Demons of Bourbon Street (46 page)

A small stab of apprehension ran through me at the thought of leaving. I was safe here. No rogue demons or angels could get to me. If I lived another hundred years, I’d be satisfied to never see any of them again. Except for Lailah. She’d grown on me.

After Bea left, I rose and took a shower. The glorious hot water worked wonders on my bed-worn muscles. Sure, I’d taken short walks, but a week in bed was too long…at least, it was when it didn’t involve a gorgeous, naked man doing unspeakable things to you.

I grinned. Kane had started to enter my dreams again. After what we’d done in the dreamwalk the few nights before, I couldn’t wait to get him out of his clothes and horizontal somewhere. Preferably not a bed.

I packed in record time, which wasn’t saying much, considering all I had was pajamas, one pair of jeans, and a T-shirt Mom had brought me the night before. Lugging the small suitcase down the stairs proved to be much more difficult. By the time I got to the bottom step, I was sweating and winded.

“
Way to overdo it,” Bea said wryly.

“
I have to build up my stamina somehow,” I gasped out.

“
You probably should’ve waited.” She nodded toward the window, where I spotted people milling around outside.

I dropped the suitcase and went to investigate.

Kane, Mom, Gwen, Lailah, Dan…and Meri. I froze. “Why is she here?”

Bea came to stand next to me. Gently, she rested her hand on my shoulder. “It’s time to test your soul.”

I didn’t want to. I wanted to go home to Kane’s house and forget anything ever happened. “But I’m not one-hundred percent.”

“
That is why today is perfect. You’ll know right away.” She tugged my arm. “Come outside. If anything goes wonky, I’ll stop it. I’ve got a spell or two already set.”

Reluctantly, I let her drag me out the door. Meri stood at the far end of the deck, separating herself from the rest of the group.

Each one of them took turns giving me a hug—except Meri. She stayed where she was. But that wasn’t what unsettled me. Every one of them had touched me, and I hadn’t sensed any emotion.

Something wasn’t right. I’d never gone a day in my life without being privy to someone’s emotions.

Inside Bea’s house, I’d come to the conclusion that she’d put a ward on my room to silence my visitor’s emotions. But here I was, outside, in a circle of the people most open to me, and I couldn’t feel anything. Not from Kane, Kat, or even Gwen. Frowning, I tried to send out my awareness and found I couldn’t grasp on to anything. I concentrated harder, scrunching my face up in the process.

Kane put his finger on my brow, smoothing it out. “What’s wrong?”

“
I can’t feel anything,” I whispered. “I mean, no emotions. My empath ability is broken.” A sense of loss seized me. Just like when I’d given up my coven leadership to Lucien. Except this was a thousand times worse. I’d always had the ability to feel those around me. My sixth sense had literally vanished.

He draped an arm around me. “You’re probably just still healing. Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll come back.”

“
I don’t think so,” Meri said from behind us, and I jumped higher than a cat in a frying pan.

“
Geez, Meri. Give us a warning next time,” I said.

“
You didn’t know she was there?” Kane asked, confusion written all over his face.

“
No. I told you. I can’t feel anyone.”

Kane must have finally gotten used to that little quirk. The ability to sense emotions means I’m usually hyper-aware of the people around me.

“
I can,” Meri said.

I spun to look her in the eye. “You’re an empath.”

“
I am now…or so it seems.” Her tone implied she wasn’t happy about the new development.

“
Holy cripes!” Kat said, grabbing Dan’s arm. “Did you know that?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we think she got it from Jade.”

Holy cripes was right. Somehow my ability had transferred to Meri during the soul exchange. Jesus, could I still use magic? Panic seized my brain, and I frantically searched for my magical spark. The power jolted in my chest, sending a ripple of current through my limbs. I let out a long relieved sigh. At least that wasn’t broken.

“
Oh my God,” Kat said in a hushed tone, coming to the same conclusion I had. “Do you think it’s permanent?”

Meri shrugged. “I hope not. Being exposed to everyone’s emotional state isn’t my idea of a great time.”

I couldn’t disagree with her. The gift was a burden, and my week had been blissfully quiet. Still, I didn’t feel like myself without my unique ability. What else had she gotten from me? I could still do magic, but could she? “Does this mean you’re a witch now that you have part of my soul?”

Meri shook her head. “No. When you almost destroyed me and sent me back to hell, you actually only destroyed the demon part of me. I don’t know what I was then. But once I ended up with part of your soul, I morphed back into an angel. The council reinstated me just this morning.”

