Haunted on Bourbon Street (Jade Calhoun Series: Book 1)

by Deanna Chase

  I let out a barely audible sigh and opened my mouth to speak but was shocked into silence as the blue candles lit and shot a wall of fire straight in the air, blocking us from Lailah and the rest of the courtyard. Kat jerked, trying to get free, but instinctively I held tighter, keeping the circle whole. The flames turned a brilliant sapphire blue before fading to a transparent white.

  Through the wall Lailah gestured to me. “Now!”

  I yanked Pyper and Kat through the wall without any warning. Instead of heat, sharp stabs of icy cold prickled my skin. The three of us toppled to the ground, and the flames turned brilliant blue once more. The radiant heat warmed the chill instantly.

  I stayed still with my face pressed to the ground, breathing deeply. “Did it work?”

  “I have no idea,” Kat mumbled beside me.

  “Pyper?”

  Her motionless body faced away from me, and she didn’t answer.

  Too tired to move, my eyes flickered to Lailah. She stood like a statue, her face blank.

  Crawling up on my knees, I tried to get my feet under me but froze when Lailah’s face glowed silver and her features changed, revealing long, white blonde hair and clear, pale blue eyes. Her full red lips moved into a grim line, and the voice that spoke was deep and husky.

  “I have fulfilled your intentions. What comes next I cannot control. The events that unfold are up to you, my child.” She pointed at me. “Reach deep inside yourself to alter the course now set in motion.” The silver glow started to fade.

  “Wait! Why me?” I asked in desperation.

  “You are my daughter.” The image faded back to Lailah, now as pale as a ghost.

  The blue wall of flames faded back to translucent white. Lailah turned to focus on the circle and yelped. “He isn’t Pyper’s black shadow!”

  My head snapped to the circle. There stood Bobby, radiating frustration. I was more than a little surprised I could read his emotions.

  “Yes it is. He’s the one who’s been tormenting her.”

  “No! I know him. His energy is bright white, not black.” Lailah dropped to her knees, checking on Pyper still curled up at her feet. “Pyper. Wake up!”

  I crawled to her side and cradled Pyper’s head in my lap. “Pyper?”

  “Her black cloud is gone, but so is her energy.” Lailah’s voice rose in panic. “Oh my God! What have I done?” She slumped down next to Pyper.

  I opened my mind and tried to get a read on Pyper’s energy. Nothing. “She’s just passed out. Do you have smelling salts in that bag of tricks?”

  Lailah fished around and handed me a small jar. I quickly checked Pyper’s pulse and breathing. Both were a bit weak, but I let out the breath I’d been holding and put the smelling salts under her nose.

  Nothing.

  “Come on!”

  “What happened?” A male voice, Kane’s voice, called in panic.

  “She’s passed out.” I tried to sound calm.

  “No. She isn’t in there. I can’t feel her.” Lailah crumpled into tears.

  Kane’s eyes stared into mine for a brief agonizing moment.

  Then I heard Kat say, “Yes! My friend has lost consciousness. Send an ambulance.”

  Chapter 18

  Time seemed to stand still as Pyper lay crumpled in my arms. If Bobby hadn’t been attached to Pyper, then what was? And where had it come from? A cold chill snaked its way through my body. She hadn’t been affected until after I’d moved in. Had Ian’s ghost hunting triggered it somehow?

  And what about Bobby? How come Lailah hadn’t seen him attached to me? Even if he didn’t follow me everywhere, she’d been in my apartment earlier that evening. Surely she would have seen him then. Maybe she had been too caught up in Kane. I scowled and forced the petty thought out of my head.

  The roar of the siren snapped my mind back to reality. I tore my tear-filled eyes from Pyper’s face and peered up at the gate, trying to mentally urge the paramedics to move faster.

  “What are you doing?” Kat asked.

  I turned to answer her, but she was staring at Lailah. The wall of flame had disappeared, and Bobby was gone from the circle.

  “Closing the spell,” Lailah said in a barely audible whisper.

  I cleared my throat. “Where did he go?”

