Bewitched on Bourbon Street (19 page)

“Oh, no.” Her hand went to her throat, horror now claiming her beautiful face. “Please tell me he didn’t die.”

“No, he didn’t, because I managed to distract the demon by extending the sanctioned challenge. And I justified the challenge by telling myself that if I saved the angel, it would reduce the tension that’s been escalating between the Brotherhood and the Angel Council.”

“But that’s not why you really did it?” she asked with remarkable calm, no doubt feeling my conflicted emotions spewing from me.

I shook my head. “No. It’s because he knew about the curse on you and our child…” My voice broke on the word
child
.

Jade’s eyes misted with tears.

“And I lost it,” I forced out, realizing for the first time exactly how much I wanted to start a family with Jade. Pain pierced my heart, knowing there was nothing we could do about it until we broke the curse.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and tried to let go of the anger creeping its way back into my gut. “He knew, Jade. I can’t even begin to tell you how that affected me. It scared me deep in my soul. I know the curse was done by an angel, but if the demons know, too, there’s no doubt our child is destined to be in the middle of an angel–demon war. And I won’t have it. Won’t have anyone thinking they can touch you or our child. They’ll have to go through me first. So I put myself in grave danger to prove a point. Can you forgive me for that?”

“Oh, Kane,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around me and pressing her head to my chest. “There’s nothing to forgive. You did what you had to do. No matter the reason, the fact is you did save an angel from death. That’s noble. Something to be celebrated. And maybe you were protecting me in the process. There’s no denying that demon won’t be coming for me or our child now. Not as long as he’s locked in Hell.”

Our child
. The image of Jade, her belly swollen with my child, flashed in my mind. It was enough to gut me. And I knew without a doubt I’d made the right choice challenging the demon. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Anything to protect what was mine.

“You’re probably right,” I said, giving her a ghost of a smile. “Hopefully you’ll remember this conversation the next time I lose my shit when someone’s trying to hurt you.”

“Just take it out on them and don’t go caveman on our kitchen, all right?”

“Deal.” I cupped her cheeks with my palms, gazing into her too-bright eyes. Raw emotions shone back at me, making my breath catch. God, she did things to me. The way she embodied such pure innocence at times but also had the ability to destroy the worst kind of evil was intoxicating. Good. Intense. Powerful. She was everything I ever wanted.

She reached up, trailing her fingers over my brow. Then she licked her lips and said, “Kiss me.”

Powerless to her command, I lowered my head and pressed my lips to hers as I explored the curves of her hips. “What was that you said about not going caveman?”

She laughed softly. “I said don’t go caveman in the kitchen. I didn’t say anything about the bedroom.”

Smiling, I lifted her into my arms and carried her back to bed, where I worshipped her until her soft cries filled the room.

Chapter 20

Jade

The chill in the late-morning air made me shiver as I walked the uneven streets of the French Quarter.

I pressed my hand to my abdomen, thinking about Kane’s scars and remembering the pain I’d suffered the day before. I hadn’t said anything to him, not after he’d been so upset about weakening me, but it seemed to me that my incident had happened right about the same time he’d been battling the demon. Had I experienced his pain? It was possible, I guessed. Because of my empath ability, I often felt his emotions as mine, but never his physical sensations.

Then again, he’d never almost died before either.

I shuddered as a chill ran over me.

He was fine. I was fine. I couldn’t think about that now. I had work to do.

The day was overcast and slightly drizzly, which was a bummer, considering I was bound and determined to summon Avery from Hell later that night. The cloud cover and rain posed a bit of a challenge. Clear conditions were always better for summonings, but waiting wasn’t an option.

At least I didn’t need to worry too much about my magic anymore. After the morning’s bedroom activities with Kane, my body hummed with enough energy to do what I needed to do. Kane had taken the lead and pleasured me until I’d gasped his name. And then he’d refused to let me do the same for him, saying I’d already given him what he needed earlier. As much as I wanted a two-way street when we were in the bedroom, I couldn’t complain. His purpose was to give me back some of my power, and he’d succeeded.

Now I was on my way to Bea’s shop, while Kane was headed to the Brotherhood to retrieve his dagger and to check out the records department.

