by Deanna Chase
“A daughter…?” Dan had a sister? Why had he never told me about her?
A tremor of deep-seated sadness touched me. “You, Jade. You were my daughter in every way. When you and Dan broke up—” she swallowed. “When you left him, you left me too.” She turned slightly away from me, with her shoulders slumped.
“I…Mrs. T?” I hadn’t realized she’d suffered our separation, too. I’d missed her horribly, but I couldn’t shake the sinking betrayal that she’d known about my mother and never said anything.
She shifted to gaze at me. A single tear rolled down her cheek. “Bring him back to me.”
Izzy stepped up, forming a tiny circle. “Renee, I saw Philip there. You need to tell her. The information is powerful. The fact that Dan was taken, the reason why he could be taken. It matters. Give her all the tools she needs to rescue him.”
Mrs. T’s face went white. She froze and stared at a picture sitting on the mantle. It was one of Dan laughing, right after he’d graduated college. Kat and I had both been there that day. We’d been the cause of his mirth as we stood to the side, cracking jokes about his job prospects as an unemployable philosophy major. That day seemed like a lifetime ago.
Finally she turned, took a deep breath and met my gaze. “The angel, Philip, is Dan’s biological father.”
Chapter 2
An hour later, Kat and I sat in Aunt Gwen’s sunroom, watching the storm drum against the windows. I cradled a hot mug of chai tea, trying to drive away the chill settled in my bones. Would Philip risk Hell to save his son? He hadn’t for his mate, Meri, condemning the former angel into demonhood, a fate that had triggered a deep-seated need for revenge.
“Do you think Meri knows Philip is Dan’s father?” I asked Kat.
Kat picked up the sterling silver talisman Dan’s mother had pressed into her hands before we’d left. Her curly red hair fell over one eye as she ran her fingertips over the quarter-sized Celtic knot, almost resembling a sunflower. She sighed and clasped her fist tightly around the pendant. “It’s doubtful. It seems to me if she’d known about the connection, she would have used him to hunt down Philip. Instead she used Dan to focus on her sisters.”
I nodded. Twelve years ago, Meri’s sisters had enlisted my mother to help them rescue Meri from Hell. Only they’d been too late. Hell has a way of quickly corrupting angels’ souls. When they tried to banish her, she captured her two sisters and my mother, intent on letting Hell corrupt their souls as well. Only Philip had conducted a ritual to separate the three sister’s souls from their spirits, trapping their spirits in voodoo dolls and their souls in portraits. With Meri neutralized, my mother had ended up in Purgatory.
But last week, with the help of the New Orleans coven, I’d rejoined their souls and spirits and freed the sisters from their immortal prison. Once Meri had materialized in our circle, her sole focus had been on finding her mate. First to reunite and then for revenge.
Kat was right. Meri would have used Dan to find Philip, had she known about their connection. Instead she’d tried to get Dan to destroy her sisters’ spirits. Dan hadn’t been able to follow through, thank goodness, but he’d gotten himself trapped in Hell in the process.
The tightening in my chest, which seemed to occur every time I thought of what Dan had done, returned. He’d risked everything to free my mom from Meri’s clutches.
We had to save him. I wouldn’t rest until we did. “Looks like we need to get on the first flight back to Louisiana.”
Kat tilted her head toward the kitchen. “What about your mom?”
I sighed. “Gwen will take care of her.”
“Girls,” Mom called. “We forgot the French bread. Can your friend drive you to the store to pick some up?”
I rose, and Kat followed. We stopped in the doorway. “Kane ran out to overnight some paperwork for a client.” In addition to owning Wicked, a strip club in the French Quarter, he was also an independent financial consultant.
My aunt Gwen paused from kneading her pie dough and wiped her hands on her red apron. She had on her signature red T-shirt and overalls. With her gray curls twisted into a bun, she looked every inch the homemaker farmer’s wife. Only she didn’t have a husband and she did all the farming. “You can take my car.”
“In weather like this?” Mom gasped. “Jade doesn’t have any experience driving in heavy rain.”