I stared at her, trying to comprehend what she just said. I’d destroyed the demon part of her. Bea had told me killing demons was impossible. But is that what I’d done? No. Impossible. By some stroke of luck, Meri had lived. Though who knows what would have happened to her if she hadn’t gotten a piece of my soul? I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. I didn’t want to think about it just then.

“
Let’s go,” Bea said and motioned for Meri and me to follow her.

I hesitated as it became clear she was headed for her yard. Exactly where I’d taken down Meri, destroying her demon side. Meri held back, as if she might bolt.

“
Follow me, ladies. Everything is quite safe, I assure you,” Bea ordered.

Both of us took our places beside her.

“
Now what?” I asked.

“
We wait,” she said.

“
For what?” I kicked an ant off my shoe, wondering what happened to Bea’s bug-be-gone spell. Ants in Louisiana bite.

“
To see how your souls react.” Bea held a hand out to each of us.

We stood together for what seemed like forever, though it was probably more like five minutes. Eventually, she dropped our hands and declared, “You have nothing to worry about. Your souls are content where they are.”

She took off before I could ask what she meant.

“
She means neither part is longing for the other. They’re adapting,” Meri said.

I stared at her, wondering what it meant that she now owned part of my soul. I didn’t feel different, just battered. Would weird complications arise later? Like unfortunate psychic connections? “Did you just read my mind?”

“
No. Your confusion.” She shrugged. “Sorry, I can’t help it.”

The situation was so absurd, I almost laughed. All those years I’d hated my ability. Hated that I was different. And now I was certain I’d miss it. I’d been an empath since…well, forever. “Don’t worry,” I assured her. “If anyone understands, it’s me.”

We talked for a few more minutes and then suddenly Meri wrapped her arms around me and squeezed for dear life.

Half-laughing, half-choking, I finally got out, “What’s that for?”

“
Giving me my life and at the same time holding on to yours.” She released me and took a step back. “If they’d given me your soul and you died, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself. It wasn’t right what they did.”

I nodded in agreement. “You’re right, it wasn’t. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re getting a second shot.”

She shook her head. “After the things I did, I don’t deserve it.”

“
Hey! What happened to you wasn’t your fault.” I took a step closer. “Do you hear me? Not. Your. Fault. “

She met my gaze with tears in her eyes.

I lowered my voice. “Just take this second chance and use it wisely. Okay?”

One tear rolled down her cheek. “I’ll do my best.”

This time I caught her in a hug. It was weird and awkward, but also necessary. When we broke apart, she took a few steps back, nodded an unspoken promise, and took off across the grounds.

I wondered if I’d see her again. With my luck? Yeah. Probably sooner rather than later.

***

After two days of lying around Kane’s house, most of the time spent naked, Kane kept going on about taking a drive. “I have something I want you to see.”

“
Okay, okay. I just thought we weren’t going to get dressed today.”

He kissed my bare shoulder. “We’ll only be out for a couple of hours. Then we can come back here and discard as many garments as you like.”

He wouldn’t tell me where we were going, not even once we were in the car. In fact, he’d made the suggestion he should blindfold me. I put the kibosh on that right quick. No way was I getting car sick for whatever harebrained scheme he had going on.

Besides, once we crossed the Mississippi river and headed down Highway 90, I had no idea where we were anyway. I’d only been south of New Orleans once and that had been to pick up the airboats.

After about twenty miles, he exited the freeway and turned onto a state highway. Five minutes later we entered the quaintest little town I’d ever seen. Wood-sided cottages lined the residential streets. Main Street looked like something out of a movie set, and people waved from the sidewalks as we drove by.

“
Kane? Do these people know you?”

He smiled mysteriously. “You’ll see.”

No amount of badgering pried any information out of him, so I sat back and enjoyed the southern charm. Soon enough, we came up on a historical plantation home. A giant oak tree claimed the front lawn, complete with a mass of Spanish moss.

“
It looks just like a painting,” I said as Kane turned into the driveway.

“
You like it?”

“
Like it? I love it. It’s gorgeous. Are we taking a tour?”

He didn’t answer as he pulled the car to a stop. A few seconds later, he hopped out of the driver’s seat and opened my door.

“
What are you up to?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

His smile turned to a grin.

The door swung open as we climbed the front steps to the massive wraparound deck, and a well put-together southern woman stepped out, holding a clipboard. Her blue silk blouse and black A-line skirt fit flawlessly on her trim body. “Welcome to Summer House. You couldn’t have picked a better day for a visit.”