by L. T. Ryan
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Neither.” He shrugged. “I like it, though.”
“Well, that’s good to know.”
“Last time I saw her, she had these scars running up and down her arm—”
Cassie’s hand automatically went to her shirt and tugged it higher on her chest. She hated how she was still self-conscious of them, hated that Jason had noticed them. It was the one physical aspect of Novak she couldn’t remove from her life. She might push him out of her mind, but there were still remnants of what he’d done all over her body.
Jason reached out a hand but stopped short of touching her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. We’ve never talked about it, and that should’ve been my sign to keep my mouth shut.”
“No, no. It’s fine.” When he didn’t look convinced, she forced a smile. “Really, it is. I just wasn’t sure if you ever noticed. If it bothered you.”
“I notice everything about you, Cassie. I couldn’t ignore you if I tried. And if I’m being honest, I don’t really want to.” He let the tips of his fingers come down on her arm. “We don’t have to talk about it. But for the record, there’s nothing about you that would scare me away.”
“Even if I were a serial killer?”
Jason looked like he was trying to stay serious, but the corners of his mouth went up. “Depending on the circumstances, I might give you a free pass.”
“Good to know.” Cassie’s smile faded. She hadn’t planned on doing this tonight, in public, but it was as good a time as any. Sometimes you had to rip off the Band-Aid in one swift motion. “I was looking for a way to tell you about that. About me. I just didn’t know how.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He rubbed the side of her hand with his thumb. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m a pretty patient person.”
“I have noticed.” She smiled, and it was genuine. “And I do want to tell you.”
“Then I’m all ears.”
Cassie took a deep breath and a sip of water before she started. “There was a man named Novak. About ten years ago, he attacked me in a graveyard. He stabbed me and left me for dead. Somehow, I survived. They arrested him, but last year, he escaped. He came back to finish the job. That didn’t work out so well for him. He got the electric chair. He’s dead now. And I’m still here.”
It was strange to boil down the last ten years of her complicated life into a few succinct sentences. It felt good to get it out, but there was so much more to the story, even if you didn’t consider how she sometimes got visions or saw ghosts.
She shook her head to clear away those thoughts. “You know, I’ve practiced that speech in my head a thousand times, give or take a million. I don’t even know if I explained it well enough.” Her face was feverish now. It was probably the color of her hair. “I’m sorry. That’s a weird thing to spring on someone. Not exactly dinner conversation.”
Jason squeezed her hand and waited for her to look him in the eyes. “Thank you for telling me. I’m sure that wasn’t easy. But a couple of scars won’t scare me away. I’ve got a few, too, you know.”
The release of her anxiety was overwhelming, and Cassie could feel the tears forming in her eyes. Luckily, Armand saved her by pushing through the double doors from the kitchen with a massive plate in each hand. She used the distraction to blink back the tears, but she could still feel Jason’s eyes on her.
“For you, sir, Cajun shrimp and scallops over angel hair in a creamy white sauce.” He put Jason’s plate down in front of him and turned to Cassie. “And for you, ma’am, a seafood medley containing shrimp, scallops, lobster, and calamari in a mushroom and garlic red sauce.”
“Armand, this looks amazing.” She looked up into his smiling face. “Thank you.”
“It is my pleasure.” He brought his hands together like a clap of thunder. “Bon appétit!”
10
Cassie kept her hands deep in her jacket pockets as they trekked down Basin Street toward their destination. The temperature had cooled considerably, and while she would’ve appreciated the excuse to lean into Jason’s side and soak up his warmth, she relished the way the chill in the air cleared her head.
The rest of their dinner conversation had not been as heavy as it was before Armand had delivered their food, and for that she was grateful. They talked about the city and Jason’s cousins. They discussed how the truck with the NOMA’s new pieces got delayed yet another day. What a strange coincidence that Magdalena had suddenly stopped texting them both now that she knew they were in the same city together.
Mission accomplished, I guess, thought Cassie.
