by J. N. Colon
A couple pool tables were set up, glowing crystals rolling across the green felt. A few groups were clustered around an apple bobbing station. Some of the apples were spiked with Delirium for the lucky ones. Pin the tail on the loogaroo, palm reading, spirit board contests, and name that ingredient were a few other events around the club.
I leaned on the railing and rolled my shoulders, trying to ignore the anxiety seeping through my muscles. Etie was gone with Henri, and he probably wouldn’t be back until tomorrow evening. They were visiting a group of Louange le Noir casters in New Orleans. They were old friends of Henri’s.
My body tightened. I didn’t like it one bit. Etie was already treading a thin line with his balance. Being around dark casters couldn’t be good for him. And they were Louange le Noir. They worshiped Baron Samedi above all others. What kind of dirt could Etie and Henri get on the voodoo loa from his followers?
Of course, they could be one of the few groups who praised Kalfou.
A shiver tattooed down my spine. Etie would have told me if he were doing something that dangerous. My lips thinned. Then again, he tried to keep certain things from me to stop me from worrying.
I skimmed my finger over the toujou on my neck. When he returned from this trip, he was going to tell me every damn thing. I couldn’t be kept in the dark for my own good. That never turned out well. I had—on occasion—done something stupid and reckless because I was ill-informed.
“Hi, Princess Badass.” Rafe appeared beside me, flashing a grin. His mohawk was purple now and still a bit shorter thanks to my impromptu haircut.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m never going to live down the princess nickname, am I?”
“Not a chance.” He leaned his elbows against the gold railing, watching the witches and voodoo casters below.
“Are you bartending tonight?” I asked, absentmindedly twirling a lock of long brown hair around my finger.
“Yeah, but I’m on break right now.” His gaze shifted to me, something secretive within those soft brown irises. “I came to give you a lesson.”
My brow puckered. “We already had one today.”
“And we’re going to have another.”
“Okay…” I pushed off the railing, pivoting toward the elevator when Rafe’s fingers curled around my arm.
He hauled me back. “Where are you going?”
“Upstairs to practice.” Was he on Delirium?
Rafe jerked his chin toward the club below. “We’re practicing right here—in the real world.” He shrugged. “Well, real magic world.”
A swarm of angry bees fluttered through my stomach. “Are you sure about that? If I use my conduit powers, won’t some of them realize what I am?” This wouldn’t be like when I heightened Mama CeCe’s spell on the dance floor. They had already been affected by the priestess’s magic then.
“The whole point of you learning to master your conduit powers is so you can live without hiding.” Rafe gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Use your magic on them without revealing what you are.”
My lids were pried so far open my eyeballs threatened to pop out. “You want me to use it on them?” All moisture evaporated from my mouth.
“Yep.”
Oh hell.
Rafe stepped closer and pointed out a group playing pool. “I want you to subtly magnify that woman’s power as she takes her shot.”
I swallowed back the acid oozing up my esophagus. “This is a bad idea.” It was one thing for me to face off with a wicked witch and her lackey who already knew I was a conduit. More or less provoking an entire club full of witches and voodoo casters was completely different. If they realized what I was, and enough of them wanted to attack me, I couldn’t fight them.
Rafe scoffed. “Come on, Princess Badass. Don’t wimp out on me now.”
“I’m not a wimp.” Rafe teased me like Marisol. At least he didn’t call me Flaca. “Fine. I’ll do it.” I rolled my shoulders and focused on the woman dressed in a tight, black-spandex dress. I released an invisible receptor, quickly latching onto her. Power poured into her.
The witch let her magic fly, miraculously sinking three glowing crystals.
I broke contact, quickly shutting down my power. The young woman jumped up and down, mocking the friend that was teasing her a moment ago.
“Good job.” Rafe clapped me on the back, grinning. “Now take his power.” He pointed out a tattooed voodoo caster attempting to toss a gris-gris bag into the gator’s mouth while a witch blocked the hole.
