Shadows of Bourbon Street (2 page)

I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a tight hug. “Thank you.”

When we pulled apart, she grinned. “You’re very welcome. Now let’s get you married.”

A knock followed by Lucien’s voice filtered through the door. “Jade? It’s time.”

“That’s my cue.” Pyper gave me a kiss on the cheek. “See ya in a few minutes.”

Lucien, the second in command of the New Orleans coven, dressed in a black suit and silver tie, was waiting to escort Pyper to Kane’s side.

“You ready, gorgeous?” he asked her, but before she could answer, his gaze shifted to take in Kat. His expression turned to one of longing and quickly morphed into guilt. I wanted to say something, anything, to ease his suffering, but what could I say?
Sorry you’re in love with my best friend and if you use any magic around her it could kill her?
No. He certainly didn’t need a reminder. Not after she’d almost died last month. He was torn up enough.

“You look very handsome,” Kat said and ran her hand over one of his lapels.

His smile turned tortured. Kat knew he had feelings for her. The feeling was mutual, and she was none too pleased that he was keeping his distance.

“Save me a dance,” she continued in a voice so seductive it made me blush.

I made a face at Pyper.

Her eyes widened, and she gave me a short nod indicating she was on it. “Okay then. Lucien, let’s get going before Kane sends someone else up to find me.” Slipping her arm through his, Pyper dragged Lucien down the hall, not giving him a chance to answer.

Kat sighed. “One day he’ll get over his fears.”

“Kat, honey,” I said. “He’s only trying to protect you. And honestly, I’m glad. After what happened—”

She held up her hand. “That’s enough. We’ve already been through this. He’s not performing magic right now, and as long as he isn’t, there’s no danger to me.”

“He’s a witch. Sometimes magic occurs without us even trying.”

“Jade’s right,” Lailah agreed. “Witches are unpredictable under the best circumstances—”

“All right!” Kat cried and held both hands up in surrender. “I hear you. Now let’s drop this. We have a wedding to get on with.” She smiled at me, a true and genuine gesture that warred with the sadness radiating from her heart.

“Oh, Kat,” I said and wrapped an arm around her. “It will all work out. You’ll see.” I said the words but had no idea how we’d get rid of Lucien’s curse. My mentor Bea, Lailah, and I had been trying to find anything that would reverse it for weeks. No such luck.

“Stop.” She pulled away from me and gave me her don’t-mess-with-me look. “Wedding.” She cocked her ear. “Hear that?”

The first notes of the wedding music floated up the grand staircase.

She grinned, tears swimming in her hazel eyes as I leaned in for a hug. “Love you,” she said.

“Love you, too. Now stop blubbering before you make me lose it.”

She sniffed and then took off to meet one of the groomsmen at the top of the stairs. Lailah squeezed my hand and followed her.

I took one last minute to check my hair and makeup before grabbing my simple white rose bouquet and walking out into the hall.

“Hi, baby,” my father said. Well, my stepfather, Marc. He was the man who’d raised me until my mother had forced him to go away. My biological father Drake was here somewhere, but we didn’t have a relationship outside of my involvement in the angel world—more specifically, my job as a shadow walker that I was supposed to start as soon as Kane and I got back from our honeymoon.

We weren’t close. We didn’t even like each other much. Still, I was glad Drake had decided to come. He was my father, after all.

“What’s wrong?” Marc asked.

“Huh?” I slipped my arm through his. “Nothing.”

“That’s not true. I can feel the apprehension strumming through you.”

“You can?” I turned to him, unfocusing so I could see his aura. “You’re not an intuitive. Your aura is blue. No outline of purple anywhere.”

He chuckled. “I don’t need to be an empath to know what’s going on with you, Jade. I helped raise you, remember? I can tell your moods just by looking at your face most times.”

I took in a sharp breath. “I look unsettled?”