The restaurant’s owner had joined them for dessert, bringing out an enormous slab of tiramisu for each of them. Cassie knew she couldn’t refuse, even if she’d wanted to. And she didn’t. Somehow, she found room for every last crumb while Armand regaled her with stories of his childhood adventures with Jason.
They had excused themselves after a round of handshakes, which turned into backslaps and hugs. Jason had slipped several twenties into the hand of their server on the way out the door, and Cassie caught Armand beaming after them. She wasn’t sure when she’d visit New Orleans again, but she knew she’d be back to Armand’s Bar & Grill the second she landed.
Now the two of them walked off their meal, groaning and complaining about their full stomachs, but knowing full well they didn’t have any regrets. It felt good to stretch her legs, and it helped Cassie rid herself of the nerves that had built up over dinner.
“Since we’ve technically had dessert already,” Jason started, “I feel like you have something else up your sleeve.”
“Busted.” Cassie gestured down the street. “We’re supposed to meet someone around here who’ll give us a special tour of the city.”
“A special tour?” Jason raised an eyebrow. “A friend of yours?”
“Not exactly.” She winced. “More like the sister of a random lady I met on the plane down here.”
Jason looked caught between comedy and concern. “Well, this should be an interesting night.” They stopped in front of a large metal gate. There was a plaque next to it that read SAINT LOUIS CEMETERY NUMBER ONE. “It’s probably not the cemetery. They don’t do tours at night.”
“There are some exceptions.” Jason and Cassie both jumped as a woman stepped out of the shadows. “But you have to know the right people. And I am the right people.”
Sabine Delacroix was the spitting image of her sister in all the ways that mattered, from that same golden glow beneath her skin to the wiry gray peppered throughout her dark hair. But her eyes were a shade cooler and her smile a fraction sharper. And while Celeste had dressed in muted tones that oozed elegance and class, Sabine, it seemed, didn’t mind sticking out in a crowd. She wore a full-length dress with a heavy shawl over her shoulders. The layers of purple and blue flattered her figure as they draped across her chest and pinched in at the waist.
Magdalena would’ve approved.
“Ms. Delacroix?” Cassie held out her hand. “I’m Cassie Quinn. This is Jason Broussard.”
Sabine’s smile grew wider. “Two for one, my lucky night. The Broussards have a long history in New Orleans. I’m happy to make your acquaintance.” She shook Cassie’s hand, and then Jason’s. “Both of you.”
Sabine’s mind was as quiet as Celeste’s had been, but without the momentary lapse that had brought about the vision of the two sisters standing in front of a raging fire. If they were twins, Sabine likely had the same ability to close herself off to Cassie. Had Celeste warned her sister? The way Sabine lingered on her face made Cassie think she had.
“It’s true that most people can’t enter the cemetery at night, but I don’t think the spirits will mind, as long as you stay close to me.”
Cassie couldn’t tell if Sabine was being theatrical, but considering there was something more to the Delacroix sisters than they let on, she had an inkling the warning held some weig
ht. Ghosts weren’t usually dangerous, but there were exceptions to the rule. And Cassie was sensitive to the spirit world. How many would come up to her seeking help? She hadn’t prepared for this, and she wasn’t sure how she’d be able to hide it from Jason.
As if on cue, Jason leaned close as the older woman unlocked the gate. “Are you okay with this? A cemetery, I mean. It won’t bother you?”
Cassie’s heartbeat ratcheted up and then smoothed out to a steady rhythm. Novak’s attacks were fresh in his mind. That was the only reason he was asking. She felt her features soften. “I’ve been in a cemetery or two since then. I should be okay.”
Not that it would’ve mattered. Sabine Delacroix waited for no one.
Cassie and Jason barely slipped through the gate before it clanged shut behind them. Cassie’s body tensed, ready for the onslaught of spirits walking aimlessly through their final resting place, reaching out to the first person to acknowledge their presence.
But it never happened.
