by J. N. Colon
Jesse sauntered to the ornate drink cart, pouring himself a glass of rum. “I can’t believe how well things are going with Marisol.” He shook his head, the edges of his lips tilting up in a smile. “I didn’t think it would be like this—so easy.”
Ms. Delphine hadn’t said another word, her expression slack.
“You know, I think I’ll—” Jesse’s words sharply cut off, and his body tensed. He glanced over his shoulder, looking directly at me.
My pulse shot through the roof, and I froze. He couldn’t see me, right?
Hell, I had no idea. I didn’t know jack about astral projection. I wasn’t even supposed to leave the attic.
Jesse’s face relaxed, and he spun back around, placing the glass down. “Aunt Delphy, have you heard a word I’ve said?”
Her eyes slowly lifted again. “What, dear?”
He folded down on the couch next to her, putting his hand to her forehead. “You don’t have a fever anymore, but I don’t think that medication is doing any good. You look like a space cadet.”
She blinked. “A what?”
A warm smile curled his lips. “I’m going to call Dr. Thatcher and see if we can get you another appointment.” He stood and disappeared around the corner.
Ms. Delphine didn’t look good. Maybe I should ask Lucas if magic could help.
An invisible punch hit my stomach, and I doubled over. Pain tore through my center. What in the hell?
Ringing exploded through my ears, a high-pitch screech that threatened to bust my eardrums. A metal tinge coated my tongue, and the room spun.
Oh crap. This wasn’t good.
Sickness hit my stomach moments before I was torn away from Ms. Delphine’s house, flying through the air at breakneck speeds. My heart was in my throat as my attic appeared. Before I could hit the brakes, I slammed into my body, the world splintering around me from the jarring hit.
Hell’s bells. It felt as if I’d jumped into a waterless pool. Everything hurt.
My lids snapped open, starbursts erupting in my vision. Pain tore through my insides. “W-What…?” My words were cut off as I tried and failed to breathe.
Lucas appeared next to me, picking me up and cradling me against his chest. “It’s okay. Just breathe slowly.” Slight tremors shook his body.
Coughing racked my lungs, threatening to tear me apart. “It hurts,” I choked. Did I break every bone—even my tiny toe bones?
“I know,” Lucas whispered. “I’m so sorry. I should have kept a tighter hold on you. It’s my fault.”
I rapidly blinked, clearing the bright pops from my eyesight. Lucas’s face was close, agony twisting his features.
Guilt fisted in my gut, momentarily drowning out the throbbing. Great. He was blaming himself for my stupidity. I shook my head—or at least I tried. “My fault,” I muttered. “I should have listened to you.”
“Don’t ever scare me like that again, Angel.” His nostrils flared, and every word he spoke trembled. “You could have gotten seriously injured.”
I wanted to shy away from his pained expression, but I had nowhere to go. “S-Sorry.” I swallowed the anguish back down. Me and my freaky powers. I couldn’t even astral project without overdoing it. “I’m okay.”
Lucas knew that was a big fat lie.
His lids squeezed shut, closing off those eyes that held so much more emotion than I realized. He was really worried about me. How bad could it have been?
He pulled me closer until I was pressed against him, my face nuzzled in his neck. His fingers drifted up and down my spine, and soft words flowed from his lips. It was comforting and confusing all at the same time.
I shouldn’t let him hold me like this. I should push him away, but the pain was slowly ebbing, and I didn’t want it to come back. I didn’t want to let go.
It was a spell. That had to be it. He was casting a spell to make me better.
A slow burn seeped through my toujou.
Oh crap. Etie’s coming.
He must have felt something through the bond. If he saw Lucas holding me like this—no matter the reason—he would flip his voodoo shit on Lucas.
“Etie,” I mumbled, trying to warn him. “Coming…”
Pounding footsteps echoed on the stairs, and Lucas stiffened. He quickly eased me down, his hand cradling my head until it rested on the floor.
