Page 62 of Bewitched By the Voodoo King
Nervous excitement was waiting for me when I made it to the edge of the bayou. It was thick in the air, but it was hard for me to feel it, knowing that Maple was gone and there was nothing I could do about it.
There was a massive cauldron in the center of my people, and a ring of fire had been lit around it, casting golden light over the faces gathered there. Hundreds of witches stood shoulder to shoulder, their magic shimmering just beneath the surface. The smell of gumbo and potato salad lingered heavily in the air, and all I wanted to do was sink into the inviting scent of it, but I couldn’t.
Did I tell my people Maple was gone? Did I worry them with another disappearance? My eyes scanned all the witches gathering around me, and I knew what needed to be done.
“Tonight is a holy night, and I know each of you can feel your magic scratching and itching to get out. I know mine is especially restless,” My voice commanded the clearing and all of the people surrounding me. “Tonight, we take back what was always ours, this city.The wolves thought they could come in here and run the show, but they’re in for a rude awakening this night. Feast with your families, dance under the full moon, for when it is at its peak is when we take back our home for good.”
A collective cheer rang through the night. The sound swelled, echoing over the dark water of the bayou until it felt like the land itself vibrated with their voices. The fire roared higher, as if feeding on their energy, and the air shimmered with the tang of unleashed magic.
I held my hands out, letting my shadows unfurl from my palms like ribbons of smoke, twining up toward the moon. “Our ancestors are watching,” I said, my voice low but carrying. “They’ve seen the battles we’ve fought. The losses we’ve endured. And they will see us tonight—standing as one, fighting as one,winningas one.”
The coven’s power rippled outward in response, invisible but tangible, threading through the night air. It coiled around my ribs like a promise, but it couldn’t reach the hollow ache in my chest where Maple’s absence sat like a wound.
“Remember who you are. Remember who you fight for. Tonight, we claim our birthright.”
The crowd erupted again, laughter and battle cries tangling together. Music struck up somewhere to the side, a drumbeat thundering against the earth, and the dancing began.
My shadows twisted and writhed around my neck as Louis’s voice met my ears.We have a trail.
I nodded and sent the rest of my shadows with them on their journey. I would not need them now.
Because when the moon reached its highest point, I would be leading my people into battle.
But before that?—
I’d be getting my wife back.
Adelle jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow. “You should really go apologize to Maple.”
My eyes cut to her, and she stepped back, startled.
“Or you should go have a bowl of gumbo and then go speak to her. Whatever mood you’re in needs to be fixed before we march from these holy grounds.”
I gritted my teeth as I considered my words carefully. “I’m not the only one who needs to be apologizing.”
She rolled her eyes. “Duh. I’ve been looking for her all evening. I thought maybe your shadows could find her hiding place.”
I worried my bottom lip between my teeth and shook my head. “They’re going to find her, but she isn’t hiding. She was taken.”
Adelle’s eyes grew round. “Okay, we both need a bowl of gumbo and some alcohol stat.”
I could agree with her on the gumbo part, but not the alcohol. I knew some of the witches in the coven indulged on nights like these, but I wouldn’t be one of them. I needed my wits about me. I couldn’t take any chances. I needed everything on my side.
The stenchin the air only seemed to get worse the longer I was confined to the shack. I’d tried to wiggle my wrists and ankles free… I’d probably done more damage to myself than the actual bindings. I closed my eyes and fought the deep breath I wanted to suck into my nose.
Babette hadn’t returned, and not a single wolf had showed their face since. I was pretty sure, at this point, I was only here so they could get me out of the way.
I didn’t know if Rune even knew I was gone. I didn’t know if anyone did.
A shiver worked its way down my spine—not from the chill seeping through the gaps in the walls, but from the gnawing thought that maybe this was exactly what Babette wanted. To make me disappear quietly. To leave me as nothing more than a problem removed.
I shifted my weight, wincing as the coarse rope bit deeper into my skin. My fingertips were numb, but I kept flexing them, refusing to let the bindings win.
If I stayed here, I was useless. And if I was useless, then all the nights I’d spent buried in books, all the fights I’d endured to prove myself, would mean nothing.
The floor groaned with the sound of approaching footsteps, and my stomach clenched.
I forced my voice to steady. “If you’re here to kill me, you might want to hurry. This place is one good breeze away from collapsing on both of us.”