I latched onto the meaty guy, sucking his power up through an invisible straw. It tasted like pine.
The guy's gris-gris bag dropped to the ground, and the witch competing against him clapped at her victory.
He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t seem upset. He had no idea a bit of his magic had been temporarily siphoned out.
Rafe threw his arm over my shoulders, giving me a sideways hug. “That’s my star student!”
I grimaced. “How do you know no one noticed that?”
His grin widened. “Because I’m standing right next to you, and I could barely feel it.”
“Really? How is that possible?” My powers usually announced their presence with a loud yell.
“Because you’re Princess Badass, and I’m an amazing teacher.” Pride showed through his arrogant bravado.
I playfully tapped my chin. “I wouldn’t say amazing. Maybe more like adequate.”
“Adequate my ass.” Rafe tried to give me a noogie, but I ducked under his arm and out of his grasp. “Let’s practice a few more.”
I turned back to the crowd, picking another voodoo caster on my own. I should probably feel guilty for screwing with them. I didn’t. Some of them might not have a problem screwing with me if they knew I was a conduit. The temptation of power could easily cloud one’s morality.
Half an hour later, I wiped beads of sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. I hadn’t used this much magic in front of more than a handful of people.
Rafe handed me a bottle of water from the bar. “Are you sure you don’t want any Delirium?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
I took the bottle, ignoring the new flush spreading across my cheeks. Rafe had been bartending at the time so he knew exactly what happened after I’d had a shot of the magical concoction. “I’m sure.” The cold, crisp water felt good going down my throat. “Are we done with this lesson? Did I pass?”
“You passed with flying colors, princess.” He patted my head and attempted to give me another noogie, but I smacked his hand away.
Geez. Was this what having an older brother was like?
My heart suddenly squeezed. I missed Marisol. Never thought that would happen.
Rafe noticed my change in mood. “Let’s try something else.” He flicked his wrist, shooting a sparkling light across the room. It shimmered and broke apart, fading into nothing.
“How’d you do that?” I didn’t hear the spell he uttered under his breath.
“My mom taught me.” He leaned closer. “Say coruscum lucis and picture a firework in your mind.”
I turned forward. “Coruscum lucis.” A barely visible flash appeared, quickly fizzling out.
Rafe’s chuckle tickled my ear. “It takes some practice. Try it again.”
Instead of imagining a firework, I thought of the sparks that sizzled between Etie and me when we touched. They’d always been there and only intensified since the gwo-bon lyen.
Brilliant light exploded from my fingertips, arcing across the club’s ceiling and falling like bits of glitter.
Rafe’s jaw dropped. “How the—” He shook his head. “Never mind. Nothing should surprise me about you, Angel.”
“Let’s do it together.” I placed my water on the floor and laid my palm on Rafe’s arm, letting some of my power flow into him.
We spoke the words of the spell, and a series of magnificent lights burst from our hands. They bounced around the ceiling and descended toward the crowd below. The club patrons o
oed and ahhed over the spectacular indoor firework show.
My gaze drifted over the crowd. I was dizzy off their enjoyment. They were all smiling and laughing.
Except one of them. A man was staring directly at me with a blank, unreadable mask covering his familiar face.
Chills skittered across my heated skin, and my stomach clenched. What was my father doing at Le Revenant?
Chapter 18
Cristóbal de la Mora’s dark eyes stared at me from across the training room, his expression devoid of emotion. I had no idea what he was thinking. I wiped my palms on the back of my jeans, hoping he didn’t notice my nerves.
Was he here to drag me to Covina de Validus? Was he here to threaten me for compliance?
Well, he had another thing coming if he thought I’d go easily.
I bit back a grimace. He probably realized that. He was the head of a powerful coven. He’d have an elaborate plan in place to take me—if those were his intentions.
I cleared my throat, finally breaking the heavy silence. “I guess Lucas told you.” That traitorous jerk. I should have known he’d crack.