The door burst open, and a familiar presence swallowed up the room. “What happened?” Etie’s growl reverberated against the walls. He kneeled next to me, his warm fingers skimming over my cheeks. “Angeline, what’s wrong?” His voice had softened to a sweet whisper.
“I’m okay.” Or at least I tried to say that.
“If you don’t start giving me answers, brujo, I’m going to torture them out of you.” Darkness wove through Etie, sending chills over my spine.
“She did a little too much for her first astral projection,” Lucas finally answered. “She didn’t have control of her traveling and crashed back into her body.”
If Etie’s glare were any more threatening, Lucas would drop dead.
“It’s not his fault,” I rasped. “I was supposed to stay in the attic.”
Those mismatched eyes landed on me again, making my pulse quicken. A grimace tightened his lips. “You do have a problem with instructions.”
“Funny.” I attempted to sit up, but Etie wasn’t having it.
Instead, his arms wrapped around me, and he held me against his chest. “I was working at the Leroux house, and I felt this terrible pain.” He shook his head. “I knew something happened to you even before my toujou burned.”
My chest tightened. “I’m sorry.”
Etie’s lips brushed my forehead. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
I swallowed hard as my gaze shifted to Lucas. He was holding me like this just a few moments ago. A shadow had crossed his face, darkening his features and masking something in his eyes. This was the first time I’d seen any kind of coldness. It was subzero and bitter. And it was all directed at Etie.
Chapter 16
I glanced over my shoulder again. No one was in the aisle with me, but that skin-crawling sensation remained. All day it felt as if someone was watching me. Baron Samedi or one of his spirits could be lurking in the shadows.
Why was the voodoo king so set on having my soul? In the very back of my mind, something had occurred to me several times. It was a theory I tried to ignore. What if the baron wanted me because I was a conduit?
“There you are.” Lana snapped me out of my dark thoughts. “What do you think of these?” She held two bags of broken colored glass in each hand. “I was thinking of making some decorative mirrors or frames.”
I favored the blue and green combination in her left hand for obvious reasons. “Want to make me something with those?”
A smile tilted her lips. “Sure. You can put a picture of your hot and spicy Cajun man in it.”
I snorted on a laugh. “You sound like Riley.”
“That redheaded stepchild does have the ability to rub off on me.” She jerked her chin toward the end of the aisle. “Let’s go find some grout.”
Kiki’s Krafts had a surprisingly wide selection of arts and crafts. The owners were two hipster sisters, Kaitlyn and Karissa, who moved here a few years ago from their hectic lives in New York. They decided to retreat to a quiet life, and our town happened to be the spot they found on a map.
I wasn’t sure how quiet Carrefour was these days. A dark voodoo deity was haunting it, and a conduit had recently gotten her powers, causing all kinds of havoc.
“How are things with Mr. Tall Dark and Sexy?” Lana flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder, blue strands mixing with black.
“Good.” Etie and I had spent the rest of the day together after the astral projection debacle. My barriers had remained in place while using a good amount of magic during the spell. I just shouldn’t have left the attic. I wouldn’t have slammed back into my body with the force of a freight train.
&
nbsp; And Lucas wouldn’t have felt the need to hold me afterward.
“Why do you look so confused all the sudden?” Lana asked as we turned down another aisle.
“No reason.” My voice was an octave higher.
She pulled me to a stop. “No way. Dish, Angel.”
I chewed on my bottom lip and stared at the top of my bright blue flip flops. “It’s just—there was this thing with Lucas.”
Her mouth dropped. “You guys kissed.”
“Of course not.” My cheeks heated as I pictured Lucas staring at my lips after we escaped the rain. My stomach clenched. Maybe there had been a few moments, not just the one.
“Then what?” She shifted anxiously on her feet.
“We were hanging out and…” He held me after I hurt myself doing a spell! Obviously, I couldn’t tell her we were practicing magic. “I don’t know, we got close I guess.” He’d caressed me. And shot Etie one hell of a dark glare afterward.
She blinked, shaking her head as if confused. “You want to elaborate? Close physically or close mentally?”
I swallowed. “Both.”
