow,” Jade said, awe in her tone. “That was… impressive.”

  I shrugged. “All I did was throw a knife.”

  “Hardly.” Jade beamed at me, her eyes no longer flashing and her hair once again back to normal. “You felt him call up his magic and neutralized him even before I could. Damn, I sure am glad you’re on my team.”

  “How did you know that?” I asked her. “I mean about knowing I felt his magic.”

  She shrugged. “Empath.”

  “Of course.” There was no need for any other explanation. Reading other peoples’ energy was her gift. Certainly she’d felt my reaction to him, and that’s all she’d needed.

  “You also felt mine.” A teasing smile claimed Jade’s lips as she added, “But thanks for refraining from stabbing me in the heart.” She waved a hand at Emerson. “Lying flat out on a greasy concrete floor doesn’t look like a ton of fun.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said quietly. And despite my friends’ obvious delight at my new abilities, a pit of unease settled in my stomach. Being a medium was one thing. And there was no doubt excelling at knife throwing was pretty badass. But if I’d learned anything in the past few years, possessing powerful magic meant one thing: trouble.

  16

  “We’ll be back later tonight,” Julius said, opening the passenger-side door of Kane’s new Lexus SUV. Emerson was in the cargo hold in the back, his hands, feet, and mouth magically bound. Once I’d removed my knife, Jade hadn’t held back on magically binding him. There was no way he was going anywhere before the council witches lifted the spell.