Third Time's a Charm (Halloween LaVeau) (13 page)

A strange vibe overwhelmed me. I’d experienced the oddness before, but this was different now. How it was different I didn’t know. Something was off and it felt like it was coming from inside the house. When I experienced this in the past it had always come from black magic or a demon. My sense of awareness kept me on edge and alert.

A sickening
feeling washed over me just thinking about what I’d been through in the past couple weeks. Was this what it was going to be like for the rest of the time I was the leader? How long would I be the leader? It looked as if my days were numbered.

We parked in front of the manor and made our way inside. Once I stepped inside, the
sensation grew stronger. It was thick in the air.

“Do you
feel that?” I asked.

Kelley
shook her head. “I don’t sense anything odd if that’s what you mean.”

“Maybe I’m being overly sensitive,” I said.

When I stepped into the parlor, I let out a little gasp. “What the hell happened?”

The coven members froze. Rebecca had a sofa leg in her hand and Barbara had a coffee table leg in her hand. The chairs were broken too. The whole room was in shambles.

“What the hell happened in here?” I asked.

Everyone stood around speechless. Finally, Rebecca said, “We were performing a spell and I guess it got a little out of hand.”

“A little? What kind of spell were you trying?” I asked.

“We just wanted to make things easier for you,” Sarah said.

I quirked a brow. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Meaning we were trying to do housework for you,” Rebecca said.

No wonder I’d felt a strange vibe when we’d pulled up to the manor. “What else have you done?” My stomach turned.

They exchanged a look and I knew the damage wasn’t over.

“Well, we tried to do your laundry for you,” Kimberley said.

My face was probably drained
of color. “What happened to my clothes?” I asked.

They looked down at the floor, but wouldn’t answer me. I ran toward the laundry room
, which was next to the kitchen. When I went into the room, I saw my clothing all over the place. I picked up a shirt and it had holes on the front and back. Another shirt was now pink instead of white.

“We’re sorry about that,” Rebecca said from over my shoulder.

“Why are you performing spells?”

“We’re witches. What do you expect us to do?” Kimberly said.

“I expect you not to destroy my house and my belongings. You’re not very good witches.”

“Well, aren’t you the kettle calling the cauldron black,” Rebecca said.

I’d have to tackle that problem later. I didn’t have time to deal with this. I just had to pray that they wouldn’t burn the manor down while I was gone. I had to find out what the spell was that Giovanni added and what it meant, plus find Misty.

When I reached the parlor again, I discovered Liam and Nicolas were picking up the mess. “You’re back. Did you find Misty?” I asked.

Nicolas ran his hand through his hair. “No, we couldn’t find her.”

“I need your help with finding out what the spell that Giovanni added means and then we’ll find Misty too
.”

“What can we do?” Liam asked as he turned one of the chairs upright again.

“I guess we need to find Giovanni or the very least find out who he is. Why is he so mysterious? Where did he come from? Why did he pop up all of a sudden? Why not sooner?”

“You’re just full of questions,” Liam said with a smile.

“If I find Misty Middleton maybe she can provide answers. She needs to tell me why she was with the bartender. I know he is connected to Giovanni now,” I said.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed
Misty’s number, but it still went straight to her voicemail.

The witches stepped back into the room with innocent looks on their faces.

“I think you all have done enough magic for the day, don’t you think?” I asked.

“The night is young and we thought we’d go back to that bar you showed us,” Barbara said.

Nicolas looked at me. “You took them to a bar?”

“Not on purpose. They kind of tagged along when I went to talk with Misty Middleton,” I said.

“Ladies, I really don’t think it’s a good idea that you all go there,” Liam said.

Barbara placed her hands on her hips. “You don’t want us to have fun?”

“You can’t tell us what to do,” Rebecca said with a scowl.

The women marched toward the door. When Nicolas opened the door, Jon was standing there. I knew he’d said he really didn’t know Kevin, but I couldn’t help my suspicion.

“I came to pick up Annabelle,” he said.