  “Bobby? I let him out. There was no reason to keep him.” Lailah gathered up her supplies and stuffed them in her paper bag.

  I said nothing but wondered if that was true. I’d thought Bobby had been interfering with Kane and me every time we got close. But was it really Pyper’s black spirit, or something else entirely? Anything seemed possible now.

  “Excuse me. You’re going to have to let her go,” a paramedic said, gently pushing me to the side.

  Kat pulled me to my feet as the emergency workers loaded Pyper on the gurney. Kane stayed by her side, and the rest of us followed as the EMTs rushed her to the vehicle. An argument broke out when Kane was told only family was allowed in the ambulance. Lailah stepped forward, laid her hand on the paramedic’s arm and said something I couldn’t hear. After that, Kane climbed in, sat next to Pyper and took her hand.

  We watched as they raced away.

  “Lailah, what did you say to him?” I asked.

  “Nothing significant. I just bent his will a little bit with my energy.” She looked at her feet. “It was the least I could do.”

  “Come on. I’ll drive.” Kat pulled out her keys and led us to her car.

  ***

  The antiseptic smell burned my nose as I made my way to the nurses’ station. Kat and Lailah trailed behind me.

  “I doubt they know anything yet,” Kat said.

  “Probably not, but we need to know where she is.” Plus, I needed to see Kane. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I thought of the anguish on his face before the ambulance took off.

  Kat grabbed my arm. “Have a seat. I’ll get the information.”

  I shook my head. “It’s okay. I’ll go.” I left them in the back of the full emergency room and returned thirty minutes later, after insisting the nurse personally check on Pyper.

  “She’s here, but there’s no change. They’re running tests. As far as I can tell, Kane is still with her.” The nurse had said a family member was with her. It could only be Kane. I sat next to Kat, with Lailah on her other side.

  “Here.” Kat handed me a Styrofoam cup. “Coffee.”

  “Thanks.” I held the cup, warming my chilled fingers, even though the night was thick with humid summer air.

  “What happened back there?” Kat asked in a low voice.

  I turned and saw her peering at Lailah.

  “Which part?” Lailah focused on the white wall in front of us.

  Kat glanced at me and raised her eyebrows.

  I cleared my throat. “Let’s start at the beginning. You were trying to trap the black spirit attached to Pyper, but instead you trapped Bobby. How is that possible? I thought they were the same being. Bobby is the only one I ever saw.”

  “I already told you, Bobby has white energy. He’s Bea’s brother.”

  “I know. That’s why we were trying to get in touch with her. I didn’t know you knew him. You’ve seen him before I take it.”

  She nodded. “A few times with Bea. When we were working on some spells together.”

  “Okay.” What kind of spells? I shook my head trying to focus. “But you said before you could see things. You saw the black spirit, so why didn’t you see Bobby’s energy?”

  “Because of you, I guess. You’re aura is purple, but surrounding that is brilliant white energy, like all intuitives have. If he was near you, it would have been hard for me to see him.”

  “Oh.” I sat back staring at the admittance door, wishing Kane would appear.

  “So because Jade was focusing on Bobby, he got trapped in the circle and not Pyper’s ghost. We are talking about two ghosts here, right?” Kat asked.

  The people next to us turned and openly stared after hearing her stateme
nt. She stared back until they turned away. In spite of myself, I smiled.

  “At least two,” Lailah said.

  “At least!” I sat up straight.

  “I don’t know!” Lailah finally met my eyes. “I have totally fucked up. I don’t know anything anymore.”

  “Calm down,” Kat said in a hushed tone. “No one is blaming you.”

  I suppressed a grunt of disagreement. Kat must have heard me, judging by the elbow she nudged in my rib.

  “We’re just trying to figure out what happened. Tell us about the vision we saw,” I said.

  “The vision?” Lailah furrowed her eyebrows. “What vision?”

  “The one where you turned into another person and told me I was the one who would have to fix this mess.” I jumped out of my chair and stood in front of the two of them.

  Lailah’s eyes went wide as her head turned from me to Kat. “She came…”

  “Who? Who came?” Kat asked.

