by Deanna Chase
Jade and I stood in front of the inn, watching Hale and Moxie drive off into the night. We were silent until the red taillights disappeared around a corner.
“Are you all right?” I asked her.
She didn’t say anything at first, then she nodded. “Fine. Just frustrated. I’ll take a few healing herbs and be good as new.”
She’d spent the past twenty minutes trying to break the curse Emerson had laid on Hale. But all she’d managed to accomplish was plaguing herself with a pounding headache. The result suggested that Emerson had used black magic.
I stared down the street once more and prayed Hale and Moxie would find some peace. Meanwhile, we had a teenager to find.
“Ready to start that finding spell?” I asked her.
She rummaged around in her small bag and then popped two herbal pills. “I’m ready when you are. Just as long as you still have his hat.”
I walked over to the Harley and retrieved the hat from one of the saddlebags. Brandishing it in the air, I said, “Got it.”
“Perfect. Now all we need is a circle. Or at least somewhere we can tap earth energy.”
“I don’t know about a circle, but I think I have somewhere that might work. Follow me.” I led Jade through the old house, stopping briefly to scratch Stella behind the ears, and then out into the backyard. I was right—there wasn’t a circle, but there was a magnificent cypress tree. I walked over to the gentle giant, spread my arms wide, and asked, “Will this do?”
For what? A close encounter of the woman kind? Ida May materialized right next to the tree. Is Julius already letting you down? That’s got to be hard… Err, not exactly hard if he’s letting you down, right? What a bummer. But he is over a hundred years old. You know what they say happens to older men. They need a lot more fluffing.
“Ida May! Jeez. No. We’re doing a finding spell.”
“Hello, Ida May,” Jade called out even though she couldn’t see or communicate with her.
Tell Shortcake I said hey. Ida May referred to Kane’s nickname for Jade. She floated back and forth, her dark hair drifting as if it were caught in the mild breeze. How was she doing that?
“She says hey,” I said automatically.
An amused smile claimed Jade’s lips. “Even though I can’t see or hear Ida May, the expression on your face while you’re talking to her is priceless. I swear the pair of you are like an old married couple.”
“Yeah, and one of us doesn’t even have the option of killing the other,” I quipped.
Jade nodded knowingly. “That’s probably a good thing.”
“Maybe.” I rolled my eyes. “But enough about Ida May. Let’s get on with it. I don’t want Bo left in the club’s hands for any longer than necessary.”
Jade glanced around, studying the space. Her eyes narrowed as she peered through the darkness. “You sure this can’t wait until tomorrow morning?”
I bit my lower lip. “I’d rather not. You know how awful it is to be trapped against your will.”
“Yeah, okay. But I might need some help with the circle. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to hold it and cast the spell.”
Pick me! Pick me! Ida May chanted into my ear.
I waved a hand. “Enough, Ida May. I heard you.”
“What does she want now?” Jade asked, humor lacing her tone. Like me, she had a soft spot for the ghost’s antics.
“To join the circle when we do the finding spell.” I rolled my eyes. As a ghost, it was all Ida May could do just to stay present, let alone be an anchor for a spelling circle.
Yes! I always wanted to conjure up a hot man to do my bidding. She spun in an elated circle, her arms spread wide and her head tilted back.
I turned to Jade. “Looks like she’s participating whether we like it or not.”
Jade shrugged. “I was referring to you when I said I’d need help. But Ida May can join too. What’s the worst thing she can do?”
“Make my ears bleed?”
Oh, shut it, Ida May said. You know you love me. I’m the best thing that’s happened to Bourbon Street since Prohibition ended.
I laughed and shook my head. It was hard to stay annoyed when she was so entertaining.
“Over here.” Jade walked around a small patch of grass to the right of the old tree. “It’s fortified by the roots of the tree, and if I’m not mistaken has been used for casting spells before. There’s a faint trace of magical energy, as if a witch once called this place home.”
