Angels of Bourbon Street (3 page)

Two months ago, Lailah had asked to step in and be assigned as my guardian angel. The request had been granted, but only with the condition that her fate was tied to mine. When the angel council awarded my soul to the ex-demon Meri, Lailah had felt my soul split right in two as if it had been her own.

“I thought that was temporary,” I said. “I mean, you haven’t felt anything else, right?”

Heat crept up my neck, and I knew I must be blazing red.
Please, Goddess, don’t let her be privy to my private life with Kane.
The intensity of our love life was enough to spontaneously combust on its own. If there was still a link between Lailah and me…I shook my head, dislodging the thought. I didn’t even want to go there.

Lailah’s lips twitched as she fought back a smile. “No. I haven’t. Your love life is safe from me.”

I sucked in a relieved breath.

All the amusement vanished from her face. “But I did feel Camille possess you. That means she’s very dangerous and incredibly powerful.” She pulled out her phone, tapped a few times, and put the phone to her ear. “We need to talk to Bea.”

Again? Every time something went wrong, the first thing we did was call my mentor, the former New Orleans coven leader. You’d think we could at least discuss the issue first.

Lailah scowled and put the phone down. “No answer.”

“She’s at her shop,” I said. Bea owned The Herbal Connection, a supply store specializing in witchcraft.

“I know.” Lailah sent me an irritated glare. “I just came from there.”

My mom moved to sit next to me, and she placed a hand on my knee, a subtle way of keeping me silent. She trained her gaze on Lailah. “Tell us what you experienced.”

The angel dropped her gaze to her hands, visibly contemplating what she wanted to say.

“Spit it out.” Irritation rang in my voice.

“Jade,” Mom warned.

“No, Jade’s right,” Pyper agreed from behind me. “Lailah knows more than she’s letting on.” She stalked to Lailah’s side and gave her an unfriendly smile. “Maybe you’d like to fill us in before things turn ugly.”

A bubble of laughter rose in my throat. Pyper never pulled punches. It was one of the things I loved most about her. But I swallowed the chuckle. There was no sense in pissing off Lailah when she had information we needed. Not to mention we’d finally become friends after a rocky start. She’d tell me, eventually.

Lailah didn’t even acknowledge Pyper’s request. Instead, she stood and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her peasant skirt. “What happened right before the ghost appeared?”

Mom’s hand flew to her throat. “Oh, dear. I’m afraid I must have summoned her by accident.”

“Camille?” Lailah asked.

I nodded.

“Is this the first time you’ve seen her since the party?”

“Yes.”

Lailah held out a hand to me.

I stared at it quizzically and then quirked an eyebrow.

She gave a terse jerk of her head. I suppressed a sigh and took her hand. She yanked me to my feet and pulled me toward the door. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”

She had me halfway to the front door before I managed to grab the stairwell railing and yank my hand out of hers. “I can’t leave now. The caterers are on their way. There’s food to sample and decisions to be made.”

“Jade.” Lailah placed her balled fists on her hips. “It’s too dangerous. The ghost was banished but not to another dimension. She’s strong. She could come back at any time.”

“You know what’s going to be dangerous?” I raised my voice, almost yelling. “If one more person tries to thwart my wedding planning.” Narrowing my eyes, I pinned her with a stare. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to find vendors willing to squeeze us in at this late date and during Mardi Gras? As it is, these people are only accommodating us because their grandparents were friends of Kane’s family. I can’t leave. I won’t.”

Lailah tensed and her nostrils flared. Actually flared. It didn’t take my empath ability to realize just how pissed she was. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, no doubt ready to tell me off. But then her gaze shifted to the stairwell, and her face went white. All the anger that had rushed to her cheeks disappeared in that second.

“What is it?” I whispered, almost afraid to follow her gaze. I turned my head but was pushed from behind as Mom yelled, “Move!”

I pitched forward and slammed into Lailah, who thankfully saw me coming and half caught me in her outstretched hands.

Behind me, Mom chanted a spell in Latin, her power pulsing with enough magic it sparked my own. I tried to turn back to her, but this time Kat caught my other arm, and she and Lailah dragged me out of the gorgeous plantation house.

“Stop! Let go.” I flailed, trying to twist and turn, but neither gave an inch. Once we were outside, I expected them to drop their hold. They didn’t. Instead, they marched me to Kane’s car and shoved me into the passenger seat.

