Bayou Summons

by Missy Sue Hanson

  Recognition took over as he sat up again. “You met my ancestress?” He dragged his hands through his hair and tried to wipe the remnants of sleep from his face. A shadow had begun to grow along his jaw, making him seem darker, more dangerous.

  “Yep, that’s the one.” Summer hopped off the bed. She couldn’t remember ever having this much energy, feeling this good. She went about the task of getting dressed, pulling her sweats on, nearly jumping up and down in exhilaration.

  “Well, I was going to ask how you like your coffee, but from the looks of it, you don’t need any.” Cayden chuckled, as he drew on his own clothes that lay in a heap on the floor.

  ****

  Summer followed Cayden up the winding staircase and was jittery with anticipation. She couldn’t wait to see where he was his most unabashed self. No barriers or pretenses, just the man and his magic. The thrill of knowing she wasn’t the only one with freakish abilities was with her all morning. She had sat, sipping her coffee, as if she needed it, with a big grin, loving the circumstances she had found herself in. All except for the skeleton necromancer that was after her very soul, of course, but that was beside the point.

  If anyone would’ve told her a month ago she’d have a man, she would’ve called them irrational. Now, she not only had a man, but one that was just as much of a freak as she was. This had to be the best day of her life.

  Stepping onto the third floor, Summer’s breath caught in her throat. The room was swarming with energy. The very air hummed as it entered her nostrils. It was electric. The hairs on her arms stood, as if pulled by some magnetic force.

  In the center of the room was what she assumed to be the altar with various objects and symbols placed at different areas of the scarred surface. There was a pentacle burned into the center, a beautiful contribution to the piece’s authenticity. Carefully, Summer touched each object, imagined him there, stirring the air and saving someone, her.

  Cayden had waited for her reaction and was impressed when he saw how sensitive she was to the energy that flowed through his magic space. He had seen it in her eyes as she took that last step and crossed over the threshold. They had gone wide, looking over every inch of the room, from ceiling to floor. She now stood at his altar, the first woman that he had slept with that he actually trusted enough to show this to. Seeing her there, in his atmosphere, made him long to love her again.

  But, there was business to be handled. He stepped beside her at the altar, bringing out long wooden matches. Striking one, he lit all the candles that sat in their designated places around the altar and the room. Coming back to Summer, he took her hand in his, wanting her touch as he shared the most important part of him with her.

  “It would be a good idea to cast the protection spell again. I’m not sure how long its effect will last, so I’m planning on doing it every day until we have everything resolved.”

  Summer wondered what kind of resolution would come to play against an underworld being who was hell-bent on imprisoning her, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to ruin this. She wanted to savor it. She could worry about being soul-raped later.

  Cayden let go of her hand and lifted his arms. As he walked in a circle around them, he called the four corners, North, East, South, and West. He then called upon the elements, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Coming back to her side, he spoke with a voice Summer hadn’t heard before. It was much deeper than Cayden’s usual tenor and echoed off the walls in the room, making Summer think of séances she’d attended before.

  “Ye hallowed powers and spirits of the worlds, my words echo forth from the heights of the skies to the depths of the underworld. Resounding through the planes of the astral realms, to the roots and boughs of the grand trees; Bearing forth my spell from the night of becoming into the sunlight of being, for this is my will….Protect this woman from the evil that seeks to entrap her.

  “I call the spirits, great spirits of the Underworld, go forth. That the wheel of fate be turned according to what’s just and fair. As I say, it shall be done, with harm to none.”

  Finishing, Cayden bowed his head for a moment.

  Summer gazed at him, thanking the heavens for him in her life. She remembered her encounter with Faline and her words that the two of them were bound together… the book. She gasped out loud, causing Cayden to snake his arms around her waist.

  “What is it? Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

  “Oh, Cayden….I don’t have the book.”

  Confused, Cayden asked, “What book?”

