Page 8 of Langiappe & Lost Legends

"You should've woken me," I'd told him. In response, he'd pulled me closer and mumbled something about how at least one of us should be functional in the morning.

I watched as Lia crushed another can of Monster, tossing it into the recycling with deadly accuracy. That made two this morning, and we weren't even past breakfast. Given the amount our family consumed, we should seriously consider investingin the company. They'd probably build us a wing of their headquarters.

Lia was slouched in one of the kitchen chairs, looking like she'd gone ten rounds with a demon. Which, knowing her, wasn't entirely out of the question. The shadows under her eyes told the story of her night better than words could. She and Lucas had been out checking the wards again. Those finicky bastards were a special kind of headache, given that we had to keep them tourist-friendly. Sure, we'd finally figured out how to flip them on and off like some mystical light switch. These Lost Legend disturbances? That was some next-level weirdness we hadn't dealt with before.

I hadn't even known she'd gone ward-walking until I stumbled over for coffee this morning. Taking on the weight of the world without a word was classic Lia. Old habits died hard, I guess. She'd spent years doing everything solo after losing her first husband. She’d raised her kids with nothing but grit and determination. Some patterns stick with you, no matter how much backup you've got now.

Watching her demolish a protein bar with the same intensity she'd shown the energy drinks, I made a mental note to talk to Lucas about her midnight ward-checking adventures. Maybe we could work out a better system. One that didn't involve my sister mainlining caffeine like it was going out of style.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out to see a message from Steve. "Just had another call. Ghost in a top hat trying to conduct traffic on Canal Street. Cars are actually following his directions. Should I be worried?"

"Depends," I typed back. "Is traffic moving better or worse than usual?"

"Actually... better. Think we could hire him permanently?"

I snorted into my coffee. Between the exhaustion and the absurdity of the situation, everything was starting to feel alittle surreal. Then again, this was New Orleans. Surreal was our baseline. The doorbell chimed making both Lia and I jolt. “Damn,” Lia muttered as Dani stuck her head in the doorway and said, “They’re here.”

I extended my hand to Lia. “Shall we meet the Light Fae couple?” They were coming to discuss their engagement party. Sometimes I wondered if the universe just liked to pile everything on at once for shits and giggles.

“Yeah, we need to get this over with and find Céleste,” she replied as she let me help her up.

We made it to the entryway where Dani was greeting the couple. "You must be Penelope," Dani said. She had her professional party planner smile on. It was the one that said, 'I can handle anything you throw at me, even if you're literally throwing fairy dust.' Which, knowing Light Fae celebrations, wasn't entirely out of the question.

I watched from my position by the parlor door as the couple practically floated in. They moved with such grace I wondered how they hid their supernatural origins. Light Fae and gravity must have more of an open relationship than actual commitment to each other. The couple was the picture of ethereal perfection, which seemed unfair given how many of us were running on fumes and prayer.

"Please, call me Peni!" The fairy looked like she'd stepped out of a magazine shoot for ‘Perfect Magical Beings Weekly’. Her silver-blonde hair caught the morning light in ways that probably violated several laws of physics. "We're so excited you agreed to do our celebration. It’s the biggest honor of my life."

"Despite the short notice," Jasper added smoothly before producing a bottle of what looked like expensive wine. "This is a token of our appreciation."

That was nice of him, but it didn’t mitigate the inconvenient timing. I fingered the card in my pocket, the one Margarethad given us yesterday. It was definitely getting warmer by the minute. I swear it was trying to tell us to hurry up already. But first, we had to get through this meeting. Business before potential reality-ending disasters, as our bank account always reminded us.

My phone buzzed again. I glanced down to see another text from Steve. "The Ghost conductor has started a flash mob. The entire intersection is doing the Charleston. Send help."

I bit back a laugh and typed, "Sorry, babe. Stuck in Fae party planning hell. Your ghost conductor is probably less dangerous than their color scheme suggestions."

Penelope pulled out a planning binder thick enough to stop bullets. "Well, we've already secured NOLA Creole Catering. Harriet was absolutely lovely about fitting us in on short notice. But for the overall theme, I was thinking celestial elegance meets fairy romance."

"With floating lanterns," Jasper added quickly. "Like the ones you did for the Djinn welcome party. But perhaps with more of a star-like quality?"

I could practically hear Lia's eyeballs scraping against her skull as she rolled them at me. Somehow - and I swear this woman had ninja skills when it came to caffeine acquisition - she'd materialized another can of liquid heart attack. Some sister I was. I’d gotten distracted enough to miss her little procurement mission.Note to self: Text Lucas ASAP before she goes full vibrating chihuahua on us again.

Thank every deity in the cosmic phonebook that our magical DNA awakening came with some sweet physical perks. Without that supernatural constitution upgrade, Lia would probably be having a seizure right about now. Or, you know, straight-up dying from caffeine poisoning. Modern medicine would have a field day trying to explain that one.

I snatched the can from her hand before she could pop the tab, ignoring her death glare. ‘Nope. Not today, Satan’, I sent back with my eyes.

"The lanterns won't be a problem," Dani assured the couple while simultaneously sending a text under the table. She was probably updating Noah on the latest supernatural shenanigans. Or arranging for someone to help with the lanterns, you never knew with her. "We can incorporate actual starlight into the enchantment. We'll need to account for the phase of the moon so it doesn’t outshine our efforts."

I tuned out most of the conversation. My focus was split between the increasing desire to get to the real task of the day and the stream of texts from Steve about the escalating situation across the city. There were three more ghost sightings in the last hour alone. They weren't your typical lost soul wandering around Jackson Square, either. These ghosts were organizing flash mobs and critiquing tourist fashion choices. In French.

"And of course," Penelope was saying, "we'll need to consider the lighting requirements for different species. The Shadow Fae delegation gets so touchy about excess illumination." Shadow Fae? Were the Fae now acknowledging not everyone was created equal? That either the Light or Dark Fae could fall somewhere in between? It would be huge progress if that were the case.

My phone buzzed with another message from Steve. "Just had to talk down a Revolutionary War ghost who was trying to challenge a parking meter to a duel. This is getting weird."

I typed back, "Weirder than last night's zombie jazz band?"

"Way weirder. The parking meter was winning." Steve fired back before going silent.

After what felt like an eternity of discussing fairy light placement and magical flower arrangements; this included a fifteen-minute debate about moon-blooming nightshade. Specifically if it was too Dark Fae for a Light Fae celebration;we finally saw the couple out. Penelope left behind her binder. I know the ominous presence was prodding Dani to get to work so I pulled out the card from Margaret.

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