by Deanna Chase
“Fair enough.” I nodded to the house. “Now go inside and plan your parties like nothing’s amiss. I don’t want to draw any attention to Harper’s cousins.”
She sucked in a deep breath as if fortifying herself, nodded, and walked back inside.
Pyper glanced at me. “We’re headed to the bayou, aren’t we?”
I eyed her black outfit. “Want to change first?”
“Yes, but it’s laundry day, remember?” She waved a hand. “Never mind. Let’s just go. I’m dying to hear all about how this swamp witch created dragon puppies.”
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Pyper asked, stopping at the entrance of an old wooden bridge. “You think we can make it over that rickety thing without ending up in the bayou?”
I leaned forward, peering out the windshield. There was obvious rot on the edge of some of the boards closest to us, and the entire thing appeared to be tilting to the right. “There’s only one way to find out.”
“What’s that? Some sort of spell?” Pyper asked.
If only I had something up my sleeve. I shook my head, opened the door, and hauled myself out of the car. The buzz of swamp bugs was thick in the air, and the humidity was so oppressive it was hard to get enough oxygen in my lungs. After taking a moment to catch my breath, I walked over to the bridge and—
“Jade, what are you doing?” Pyper asked from right behind me.
My heart jumped into my throat as she startled me. “Hell, Pyper. Don’t do that.”
She shook her head. “What were you going to do? Walk over it and see if it crumbled?”
“No.” I rolled my eyes and moved to the edge, glancing down at the piers. They were evenly spaced and plenty thick. That was a good sign.
“Uh, Jade,” Pyper said, her tone hesitant.
“Hold on. I’m just going to give it a jolt of magic and then—”
“There’s an alligator behind you,” she hissed.
Fear crawled down my spine. Magic instantly pooled in my palms as I slowly turned around to find a giant fourteen-foot gator, his jaws open wide as if he were going to swallow me whole. I didn’t dare move another inch. Alligators didn’t see all that well and often struck based on movement alone. My heart pounded against my rib cage. Would my magic be enough to stop him if he attacked? I had no idea. Their leather hides were thick, and it was notoriously hard to kill one.
But luckily I didn’t need to find out. The gator closed his giant mouth and then ambled across the bridge as if he was just on his midmorning stroll.
“Holy shit,” Pyper said, grabbing my hand and pulling me back into the car. Once she was behind the wheel, she said, “That’s enough of the great outdoors.”
“So what? We’re just going to turn around and go home?” I asked her.
“Nope. We’re following that gator. Did you see how the bridge didn’t even flex? Do you know how much a giant alligator weighs?”
“No. Never had a reason to find out… thank the gods.”
“About a thousand pounds. I think the bridge is fine.” Without another word, she put her car into gear and shot across the bridge. The structure was as solid as they come.
I glanced back at it, my eyes narrowed. The boards still looked rotted, and now it appeared to be leaning the other direction, and I had a feeling someone had gone through a lot of trouble to make the bridge look as unsafe as possible.
Pyper steered her car around a curve in the road, bringing us to an old shack that looked roughly the same as the bridge. It was a small cottage that sat right on the edge of the bayou and had a rusted old airboat tied to a dock. To the left was a large barn and a fenced area that contained a chicken coop and fancy colorful chickens pecking at the ground.
We both climbed out of the red Beetle and glanced around.
The front door opened, and a tall, dark-skinned man strode out, a rifle slung over one shoulder and a mug in his hand. “You lost?”
“I don’t think so,” I said, strolling over to his porch. “We’re looking for a breeder of sorts. Our friend Willa pointed us in your direction. She and her cousin Harper—”
“I know who Willa and Harper are,” he said, his voice gruff. “What do you want?”