“No. Not really. You look gorgeous, but there’s this tiny wrinkle right here.” He ran his index finger lightly over my forehead. “It only shows up when something’s troubling you. And right now there’s a faint worry line.”

I rubbed my forehead, trying to smooth the skin.

“Gonna tell me what it is?” he asked.

I leaned into him slightly, liking that I finally had a father figure to rely on. He was tall and lean with a little gray in his blond hair. “I don’t know, really. Lailah was worried about something, and I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right and it’s going to ruin my day.”

He ran a light hand down my bare arm. “With all the crazy crap you both have been through the last year, it’s natural to be apprehensive on the big day. But try not to worry. Everything’s fine. And you have that spell the four of you just wielded. I bet this is all nerves.”

“I sure hope so.”

“It is,” he said. “Trust me.”

Marc guided me down the hall and stopped a few feet before we came into view at the top of the grand staircase. “This is it. Ready?”

My heart seemed ready to explode. Our day was finally here despite the ghosts, the demon attacks, and the fact I’d almost died when my soul had been split. Kane had stayed by my side the entire time, and I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

The music changed to the traditional wedding march, and tears sprang to my eyes as we appeared at the top of the stairs. A low murmur ran through the crowd below, but the only things I saw were Kane’s love-filled eyes gazing up at me.

I floated down those stairs, all the foreboding forgotten. The love of the room pressed in on me and filled my heart to almost bursting.

When the minister asked “Who gives this bride?” both Mom and Marc answered. I hadn’t been expecting that. In rehearsal we’d practiced Marc saying it, but I appreciated Mom speaking up as well. It finally felt as if I had a real family. Dysfunctional, yes, but one that cared about one another unconditionally. That was fine with me.

Kane, his expression full of admiration, held his hand out to me. Marc completed the transfer by placing my hand in Kane’s. His fingers immediately tightened over mine and my knees went weak with the sheer emotion radiating from him. It was the most perfect moment of my life.

The minister said a prayer, followed by an earth blessing. Kane grinned at me and ever so slightly jabbed his head in his mother’s direction. I almost laughed, knowing she was probably losing her mind over the earth blessing. She’d already told me no less than five times how out of place it was in the ceremony. But I was a witch. And there couldn’t be a wedding without an earth blessing.

After clearing his throat, the minister continued with our Christian Pagan wedding. “If anyone here knows any reason why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Silence.

“Excellent—”

A loud boom rippled through the ballroom, followed by a brilliant flash of white light. A collective gasp rose from our friends, and Kane instantly stepped in front of me, shielding me from whatever was to come.

I knew it was instinct, so instead of getting irritated, I just stepped out from behind him to find my real father and his consort Chessandra, the high angel, standing center stage between us and our guests. Anger coiled up from the depths of my soul. What the hell were they doing, and why were they dressed in their gold-embroidered council robes?

Before I could say anything, the high angel waved a hand, casting the entire room in a blue light, and said, “Jade Calhoun and Kane Rouquette, you are hereby summoned to the shadow world immediately.”

“What? Now?” I cried. “We’re getting married.”

Chessandra leveled an unfeeling stare at us. “Change of plans.”

Chapter 2

The room faded to black, and when my eyes adjusted, we were no longer at Summer House—at least, not the one filled with our wedding guests. No, this one was in disrepair with vines growing up the cracked walls and plaster falling from the ceiling. A sad emptiness clung to the air as thick as a hot, humid day.

“What the hell is going on?” Kane demanded in a tight and dangerous voice.

Chessandra bristled. “Watch your tone, dreamwalker.”

My father took a step forward, holding a hand out in a “stop” motion. He was perfectly groomed, but his face was haggard as if he hadn’t slept in days. “Hold on now. Let’s all calm down.”

“Calm down? Are you out of your mind?” I cried as Kane tightened his hand over mine. “Look at us. You ruined our wedding. And what about our guests? Aren’t they going to be freaking out since Kane and I just disappeared?”