  “The goddess. It had to be.” She sat up straight. The remorse faded, replaced by an excited glow.

  Kat and I stared at her in silence. She looked around, as if aware for the first time where we were. Standing, she grabbed a hand from each of us. “We need to talk a little more privately.”

  I glanced back at the admittance door, while Lailah dragged us outside. Still no Kane.

  “Tell me exactly what happened,” Lailah demanded when we were safely out of hearing distance from the emergency room door.

  “I…” I turned to Kat. Suddenly I was overwhelmed into silence.

  She gave me a small smile and replayed the scene for Lailah.

  “It’s for you to alter the course now…” Lailah trailed off, deep in thought.

  “What did she mean, ‘I am hers’?” I asked.

  “You are her daughter. In a cosmic sense. I’d guess your powers are deeper than you ever thought. A white witch, maybe. A natural born witch.” She shrugged. “Hard to say until you explore your powers.”

  “So the goddess Selene, whoever that is, thinks I have some extra powers?”

  “Pretty much.” Lailah paced in a circle. “Damn it. I wish Bea was here.”

  I gritted my teeth and walked back to the entrance, scanning for Kane. I didn’t want to hear about extra powers. All I cared about was Pyper’s condition. I turned back to them. “I’m going back in.”

  “Wait.” Kat held up her hand. “Just one more thing. What the hell is a low-level angel?”

  Lailah stopped pacing. “It means I’m a mortal angel. A messenger from God, but in mortal form. It’s why I can do some Wiccan magic, but it all comes naturally for me. I don’t have to practice or do special rituals. I can just make it happen. I do have to take precautions to keep evil out, which is what the herbs, candles and circle was about. Though I could have made that all happen without it. Unfortunately, I failed.”

  “A messenger from God?” Kat asked with a heavy dose of skepticism.

  “We come in all forms.” Lailah closed her eyes, as if her burden was too heavy to bear. “I still do not know my purpose. I try to do good, but as you can see I’m not always successful.”

  Too overwhelmed by the night’s events, I said nothing and returned to the waiting room.

  Soon Kat joined me. “She went home.”

  I nodded, and we sat in silence until finally Kane emerged.

  My heart swelled simultaneously with joy and pain at the sight of him. He held his face taut with his lips in a grim line. Our eyes met as I stood, and his pain ripped through me, almost making my knees buckle. I grabbed him and held on with my face buried in his shoulder.

  “She’s still the same,” he whispered in my ear. “Coma.”

  “No.” I felt him nod and I looked up. “I’m so sorry.” Silent tears streamed down my face.

  He hugged me tighter and brought one hand up to wipe my tears. “I don’t know what happened, but I know whatever it was, it isn’t your fault.”

  His tenderness brought on a fresh bout of emotion, but I steadied myself and willed the tears back. He guided me toward the doors.

  “You should go get some sleep,” he said.

  “And you. You’ll stay here?”

  “I have to. Let Kat take you home. I’ll call if I hear anything.”

  The last thing I wanted to do was leave him, but I could see by the stubborn tilt of his chin he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Promise to call with any news, at any time.”

  “I promise.” He steered me out the double doors.

  I turned to him, my heart aching as I looked into his tired eyes. “We’ll get her through this. I promise.” I didn’t know how, but I knew in my heart, I’d do whatever it took to save her.

  He nodded absently and gave me a gentle push toward Kat. But I stepped closer, took his face in my hands and kissed him. All of my anguish and suppressed emotions poured out of me into that one kiss, desperate to show him how much he meant to me, even if I couldn’t say it.

  Grief, longing, and fear surrounded me as he kissed me back in a slow, bittersweet manner. When our lips parted, he hugged me tight. “Get some rest.” And then he was gone, back through the double doors of the hospital.

  “Let’s go, sweetie.” Kat said, pulling me to the car. “You’ll see him tomorrow.”

  I didn’t say anything until we were safely in her Mini. “Do you think Lailah is crazy?”

  “Definitely.”