“Actually, no.” He crossed his arms against his broad chest. “I used a spell on his phone and found the hidden text messages between you two.”
My jaw dropped. I took back my mean thoughts of Lucas. My father was the traitorous jerk. “You do realize how wrong that is, right? Or do you not care?” Probably the latter.
“What I care about is protecting my daughter. Both of them,” he added. “You ran away, Angel, and I had no idea where you were or what was happening to you.” His voice had risen just a hair and was no longer ice cold.
My throat tightened. This wasn’t only about his worry for me. The Cristóbal De la Mora that returned from the dead, the coven leader and elemental brujo, was all about control. And what he couldn’t control drove him nuts.
Did the man who raised me until I was eight really ever exist?
“I’m so mad at you, Angel.” My dad began pacing the length of the room, the air becoming clogged with even more tension. “All these years I was gone, your mom and Abuela told me how good you were, how safe you were.” He jerked his hand toward me. “I can’t believe this is the same girl they were talking about.”
“I’m not.” I crossed my arms against my chest, standing my ground. “I’m sorry your plans for my future didn’t work out. I’m sorry I wasn’t a good little girl who did as she was told and married the guy you picked.”
So not sorry about that last part.
“You could have at least been honest with me when you and Etie were leaving,” he said, stopping a few feet from me. “I thought you were in danger.”
“Lucas told you I was fine.” I turned my back on him and fiddled with a jar of rosemary on a wooden shelf against the navy wall. “You knew I was with Etie. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”
“How could I be sure of that? He’s not the most stable person!” He paused, taking a deep, calming breath. “Etie can’t always be around to protect you, not like an entire coven of witches.”
I whipped around, magic flaring in my eyes. “That’s the problem. You think someone has to keep me from getting hurt. You think I need to hide in the shadows and keep my powers buried so far down I can’t breathe.” I choked back angry tears. At least Etie was trying to ease up on the knight-in-shining-armor complex. “That’s not how I want to live! That’s not a life. It’s a prison.”
My father looked at me as if I were a total stranger.
“I’m learning to protect myself.” I laid my hand on my chest. “I’m a conduit, a powerful one. I shouldn’t be afraid of people coming for me. They should be afraid of running into me.” Keeping my powers hidden would only get me killed in the long run. I wouldn’t stay at the coven house, and I wouldn’t be a burden on Etie.
“I saw you.” He ticked his head toward the door. “You were using your powers on others as if it were no big deal, as if it couldn’t get you in trouble.”
I shrugged. “I have to learn to use my conduit powers around people.”
His brows dipped. “Is that what that man next to you said? I recognize him from Liseria’s coven. He tried to kill you.”
“Rafe is not my enemy.” I rolled my shoulders, trying to work out the tension. It didn’t help that Etie was gone. The gwo-bon lyen wasn’t happy, and it was making that loud and clear. “It’s a long story, and it’s not mine to tell.” I wouldn’t betray Rafe’s trust. “Just know he was forced to be there.”
My father let out a frustrated breath and dragged his fingers through his dark wavy locks. “What does Etie think of this?” He ran his hand along a shelf filled with jars of energy Rafe borrowed from Mama CeCe’s storeroom. “Where is he?”
Now he cared about Etie’s opinion?
“He’s with Henri searching for information on the baron. And he’s fine with this—not that I need his permission.” I didn’t need anyone’s permission to do a damn thing. Not my father’s and certainly not Etie’s, no matter what either of them thought.
My dad began pacing the polished hardwood floors again, muttering incoherent Spanish under his breath. I sighed and perched on the edge of a table. This could be a while.
I opened my palm, watching an energy ball grow into existence. The swirling light spun in my hand and slid onto my fingertips. I rolled it between my knuckles and then flicked it to the other hand.
Feeling a heavy stare, I glanced up. My dad was scrutinizing me again, his face unreadable.
Geez. I wish I could master the no-expression expression.