“Hey. Watch it,” I said when my head grazed the top of the doorframe.

“Sorry,” Kat said. “This is for your own good.”

I would’ve stood, but both of them were blocking me in the car. It took all my willpower not to kick either of them in the shins. “What the hell was that?”

“The ghost, Jade,” Kat said, her eyes wide with disbelief. “She was coming back down the stairs, and with every inch, she was getting more and more solid. It’s like you were feeding her energy.”

“That’s exactly what’s happening,” Lailah said, backing off and pacing once more.

Then Pyper ran out of the house. “Lailah, Hope needs you!”

Lailah looked me dead in the eye. “Stay!” She nodded at Kat. “Sit on her if you have to.”

“Will do.” Kat shifted to stand directly in front of me, only moving when Pyper appeared.

“Oh, my God. That was freaky.” Pyper sat on the grass in front of my feet and pulled out her phone.

I snatched it from her. “No one’s calling anyone until I get some answers. What’s going on in there?”

Kat held her hands palms up. “I don’t know. All I’m doing is keeping you away from the ghost.”

Pyper reached for her phone and scowled when I wouldn’t give it back. “Well, I don’t know either. It sounded like Hope was trying to bind her or banish her. I’m not sure. But damn, wasn’t that weird how she almost looked alive? Except her eyes.” Pyper shuddered and gazed at me. “Life with you around is never dull.”

Her phone buzzed and instead of answering it, I turned it off.

“Hey!”

“Whoever it is, you can call them back.”

“What if it was Kane?” Pyper held out her hand as if her question solved everything.

“Again, you can call him back.”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. I was trying to figure out if she was getting angry or if she was amused. It was impossible for me to tell.

“He’s going to be pissed, you know.” This time she smiled. A genuine one. “When he finds out you’re playing with ghosts again.”

“I’m not playing with anyone.” I scowled, wishing I could shove the key in the ignition and drive off, leaving my pain-in-the-ass friends behind. But the caterers were coming. I couldn’t stand them up. “Move, I think they need my help.”

“I don’t think so.” Kat shifted aside, revealing Lailah, Gwen, and my mom moving toward us.

I climbed out of the car and sidestepped Pyper. “What happened? Is she gone?”

Mom and Gwen nodded, but Lailah shook her head.

“Oh, Lailah, no,” Mom said. “Really?”

“I’m afraid so.” Lailah turned to me. “I’m sorry. The ghost is somehow connected to the house. We tried to banish her from the premises, but even though I could feel the spell working, it failed in the end.”

“All right.” I took a calming breath. “I’ve lived with a ghost before. It can’t be that bad.” A tremor ran through me as I remembered the dull, lifeless little girl in my arms. “Other than possession, I mean. Is there a way to guard against that?”

“Sure,” Mom said. “There are spells and wards. We can whip something up.”

Lailah shook her head again. “Not this time, Hope. I hate to say it, but I think Jade and Kane are going to need to find a new wedding venue.”

A new venue? Hell no. This was Kane’s family house. We had to get married there. “Lailah.” I grabbed her arm and shook her slightly. “What aren’t you telling me?”

We all stilled and went silent, waiting for the answer.

“Shit,” Lailah mumbled. “I wanted to talk to Bea first, but this is too serious to wait.”

I stared her down, my arms crossed over my chest.

“It’s your soul,” she said weakly. “The ghost can possess you because Meri has the other half. You’re an easy target.”

My stomach dropped to my feet. I knew the soul-splitting thing would come back to haunt me. I didn’t realize it would be literally. “So you’re saying anytime a ghost is near, it can possess me?” Lovely. What if I got an evil bastard like Roy again? Jesus. Life just kept getting better and better.

“I don’t know about
any
ghost. But this one can. And it’s full possession. That’s what I felt in the car on the way over here.”

I furrowed my brows. “Why is that, do you think?”

Lailah’s shoulders slumped. “It’s the angel directive. I’m still connected to your soul. Because the ghost is trying to use yours, I feel it.”

My chest constricted, and I struggled to suck in a breath. “Are you saying the ghost could steal my soul?”

Her sad eyes met mine. “It’s possible.”

Why did this crap always happen to me?

