Angels of Bourbon Street (25 page)

Waving a hand at the front door, I glanced at Bea. “Is Kat safe out there?”

Bea frowned with disapproval. “I know you’ve had a terrible day and you don’t trust Ian, but he’s still my nephew. He won’t hurt Kat. If I thought for a moment—”

I held up a hand to cut her off. “That’s not what I meant.” Even though I felt utterly violated, in reality, Ian hadn’t done anything wrong. Camille had come on to him. The only thing he was guilty of was trying to have sex with an engaged woman, one who had seemed more than willing. Last I checked, that wasn’t against the law. In my heart of hearts, I knew he’d never intentionally hurt any one of us…not that way. Cheating on his girlfriend was an entirely different matter. “I was referring to Kat being possessed. How likely is it Camille will strike again?”

“Oh.” Bea sank down onto her couch. “Sorry, dear. It’s been a trying day for everyone.”

I nodded my agreement.

“Not likely at all since she’s here. The wards in and around the house can protect both Kat and Pyper.”

“What about the ghosts I saw on your porch the other day? Could they hurt her?” My heart started to hammer, and I moved closer to the door.

Bea shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so. I strengthened the wards around the house, and she’s been spending time outside all afternoon. It hasn’t been an issue.”

“Strong enough to protect me?” If I could stay at Bea’s, at least Meri could get a break if she needed to do anything besides babysit me.

“From what I’ve heard, your possession is much more complete. Now that she’s so familiar with your body, I doubt it,” Bea said with no small amount of frustration. “We really need to find your father. Until we do, you and everyone you’ve shared energy with are at risk.”

Kane stilled beside me. “Everyone? Even complete strangers Jade may have nudged a little emotional energy to in passing?”

My body went completely cold. It wasn’t as if I’d been in the habit of passing out my emotional energy, but I’d done it more than a few times when needed: to help a neighbor recover after she’d been assaulted, to ease the suffering of a friend in college after a horrific break-up, to calm a baby who was crying on a plane. Oh, Goddess. The baby.

My stomach churned, and I almost gagged. “We have to do something about this. Now. Too many people are at risk.”

“Agreed,” Bea said. “We have to find your father. It’s the only way.”

“Mom hasn’t exactly been forthcoming in that department.”

Something banged against the front door, making it rattle. We all turned to stare at it.

“Kat!” I cried, sick all the way to my bones. Something was wrong.

Gwen, who was the closest to the door, flung it open.

“What the fuck?” Pyper cried, her face turning a dark shade of crimson.

I gaped. Standing in the threshold were Ian and Kat wrapped in an embrace, making out like two teenagers at prom.

Chapter 23

“Ian!” Bea stood a few feet from them on her porch.

He ignored her, burying his hands in Kat’s red curls. His eyes were glazed as if he wasn’t even seeing her. The vision tugged at the recesses of my mind. I hadn’t registered it at the time, but I’d seen that exact same detached expression earlier that day.

“Holy shit,” I said, clutching Kane’s arm. Blood rushed to my head. “That’s not Ian.” The man I knew was easygoing, playful, engaged. Intense, even. But never detached.

“What are you talking about? Of course it is.” Kane scowled, his muscles flexing as he shot past me to go out the door.

“No!” Without thinking, I followed him and grabbed his arm before he pummeled Ian for the second time in twenty-four hours. “I mean, something’s seriously wrong. Ian is being controlled somehow.” He had to be. Why else would he be trying to make out with every female within a ten-mile radius?

Kat, oblivious to the crowd, gasped out in that all-too-familiar high, tinkling voice, “Ian, take me home.”

“Oh, my God!” I ran forward, pushing my hands between the pair to break them apart. Kat had spoken in Camille’s voice. I’d know it anywhere.

Kat stumbled back and then grinned at me, her face contorted with a shameless glee. “It’s you again.” Camille used Kat’s body to slink toward me. “I knew if I could find a way into this one, you’d come running.” She reached out Kat’s slender arm and ran her red-tipped fingernail down my cheek.

I backed up, only to realize I was moving further away from the door, from the inside of the house where Meri was upstairs. Shit! I’d done it again.

“Meri!” I cried, frantic and pissed off at my own hasty stupidity.

I glanced at Bea hovering in the doorway. She’d said Kat was safe here. She’d been wrong. Either Camille was much more powerful than we’d given her credit for, or Bea’s wards weren’t as strong as she thought. The difference had to be Camille. Bea’s wards had never failed before.

