Page 44 of Langiappe & Lost Legends

Their bodies flickered between states of matter. Energy crackled around them like corrupted lightning. The crystal's power had given them physical form in our time. They weren't pretty. Imagine if abstract expressionism had a baby with a behemoth demon turned inside out, then dressed it in black robes. Actually, don't imagine that. You'll sleep better.

"Incoming!" Dre shouted. “Or maybe not. I don’t think they can manifest here yet.” It did look like they were having problems breaching our wards. Sometimes.

"They're manifesting all over the Quarter!" Dani shouted as she looked up from her phone.

The second she issued the warning, my phone started blowing up with alerts from our supernatural network. Word was spreading faster than a gossip chain at a church social. The crystal's chaos was growing. And parts of the city were already being evacuated. Trying to evacuate New Orleans during a supernatural crisis was like trying to herd cats. Drunk ones, with strong opinions about where they wanted to be.

"The crystal's drain is also affecting our magic," Phi reported as her scientific equipment sparked ominously. "It's like they're using it as a power source for their manifestation."

She wasn't kidding. I could feel my magic flickering like a bad WiFi connection. All our powers were going spotty. That was exactly what you don't want when facing interdimensional horrors with a grudge. "The city's supernatural task force is mobilizing," a new voice announced. Terrence strode onto our property like he owned it, his supernatural police force fell into formation behind him. They looked professional and capable. It was a nice change from our usual ‘making it up as we go along’ approach.

"Nice of you to join us," I said as I dodged another Legend that materialized nearby. "We were just discussing how we could sacrifice ourselves to stop this bullshit."

"We've got their location," Phi announced suddenly. Her detection equipment was having what looked like a small seizure. "The ritual site is in the old Ursuline Convent. They've converted the entire building into some kind of temporal amplification chamber."

"Of course they have," I muttered. "Why use a nice, accessible location when you can set up shop in a historical landmark with terrible parking?"

Dre snorted and gestured to Terrence. “Get out to the French Quarter and start helping with mundie memories. You’ll need to erase any evidence they have captured of the disturbances.”

Terrence nodded as Lucas appeared at my side. My mate looked way too attractive for someone who'd just fought his way through temporal chaos. "Ricky reported the evacuation of the area is not going well," he informed us. "People are either refusing to leave or getting lost in eddies."

"Temporal eddies?" Terrence asked sharply.

"Yeah, you know, those fun little time loops where you keep experiencing the same five minutes over and over? We thought we’d stopped them, but they're popping up all over again. "

"We’re going to stop this at the source," Dani said. "We need to get to that ritual site and end this before they fully corrupt the crystal while you guys handle the rest."

“We can handle that,” Terrence agreed.

“I’ll stay and hold down the fort with the shifters here,” Steve offered as we headed for the parking lot.

The exodus from the plantation happened in waves of controlled chaos. Lucas and Noah peeled away first. Their headlights cut through the darkness as they disappeared down the winding road. Me and my sisters moved as one unit. Our months of responding to crises were evident in our swift exodus. Terrence and his men brought up the rear. Their tactical precision was a stark contrast to the supernatural elements at play.

The rendezvous point in the pack parking lot located in the French Quarter was a patchwork of shadows and streetlights. Engines idled, voices were kept low, and the air thrummed with anticipation as everyone regrouped. Despite the late hour, the distant sounds of Bourbon Street's revelry provided an oddly fitting backdrop to our war council.

"We're going to stop this at the source," Dani said. "We need to get to that ritual site and end this before they fully corrupt the crystal while you guys handle the rest."

That's when everything went sideways. More sideways. Look, at this point we were operating on so many different angles of sideways that geometry was getting confused. A massive reality tear opened right in our midst. Before anyone could react, something lashed out like a whip and wrapped around Dea. She had just enough time to shout "Oh shi—" before being yanked through the rift.

"DEA!" we all screamed in unison. The tear was already closing. The loss of her hit us like a physical blow. Our sister-bond screamed in protest. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest at the same time something squeezed it tightly.

Our heads were on a swivel as we searched for any sign of her. “There,” Terrence yelled as he pointed to a rift right over his shoulder. Dea had been taken to the ritual site. The Lost Legends were using the crystal's corrupted power to hold her in some kind of stasis field. The sight made my blood boil. Nobody messed with my family. Nobody.

"They're using her connection to the crystal," Phi realized in a voice that was tight with fear and anger. "They needed one of us to complete their manifestation."

"Over my dead body," I snarled, already moving toward the Ursuline Convent.

"Lia, wait," Lucas caught my arm. "We need a plan. Running in there half-cocked?—"

"Is exactly what they'll expect," I finished. "We're going to do it anyway. With style. And possibly excessive property damage. We cannot leave Dea."

"They’ll have backup," Terrence added. His men were waiting for an order. "We'll set up a perimeter around the convent and try to contain whatever temporal chaos they're generating."

My remaining sisters gathered around me. Our magic might be flickering, but our determination was stronger than ever.Everything we'd just learned from the plantation guardians about real power and willing sacrifice was a lot to take in. We watched the Lost Legends force our sister's connection. It made me want to introduce them to some very creative uses of my magic.

"They want to use our connection to the crystal?" Dani said as her magic crackled around her like a sparkler. "Let's show them exactly what that connection can do."

"With extreme prejudice," Kota added grimly.

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