I recalled what Moxie had said about Mia and how she was a witch. “Mia and Moxie were close. It’s possible she did spell work here.”
Jade’s eyes sparkled with interest. “Really? That could work in our favor. If I could tap into her residual magic, that could form a connection, a bond that would make finding her that much easier.”
“You can do that?” I asked, my eyebrows raised.
Jade can do anything, Ida May said in a singsong voice. Haven’t you been paying attention?
I ignored the ghost, keeping my attention fixed on Jade.
“Maybe.” She pulled a jar of salt out of her bag, hastily laid a salt circle, then placed a white candle in the middle. After eyeing her handiwork, she took her place on what would be the northernmost point of the makeshift circle. “It doesn’t hurt to try.”
Right. I followed, standing opposite her on the southern end, and added, “Famous last words.”
18
Jade raised her hands skyward. “Goddess of the earth, hear my call.”
A low rumbling sounded overhead, and Jade’s lips curved into a pleased smile. She was getting better at this.
“We ask you to let us share in your gifts, to connect us to the earth, to let us transcend our physical state.”
A bolt of lightning skittered across the sky at the same time the makeshift circle lit up beneath our feet. A surge of magical energy slammed into me, and instead of feeling consumed by it as I usually did, it fortified me, coaxed out the latent power buried within my being, and made me feel strong. Instead of just being a conduit for the magic, I could help control it, back Jade up in any of the spells she cast. I raised my arms to the side, filling up on the magic, ready to do my part for the coming spell.
Can someone turn the heat down please? Ida May complained, fanning herself. It’s like someone left the door to hell open.
“What do you mean—” I was cut off when Ida May started to scream. “Jade! It’s Ida May. She’s—”
The screaming stopped abruptly as Ida May suddenly materialized in human form. She glanced down at herself, smiled, and then started to laugh.
“Um, that isn’t exactly what I was expecting,” Jade said. The circle was still lit up with magic, but Jade had lowered her arms and the power she’d been building to start the finding spell began to fade.
“I love being human,” Ida May said between bouts of giggles.
“Who doesn’t?” I said. This wasn’t the first time Ida May had been spelled into human form. But the other times we’d thought it was a specific ability of the witch who’d spelled her. This implied that Ida May had some affinity for magic since Jade hadn’t actually cast a spell on her.
“Oh my gawd. What is that smell?” Ida May asked.
I raised my head and sniffed the air. “Swamp water?”
“Yes!” Her face lit up with pleasure. “It reminds me of my youth. Skinny-dipping with the Roth boys, stealing moonshine, and making out on the docks.”
Jade chuckled. “Sounds like some stories for later. Right now we need to get this party started. Pyper? Ready?”
I nodded. “Let’s do this.”
“Okay then. Here, take this.” Jade handed the hat to Ida May. “You hold this. And then when I say so, drip some of the candle wax on it.” She indicated the white candle she’d left in the middle of the circle. “Got it?”
“What am I? A simpleton? Of course I’ve got it. Let’s find this guy so I can see if he’s my type.”
“Ida May.” I sighed. “
He’s only seventeen. Try not to get yourself arrested, will you?”
“Seventeen is a little young, I’ll give you that. But sometimes the newbies are the most fun, if you know what I mean.” She smirked and fluffed her hair.
“Oh em gee. Not funny,” I said, admonishing her.
“Relax! I was joking. Keep your shirt on.”
“Words to live by,” I mumbled.
Ida May chuckled and moved to the middle of the circle. “Okay, let’s get this show started. I don’t have all night.”
No one knew if she did or didn’t, but that didn’t matter. I was more than ready to get started. And so was Jade.
She immediately raised her arms out, coaxing the fading magic back to life.