Kat and I exchanged wary looks. “Mom—”
Gwen held up a hand, cutting me off. She moved to Mom’s side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. They didn’t look anything alike. Mom’s slick dark hair was pulled back in her signature ponytail. Her slightly slanted eyes were jade green, while Gwen’s were hazel. Gwen had a good twenty pounds on Mom’s slight frame. But most of all, Gwen looked the part of my mother, with slight wrinkles around her eyes, while mom could easily be mistaken for my sister. Spending thirteen years in Purgatory, where time stood still, would do that to a person.
“Don’t worry, Hope,” Gwen said. “I taught Jade all she needs to know about navigating stormy roads while you were gone. Just like Dad showed us.”
Color blossomed on Mom’s cheeks and she averted her eyes. She’d forgotten I’m a twenty-seven year old woman, not the fifteen-year-old she’d been torn from all those years ago. Again. “Of course. I’m sorry.” She waved in my direction. “Go on then. Dinner will be ready soon. If you want garlic bread with the lasagna, you’d better hurry.”
Gwen handed me her keys, and I smiled at Mom. “We’ll be back before the table’s set.”
“Not too fast, young lady,” Mom said. “Just because the speed limit is fifty-five doesn’t mean it’s safe to go that fast in this kind of weather.”
“Yes, Mother.” I rolled my eyes, but my smile widened to a grin. Damn, it was good to have her back.
***
After dinner, Kane and I sat on my old bed, propped up against the headboard. I tapped a few keys on my laptop. “There’s a flight leaving at six a.m.”
Kane ignored my statement and ran a hand down my neck. My whole body tingled. It was the first time we’d been alone in days. His hooded eyes met mine, then dropped, taking in the length of my body. I bit my lower lip to keep from licking them in anticipation.
“Stop,” I whispered without any heat. We’d been at Gwen’s for a week. With the close living quarters, we hadn’t had any privacy. The physical separation only served to heighten our mutual needs.
He leaned in, barely brushing a kiss against my waiting lips. “You don’t want me to stop.”
Heat spiked, nearly melting my favorite Victoria’s Secret panties. I pulled away just enough to get some air and sucked in a breath.
He smiled that knowing smile he gets when he’s aware he’s pushed all the right buttons. He closed the distance between us, but at the last minute, I brought a hand up, stopping him with a finger pressed to his mouth. “Rain check?”
We sat frozen for a few beats. Then Kane gently removed my finger and brought his lips to mine, slowly, artfully exploring with every delicious stroke of his skilled tongue. I melted into him, blissfully lost in his embrace.
When Kane pulled back, he pressed his forehead to mine and whispered, “Count on it.”
“Huh?” I sighed, breathless.
He sat back. “Rain check.”
The room came back into focus. My brain started functioning, and I remembered Mom and Gwen could walk in on us at any moment. “Right. Rain check.”
Grinning, he focused on his laptop. “Now, what did you say about that flight?”
I checked the screen. “There’s one at six a.m.”
“We’d have to get up at four.” He frowned and ran another search. “Here’s another one at eleven. That will give us time to eat breakfast with your family before we leave.”
I leaned over, squinting at the information on his computer. “Holy crap. The only seats left on that flight are first class. I can’t afford the cushy real estate, and neither can Kat.”
He got up and
moved gracefully across the room to inspect my farmhouse photo collection covering one wall. “I’ve got points on my miles card. I can cover the tickets.”
I plucked at the old quilt covering the bed. Eleven a.m. sounded a hell of a lot better than six. I narrowed my eyes. “You have enough points for three first-class, last-minute tickets?”
“Sure.” He turned his rich chocolate-brown eyes on me. “It’s my business card. The one I use for the club’s expenses.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but if he used the card for the club’s bi-weekly alcohol purchases, it certainly was possible. “All right.”
He nodded and turned back to the photos. “Was this a school project or something?”
“No. I just always wanted to live in a grand, old, turn-of-the-century house. Something about the history intrigues me. I used to take pictures of them and imagine who lived there and what their stories were.”
“I like this one.” Kane pointed to one of my favorites. The white house had a giant wraparound porch and tons of windows. He crossed the room and took his place next to me on the bed. “We’ll live in one like that someday.”