“Don’t you want to go to the bar with us?” I asked.

Annabelle shook her head. “It’s tempting, but I think I’ll pass. Call me soon, okay?”

I nodded. “I’ll call you soon.”

An uneasy feeling engulfed me as I watched Annabelle leave with Jon. There was nothing I could do though. There was no proof that he had anything to do with Kevin or all of this craziness.

“Looks like we’re going to the bar,” I said.

“It looks that way,” Nicolas said.

I groaned. This would not end well. I knew the women would get in trouble. The only question was how much.

“What do you say, Liam, are you ready for the Bubbling Cauldron?” I asked.

The witches batted their eyelashes at him and flashed huge smiles. If he knew what was good for him he’d ignore their flirting. It would lead to nothing but problems.

“I think I’ll just wait here, if that’s okay? In case Misty, Giovanni or Kevin comes back.”

I nodded. “That’ll be good. Thanks.”

I knew it was probably wise that he stay behind, but I wished he’d come along with us.

I stopped the women as we approached the door. “Ladies, there is a no
-magic policy at the bar. Do you understand?” I asked.

They nodded.
“Of course. Why would we cast a spell there?” Kimberly said.

“Why would you cast a spell in my kitchen?” I asked drily.

When I stepped out onto the porch, a ghost of a breeze floated past. Moss hung on tree limbs like sheets of lace, swaying with the wind. The motion lulled the area into a false calm. I wasn’t fooled by this deceptive tranquility.

As I moved down the steps,
I said, “Oh, will you look at that. I forgot you all can’t fit in my car, not with Nicolas, too. I guess we’ll just have to cancel this trip.”

The women batted their eyelashes at Nicolas. “Barbara and I can ride with Nicolas. He has a car,” Rebecca said with a smile.

There was no way I could do that to Nicolas. “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” I said.

“I’ll make sure they don’t do anything on the ride there,” Nicolas said. “Once we get there I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to keep an eye on them though.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” I sighed as the women all stared at me. “Fine, but we can’t stay long. I have to rest. I honestly don’t know where you all get your energy from,” I said as I climbed behind the wheel.

I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw Rebecca sitting in the front seat of Nicolas’ car. She looked absolutely giddy. As soon as I turned out onto the highway, Kimberly turned on the radio. I reached over and turned down the volume.

“Do they have more snacks other than pretzels at this bar?” Kimberly asked.

As soon as we walked through the door of the Bubbling Cauldron, the witches took off for the dance floor.
I soon lost sight of them in the crowd. I knew they would want to check out the cauldron again, so I forced my way through the swaying bodies toward the cauldron.

When I reached the giant black cauldron, the witches weren’t there.
People circled around the bubbles, but the witches had all but vanished.

A guy wearing a
red plaid shirt and skintight jeans pushed his body against me. “Do you want to dance, baby?”

I pushed his chest with my hand and hurried around him. Nicolas
had been looking on the other side for the witches, but he caught up with me. “Do you see them?”

I shook my head.
“They’re not here.”

A blonde woman watched me as she stood by the edge of the dance floor.
I stepped over to her and asked, “Have you seen a group of witches wearing large witch hats?”

She took a sip of her drink and spoke over the noise, “Yeah, I thought I saw them leave with another young woman.”

Nicolas grabbed my hand. “Let’s get out of here. It’s too crowded.”

“
We can’t leave the witches,” I said.

“T
he place will close soon. We’ll have no choice but leave.”

I scanned the crowd again.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Do you really think they left with someone?”

“Probably not.
I’ll bet they stepped outside. They’re probably headed back to the manor.”

“But how will they get there?” I asked.

Knowing the witches, they probably caught a ride,” Nicolas said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

I couldn’t believe we’d lost the witches at the bar. I hadn’t wanted to leave the witches there, but I had no choice. I left my number with the bartender with instructions to call me if the witches showed up again.

“Don’t worry. They’ll find their way back.” Nicolas’s mouth curled into a reassuring smile.