  “Faline gave me a book, but, I guess it didn’t make it here with me.” She wanted to cry again. She tried to hold on to her brief happiness, but it was slipping fast. Where had the book gone?

  Chapter 14

  “It will be okay, we’ll figure it out.” Cayden put a hand on her shoulder as he sat in the chair next to her in the kitchen, plopping another cup of coffee in front of her.

  “What happened to it, though? I could’ve sworn I had it.” Summer shook her head, feeling ashamed for the second time that morning.

  “I don’t know, but chances are, she still has it. Let’s think about it, there are only two realms you have traveled between this one and the underworld.”

  “But, she said she didn’t reside in the underworld and the only way she could talk to me was through that photo. What if that precious book is just lying in some alternate dimension? I don’t even know what it had in it. What if it’s full of things that could be harmful to us…or me?”

  “Summer, we will figure this out. Right now, I want you to calm down.” He stood and planted a kiss on her forehead. “When you’ve done that, I’ll walk you over to the inn to get some clothes.”

  ****

  The humidity pressed down on Summer like a blanket. She had sworn to the sun she’d never wear shorts in public, but recently, she was seriously reconsidering that pact. The moist air was something she had come to love in the few days since she had encountered it, but her long time fear of being scantily clad kept her from enjoying it too much. If only she could find the nerve to bounce around in skimpy little shorts. Then maybe her thighs would be dry for once and not smacking together with every step she took. She fought the urge to walk bow-legged as her and Cayden passed under “The Enchanted Attic” sign. She stopped.

  “What?” Cayden asked.

  “Is it okay if I go in here for a minute?”

  Cayden nodded. “Sure, this is one of my favorite places on the main.” She went in with Cayden behind her.

  The woman with the turban was standing in front of the counter, expectantly. She had her hands clasped together in front of her and she was looking directly at Summer.

  She nodded towards Summer and gave a nod and a petite curtsy. “Mademoiselle, Nice to see you again.” Cayden stepped from behind Summer and the woman beamed. “Cayden, darling,” she rushed over, embracing him as a mother would a son. She was twice his size in girth and practically swallowed him in her arms. He patted her on the back, mumbling something Summer assumed was in French.

  “Sophie, I see you’ve met my lady?” He said as he gestured to Summer.

  Sophie glanced at Summer and responded, “She came in and bought a spirit catcher, but I haven’t had the pleasure of being properly introduced.” Sophie twisted in Cayden’s arm, raising one bushy eyebrow and waiting for him to take the hint.

  “Oh…forgive me. Where are my manners?” He chuckled. “Sophie, this is Summer. Summer this is Sophie.”

  Summer stretched out her hand, but instead caught one of Sophie’s full-body embraces. This was one lady who knew how to hug. Sophie released her and stood back. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

  “And you as well.”

  “So, has my spirit catcher done the trick?”

  Summer jumped on the opportunity. “That’s actually why I came in. I wanted to ask you a few questions.”

  Cayden cut off her last words, bringing himself between the two women. “Summer, I forgot to tell you tha
t we will be having a sort of meeting tonight. Maybe then will be a better time to ask Sophie some questions.”

  Sophie snorted. “I will answer any questions you have tonight, Cherie. He might be wise to be telling us, in not so many words, to keep our mouths shut.”

  Cayden mocked a pained expression as he put his hand on his chest. “I’m doing no such thing.”

  Sophie gave a guttural giggle as Cayden attended Summer out the door and waved as they stepped back into the humidity.

  It took them an hour to get back to the inn. Cayden had to sit at his bench and soak up the rays, as he called it. She hadn’t minded, though, because he let her scoot close to him and lean her head on his chest. He twirled strands of her hair around his fingers as he hummed a blues song she didn’t recognize.