I slammed my hand down on the roof of the car, barely noticing the pain racing up my forearm. “Goddamned son of a bitch! Can’t a witch catch a break?”

“Fuck me,” Pyper whispered.

“So this is why you can’t stay for the caterers. Or be here at all. We need Bea. She’s our best shot for exorcising the ghost,” Lailah said reasonably.

“But—”

“Pyper and I will stay,” Kat said. “We’ll let them know you had an emergency. We’ll sample everything and bring you the best of the lot to choose from. Would that work?”

“What if the ghost tries to possess someone else? I mean, right now I’m the easy target, but with me gone, she might try one of you.”

Lailah shook her head. “They’re all too strong. She can’t get in. Their souls won’t allow it.”

“Oh.” I furrowed my brow. “What about Meri? Is she in danger too?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, to tell you the truth. She’s an angel, so it might be different for her.”

“We need to call her.”

“I’ll do it,” Mom said.

Pyper stood next to Kat and smirked. “As much as you know I
love
ghosts, I’d be happy to help Kat deal with the caterers. Want us to meet you back in the city in a couple of hours?”

I sighed, wishing none of us had to be there. Pyper had been tortured in another reality by Roy, the evil ghost, some months back. She was dealing with it by helping her boyfriend, Ian, hunt ghosts. Sort of like ripping off a bandage. But this was much more terrifying than anything Ian dealt with.

“What’s the point?” I threw my hands up in defeat. “If we can’t get married here, we might as well start over. And no venue is going to be available at this late date.” I closed my eyes and tried not to cry. This was where Kane’s grandparents had gotten married. It was where he’d always wanted his ceremony. It was what I wanted too. I gazed at the beautiful house, sorrow filling my heart.

Lailah put an arm around my shoulders. “I don’t think there’s reason to lose hope. I’m confident there’s a way to get rid of your house guest before the wedding. Let Pyper and Kat do the initial testing, and you can do the rest of your planning from Kane’s house. Five weeks is a long time to get rid of an unpleasant ghost.”

“I guess.” I let her stuff me into her car, and I handed Kane’s keys to Pyper. “Be careful. If anything strange happens, just get out. Okay?”

“Don’t worry, shortcake,” Mom said with a soft smile. “Gwen and I will be here. We’ll watch over your friends.”

Mom was a powerful witch. If she was strong enough to take on a demon and survive, she was strong enough to take on a ghost. “Thanks, Mom.”

The four of them stood under the moss-filled tree, watching as Lailah and I sped off down the driveway.

I turned to her. “If you ever keep information like that from me again, I’ll curse you into next year.”

She laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”

Chapter 3

Lailah drove through the gate of Bea’s family home in the Garden District and pulled around to the back, where her carriage house sat among the rows of blooming azaleas.

I peered out the window and frowned. “Her curtains are shut.”

Lailah shrugged. “Maybe she was vacuuming naked.”

I sent her a flat stare. “Funny.”

“I thought so.” Lailah smiled, put the car in park, and opened her door.

Slowly, I followed. Besides my half-soul and the danger of being possessed, there was something very wrong. Over the last seven months, I’d never once seen Bea’s house closed up. She loved cheerfulness and sunshine. The inside was even painted yellow, and practically every soft surface was covered with sunflower fabric.

“I don’t think she’s home,” I said, dragging my feet across the cement.

“Her car is here.” Lailah gestured at the gray Prius and then knocked on the door.

I stood at the bottom of the porch. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to move any closer. The whole house seemed to be vibrating with bad juju. My mind tingled as if I could sense its energy, but not quite. I narrowed my eyes, trying to place the sensation.

When no one answered the door, Lailah stepped to the side, trying to peer through the covered windows. What? Did she think she had X-ray vision? Or did she have some weird angel gift I didn’t know about?

Something foreboding grew in my gut, making my stomach churn. It was as if a dark force had crawled into my soul and manifested into an early warning system. “Lailah,” I said, my voice low, but commanding, “step away from the door.”

“I know she’s here, Jade. Give me a minute.”

I pressed my palm to my stomach as the ball of trepidation grew in my core. I squeezed my eyes closed and focused. This wasn’t someone else’s fear. This belonged solely to me. Every instinct was on high alert. And right then, deep in the fiber of my being, I knew danger was lurking in the shadows, just moments from striking.