Pyper and I glanced at each other. He wasn’t at all welcoming, though few who lived deep in the bayou were. They didn’t take kindly to strangers showing up out of the blue. His energy was closed off to me, as if he was shielding it. Which was probably a good thing. If my energy invaded his, there was no telling how he’d handle it. He wasn’t exactly Mr. Friendly. I cleared my throat. “I’m Jade Calhoun, the coven—”
“Coven leader of New Orleans. And Betty Boop over there is a medium who owns a coffee shop on Bourbon. You’re also working for the council, and that’s all I need to know about you. Now go before I unleash Trevor.”
“Trevor?” Pyper asked.
“My swamp dog. He doesn’t take kindly to trespassers.”
“We’re not working for the council,” I blurted as he turned his back to us.
“You’re lying, Ms. Calhoun. I know everything that goes on in that hellhole. As of yesterday, you work for them whether you like it or not.” He kept walking toward the barn, his steps brisk.
“Wait!” I called after him. “You don’t understand. We were coerced into working for the council, and right now our biggest priority is finding Harper to make sure she’s safe and protecting her cousins from being abducted.”
He paused for a few beats. Then he turned around and glared at me. “Working for the council puts you on the wrong side of history.”
“I strongly suspect that you are correct, sir, but at the moment, it’s either tell them I’ll work for them or they’re going to incarcerate Pyper and me on trumped-up charges. The best thing I can do for everyone involved is cooperate with them—”
Fire flashed in his eyes, and he snarled as he started to speak.
I held up my hand and raised my voice as I continued, “If they think we’re cooperating, we’re free to help Harper and her cousins. If it turns out that Harper did nothing wrong, I will do everything in my power to help her and her missing cousins.”
“What she said.” Pyper jerked a thumb at me. “No one controls Jade, or me for that matter. And if you know so much about the council, you know that Jade has no reason to be loyal to them.”
We both stared him down.
He glared back. Finally he let out a put-upon sigh and walked over to the barn. “Hurry up then. I don’t have all day.”
Without hesitation, we moved as fast as we could to keep up with him. But in my condition, fast was relative. By the time I crossed the dirt lot, my head was starting to spin from the heat and lack of hydration.
“Here.” Pyper produced a bottle of water from her purse and handed it to me.
I nearly cried with relief. My bag was still in her car where I’d left it. “Do you have a snack in there too?”
She rolled her eyes but produced a small package of cashews and handed those over as well.
“You’re a lifesaver.”
“I know.” She quickly tied her hair up to get it off her neck and followed the man into the barn.
I shoved the nuts into my dress pocket, took a few gulps of water, and followed.
Inside, the barn was impeccable. The floor had been swept clean, and to the right was a wall full of food and supplies for the animals. To the left there were a dozen large, empty kennels.
“Where are the animals?” I asked, starting to wonder if we’d been led into a hinky situation. The cages were certainly large enough to hold humans as long as they were sitting down. My imagination started to run wild as magic pooled at my palms, my unease putting me on high alert.
“Put your magic away, white witch!” the man ordered, his voice harsh. “Do it now, or this visit is over.”
“Where are the animals?” I asked again, ignoring his demand.
“Jade—” Pyper started, but I cut her off.
“We aren
’t easy marks if that’s what you’re thinking. You can’t just lead us in here and pretend—”
“Jade!” Pyper grabbed my arm and pointed to an adjacent room. The door was open, and half a dozen dogs were lounging around. Two of them were sitting in small kiddie pools while the other four sat right in front of their own personal oscillating fans with their tongues lolling out in pure doggie pleasure.
“Oh.” My magic vanished instantly. I gave the man an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. In my line of work, things can get ugly fast. I suppose I’m a little on edge.”
“You do not use magic in here ever,” he barked. “It will disrupt the spells already in place that keep the animals… in their best breeding form.”
I glanced at the six dogs. Two were schnauzers, two were bulldogs, and the last two were white and fluffy… Maltese perhaps. “You’ve spelled them to, ah, get it on?”