The streets were mostly empty. It was mid-January, that time between New Year’s and Mardi Gras that usually suffered a lull in tourists. This year was no exception, much to my relief. Dealing with demons and missing angels was quite enough without having to worry about navigating through hordes of partiers.

I strode through the door of the Herbal Connection and smiled as the familiar scents soothed me. Flickering candles lined the walls, creating a cozy atmosphere on the cool day.

“Bea?” I called, heading for the back room.

“Jade?” She popped out from behind a shelf, her hair mussed and her lipstick smudged.

“Uh, hi.” What the heck was she doing back there? And with whom? “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt—”

“No, dear. You’re not interrupting.” She patted her hair and then straightened her red silk blouse. “I was just helping Maximus find a charm he was looking for.”

“Oh?”

The demon hunter in question appeared, her red lipstick staining his cheek. He held up a truth charm. “Got it.”

“Hello, Maximus,” I said coolly. Right before I’d left the house, Kane had filled me in on their confrontation.

“Ms. Calhoun, it’s nice to see you.”

“Is it?” I asked, wondering exactly where Kane and I stood with the Brotherhood leader.

“Jade.” Bea put her hand on my arm. “Maximus is here to talk about the curse. He wants to help if possible.”

“Really?” I raised my eyebrows and fixed him with a stare.

“Yes, really,” he said. “I was taken off guard by the revelation that your future child had been threatened. Had I known, I’m quite certain my conversation with your husband would’ve gone differently, and I regret the heated exchange we shared. Harming an innocent is beyond unacceptable.”

“I see.” My shoulders relaxed slightly, but I didn’t completely let my guard down. Trust was getting harder to come by. “Thank you for that. We can use all the help we can get.”

“You’re welcome. I’m not sure what the correct course of action is at this time, but I assure you, the Brotherhood is on your side.” He gave me a reassuring smile and then strolled to the checkout counter, oozing with dignity despite his slightly disheveled appearance.

I leaned into Bea. “You might want to refresh your lipstick.”

Her hand flew to her mouth as she flushed pink.

“Busted.” I grinned at her. “I’ll be in the back while you, uh…take care of your customer.”

“Oh, stop.” She laughed and nudged me toward the lab. “Go see Lailah and Zoe. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Just keep it clean out here.” I winked and stepped through the door marked
Employees Only
.

Lailah and Zoe were seated at Lailah’s stainless steel station, Lailah watching as Zoe chanted an incantation over a potion. I hung back, not wanting to interrupt.

Zoe had her eyes closed and her hands flat over a glass bowl of pale-pink liquid. “From the depths of the collective soul, may the love of two beings bring forth a new beginning. May their joining result in the conception of a new life.”

Magic sprinkled down from Zoe’s fingertips like little sparkling droplets of power. When the magic hit the potion, sparks skittered across the liquid and then turned to fire. Almost as soon as it ignited, the flame went out, leaving the potion bright red.

“Fertility potion,” I said softly to myself.

“Jade?” Lailah spun. “When did you get here?”

“Just a second ago.” I stared at Zoe. She’d cut her blond hair short, and her golden-brown eyes pierced me with intensity. I cleared my throat. “Zoe? Something wrong?”

She jerked back and shook her head as if waking from a trance. “Umm, no. Nothing.”

Lailah and I glanced at each other. The angel shrugged one shoulder.

“Okay, then. Fertility potion? Looks like you’re mastering it pretty well.”

She shrugged, barely acknowledging I’d spoken. Without saying a word, she picked up the potion and began to transfer it into the tiny bottles already lined up on the workstation.

Well, that was weird. I signaled to Lailah to join me across the room at Bea’s workstation.

She glanced at Zoe, nodded as if approving of the work the witch was doing, and then joined me. “What’s up?”

“I want to summon Avery tonight. Now that we know for sure she’s been taken into Hell, I don’t want to wait any longer.”

Lailah frowned. “Agreed. It sure explains why we weren’t able to locate her with a finding spell. We knew this was a possibility. Now that we know for sure…dammit. We should’ve summoned her sooner.”