I rumpled his dark wavy hair and laughed. “And leave New Orleans? Not likely.”
He shrugged. “You never know.”
“Sure. Whatever you say.” I closed my computer. “I need to call Kat.” She’d gone home to spend some time with her parents before we high-tailed it back to New Orleans.
“I’ll get in touch with Lailah about tracking down Philip.” Kane pulled out his phone, but I snatched it out of his hand.
“You don’t need to do that. I can take care of it.”
Two things: Lailah was Kane’s ex-girlfriend and, even though she was an angel, I didn’t trust her. I had good reason.
Last week we’d accidentally formed a psychic connection. Right before we’d left for Idaho, I’d caught her admiring Kane in a decidedly unangelic fashion.
While I appreciated Kane helping me, the thought of him calling Lailah, especially about my ex…well, call me ridiculous, but I’d rather walk through the swamps barefoot than ask Lailah for a favor.
“Jade,” Kane warned. “You can’t do everything yourself. Call Kat. In the meantime, I’ll get in touch with Lailah. She can start getting a lead on Philip’s whereabouts.”
Over my rotting, gator-eaten body. Izzy had told us he was living out in the bayou. Dan was the only one who knew exactly where. Unless Hell had a one-eight-hundred number, someone was going to need to cast a finding spell. “Why does it have to be her? Why can’t we ask Lucien?”
“You could, but Lailah has a lot more experience and she has a connection to Dan.”
Lucien was the strongest witch in the New Orleans coven besides me. He had the skills to perform the finding spell, but Kane was right. He had almost no connection to Dan, and that mattered. Lailah was the better choice.
I raised my chin. “I can perform the spell from here.”
Kane raised a skeptical eyebrow.
I made a face and jumped off the bed. After rummaging around in my suitcase, I pulled out my mentor’s leather-bound spell book. “Bea gave it to me. She said I should take it since I’m the coven leader.”
“If you’re sure,” Kane said.
“I just need a few minutes to locate the incantation.” Sitting cross-legged on the floor, I quickly flipped the pages, searching for the correct section.
The old bed squeaked as Kane rose to join me.
A second later, Mom barged in. “Jade, you know you’re not allowed to have boys—er…friends up here with the door closed.” She grabbed the wooden desk chair and used it to prop the door open. “You don’t want to disrespect your aunt.”
Stifling a sigh, I waved my hand, indicating we were both fully clothed and half a room apart. “Mom, nothing’s going on.”
Kane caught my gaze. His lips twitched.
The man actually thought this was funny. I glared, daring him to utter even one chuckle.
He winked in my direction before turning to smile at Mom. “Ms. Calhoun. My apologies. I came up here to take a business call, and then Jade and I were finalizing our travel plans for tomorrow.”
The anxiety swirling around my mother eased. She took a step forward and lowered her voice, “Oh, it’s all right. It’s not that I don’t trust you two, but Gwen can be old-fashioned. You know how she is.”
Unable to control myself, I snorted my disbelief and quickly covered with a cough. Gwen had tried to put Kane and me in the same room for our short visit, but my mother had insisted sharing a room wasn’t appropriate. Since the house only had two bedrooms, Mom was bunking with Gwen, and I was in my old room.
That put Kane on the couch.
As if anything would ever happen on the squeaky bed from hell with my mother and aunt in the next room.
“Yeah, Gwen can be a little archaic sometimes.” Hiding a smile, I brushed past Mom. “I’ll be outside on the porch. I need to call Kat.”
“Don’t be too long, Jade. It’s getting cold out.”
It took all my willpower to not morph back into the moody teenager who would have answered “yes, mother” with a chip the size of Mt. Shasta on my shoulder. I shook my head and shrugged into a wool jacket. “I won’t.”
I left and headed off to the sunroom. Before I did anything else, I needed to call Kat. I sat in the same chair she’d occupied earlier in the day and touched her name in my phone.
She answered before it even rang. “What’s up?”
“Kane found us seats for a flight at eleven a.m. They’re first class, but he says his credit card points will cover all three of us. You okay with that?”