“Okay…” Lana drew the word out as she mulled over my confession. She ticked her head for us to keep moving. “Do you like him?”
“No!” My quick, forceful denial turned her expression skeptical. “Not like that. Lucas is just a friend. Etie is the only person I feel, you know, that with.” I resisted the urge to touch my tattoo. I couldn’t even begin to explain how I felt about Etie. Words weren’t enough.
Lana grabbed a couple bags of black and gray grout, handing them to me. “You better be careful.”
My brow puckered, glancing at the grout. “Why?” Was this stuff toxic?
“Because Lucas has it bad for you.”
I nearly choked on my own spit. “What do you mean?” Sure, there had been some long, lingering looks and a few other questionable things, but he didn’t really have feelings for me. He couldn’t.
“You can’t be serious, Angel.” Lana sighed and dropped her bags of glass on the counter to check out. “He’s into you. It’s so obvious.”
“Be with you in a minute, girls,” Kaitlyn called from the back.
“Take your time,” Lana said, more focused on our conversation than getting out of the store. “I’m trying to educate Angel on the subject of boys.”
I rolled my eyes. “Really?”
“Really.” She grabbed the grout from me. “At Melissa’s party, Lucas couldn’t keep his eyes off you. And he wanted to be the one getting hot with you on the dance floor instead of Etie.”
“Oh my god.” I twisted my hair up and fanned my neck, finding it suddenly scorching in the cramped shop. “You’re exaggerating.”
One dark brow arched. “Am I?”
After Kaitlyn rang us up, we stepped outside into the humid summer afternoon. Taking a dip in the pool would be nice. I’d been so busy recently, I hadn’t had a chance to relax much.
“Even if you don’t believe me, I’m sure Etie has noticed.” Lana swung one of the bags onto her shoulder while I carried the other. “What does he think of this hot twenty-year-old male staying at your house?”
I grimaced. “He’d like to pummel the guy.” Or use some dark voodoo on him at least.
“See.” She shot me a smirk. “Etie can sense Lucas wants to steal you away.”
I stepped over a crack in the sidewalk, never on one. “Um, no. Etie is just jealous and overly protective.” If she only knew the half of it.
“Oh no. Don’t look now.” Lana yanked my arm, but the woman waddling our way had already made eye contact.
I cursed. “What does Ms. Unrue want?”
Her frizzy orange hair shook as she came to an abrupt halt in front of us. “Hello, girls.” She rocked back on her heels, an excited gleam to her squinty eyes.
“Hi, Ms. Unrue,” Lana said politely. “How’s Chauncey? I heard he got into some trouble with a rose garden.”
Her pug couldn’t keep his nose out of danger. If my mom offered MVP cards at her animal clinic, Ms. Unrue would be at the top of the list.
“Oh that dummy.” She waved her chubby hand in the air. “He’s fine. He’s sleeping it off right in the middle of my bed.”
Lana and I traded glances. We both knew that dog was the only thing she cared about despite her flippant tone.
“How have you been, Angel?” A knowing smile curled her lips, distorting the freckles on her ruddy cheeks. “There’s been some excitement in your life recently.”
And here we go.
“What do you mean, Ms. Unrue?” A long sigh drifted from my mouth.
She clucked her teeth and leaned forward. “Don’t play coy. I know you’re close with them Benoits now. I never expected someone like you to—well, you know—but here we are.” She shrugged.
I fanned my face with my free hand. “What exactly do you want to know?” It was too hot to beat around the bush. She was going to make up a story if she didn’t get one anyway.
Her lips split into a toothy grin. “What’s Henri Benoit doing here? Is he back with Gabrielle? Is he staying for good?”
Lana’s eyes were on me. Ms. Unrue wasn’t the only one who wanted to know the deal with the terrifying voodoo man.
“I don’t know what he’s doing here.” It was the truth. He’d come because Etie asked for his help, but why he was staying was a total mystery.
Ms. Unrue’s smile dropped. “Come on, Angel. You’ve got to know something more than that.” She looked like Garfield pouting after someone stole his lasagna.