***

Liam was asleep on the sofa when we returned.
He looked so peaceful and handsome. A dark tendril of hair rested on his forehead and I resisted the urge to gently push it back. Instead I reached down and gently touched his arm. He opened his eyes and for a moment we stared at each other in silence.

When he realized others were around, h
e jumped up. “What happened?”

“It’s okay. We’re back from the bar. We lost the witches,” I said.

“What? How did that happen?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I guess they blended in with the crowd.”

We sat around the parlor in silence. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Liam tapped his fingers against the chair. Nicolas leaned back and stared blankly at the wall. I tried to calm by nerves with even steady breaths.

“I just remembered something,”
Kelley said as she stood up from the one of the few remaining chairs in the room that hadn’t been broken. “I saw something at the plantation that I think was Giovanni’s.”

I froze. “What do you mean something that you thought was his? What was it and what makes you think it was his?
” Why hadn’t she mentioned this earlier? It was kind of an important detail to leave out considering she knew that I’d been looking for him.

“It looked like a pouch with a symbol on the front. I went outside and picked it up. The odd thing is, it looks like the one I have on my shirt and the witches have on their skirts.”

This revelation sent my head spinning. I didn’t know what to think. “What did you do with it?” I asked.

She pulled the pouch from her pocket and dangled it through the air. “I put it in my pocket.”

I was sure my mouth hung open. “But how do you know it was his?” I asked as I stepped closer and took the pouch from her outstretched hand.

“I saw someone who looked like Giovanni drop it.” She shrugged. “So I guess I can’t say for sure that it was him.
But we should definitely go to the plantation and look for him.”

That was more than enough for me. This was becoming more complicated by the second.
“I have to find Giovanni St. Clair,” I said.

The bayou surrounded the plantation. Darkness was moving in and clouds quickly covered the sky, blocking out the moon and stars. Moss-draped oak trees lined the long driveway that stretched out in front of the plantation.

Two large porches wrapped around the bottom and top floors of the plantation with massive columns on the front façade. The only light came from the front parlor. It cast an eerie glow across
the night that let me know people waited in that room for us. I wasn’t sure what to expect—but I knew I had to be ready for anything.

We made o
ur way up the massive steps, but before approaching the front door, it swung open.

“Please come in.” A middle-aged woman with chestnut hair gestured for us to enter as she stepped out of the way.

Once inside, to my left was the parlor and on the right was the library. Books lined the shelves and wingback chairs sat in front of the fireplace. But no one was waiting for us in that room, everyone had gathered in the parlor.

As I stepped into the parlor, I looked around at the expectant faces. Fine furnishings and high ceilings highlighted the opulence of the room.
A massive crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room.

New Orleans coven members were sitting around the parlor
on the left when we entered. There were many faces that I’d never seen before. They were the coven members who’d recently joined the coven again. A couple men sat next to the window and two more stood by the fireplace. Several women sat on the sofa.

Kelley had suggested that I bring the Book of Mystics with me to fight Giovanni if we found him, but I hadn’t wanted to take it from its safe place.

“We came to help,” a woman said as she pushed to her feet.

I looked around the room at all the people watching me. “Why do you want to help?” I asked.

“We want you to be the leader. We want Liam to be the New Orleans Coven leader. All of that will change if someone else comes into power. Liam has been talking about you nonstop. He has so many wonderful things to say about you. When you got rid of the bad coven members and made Liam the leader, we were able to join the coven again,” she said.

I glanced over at Liam. He was looking out the window and didn’t meet my gaze. When I glanced at Nicolas he had a worried look on his face. I couldn’t believe that Liam had talked about me. I wondered what exactly he’d said.

“I don’t know what to say,” I said, running my hand through my hair and releasing a deep breath.

“Just tell us what you need us to do,” she said.

“Well, I’m not sure exactly. We need to find Giovanni.”

A woman appeared from the foyer. She had long blonde hair that swept away from her face. She wore bright red lipstick that looked gorgeous on her full lips. Her black dress hit every curve in just the right place.