“First class? Free? Hell yeah!” Kat let out a whoop of exaggerated excitement and then lowered her voice. “I hope you have plans for a thorough thank you.”
“Kat! Stop. Nothing’s going to happen with my mom and Gwen here.”
She sighed into the phone. “Yeah. That would be a mood killer.”
“Listen, I’m getting ready to do a spell to find Philip, and I need something of Dan’s to make a physical connection. Do you have anything? I gave everything of significance back to him after we broke up. The rest I tossed.”
“Sure, the talisman his mom gave me this afternoon. Give me a moment… Hmm, that’s weird. It isn’t in my purse.” A frantic rustling drowned out her next words.
“What?” I asked.
“Sorry, I can’t find it. Hold on.”
A soft thunk sounded, followed by more rummaging. I bit my lip and picked up a magazine on the end table. Beyond the Barn. Great. I tossed the farming magazine back down, and a shiny piece of metal caught my eye. “Kat?” I called into the phone.
“Just a minute,” she called back. After a short pause, I heard a faint, “Crud!”
I picked up the silver pendant, fingering the familiar design. The letters engraved on the back were rough under my thumb. DPT. Dan Pearson Toller.
Dan had told me his middle name was a family name. I’d never imagined it came from Philip Pearson or that his dad wasn’t his biological father. Had his dad known? It didn’t matter now. Dan’s dad passed away a few years ago, but I couldn’t help but wonder.
“Kat!” I yelled.
“Sorry,” she breathed into the phone. “I have no idea what I did with it.”
“It’s here. You left it in the sunroom.”
“Thank God. You want me to come over and help with the spell?”
“Do you mind?” Kat didn’t possess any magic, so she wouldn’t be any help in that department. What she could do is help me focus and give me strength if I got carried away and used too much energy. And, let’s face it, I’d been known to flub a spell or two.
“Don’t worry. My parents already went to bed. They won’t even miss me. See ya in five.”
I put the phone on the table, picked up the spell book, and shuffled outside. While the rain still came down in sheets, the wind had finally died. I snagged a dry plastic chair from near
the side of the house and placed it a few feet from the stairs leading to the back side of the farm.
Wrapping up in my wool coat, I took a deep breath. Mud and fresh pine filled my senses. Memories of Dan and me running through the neighboring woods flooded my brain. That night we’d walked under the brilliant moon, only to be caught in a late summer storm. Goose flesh popped out on my covered skin.
I no longer had feelings for Dan. We’d ended our relationship a few years ago, but I stilled cared about him. There was no way I’d let him spend eternity in Hell.
We had to find Philip. He was our best hope of tracking down Meri.
Magic fluttered against my breastbone, straining to do something. Anything. I opened Bea’s spell book to the finding spell.
First step: Secure a personal item of the missing person. Well, the pendant didn’t belong to Philip, but it was as close as I was going to get.
Second step: Visualize the person of interest. Tough to do, since I’d never met him.
Third step: Light a candle to guide the journey. Finally, an easy one. I ran inside and grabbed some matches and a candle sitting in the center of the kitchen table. It hadn’t been lit yet, but Gwen wouldn’t mind. She had plenty to spare. Psychics used them almost as much as witches did.
Back out on the porch, I pulled the small table in front of my chair and placed the candle in the middle. With an expert hand, I struck a match and lit the wick.
Fourth Step: Repeat the incantation. Blow out the candle.
That would complete the spell. I tapped my foot, impatient for Kat to show. It wouldn’t hurt to practice a little, would it?
Magic sparked to life in my chest. Practice was a good thing. According to Bea, I couldn’t get enough. All righty.
I propped the spell book on the table and focused on the pendant clutched in my fist. Facing the flickering candle and the sheets of rain, I spoke, “From north to east to south to west, find the spirit, reveal its nest. Through brilliance and shadows, with nowhere to hide, reveal the angel Philip, with eyes open wide.”
My magical spark warmed, sending a tingle through my limbs. I smiled. The practice had helped. Last week I would have supercharged the spell. Tonight, I’d given the incantation a gentle nudge. Was it enough?