The circle grew brighter than it had before, and the balls of my feet heated with the magical energy she was producing. The power raced through my limbs and coiled in my right palm. That was weird. Most witches used both hands. But mine was twitching, already reaching for the dagger strapped to my waist. Without conscious thought, I wrapped my fingers around the hilt and felt a burst of magic fill me.
Across the circle, Jade’s eyes were closed as she chanted the incantation. “From north to east to south to west, find the spirit, reveal its nest. Through brilliance and shadows, with nowhere to hide, reveal the young man we know as Bo, with eyes open wide.”
Her words fed the circle, made the magic intensify with every beat of my pulse. It was powerful. Dangerous even. But it didn’t scare me. It only made me feel alive.
Jade’s eyes popped open, and she stared straight at me. “Visualize Bo. See him in your mind.”
I took a deep breath and did as she asked. I imagined him as he was the day we’d gone out on the gator tour, when I’d questioned him about his future. He’d been such a contradiction. Full of cocky confidence and yet already defeated by the world. My heart ached for him and all he must’ve already gone through while being Emerson’s ward.
“From north to south to east to west, light the flame as you see best,” Jade called over the wind now whistling through the night.
I opened my eyes, concentrating on the candle beside Ida May’s feet. The wind picked up, making her lacy nightgown billow behind her. Ida May tilted her head into the wind, appearing to enjoy the rush of air against her skin. But then all at once the wind stopped, followed by a flash of light in the sky. And when it winked out, the candle flickered in the light breeze.
None of the antics surprised me. There was always a buildup of magic followed by the calm before the storm. The only question was what would happen when Ida May dripped the wax on the hat? Chaos? Or…?
Jade chanted the incantation once more. The magic skittering along the circle shot straight up, encircling us. She raised her arms higher, and with the movement, the candle rose in the air and moved to hover just in front of Ida May. “Pour the wax now!”
For once Ida May did as she was told. Holding the hat out with one hand, she grasped the candle with the other and let the wax drip liberally over the bill.
Upon contact, the beads of wax turned into glowing orbs of light, startling Ida May. She jumped back, releasing the hat, but instead of it falling, the orbs of light danced around it, somehow keeping it levitated.
I watch, completely fascinated as I felt the object pull on the magic I possessed.
“Come on,” Jade urged. “Show us where to find Bo.”
The light intensified, zooming faster and faster until the hat spun and jerked back and forth within the circle. The light carried it around Ida May, over to Jade, high in the air, and then finally it lowered to the center of the circle, turned until the bill was pointed straight toward me. The breath seemed to vanish from my lungs as I waited, anticipation making me light-headed.
“Help us find Bo,” I said.
At my words, the hat barreled forward, hitting me straight in the chest, and fell at my feet. Upon the hat’s contact with the earth, the magical walls of the circle vanished and all that was left were the five little light orbs that had previously been beads of wax. They clung to the hat, shining brightly in the moonless night.
“What happened?” I asked, afraid I’d messed something up.
“I think—” Jade started.
“It’s waiting for a sacrifice,” a deep voice said from out of nowhere.
“Well, hello there, handsome,” Ida May crooned.
“Who is that?” Jade asked, glancing around the circle. It was clear she couldn’t see our visitor either.
I blinked and watched Ida May stroll across the circle. Tilting her head, she smiled and made the motion of slipping her fingers through someone else’s. The magic on the circle shot up again, causing the power in my core to once again pulse as the ghost we’d heard slowly materialized.
“Sterling,” I said, noting that besides the missing bike, he looked exactly the same as he had the other two times I’d encountered him. Leather jacket, stubbled jaw, short dark hair. Tattoos crawled up his neck and covered the backs of his hands.
“Nice.” Ida May looked him up and down and deliberately licked her lips. “It’s too bad you’re ghostly. I could’ve used a little handling from a man like you tonight.”
“Oh goddess,” I muttered. “Ida May, keep your hormones in check, will you?”
She scoffed. “Why? What have I got to lose?”
