Charmed Ever After (The Halloween LaVeau Series Book 6) (14 page)

“We really have no other choice,” I said.

She stared at me for moment, and then said, “Like I told you, if this ends badly, it’s all your fault.”

“Way to be supportive, Mother,” I said.

“I just don’t like the risk of having him around,” she said.

“I know what you mean, but I’m following my instincts here.”

She had to give me more credit. Just because I wasn’t the leader didn’t mean I couldn’t do this.

“I guess we’ll go tell him the good news,” she said. “He’d better not try anything though or I’ll let him have it. I’ve had just about enough of the shenanigans in this town.”

“You think he’s cute, don’t you?” I asked.

She turned away so I couldn’t see her smile.

The next morning, I woke up with a plan for Ben. Of course, I hadn’t slept much that night. There was too much to worry about. As soon as my mother was awake, I escorted her into the living room where we found Ben still asleep on the sofa. We stood at the edge of the room, staring at him, like he was some sort of art exhibit.

“Should we wake him?” she whispered.

“I suppose that would be kind of rude,” I said. “But I do want to get on with this plan.”

Just then, he shifted on the sofa and opened his eyes. He stared blankly at us. This was awkward. He leaned up and pulled the cover up close to his chest, as if we were going to attack him. He did act antsy most of the time.

“Sorry if we woke you. It’s just that I have a plan for you to see the new leader of the Underworld,” I said.

“You have a plan?” he asked with nervousness in his voice.

“We’re going to use FaceTime on my iPhone that way I can see her reaction to you and make sure you don’t get in trouble. You’ll just walk right up to the door and then you can see her when she answers.”

“What if she doesn’t answer?” he asked.

“Don’t make this plan any harder than it has to be, Ben,” I said.

He shrugged. “Just trying to think of all the scenarios. By the way, what’s FaceTime?”

“It’s a video phone thing you will use to record what you’re saying. You can use my phone and call my mother’s. As long as you’re dialed in to my mom and point the screen in Monique’s direction, then I can see what’s going on when you talk with her.”

“Sounds very science fiction,” he said.

“I suppose you could say that. Now come on and get up. Let’s get you ready.”

It took a lot longer than I anticipated to show Ben how to work the iPhone. We parked in our usual spot. Ben got out and we instructed him on exactly what to do.

“I just hope that I don’t mess this up,” he said.

“You’ll do fine,” I said.

He started walking toward LaVeau Manor. It felt like I was sending my child off to kindergarten for the first day. My stomach twisted and my nerves were on edge. At least he had the phone on and I could see each step he took. He was also holding the phone in correct position too. That way I could see what he saw. He had to hide it though, so that Monique wouldn’t notice what we were doing.

The trees swayed wildly again. Maybe they knew what we were up to. It felt as if someone was watching us. The presence was behind me this time. I looked over my shoulder fully expecting someone to be back there. Luckily, no one was there. What about the woman at the graveyard? I wondered what had happened to her. Ben made his way down the pebble driveway. With each step my anxiety increased. I figured he was anxious too. I had no idea what to expect and if this would even work. I was about to find out though.

Finally, Ben reached the door and rang the bell. Every time I saw the manor my stomach turned. I missed it so much and to know that I would never get it back was heartbreaking. I supposed I’d have to learn to deal with it. Life was full of heartache and you just had to move on from it. I would create new dreams and happy memories for myself.

After a minute, Monique finally opened the door. I hated even looking at her after what she had done to me.

I hadn’t expected the expression on her face though. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth. “What are you doing here?”

Ben hadn’t even responded when she reached out and grabbed him. She pulled him inside and that was when the phone went dead. We had lost the connection. My mother and I exchanged a look.

“It seemed as if she knew him,” I said.

“That’s exactly what I thought,” my mother said. “But he acted like he didn’t know her. How is that possible?”

“Well, he doesn’t remember anything. Maybe he had a big connection to her in the past.”

“Now what do we do?” my mother asked.

“I don’t know of a way to get him back,” I said.

“What is she doing to him? This is terrible.”

My mother liked Ben more than she was willing to admit.

“Maybe I need to go in and save him,” I said.

My mother grabbed my arm. “It’s too dangerous. We don’t know what she’ll do or what she’s capable of.”

“That’s exactly why I have to go in and save him.”

“But it might be too late for him,” my mother said with sadness in her voice.

“There’s only one way to find that out,” I said.

“There has to be another way.” My mother tapped her fingers against the steering wheel.

“We’ll just walk a little closer and see if we spot him.” I opened the car door.

“Not too far though.” My mother opened her door too.

We had just stepped out of the car when a noise came from behind us.

“Psst. Psst.”

I spun around, thinking that maybe it was some kind of dangerous animal. It was Ben.

“Ben, what are you doing here?” My mother ran over to him.

He grabbed her arm. “Quick, get in the car, I think she’s coming after me.”

We ran as fast as we could back to the car and jumped in. I locked the door and my mother started the ignition. Ben was in the back seat, looking out the rear-view mirror. My mother punched the gas and sped off.

I turned around and looked at him. “What happened?”

“It was terrible.” He leaned back against the seat.

So far it looked as if she wasn’t coming after us, but she was definitely on to me now.

“What did she do?” I asked.

“She pulled me inside of the manor. She acted as if she knew me, but I’ve never seen her before.”

“Did she realize you had the phone?”

“Yes, she kept it,” he said. “Sorry.”

My stomach twisted even more. My phone had a lot of things on there that I wouldn’t want her to know, like the fact that Nicolas had texted me about the trunk. Plus, I’d had conversations with Annabelle about the trunk and my plans for getting the spellbook back.