“What?” He shook his head. “No. Gods above, woman. What is wrong with you?” He cracked a smile, the first one we’d seen since braving his front door. “They don’t need any encouragement from me. The spells enhance their gifts and pass them down to their litters.”
“Um,” Pyper said. “I’m sorry, but we didn’t get your name.”
He turned his gaze on her, and for a moment I thought he was going to ignore her statement. But then he gave her a short nod. “Elijah.”
“Nice to meet you Mr. Elijah,” Pyper said. “If you don’t mind, can I ask why you’re breeding magical beings?”
His dark eyes flickered with surprise. “Because dragons need an energy outlet or else they can lose control of their fire. They are the dragons’ familiars.”
“So it’s true what Willa and the others said then.” I walked over to the open door and gazed at the seemingly normal dogs. “Harper and her cousins are turning into dragons?”
He moved to the open door and stood next to me. “What do you know about dragons, Ms. Calhoun?”
I glanced at his weathered face. “Not much. Just that they used to be the protectors of angels and a few hundred years ago they were wiped out in an epic war… or at least everyone thought they had been until that dragon soul found a way into Conor Wells’s body.”
“That’s right.” He wandered into the room and sat next to one of the fluffy white dogs. The pup pawed at his leg and he reached down, picking it up and positioning it in his lap. “And as you know, the council will do everything in their power to annihilate the dragons. That puts Harper and her family at risk, as well as any other remaining humans with dragon lineage.”
“There are more?” Pyper asked, now standing next to me and leaning against the doorframe.
“Of course there are more,” he said impatiently.
“If that’s true, then how have they been hidden all this time?” I couldn’t make sense of his statement, and if I hadn’t seen Willa’s power with my own two eyes, I’d have been questioning if the guy was for real.
“Because, Jade Calhoun, when your friend succumbed to the dragon earlier this summer, he called them home. Dragons all around the country are awakening, and the council will do everything in their power to neutralize them.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Called them home? What does that mean?”
“He woke their inner dragons. Now that the council has that dragon soul trapped and stashed away, they won’t have a leader. One of the awakened will rise to power, and dragons will once again walk among us.”
“And you’re helping them?” I asked, although I already knew the answer. He was breeding familiars for them.
His lips curved into a small smile. “I think that’s obvious.”
“Why?” I had to know his reasons. Did he want to control them? Was he warring with the council? Did he have angel connections? Dragons had once been angel protectors after all.
He tilted his head to the side and studied me. “Why do you want to help?”
“I don’t have a choice,” I said with a shrug.
“That’s not the entire truth.”
He was right, of course. I would help Harper and her friends even if the council hadn’t forced my hand.
“She does it because she can’t help herself,” Pyper said. “If someone is in trouble, she jumps in with both feet as if she has some sort of obligation.”
“As if you don’t do the same thing,” I said hotly.
She just laughed. “Fair enough. But I think I picked up that habit from you. There’s something deeply satisfying about helping someone who desperately needs it.”
“There you go,” Elijah said. “I do it because I can and if I don’t, no one else will.”
“There are others who breed familiars,” I pointed out.
He ran a hand over his bald head. “That’s true. But none as experienced as me and none who would deal with dragons.”
“You’ve bred other familiars?” Pyper asked.
He nodded, studying her. “You’re easy. A cat would be perfect for you.”
“No argument there,” she said with a chuckle.
His gaze focused on me, and it took him a little longer, but finally he said, “A dog. Probably a golden retriever.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed as I thought of Duke, my ghost dog, and said, “That makes sense. I kind of already have one.”
We followed him out of the barn into the clearing. Before we turned to go, he handed me a card with just a phone number on it. “If you run into any dragons who need a familiar, you send them my way. Discreetly, you understand?”
“Got it,” I said and held out my hand to him. “Thank you, Elijah. You’ve been very helpful.”
He gripped my hand with his, a magical spark crackling over our hands, indicating he was a very powerful witch. We gazed at each other with mutual respect until he said, “Don’t betray me or those girls. If the council finds out we’ve had this conversation, it will not end well.”