The graveyard was quieter than expected. Cassie could feel the spirits in the surrounding shadows, but none showed their faces. They lurked at the edges of her vision, pressing forward, only to shrink back. Sabine hadn’t been kidding about staying close to her side.
Sabine walked forward at a measured pace, her dress billowing out behind her, taking on the air of someone who assumed everyone else would fall in line. And they did. Both Delacroix women had an aura about them that demanded respect, and Cassie had no interest in behaving otherwise.
“Welcome to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. This will not be your average tour of one of New Orleans’ most haunted corners.” Sabine stopped and twirled to face them, forcing Cassie and Jason to pull up short. She spoke to them like they were just two people in an audience of observers. And maybe they were. “Not only do we have a local in our midst, but someone who, I assume, would rather see our city for what it really is.”
Jason looked to Cassie, whose cheeks colored. Cassie had no more doubts that Celeste had told Sabine about her. Cassie wasn’t sure what the women knew of her abilities, but she hoped Sabine would keep that knowledge to herself.
One major reveal of her past was enough for tonight.
“New Orleans wears a false mask of color and chaos. We’re known for food and festivities, and while murder is always on the menu, those who yearn to peek at our true face rarely like what they see.”
Cassie waited for Sabine to continue, but the silence of the graveyard was resounding. She knew the other woman was waiting for her to ask the question on the tip of her tongue. “What do they see?”
“Magic.” Sabine’s eyes lit up as though a fire burned behind them. “Ghosts. Demons. A darkness that stays with them, long after they’ve left New Orleans behind.”
Sabine turned, flourishing her dress, and moving deeper into the cemetery.
“St. Louis is New Orleans’ oldest extant graveyard.” The woman had discarded some of the effect in her voice, but it still sent chills down Cassie’s spine. “The Spanish established it at the end of the eighteenth century, and it is still used after two hundred years. One hundred thousand souls have been laid to rest on these grounds, and some have never left.”
Until this point, the pressing darkness of the graveyard had felt like a lover’s touch on Cassie’s cheek. Sabine’s declaration lifted the veil just enough for Cassie to see the true extent of the restless spirits around her. Most of them didn’t take notice of the trio in their midst, but a few stared at Cassie, as though trying to burn a hole right through her chest.
Sabine continued forward, while Cassie and Jason followed in her wake. The eerie silence stretched to every corner of the graveyard, despite the world raging outside the fence. It was like the cemetery acted as a portal through time. Broken cobblestones and chipped grave markers looked whole in the dark of the night. Here, the spirits reigned supreme, and they could warp your sense of time.
“There are dozens of famous men and women buried in this historic spot, though none of them attract as much attention as the Voodoo Queen herself, Marie Laveau. Born at the turn of the century in 1801, she had a Haitian mother and a white father. She was a hairdresser to the wealthy, but she gained fame for her herbal remedies. She saved many lives.”
“People believe she can help them from beyond the grave,” Jason added. “That’s why they still leave her trinkets, isn’t it?”
“Correct.” Sabine smiled and took a step closer to him. “How is your grandmother? Is she still well?”
Jason blinked. “She’s good, yeah. Healthy.”
“Please tell her my sister and I say hello. We’d love to have a cup of tea with her next week. She has my number.”
“Okay.” Jason glanced at Cassie and then turned back to Sabine. “I’ll let her know.”
Sabine wound her way through tight alleyways, turning at this gravestone and that crypt as easily as if she were following street signs. “They call this place the City of the Dead, but it’s more alive than you might think. It is a portal to another realm, and that veil is never thinner than it is right—” she took two steps, stopped, and turned around, holding her arms wide, “—here.”
A chill passed over Cassie, as though hands made of ice trailed their frozen fingertips down her spine. She kept her eyes on Sabine, but she could see the spirits closing in around her. Men and women of the past had seen the future come and go without them. This knowledge tortured them into a restless sleep. They sensed Cassie could help and inched closer, reaching out as if to touch her shoulder or stroke her face. Whatever Sabine had been doing to keep them back was fading.