“We have to find out more about you, Ben,” I said.

“How do we do that?” he asked from the backseat.

“You said you were from New Orleans. Maybe we should go there.” My mother looked in the rear-view mirror.

“It’s a big place. How will we ever track down any information?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s about the only thing we can do right now.”

“I can’t argue with that,” I said.

“So to the French Quarter.” My mother pushed the pedal.

“Ben, let me know if anything looks familiar,” I said.

He nodded. “Will do. So far nothing does.”

We drove the hour-long drive to New Orleans. For the entire trip Ben would get our hopes up, thinking maybe he remembered something or that something looked familiar, then he would dash our hopes by saying it was a false alarm. When we reached the French Quarter I glanced back at him, but he shook his head that nothing was familiar.

“It’s okay, we’ll just look around,” I said.

“Don’t push him too hard.” My mother winked at Ben.

A huge smile spread across his face and then he blushed. It looked as if a romance was starting between my mother and Ben. I hoped I didn’t put too much pressure on him.

We drove up and down the streets of the French Quarter, passing the restaurants and other sightseeing places. I was losing hope that he would remember anything. Surely he would remember something if this was where he was from. Maybe he was wrong about that.

“Where should I go next?” my mother asked.

I was kind of running out of ideas. We were getting hungry, so maybe we could grab a quick snack.

“How about beignets?” I asked.

“That sounds perfect,” my mother said.

“Now those I remember,” Ben said.

We stopped at Café Mondo for beignets. I thought sitting outside at the little café table might help something come back to Ben. He seemed unconcerned though and was more focused on the sugary confection. Perhaps it was time to call this trip off and go back home. But when I mentioned it, Ben insisted on staying just a little while longer.

We climbed back in the car and made another trip around the block.

That was when Ben yelled out, “Wait.”

My mother punched the brake. It was a good thing we were at a light and there were no cars close behind us.

“What is it, Ben?” I asked.

“See that hotel right there?” He pointed. “I recognize that place.”

I gestured toward the sidewalk. “Over there, Mom.”

“We need to go in,” he said.

“Are you sure you recognize it?” I asked.

Ben nodded. “Yes, I’m positive.”

“All right, we’ll go in,” I said.

My mother parked the car next to the curb and we all got out. I peered up at the large façade. It was made of brick and stone. Beautiful intricate balconies ran across the windows.

“This place is gorgeous,” I said, taking in the scenery. I just hoped that Ben could remember where he knew this place from. “Have you stayed here before, Ben?”

He ran his hand through his hair and stared up at the place. “I’m just not sure. I do know I’ve been here before though.”

“I suppose that’s a start. We should go inside and see if there’s anything else you recognize.”

Ben held out his arm for my mother. He escorted her up the sidewalk. They followed me as I moved through the revolving door into the lobby. It was just as detailed, with intricate moldings and gold accents. The room was full of beautiful ornate furniture. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling in the middle of the lobby.

“I think I’ve seen that light before. It must have some special meaning,” he said.

I wasn’t sure what special meaning a chandelier could have, but he seemed confident. The woman working behind the front counter was busy, so we decided to just look around a little while we waited to talk with her. We stepped over to the back windows and looked out onto the courtyard. A large fountain surrounded by magnolia trees and moss-covered oaks filled the space. Small iron benches sat there for guests.

“This is lovely,” my mother said.

“Not as lovely as you,” Ben said.

My mother blushed this time.

“It is gorgeous. Ben, do you recognize anything?” I asked.

“So far nothing other than the light,” he said.

That was odd to say the least. We moved back into the lobby and were standing by the wall when the employee and I made eye contact. She walked over. As soon as she grew near, her eyes widened and she let out a scream. She’d been looking directly at Ben. She hurried away without saying a word. That was the same reaction Monique had had when she’d seen Ben.

“What’s wrong with her? She looks like she saw a ghost,” my mother said.

“She must have recognized Ben.” I looked over my shoulder and noticed a huge portrait behind us. That had to have been what she’d seen. I motioned for my mother and Ben to check it out. My mother gasped too. Ben stared at the portrait without saying a word.

Finally, he looked at me and said, “That’s me.”

No wonder the woman had been shocked. It looked like the type of painting that a place would have when someone had passed away, not to mention the vintage clothing he was wearing in the portrait.

“Listen, I think if we tell her the truth she’ll really freak out. Let’s just pretend that it’s an uncanny resemblance. Then maybe we can ask her questions about that portrait.”

Ben and my mother nodded in agreement. The employee was still staring at us as if she might pass out or run away, I wasn’t sure which. I hoped neither was an option. I had to know more about Ben.

We eased over to the counter. The employee didn’t take her eyes off Ben the entire time. Her body shook.

“I’m sorry, but did we scare you?” I asked.

She mumbled something, but I didn’t understand her.

Again, I asked her, “Did we scare you?”

She raised her arm and pointed at Ben. “He’s the man who owned this hotel.”

“Wow, I’m rich?” Ben said.

“This is fantastic news,” my mother added.

I cast Ben and my mother a look and they stopped talking.

“What do you mean? He doesn’t own this place,” I said, trying to sound amused.

“I don’t know how it’s possible. When I saw him I thought he was a ghost,” she said. “The man who owned this place died years and years ago.”

If Ben died years ago, then how did the new leader know him? Had she died years ago too?

“How many years ago?” I asked.

She pushed the hair behind her ear. “Over a hundred years ago. He was probably sixty years old when he died. Of course I wasn’t around, but we all know the history of this hotel.”

Where had Monique known Ben from? One more piece to the puzzle. Too bad I was having a hard time putting them together.

“Did I have a wife?” Ben asked.

My mother frowned.