I winced, a ball of guilt making me nauseated. This wasn’t the time to berate ourselves, though, and I tried my best to be the voice of reason. “We can’t know everything. Neither of us had any idea Avery was actually dealing with demons. For all we knew, she was lost in the shadows or had run away on her own. Or was even taken by a spirit or a goddess or witch for that matter. Summonings from Hell are a last resort. You know that better than anyone.”

She pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “You’re right, but the thought of her living in Hell this whole time…”

“It’s awful, I know. But tonight we’ll do everything we can to bring her back.”

Lailah took a deep breath. “Okay. We’ll need the entire coven and Bea—”

“We’ll need Maximus and some of his hunters,” Bea interrupted as she strode into the lab.

“And they’re willing to do that?” I asked. The Brotherhood wasn’t usually keen on helping us, especially when it came to summonings. Their motto was as long as the demons stayed in Hell, they didn’t care what happened.

Bea gave us a self-satisfied smile. “I think I might have some cachet when it comes to the leader of the Brotherhood.”

I laughed, but Lailah’s frown deepened.

“What is it, dear?” Bea asked, concern radiating off her in a thick fog.

Lailah stood, her fists clenched. “There’s nothing funny about any of this. Avery was my responsibility, and I was more worried about trying to figure out what Chessandra was up to than about how to find her. Now we learn she’s in Hell and could actually be a demon. And you two—” she waved an impatient hand “—are busy giggling about Bea’s affair with Maximus. I can’t deal with this.” Lailah ripped her apron off and stalked out of the lab.

I didn’t say anything at first, more than a little shocked at Lailah’s outburst. Usually she was the calm, cool, collected one. Then I turned to Bea. “Affair? Really? It’s not just a little kissing in the aisles?”

My mentor rolled her eyes and shook her head good naturedly. “I might be a little bit older than you, but I’m not in the grave yet.”

“Of course you aren’t.” I slipped my arm through hers. “Perhaps we should go calm Lailah down?”

Bea nodded. “She’s had a rough day.”

I couldn’t blame her and understood her outburst. The absolute worst thing to happen to an angel was to be taken to Hell. Their chances of survival were very slim. And she was right. We were being insensitive. Our ill-timed humor was our way of dealing with it.

Bea and I left Zoe in the lab and found Lailah in the shop, putting together a new-release display of a book titled
Loving Your Inner Wicked Witch
. It was the newest self-help title for the modern witch.

“Lailah,” Bea said, taking her hand. “Those can wait.”

“No. Let me just get this done.” She sniffled and wiped a single tear from her cheek.

Bea looked at her helplessly and, not knowing what else to do, I grabbed a pile of books and gave her a hand.

“You don’t have to do this,” Lailah said, her voice thick.

“I know. But I want to.”

She shrugged and proceeded to ignore me as we stacked books.

When we were almost done, I said, “I know how you feel.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Maybe not. But remember my own mother disappeared for years. And instead of looking for her, I basically blocked it all out and pretended I wasn’t a witch. Cut out everyone who was from her world. Fifteen years I lost because…well, the reasons don’t matter now. But I do understand the guilt. If I’d embraced my magic, I probably would’ve realized a lot sooner what had happened to her, and it’s possible I would’ve been able to do something about it.”

“Okay. So we’re both idiots, then. How does this help?”

I chuckled. “It doesn’t. Not really. I’m just saying you’re not alone. And you’re not a terrible person because you didn’t insist we summon her. There were almost no clues, no real reason to believe she was in Hell before now.”

She slammed one of the books down and whirled on me. “No? Where else did I expect her to be? Doesn’t it seem stupid to you that I never really seriously considered this was an option?”

I met her gaze with a steady one of my own. “No. Why would you think she’d be taken by a demon? She was Chessa’s assistant who’d been sent to the shadows. Lost souls usually fill the shadows, not demons. And if demons are there, the Brotherhood finds them. It’s not rational to think Avery would’ve been meeting a demon on behalf of the high angel. You know that. Now you have to stop sulking so we can get on with planning this summoning. Because I need you. You and Bea and the rest of the coven. This isn’t something I can do on my own.”

She lowered her gaze to stare at her feet. “Yes, you could.”