“You have my word,” I said. “And Pyper’s too.”
My friend nodded, her bright blue eyes locked on Elijah’s.
The older man blew out a breath. “Be careful. You’ve landed yourself in the middle of a shit storm with ruthless players on all sides.”
I swallowed the nervousness rising up in the back of my throat and forced out, “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
His gaze flickered down to my swollen belly, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he led the way to Pyper’s car, which was parked on the other side of the house. As soon as we turned the corner, Pyper and I came to a dead stop as we spotted the giant fourteen-foot gator draped over the hood of her car.
Elijah just laughed. “I see Trevor is a fan of the Beetle.”
“Trevor? Your swamp dog?” I asked, remembering his earlier comment.
“Yep. He patrols the property. Only lets those he deems worthy over the bridge.” The older man’s eyes glittered as he glanced down at me. “Or the ones I tell him to let through.”
So… he’d known all along that Pyper and I were on that bridge. We’d have never been let through if he hadn’t wanted us to find him. “Trevor is your familiar, isn’t he?”
His smile broadened, but he didn’t answer. Instead, Elijah snapped his fingers and the gator slowly started to make his way off Pyper’s car.
“Oh geez.” Pyper winced. “He’s going to leave scratches, isn’t he?”
“Nah,” Elijah said. “He’s gentle.”
Sure enough, the gator crawled off the car without leaving a mark and rambled over to Elijah, stopping just beside him. Both of them stared at us, and I could’ve sworn they were both wearing the same grim expression.
“Be careful, Jade Calhoun. You too, Pyper Rayne,” Elijah said, his voice low and full of urgency. “Those women are depending on you.”
“We’ll find them,” I promised and prayed we didn’t let any of them down.
11
My phone buzzed with incoming texts not long after we left the bayou. Pyper had just turned onto a paved two-lane road that would take us
back to the city as I read the multiple messages from Lucien.
“Oh, son of… Dammit.” I turned to Pyper. “We’re late for our lunch with Kat. Very late.”
She glanced at the clock on the dash and groaned. “Oh no. She’s never going to forgive us.”
“Not if she waited for us to eat, she won’t.” I quickly searched for my best friend’s name and hit Call. It didn’t even ring on my end before she answered.
“Jade, where the hell are you two? I’ve been here for an hour already. Your sushi rolls are getting soggy.”
At least she’d ordered. The knowledge did little to ease my guilt. The truth was, once we’d landed at Elijah’s place, I’d forgotten we had lunch plans. “I’m so sorry, Kat. We were running down a lead for our new assignment, and we ended up in the bayou, waiting for an alligator to surrender Pyper’s car before we could come meet you.”
“An alligator? What are you going on about? Is this just another way to get out of the wedding shower planning?”
I bit my lower lip. The week before, I’d called in “pregnant” when I was supposed to help her with her dried herb candles that invited health, love, and friendship. One of the herbs had been making me nauseated. She hadn’t quite believed me. My excuse had been half true. The herb did make my stomach turn, but only if I had to ingest it. Since there wasn’t supposed to be any sampling, I should’ve been fine. It was just that I’d been exhausted, and when Kane had offered a foot massage, I’d caved and bailed on the ninety-minute planning session.
“I swear it isn’t. We’re on our way now. We should be there in ten minutes.”
“A lot of good that will do,” she muttered.
Guilt started to take over, and my cheeks flushed. Thank goodness she couldn’t see me, because she’d known me long enough that there would be no mistaking what my flush meant. “I really am sorry, Kat. We’ll be right there.”
“Fine. Just hurry.”
Pyper and I parked in a nearby lot and hurried to the sushi place in the CBD. The restaurant was just on the other side of Canal Street but was just enough off the beaten path that it was more of a local’s place that wasn’t filled with a lot of tourists.