  The inn was alive with activity. The foyer was packed with people and the phones letting out cries every five seconds. Lurleene rushed about, looking like a queen amidst disaster. She had gone with yellow today, a bright yellow. The dress was cinched at the waist, showing off Lurleene’s healthy figure. Big yellow bangles clicked against each other on her wrists. She scurried past, bumping into Cayden.

  “Mr. Cayden Beauvais. What brings you to my establishment?” Lurleene tipped her head to one side and smiled when she saw Summer. She acted as if nothing had ever happened, like she had never confided in Summer at all. Maybe the talk with Lurleene had been a trick her mind had played, trying to make her feel like she wasn’t singled-out in her madness. Summer hung her head as she continued to talk.

  “Now I see what brings you here. Good thing, too. We’re so busy. We never would’ve been able to deliver her things to you.” Lurleene winked over Cayden’s shoulder.

  “What do you mean my things?” Summer asked.

  Lurleene side-stepped and came to stand beside Summer, placing her elegant hands on her shoulder, “Yes, Cherie, your things. It’s best you stay somewhere that has your interests at heart, if you know what I mean.” While she talked, Lurleene was leading her back outside to the porch. “This way, there won’t be a second where you’ll be alone.”

  Summer rolled her eyes. “Oh, thanks, that’s just what I need, no time to myself.”

  “Right now you have to be careful.” Lurleene grabbed Summer’s chin and lifted it, “Are we understood?” Summer wondered if Lurleene had any kids because, if so, she needed to go badger one of them. This was ridiculous.

  Through squished lips, Summer replied, “Yes, ma’am.”

  Just as Lurleene released Summer’s jaw, two of the staff dumped her bags at her feet. She started to pick them up but Cayden was already stooping to gather her possessions.

  Lurleene began to walk back into the inn, but stopped and whirled around, causing her bright yellow dress to blow into a bell shape around her, “Cayden?”

  Cayden stopped on the third step and looked up, “Yeah?”

  “Is there still a meeting tonight?” she asked him.

  “Yep, I’ll see you there.”

  Lurleene nodded and disappeared back into the frenzy.

  Summer looked over at Cayden; he held most of her bags, carrying them as if they weighed an ounce. “What is this meeting you keep talking about?”

  Cayden shrugged and winked at her, smiling slightly as he did. “You’ll see.”

  Chapter 15

  Summer sat on the camelback couch in Cayden’s sitting room, wringing her hands in her lap as she nervously anticipated this so-called meeting. It felt as if she had been dreaming since she came here. None of this could be real. That’s what was happening she had slipped into some universe of her own making, her mind placing her somewhere safe, somewhere habitable for a woman who spoke to the dead.

  Cayden stepped into the room, wearing jeans and a green t-shirt. He sat beside her, kissed her lips. “Are you ready for the meeting?”

  “Cayden, are you real? Is all of this real?” She waved her hands around her head, trying to encompass everything she had just been thinking.

  “I’m very real and so is everything else.” He put a hand on her cheek. “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you. Unlike you, I grew up with magic. I was taught to love and respect my gifts, to cherish them. Although I’ve had to hide what happens in this town, I’ve never had to venture out and hide who I really was. I always had friends and family who exactly what I was and they all accepted me, with no question.”

  Summer reached up, covered his hand with hers. “It wasn’t that hard. I didn’t hide it on purpose. My whole life, I was made to believe that I was crazy. Going on a mad dash through the world, trying to prove myself wrong, but never actually thought I would find out that what was happening to me wasn’t some sort of deficiency.”

  Cayden leaned in, bringing his lips within an inch of hers. She could feel his breath rushing over her face as he spoke softly to her. “There isn’t one thing about you that is deficient. You’re the most remarkable creature I’ve ever met.”

  Summer could feel the blush rise up, coloring her pale cheeks. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

  “And I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’re here. That you chose my corner of the earth to plop down in.” He stood up. “Are you ready to meet your new family?”