“Lailah and Beatrice can cast an illusion spell. They’ll think it never started. You can work out the details later.” Chessandra strode across the room, kicking up dust as she went. She stopped at a broken window and peered out.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” I said to Kane. “We cast a protection spell. No one should have been able to penetrate it.”

Dad cleared his throat. “I was invited, remember? Chessa was my date.”

“Figures,” I mumbled and then glared at my father. “This is insane. I can’t believe you went along with this.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but Chessandra cut him off. “A witch’s life is on the line. And unfortunately you’re the only one who can help her. So forgive me if I ruined your special day.” Her tone was clipped and sarcastic. She didn’t give one flying monkey about our wedding.

I rarely experienced true hatred. Not within myself anyway, but I was dangerously close to the edge just then. How dare she?

Kane and I shared a glance. Every witch I knew was already at my wedding. “Who is it?” I asked, unable to tamp down my curiosity.

Drake, my dad, sent Chessandra a concerned look. “She works for the angel council and is stuck in the shadow world.”

“So send someone else,” Kane said and wrapped an arm around me. “We don’t work for the council yet. I demand you transport us back to the wedding. Or else we’ll take this up with the witches’ council appointed to oversee shadow walkers.”

“Weren’t you paying attention?” Chessandra whirled and faced us. “There isn’t anyone else. You two are the only chance to rescue her before she’s stuck forever. You’re not going back. Not until you find out what happened to her.”

Tears glistened in Chessandra’s eyes as she ran a shaky hand over her frazzled chestnut hair. She was moments from unraveling. Nothing about her resembled the sleek angel we’d met a few weeks ago when we’d negotiated the terms of our new positions.

“What do you mean, we’re the only two who can help her?” Kane asked. “Where are all the other shadow walkers?”

The color drained from Chessandra’s face, and a ball of panic started to filter through me. The outrage that had been consuming my mind started to dissipate. Something had gone terribly wrong, something that even the high angel couldn’t fix, and we were being pulled right into the middle of it.

Drake put a hand on Chessandra’s shoulder and faced us. “Others have tried. They have not been successful.”

“Tried? What happened?” I was a powerful witch, I didn’t deny that, but it wasn’t as if I was expertly skilled. I’d only been an active witch for less than a year. My knowledge in all things magic was sadly lacking. If others couldn’t save this missing person, I had no idea how I could.

“Maybe we should sit down?” Drake glanced around and gestured to a beat-up living room set. The tattered settee and both wing-backed chairs were covered in dust.

I glanced down at my dress and wanted to cry. “You can’t be serious.”

“Just say what you have to say.” Something close to rage streamed from Kane. He was seconds from kicking some serious angel ass.

Chessandra turned slowly, her eyes wide and glowing red.

“Oh, crap,” I muttered and pressed into Kane. Red eyes? Creepy. It was a sign she wasn’t far from losing control.

“Matisse—Mati—was working on a spell to block the veil between Hell and the shadow world. It worked, but something went terribly wrong and now she’s trapped…somewhere. Angels and shadow walkers alike have both come up empty.”

I gasped. If they couldn’t find her in the shadow world, then… “Could she be trapped in Hell?” Please, no. Not Hell. The last time we’d been there we’d barely made it back, and even then only because we’d had the help of two angels.

Drake quickly shook his head. “No. We don’t think so.” He shot Chessandra a glance. “She still feels a vague connection to her. If Mati were in Hell, Chessa would know. The soul-crushing oppression of Hell would be affecting them both.”

That was something at least.

“Why us?” Kane asked. “If no one else can find her, what makes you think we can?”

“Because of this.” Chessandra reached into her pocket and held her fisted hand out to me. “She gave this to me before we started working on the spell just in case anything went wrong.” She dropped a gleaming silver dragonfly into my hand. “It’s important to her. When we set the finding spell, it always goes to the same place.”