I closed my palm, extinguishing the glowing orb in a puff of smoke. “Does using my powers make you that uncomfortable?”
“My grandmother, the last conduit in our family before you, couldn’t do that.” A deep line formed between his brow. “She wasn’t capable of any of the things I saw you do tonight. She was always too scared.”
“Well, I’m not.” Not anymore. I couldn’t afford to be.
My father shook his head, his expression finally softening. “When did you become the brave one?”
I blinked, caught off guard. “I’m not brave. I just want to have a life.”
He let out a dry laugh. “No, you are brave, Angel. Much braver than your sister. Much braver than me.”
Every muscle in my body froze. It was a good thing I was leaning against the table, or I would have crashed to the ground. “W-What?” I had no idea what to say. It was the first time since his return he didn’t seem angry or disappointed in me.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this—I had no intention of it when I came here—but I’m…” He faltered and ran his hand over his chin. “I’m proud of you, Angel.”
Now I did slide off the table.
I caught myself before my butt hit the ground. “Come again? I don’t think I heard you right. I must be hallucinating.” Had Rafe slipped me some Delirium after all?
“I’m serious. I’m proud of you.” My dad closed the distance between us, hesitantly squeezing my shoulder. “You’re not the timid little girl I left behind. You’re a powerful bruja, more powerful than I expected.”
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. My dad wasn’t acting like the grade-A jerk I met a few months ago. “Do you really mean that?” Since I was a little girl, all I’d ever wanted was to make him proud. Who knew running away with my boyfriend and training to be more than a hidden conduit would do the trick?
He sighed and swiveled around, leaning against the table next to me. “I’ve been so consumed with protecting you, I never once thought you were strong enough to protect yourself.”
“I am, or at least I’m trying to be.”
He nodded. “I can see that—as much as it pains me to admit.”
“And I’m going to keep Marisol safe too.” My fingers absentmindedly rubbed my wrist, the spot Baron Samedi had branded her with his vevè. “The coven can’t keep a deity out forever. If I don’t do something, he’ll take her.”
<
br /> My dad looked forward, his eyes hardening again. “I know. It’s why I’m letting Lucas train her in defensive magic as fast as possible.” He swallowed before shifting his attention back to me. “But I don’t know if it’ll be enough to stop Baron Samedi.”
It wouldn’t be enough. I had to figure out a way to protect my sister, one that didn’t involve hurting Etie.
Steam clouded the swanky gold and black bathroom as I stepped out of the shower, a plush scarlet rug cushioning my feet. My body was still filled with tension from Etie’s absence. It was going to be a long night. Sleep wasn’t likely.
My father left a few hours ago. He promised to apologize to Lucas for invading his privacy. After we talked, it felt like the thick, unyielding barrier between us had finally begun to crumble. Our relationship wasn’t fixed, but it was a start.
A smile pulled at my lips. My dad was proud of me. And he called me the brave one. Marisol was always the outgoing firecracker in the family. She still was, and I was shy and quiet, but I could kick a little ass if the situation called for it. Hopefully.
Etie was never going to believe my father was beginning to soften.
My chest tightened at the thought of my alimèt. I ran my fingers over the swirling tattoo above my collarbone. He’d be back tomorrow. Maybe he’d even pop up in the wee hours of the morning when I was still in bed. And he would join me under the covers.
Heat blossomed over my cheeks. We’d been so close to giving into temptation the other night until Baron Samedi ruined it. Jerkface. I was beyond ready. I loved Etie. He was my soul mate. There was no point in postponing it any longer.
When he got back, I was done waiting.
A familiar, sickly sweet scent spread through the steam-clouded room. My body tensed, and I quickly tightened the towel around me. The voodoo king was about to make an appearance.
Oh joy.
I spun around, searching through the warm haze, but nothing moved. Distant laughter bounced along the dark walls. He always had to play games. My gaze lifted to the mirror, my lips pursing. I reached up, wiping away the condensation and surprise, surprise, there he was.