  Shakily, she grabbed the hand he had offered and he helped to pull her from the couch, following him down the hallway and to a door that sat just off the kitchen. Cayden opened the heavy door and Summer blinked, her eyes focusing on the candelabras on each side of the steps, leading down to, what looked like from the top, a stone floor. The candles were long, red tapers that rose from brass sconces, worn with time and age. Summer touched one as they made their descent and thought absently that Cayden really needed to do some polishing around here.

  The steps were stone as well, which Summer found unusual. She had assumed that this had once been a cellar, but with this house’s history, she guessed it had always served a different, much more meaningful purpose. There was no sound as their feet fell on the steps; all Summer could hear was the deafening silence that swallowed them up as the pair entered the room.

  Shock hit her, it was nothing like she had expected. Instead of low ceilings and dank air, space rose above her and the only smell that greeted her was that of herbs and spices. The walls were granite, with symbols and text carved into the black and white material. The room was three times as big as her room at the inn and there were men and women, gathered together, waiting for them.

  Sweeping her gaze across the sea of faces, she was surprised that a lot of them looked familiar. Two faces stuck out in the crowd, Sophie and Lurleene and a couple of the staff from the inn stood behind Lurleene and a couple she had seen on the main street kissing stood to the left of them. Everyone wore robes reminiscent of the druid priests, the brown fabric touching the floor and obscuring the groups’ feet.

  Cayden reached out to pull two robes from an iron hook that had been embedded in the granite. He squeezed her hand for support before he let go and handed her one of the mystical garments. “Put this on,” he said as he slipped into one. After he straightened out the front and tied it with a black silky cord at his waist, Summer noticed that, unlike the others, a pentacle had been sewn in the front of his. When she brought hers over her head and ran her hands down the front, she was even more surprised to find that hers also bore the same mark. This had really been thought out.

  Cayden grabbed her hand once again and led the way to the coven that stood before them. As the crowd split in two, making way for Cayden and Summer, a stone slab in the middle of the room came into Summer’s line of vision. Much like the altar in the attic, the stone was inscribed with a pentacle, but surrounding the pentacle were also symbols. The men and women gathered around them, apparently waiting for Cayden to speak. Clearing his throat, he addressed his followers.

  “As you are aware, we have a real threat on our hands. A necromancer has set his sights on Summer and looks to imprison her. He plans to feed off of he
r power and take over the Underworld.” Cayden glanced from face to face as he spoke, looking at each individual as he did.

  “If that happens, it very well could be hell on earth. Alsandair will use his powers over the dead and the living to spread his curse upon this world and the rules with which we live by will be gone.”

  From Cayden’s right, came a voice. It was Sophie. Taking a step forward, she spoke.

  “I have seen what might come to pass and all I can see is that it’s not pretty. If we allow this evil to steal our death-speaker, this world will crumble from the inside out.”

  Cayden nodded in agreement and turned his attention back to his speech. “The only thing I know for certain is that there is a current ruler of the underworld, Finvarra. He is also a source not to be messed with, but I have a feeling that if he knew of this threat, Finvarra might help us. I propose we summon him.”

  Everyone looked from one another, silently passing between them the dangers that a summons like that might entail. Lurleene spoke up next.

  “How will we convince Finvarra that Alsandair is a pressing threat? What if this plan backfires and he ends up putting us to rest instead of that demon?”

  Cayden sighed heavily, “The only way we’ll find out is to try.”

  Summer felt like a newcomer and hesitated to interject. “Can we try something else first?” Cayden raised an eyebrow at her.

  “What do you have in mind?” he asked.

  “I had a visit from a spirit that warned me of Alsandair. She disappeared before I could find out who she was and why it was important to warn me. I believe if I can find her, we might be able to gain some insight into him, maybe learn of any weaknesses he has.”

  Cayden bowed his head in thought. Deciding, he looked back at her. “Okay, let’s try and find this spirit first. It might be a better idea to exhaust all our other options first. Finvarra might not take too kindly to being summoned.”