“That’s right, witchy girl. Sex magic,” Camille said with a sly smile. “Today’s events left me hopped up with no release. If tall, dark, and jealous over there hadn’t interrupted, I’d already be out of your life. Instead, I’m forced to hang around and wait.”

Out of my life? What did that mean? Was she just after an orgasm? Bile rose in my throat.

“Tell you what. I’ll let you choose which one this time.” She waved at Ian. “Eager Beaver over here,” she said and then turned to Kane, “or Mr. Sexy Pants.” Kat’s eyes filled with lust as she gazed at Kane. “Umm, I sure do hope you choose that one. I’m really up for the challenge.”

I glanced at Kane. His eyes were a stormy mix of rage and helplessness. His natural inclination to fight for me was totally useless. There was nothing he could do. Camille used Kat to head in my direction.

My magic sparked just as Camille seized my body. Her icy signature slithered through me. My magic sprang to life and heat shot through my veins to hold her off. Cold against heat slammed together, raging a war as she tried to possess me, and I used all my strength to keep her at bay. Her frustration washed over me, prickling my skin the way it used to when I’d been in possession of my empath gift. It felt irritatingly familiar and served only to make me angrier. I did not want to know what this ghost was feeling, especially not the residual lust that was streaming off her in waves.

My magic pulsed just beneath my heart, the pressure straining to release from the center of my chest. I grabbed on to it, holding it in my mind, and then sent it rushing into her like a full-out mystical punch.

Camille only laughed and absorbed the magic as her essence slipped into my body and strummed with the power I’d just given her.

How could I be so
stupid?
I should’ve known as soon as I felt her emotions that she’d already taken hold of me. How else would I feel them?

Bea chanted softly in Latin, power sparking in electric currents from her hands. Camille turned to stare at her, curiosity and wonder pressing on my mind. And something else that felt suspiciously like respect.

Without warning, Bea’s magic hit us like a jolt of lightning. My body spasmed, and someone screamed, but it wasn’t Camille. Kat, maybe. Bea’s electrode-like magic sizzled through my limbs, heading straight for my chest, slamming into my magical source. I sucked in a gasp as the pain reverberated through me. Holy beeswax! What had Bea done? Once again, I was stuck in panic mode without any way to react. Goddammit, I was getting tired of this. Had Bea just tried to render my magic useless?

Camille didn’t attempt to fight whatever Bea had done. Instead, she welcomed Bea’s magic, using my—no,
her
own magic to probe and test the sparks as they crept closer to my center. Then I felt Camille grin. Bea’s magic stalled, and Camille’s took over, wielding it into something dark, erotic, and twisted. She spun and tossed the magic, hitting Ian square in the chest.

His one good eye went round with shock then narrowed as he scanned my body from head to toe. “I liked the skirt you wore earlier.” His tone was low and gravelly, as if he wanted to ravish me right there.

Kane growled, ready to tear his head off, and tried to jump in front of me, but Bea held him back.

“No, Kane,” she said. “Camille’s magic is too strong. Touch her, and she’ll claim you too if she wants.”

I screamed inside my mind at the moment of sudden clarity. Camille was well versed in sex magic. She’d been controlling Ian all along. And Bea had just figured it out.

“Come.” Camille beckoned to Ian with my finger and walked off the porch. He fell in step beside us and placed one firm hand on my ass. I longed to punch him in the nuts, even though I knew it wasn’t really him.

“Get off her, you fucking tool!” Kane bellowed and jumped over the railing of the porch. In two strides he was on us, throwing his arm around Ian’s neck, holding him in a headlock.

Camille cried out in rage, “Let him go, dreamwalker, or my magic will be burning a hole in
your
heart instead of the ghost hunter’s.”

What?
Was she slowly killing Ian? Shitballs. This ghost was eight different kinds of crazy. What had happened to her in life to mess her up so badly? And Ian. Oh, God. Kane was going to kill him, and none of this was his fault. His haunted face swam in my mind. He’d been used just as I had.

Kane ignored Camille as he dragged Ian back toward the house.

Everyone else eyed me warily. What the hell? Were the rest of them going to let Camille walk off with my body? Couldn’t someone try to block her way or something?

Out of nowhere, a battle cry came from behind me. Someone jumped on my back, knocking me forward. Pain exploded in my knees as my limbs came to life, my nerve endings overly sensitive and raw. I sprawled, and gravel cut into my arms and face. Camille had vanished from my body.