“It’s not about you,” I said, exasperated. “We’re in the middle of a finding spell, and if it doesn’t work, we’re back to square one.”
Sterling pointed at the hat near my feet. “It needs to be fed.”
“Huh?” I glanced at Jade.
Her confused expression morphed into one of surprise. “A blood offering.”
“Whose?” I asked.
Sterling Charles pointed at me. “Yours.”
“Mine! Why?” I almost took a step back off the circle but steeled myself. The last time I’d done that, I’d gotten myself abducted and locked away in a ship dungeon. Not that I thought Sterling was a threat, but still… A girl didn’t make that mistake twice.
“You’re the connection,” Sterling said as if that clarified things. Then he cast his gaze over the length of Ida May’s body. A too-sexy-for-his-own-good smile claimed his lips. “When this is all over, I’ll take you for a ride on my beast.”
“You bet your sweet ass, you will,” she replied. “But let’s get this part out of the way right this second.” She stepped into him, pressing her solid hand against his transparent body. And to my surprise, the area where she touched him seemed to turn solid.
He glanced down at her hand. “That’s interesting.”
“Not as interesting as what’s beneath these clothes.” She placed her other hand to his waist and slipped her fingers beneath the hem of his shirt. “Oh Lord. These abs.” She closed her eyes and actually let out a tiny moan.
He chuckled. “I’m glad you approve.”
Then she tilted her head and pressed her bright red lips to his. Sterling Charles didn’t miss a beat. His arm looped around her waist, and with one swift motion, he tipped her backward. She held on, her hands clasped behind his neck, and she lifted one leg up in the air, just like one might see in the old black-and-white movies. After what seemed like forever, he finally righted her, leaving Ida May panting.
“Wow,” Jade said, her hand covering her mouth. “That was… really something.”
“I’ll say.” Ida May eyed him hungrily. “I hope that was just a taste of more to come.”
“Count on it.” He mimed tipping his invisible hat to first me and then Jade. In the next moment, he was gone again.
“What the heck just happened here?” I asked, my head spinning with the fact Sterling Charles had just shown up in the circle and then spontaneously made out with Ida May.
“Looks like we got help when we needed it.” Jade stared pointedly at the hat. “He said you’re the connection. Got that dagger handy?”
Of course I did. I was still holding it. I raised my arm, showing I
had it. “And what? You want me to stab myself?”
“Well, I wouldn’t put it that way.” Jade gave me a patient smile. “Just a small cut on your hand so you can get a few drops on the hat.”
I eyed the gleaming blade and grimaced. “But why me?”
She pursed her lips together and furrowed her brows. “I know this sounds crazy, but the only finding spell I know of that uses a blood offering is when a DNA match is needed.”
“So you’re saying that I’m somehow related to Bo?” That was crazy. Wasn’t it? Not unless he was some third or fourth cousin removed. Because I didn’t have any other family. My mother had been an only child, and so was I. And as far as I knew, my father’s extended family lived out west.
“I don’t know. Maybe? I’m just saying that’s what it looks like from here.” She spread her arms out wide, and the magic started to pulse again. “Willing to give it a try to see what happens?”
“Yeah, Pyper. Grow some balls and draw some blood, girl,” Ida May added.
I gave Ida May a dirty look. No doubt if she had to slice her palm open, we’d never hear the end of it.
“Hey!” Ida May held up her hands and wrinkled her nose. “Don’t do it if you don’t want to. Can’t say I blame you. Who knows where that blade has been. I mean who cares what happens to that kid? You just met him right? Even if you are related, it’s not like you owe him anything. It’s not like he provides comic relief for you every day in your café. I think you can take a pass on this one.”
“Oh for the love of…” I opened my hand and in one swift motion sliced my palm. I winced from the sharp sting and gritted my teeth as I watched the trickle of blood well in my hand. When I glanced up, Ida May was standing in front of me with a smug smile on her face.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asked.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a pain in my butt.”