“I saw Giovanni get in the car with Misty and another man,” she said, looking right at me.

“When
did this happen?” I asked.

“It was about an hour ago,” she said.

“What were they doing here? Did they come inside the plantation?” I asked.

She shrugged as she moved across the room. She sat down on the arm of the sofa and crossed her legs. “I have no idea why they were here and, no, they didn’t come inside. I watched from the window.”

Did the coven members stay here often when Liam wasn’t here? Had there been a meeting?

“Is there anything else you aren’t telling us?” I asked
, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

She stared for a minute, then said, “I overheard that they were headed to that vampire bar.
The popular one.”

“Was it called the Graveyard?” Liam asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Let’s go to
the Graveyard,” I said, making my way to the door.

We hurried outside and climbed into the car. “I’ll drive if you want me to,” Liam offered.

Good idea considering I wasn’t sure exactly how to get to the bar. I’d only been there a couple of times.

“If they were going to the vampire bar then that mean
s at least one of them had to be a vampire, right? Why else would they go there?” I asked.

“They’d probably go to a witches’ bar instead
,” Kelley said.

I sat in the backseat with Nicolas and
Kelley sat up front with Liam. When I looked up, Liam was looking at me through the rear-view mirror. I could have sworn he was looking at my lips. Was he thinking about the kiss that we’d shared? Nicolas squeezed my hand, bringing me away from the exchange with Liam. I don’t think he’d noticed that Liam was watching me, but I couldn’t be sure.

We finally pulled up to the bar and found a parking spot. The place was busy and people walked in all directions
, coming and going from the bar and surrounding businesses. Music spilled out from the building, invading the night air. After making our way past the large bouncer, we stepped into the bar and it was crammed with people. How would we ever find Misty? Tables surrounded the edges of the space with the dance floor in the middle. Pulsating lights covered the area in an alternating blue, red and yellow glow. Loud conversations, even louder music, and clinking of glasses hurt my ears.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to find them,” I said
, looking around the room.

“How about
Kelley and I look on this side and you and Nicolas can look on the other side,” Liam said.

I nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.”

Nicolas grabbed my hand and we took off across the crowded bar. We weaved through the crowd, looking at the faces standing and sitting around the room. In the corner of the room, I spotted them. Misty, Giovanni and Kevin were sitting at a table, talking and drinking. Giovanni paused as if he sensed me, but so far they hadn’t noticed us.

I nudged Nicolas and pointed them out. “There they are.”

We headed across the room and I didn’t let them out of my sight. I didn’t want them to get away from us. My stomach did a flip. I wondered what kind of confrontation this was going to be. Would Giovanni start a fight right there in the middle of the bar? Before we could make it through the crowd, the men stood and walked away, in the opposite direction.

“They’re leaving.” I pointed.

Misty was still sitting at the table with her back facing us. As far as I could tell she still didn’t know we were there. When we reached the table, I tapped her on the shoulder. When Misty spun around, she jumped and knocked over her drink.

“
Hallie!” She chuckled nervously and clutched her chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Maybe the better question is what are you doing here?” I said.

She picked up her glass and tried to soak up the spilled liquid with her cocktail napkin. She was avoiding my gaze.

“Why did you come to this bar with them?
Why are you in a vampire bar?” I asked.

Nicolas and I stood in front of her, staring down
, waiting for an answer. She shook her head as if she didn’t want to answer.

“You know I won’t let you get by without giving me an answer and don’t even think about lying to me,” I said.

“Okay,” she said, holding her hands up. “Giovanni said he was going to be the new leader of the Underworld and that I should help him. He said that he would give me a special position in the Underworld. We came to meet a vampire Giovanni knows, but he never showed up.”

I glared at her. “I should have known.”

“I’m sorry, Hallie. But I really wanted the new job,” she said.

“You think he was going to really give you some
great position with the Underworld? The man is a liar.”

She shrugged as if to say she wasn’t so sure he was lying.

“Where did they go?” I demanded.

“They were headed to another bar, but I don’t know which one,” she said.