“Who are you?” Cassie asked. Had this all been a ruse? She hadn’t realized how crowded the cemetery was until this point. Sabine had taken her to the deepest part of the ocean and snatched away her lifeboat. Now she was drowning. “What do you want?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Cassie saw Jason stiffen at the tone of her voice. He took a step closer, looking between the two women. If he had any idea what transpired between the two of them, there was no indication on his face.
“You’re afraid, Cassie Quinn. You don’t know what you can really do.” Sabine kept her unblinking eyes trained on Cassie’s face. “Today, I will help you. And someday, you may pay me in kind.”
This is how deals with the devil are made, Cassie thought. But she couldn’t resist the promise of answers in Sabine’s voice. “How?”
“I’ve met many people like you. Some of them are afraid of what they can do. They push it down into the deepest part of themselves until they think it’s gone. And then something happens, it comes rushing back, like a nightmare long forgotten. Does that sound familiar?”
Cassie nodded. Swallowed. Found her voice again. “I almost died. I thought that was the reason I could see them.”
“But it wasn’t, was it?”
She shook her head. “I’ve had it all my life. I just didn’t remember.”
“You’ve spent the better part of your life holding yourself back. You’ve pushed your abilities down until they all but disappeared. A brush with death cracked the façade you had created. Now, it’s time to shatter it.”
Cassie could barely breathe. “I’m afraid.”
“I won’t tell you not to be. You know better than most that we should be wary of what stalks us in the dark.” For the first time since they met, Sabine looked older than her years. “But you can’t fight what you can’t see, Cassie. You have to look. Even when you’re afraid. Especially when you’re afraid.”
Cassie tore her gaze away from Sabine’s eyes. She barely knew this woman, but there was a truth in her words that rang bright. Whoever Sabine Delacroix was, she knew more about Cassie than Cassie knew about herself.
When she turned to look at the surrounding spirits, it was like she was seeing them for the first time. Their outlines, once blurred, were now crisp. They were in high definition. She could feel what they wanted. Like a thousand voices talking at once. Her knees buckled, bu
t Jason’s muscular arms were there in an instant.
“Don’t push them away, Cassie.” Sabine took a step closer, and Cassie felt her legs straighten. “Acknowledge them and move on. They don’t have any power over you. You’re so much stronger than they are.”
Cassie couldn’t speak. She wouldn’t know what to say if she tried. The spirits drew closer. Jason looked between the two women with a slack jaw, but Cassie barely noticed him. Barely felt his hands on her shoulders. Through the haze of the graveyard’s ghostly inhabitants, Cassie caught sight of someone who didn’t belong.
On the other side of the invisible veil that kept her world separate from the next, a man stood etched in shadow. He was nothing more than a tall figure with broad shoulders, and yet he felt familiar. She could see the slant of his nose and the curve of his lips, but the truth of him was just out of reach.
Before she could ask him who he was or why he wasn’t like the others, Sabine took a step back. The moment, which had occurred between one breath and the next, was over. The man had disappeared, and Cassie stood there, feeling lost at sea once more.
Sabine took her hand. It was warm and soft. “Our inner demons feed off our fear. They lose their hold over us when we choose to stand and fight. You can either run from all of this”—she gestured around the graveyard with her free hand—“or you can embrace it. The first option hasn’t worked out so well for you. Maybe it’s time to try the second.”
Cassie nodded her head, but she didn’t know what to say. Jason’s voice broke the silence. “Anyone want to fill me in on what just happened?”
“Cassie got a new perspective on life.” There was a smile in Sabine’s voice. “Now it’s up to her to decide how she wants to move forward.”
“There was a man hidden in shadow.” Cassie swallowed. She didn’t want to say his name out loud. It would only make it more difficult later when she proved her theory untrue. “It could’ve been—I thought I might know him. Why did he look like that?”