  ***

  The bed shifted as Kat lay down next to me. She didn’t want to go home, so I offered her the other side of my bed.

  “He talks about you all the time, you know.”

  “Who? Ian?” Jolted out of my thoughts about what just transpired with Kane, I rolled over to face her.

  “No. Dan.”

  “What? You’re kidding. Why?”

  “I’m starting to think he’s obsessed with you.” Kat laid back and stared at the ceiling.

  “That’s crazy,” I said, realizing the night’s events had hit her harder than I’d thought.

  “No it isn’t. He’s the one who told me about the job opening at the glass school. Told me I should call you. Said it would be good for me to have you here.”

  I stared as I digested her statement.

  “He kept hounding me about when you were coming, and talking about double dating. I’m so stupid. I should have seen it for what it was.”

  “What?” I whispered.

  “He’s still in love with you.”

  I let out a bark of laughter. “That’s insane. He has nothing but hatred for me.”

  Kat propped herself up on her elbows and turned toward me. “I think maybe it’s a love-hate thing. He still loves you, but you clearly can’t stand him. So his frustration manifests into schoolyard bullying.”

  “Are you saying this is my fault?” I narrowed my eyes, feeling the pain coursing through her heart.

  “Of course not.” She lay back down and turned her back to me.

  Irritated, I flopped down on my side of the bed. My eyes felt like sandpaper, but I knew I’d never sleep until I asked the question I’d been holding in for weeks. “Kat?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Why did you do it? Date Dan, I mean.”

  She sighed. “I don’t know. He just showed up out of nowhere. He didn’t even tell me he was moving here, and one thing led to another…”

  Her voice sounded so small and dejected, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. “It’s okay.” I reached for her hand and squeezed.

  “No it isn’t, but thanks for saying so.” She squeezed back.

  She was right. It really wasn’t okay. She’d known how much Dan had hurt me and yet, she still chose to not only date him, but to move in with him. I’d been lying to myself, saying it was fine, it didn’t bother me. But it did. And we both knew it.

  “I’m kicking him out tomorrow,” she said.

  “Are you sure? He clearly needs help. Maybe you can help him get it.”

  “After he assaulted me? I don’t
think so. Besides, he’s not over you. I deserve better in a relationship. If he wants help, I’ll be there, but not as his girlfriend.”

  I reached over and hugged her. “I love you, you know that, right?”

  “Yes. I love you too.”

  Chapter 19

  A dull headache threatened as the florescent lighting glared off the stark-white walls of the hospital. The fact that I hadn’t slept more than six hours in the two days since Pyper had been admitted didn’t help. I popped two aspirin and washed them down with a large gulp of lukewarm coffee. Food and sleep would have been a better prescription, but I’d take what I could get.

  The receptionist waved, and I nodded as I made my way down the corridor. The staff had suspected everything from a drug overdose to a brain aneurism. But after an endless series of clean MRI’s, CAT scans and blood tests, the official diagnosis was an unexplained coma.

  Entering Pyper’s room, I was relieved to see she was alone. Kane had been holding a vigil by her side, and I hoped he’d finally gone home for some much-needed sleep.

  I sat down next to her and took her hand.

  Closing my eyes, I let my barriers down and sent my awareness toward her. It was tough to sift through the raw energy of the other hospital patients, but with strained effort I managed to keep their signatures in the background. I’d been trying each time I visited her, searching for her distinct energy, but each time I had the same result. Nothing. Frustrated, I sent my energy out with more force. Her emotional energy was still vacant, but with her hand still clasped in mine I felt her body twitch.

  My eyes popped open. She was lying there just as she’d been before.

  “Pyper? Pyper, honey, wake up. I know you felt me. I felt you flinch from my mental probe. Come on now, we all miss you. Wake up.”

  “Mental probe?”

  I jumped, and dropped her hand. Kane, with damp hair and wearing a clean T-shirt and jeans, stood at the door.

  “I was trying to reach her, and she flinched.”

  “Reach her? How?” Kane tilted his head in thought and then focused on me with wide eyes. “Wait, she flinched?”