“Hey, get off,” I muttered into the rocks, squeezing my eyes against the pain.

My attacker rolled off and peered down at me. “Is she gone?”

I stared up into Meri’s worried face. “Did you have to tackle me?” I moved my jaw around, testing to be sure everything still worked correctly.

“Sorry. I panicked.” She smiled. “Worked, though. She had a really tight hold on you. I expected her to vanish when I stepped onto the porch. When she didn’t, I wasn’t sure what else to do.”

I rolled over and pushed myself up onto my knees. Across the driveway, Ian was still struggling to get out of Kane’s hold. I sighed. “Bea, is he still spelled?”

She glanced at Ian, held out her hand, and sent a jolt of magic in his direction. The white light hit Ian in the chest. His body went limp in Kane’s arms, then he took a deep breath and glanced around, clearly unaware of what had just happened.

“Hey, let go, man,” he said to Kane, grimacing in pain.

Kane met my eyes, and I nodded. “Camille’s gone. It’s all right now.”

Pyper stalked toward Ian, placed a possessive hand on his chest, and announced, “Mine.”

“Maybe not quite gone,” Meri said, eyeing Pyper. “I think she jumped bodies.”

Bea’s face contorted into a snarl, something I’d never before seen from the normally pleasant southern woman. Wind picked up behind her, seeming to come from the house. Pyper went rigid, but her wild eyes bored into Bea’s. Somehow Bea was holding her in place.

“Whoa,” Kat said, moving toward me.

“Get inside,” Bea commanded us. Everyone moved except Ian. He stood frozen, staring at his aunt and Pyper. “Ian, move,” Bea yelled.

Bea’s direct demand propelled him into motion, but he kept his eyes glued to Pyper as he climbed the stairs.

Once we were all safely inside the house, we watched from the open doorway as Bea’s magic spun around her, white sparks shooting off her like fireworks. “Camille, get your bony ass out of Pyper’s body, or I swear to all that’s good in this world, I’ll send you to hell right now, consequences be damned.”

Pyper’s lips moved, and Camille’s high voice flowed from her, making me want to crawl out of my skin. “You wouldn’t dare open a portal here.”

“Don’t test me.”

“I’ll take pieces of her soul with me.” Camille lit up Pyper’s face with a cocky grin. “That will make the rest of her damned. You know that.”

Bea’s magical sparks turned blood red as she narrowed her eyes at the ghost. “I’m willing to risk it.” Her tone was so frighteningly steady, I believed her. Bea was downright scary in this state. Gone was the sweet southern lady, replaced by a magic-wielding warrior, willing to do whatever it took to take down the evil spirit…including risk Pyper’s life. Had Camille become that much more dangerous?

Camille’s cocky smile wavered, and then she took off running toward the street.

Bea swore under her breath, raised her arms and shouted, “
Risisto
!”

Pyper’s body froze in place, one foot in front of the other, her arms stuck in a pumping motion.

Bea glanced at us. “Do not move.”

No one said a word as Bea took off down the stairs to retrieve Pyper. The instant Bea touched her, Pyper crumpled, but Bea’s arms wrapped around her tiny body, saving her from collapsing in the gravel.

“At least someone is thoughtful,” I said to Meri. “Those rocks hurt.” I ran a hand over my cheek, inspecting the damage once more.

“Get a grip. I saved your ass. Why the hell were you outside…again?”

I turned away from her accusing eyes. “Kane was moments from killing Ian, and Camille was possessing Kat. I tried to help.”

“Way to jump in without thinking, as usual.”

I turned and strode into the kitchen where Kane was gathering ice into a compress. I raised an eyebrow. “Who’s that for?”

He held it up to my face. “You. You’re going to have quite the color there tomorrow.”

Perfect. Not only was I mentally battered, I was going to have a black eye, too.

Bea helped a white-faced Pyper back into the house. The moment they stepped through the door, Ian whisked her into his arms and gently placed her on the couch. “Pyper, are you all right?”

She ran a trembling hand over her forehead. “I think so.” Her voice was low and shaky.

Mom stood at the base of the stairs, her hand at her throat. Meri joined her and bent her head in confidence.

I ignored them and headed for the kitchen to grab some fresh orange juice. Kane, on the other hand, stepped in front of Ian, forcing him away from Pyper.