I glared at her. “I swear if you are lying to me, you will be sorry.”

“I swear,
Hallie, I don’t know which bar they were going to. I know it was a witches’ bar here in New Orleans,” she said.

I studied her face to see if she was really lying to me. I wasn’t sure if I was a good judge of character, but it seemed as if she was being honest for a change.

“We have to find out where Giovanni went,” Nicolas said. “Misty, you’re coming with us.”

She stood without protest and we followed as she walked through the crowd. I wasn’t about to let her get out of my sight now. I figured she’d take off running the first chance she got.
I’d give her one more chance to tell me what she knew.

“Misty, now that I’m the leader I don’t think you
should keep anything from me. If you know where they went now is the time to be completely honest,” I said.

She looked over at me with apprehension in her eyes. Finally, she said, “They went to Spells and Spirits.”

“Thank you.” I knew she hadn’t wanted to give me the name, but now wasn’t the time for her games.

We made our way through the crowd and finally spotted
Kelley and Liam. They were at the front of the bar, talking with a group of men. Liam was gesturing around the bar. It didn’t look as if this was a friendly confrontation. Before we approached the men turned around and walked out the door.

When I approached Liam I asked, “What was that all about?”

Liam shrugged. “They were just drunk, that’s all. They told us to get out of the bar.”

Kelley
attempted a smile, but I felt like they were keeping something from me, as if something was wrong. I didn’t have time to debate it now though. Liam looked at Misty and she had to know he wasn’t happy with her either.

“I see you found Misty,” Liam said.

I glanced over at her. “She was with Giovanni and Kevin, but before we could get there they took off. She claims they were headed to some bar named Spells and Spirits. I have no idea where that is.”

“I know where it is. Let’s go.” Liam headed toward the door and we followed. Did he know where every bar was? I made Misty walk in front of us.

As we walked outside into the warm fall air, Misty glanced back at me. “Who is the girl with Liam and what’s with her clothes?” Misty asked.

There was no way I wanted to tell her that I’d brought Misty back from the 1980s. “I think she’s a friend of Liam’s,” I said as I quickened my steps.

“You
think?”
Misty frowned as she matched my pace.

“Okay, yes, she is,” I said, not looking over at Misty.

“She looks very familiar,” Misty said. “I know her from somewhere. Where’s she from?”

I glanced over at her. There was no way she could know her, right? “I’m not sure where she’s from,” I said quickly.

Misty quirked an eyebrow. “I’m shocked that you haven’t asked a million questions about her. Are they dating?”

My stomach did a flip at the mention. “Um, no, I don’t think they are, but I don’t know.”

“She’d be pretty if only she wasn’t wearing that clothing. Does she have a thing for Eighties? Madonna?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s it,” I said quickly.

“Well, I don’t know where I know her from, but it’ll come to me eventually. I never forget a face,” she said.

When we finally reached the car I realized it was going to be a tight fit. Liam and
Kelley sat in the front again. I was stuck in the backseat between Nicolas and Misty. Her strong floral perfume was already giving me a headache. A little went a long way. We were stuffed into the car so tightly that I wondered if we’d ever get out.

Misty leaned forward in the seat. Oh no, she was going to start asking
Kelley questions. Why couldn’t she just let it go? Didn’t she have enough to worry about? Like me possibly stripping her of her coven leader status?

“Excuse me.” She tapped
Kelley on the shoulder. Kelley looked back with a confused stare. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Misty asked.

Couldn’t Liam turn up the music or something?

“Probably not. I just got here,” Kelley said. Oh, thank goodness she didn’t tell on me.

“Where are you from?” Misty pushed for more details.

“I’m from Enchantment Pointe,” Kelley said.

Misty frowned. “Then why don’t I know you?”

“That’s because I just came back after a very long time away,” Kelley said.

Misty seemed to ponder this for a moment. Finally, she leaned back in her seat. I hoped that she’d finally let it go. But I knew by the look on her face that she’d probably approach the topic again.