“He’s not back with Gabrielle,” I admitted.
One of her fluffy brows rose. “Oh? Did something happen?”
I hoped Etie wasn’t too upset I let this one slip. “When he showed up at her house, she threatened to feed him to the gators in the swamp.”
She gave a dramatic gasp. “Good for her. He’s a no-good, deadbeat drunk.”
I hadn’t seen Henri with a lick of alcohol, and I’d never smelled it on him. Maybe he’d quit or maybe he was just that good at covering it up.
“We’ve really got to be going, Ms. Unrue.” Lana’s slender fingers wrapped around my wrists, and she started dragging me away.
Disappointment seeped over the older woman’s face. “Oh, but wait. What else can you tell me?”
She was just as addicted to gossip as I was to Etie.
“Sorry, that’s all,” I called over my shoulder, fighting back a grin. “Thanks,” I said to Lana. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever get away from her.”
“Once she sinks those claws into you, she never wants to let go.” She gave me a sideways glance, hesitantly chewing on her bottom lip. “You really don’t know why Henri Benoit is back in town?”
I shook my head. “I really wish I did though.”
I nervously paced outside of Lucas’s room, chewing my bottom lip. I’d been thinking about what Lana had said for the last few hours. The look Lucas gave Etie behind his back yesterday was beginning to haunt me. It hadn’t been friendly. That was for sure.
Lucas couldn’t seriously have feelings for me. Sure, we’d spent a lot of time together, but we just met!
Then again, it didn’t take me long to start drooling over the Cajun Casanova.
A groan sounded through my mind, and I halted. If I confronted Lucas and he didn’t feel romantic toward me, I was going to die of embarrassment. If he did like me that way—
His bedroom door suddenly opened, cutting off my troubling thoughts. Actually, all thought and reason had vanished. I could only helplessly stare at the sight before me. Lucas had just gotten out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. Nothing else covered him.
Glenda the good witch all mighty.
I swallowed hard, every drop of moisture gone from my mouth. Water droplets ran down his carved chest, traveling over the slopes of his abs and disappearing into the light smattering of hair below his bellybutton. I’d guessed at what was hidden beneath his clothes, but seeing it was a tota
lly different story.
Thunderstruck. That was me right about now.
Lucas cleared his throat. “Um, Angel? Are you okay?”
Now, instead of thunderstruck, I was mortified. Blood flooded my cheeks as I pulled my eyes away from his glistening chest, my heart frantic. “I-uh-what?”
He blinked. “I asked if you were okay. The lights in my room started flickering like crazy, so I thought something was wrong. I was coming to check on you.”
Oh crap. I hadn’t even realized my barriers had crumbled to nothing. I shook my head and took a deep breath, the air filled with his spicy aftershave. “Fine. I’m fine.” Could I sound more like a robot? I cleared my throat. “I was just…” Chickening out. I was a big fat chicken and couldn’t find the courage to confront Lucas about his feelings.
How could I when he was standing there in nothing but a towel looking like he stepped out of a romance novel! Just add a shirtless Etie and me in the middle and it could be one of those raunchy ménage stories.
Oh my god. I did not just think that.
My face was fifty shades of red and hotter than the inside of an active volcano.
A nervous giggle slipped out. “Just walking to my room.” Someone please slap me. “I forgot to keep my barriers up.”
His chocolate eyes lingered on me, spreading more warmth over my skin. He quickly looked away. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the spell yesterday. Mind if I get dressed and meet you in your room?”
“Sure. No problem.” I spun around and darted down the hall.
I collapsed on my bed, clamping my eyes tight to shut out the images of a nearly naked Lucas trying to invade my mind. There was no way in hell I could ask him if he had a thing for me, not after ogling him.
A knock resonated on my doorjamb and a sandy-brown head poked through. “Can I come in?”
I bolted up in a sitting position, swallowing my nerves. “Of course.” My voice came out as a squeak.
Lucas closed the distance between us and slowly lowered onto the edge of the bed. “I just wanted to apologize.” He cleared his throat, his gaze on his feet. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”