Page 5 of Wicked Love
“Um, yes,” I said. Talia was my mentor, the one who brought me into the library, who showed me the way to work within our coven, the library, the rules, everything. She’d been the one who helped me make the transition to an active member in our coven. She was like a mother to me. Which made this all the more difficult.
“Was there anything else?” Melasina stood up.
I finished typing my notes, and then closed the laptop as I got up. “Do you have any idea if there was someone who worked with your mother before she left? Any ideas, any at all?”
Her face closed as her eyes narrowed, which gave me a pang. That made no sense—I’d just met her. Why did I care that she didn’t like me? “No, Jasper, I don’t. I don’t know why you’d think I would. Like I couldn’t learn from what happened to my mother? Like I’d risk my life?” She shook her head. “You people at the library are supposed to know history. Maybe learn some. I’m just a plain old witch, not a trained librarian, and even I know that necromancy isn’t the way to go.” Melasina stood and walked to the door and opened it.
I admired her long legs and graceful form. Lust nearly overtook me again.
But Melasina’s intention was clear. She was done with the discussion. Normally, I didn’t find myself at a loss for words, but right now, I didn’t know what to say. I had no more reason to hang around.
“Thank you for your time,” I said. I stood up. I had more that I wanted to say, that I wanted to talk about, but what was it? My head felt muddled, my thoughts scattered.
“Of course. I’m law and order all the way,” Melasina said sarcastically.
The door shut behind me with a click, and I found myself on her porch. Wishing that I was still inside. “What just happened?” I asked myself, turning around to see her front door. “I wasn’t done.” I looked at the closed door. “I wasn’t done.”
Despite my words, my feet moved down of the little porch, taking me toward my car.
Chapter Three
Melasina
Ishould be frightened. The coven leadership—well, let’s be honest. The coven law enforcement, which was what the librarians were—had already noticed the graves. And here I was with two bodies and a mouthy skull in my back shed.
Shit.
How had this happened? I waited to make sure that Jasper Thibodeaux—who, by the way, was the hottest guy I’d seen in ages, damn it—got into his car. He walked slowly, the effects of my spell, no doubt. As soon as he’d mentioned my mom, I told him what I knew, and cast a ‘get the hell out’ spell on him. It had all but moved him out the door. Finally, he started the car and drove away. Thank Goddess. Once I saw his car turn the corner, away from me, I sped back to the laundry shed.
“How did you get here?” I asked Zelda the skull.
“You brought me. How else would I get here?”
“Oh sweet Goddess. How did I manage that? You’re normally in the crypt at Magnolia House!” The thought scared the living daylights out of me. If anyone discovered this, I’d be out of New Orleans, and my coven, and the entire world of witches so fast I wouldn’t know what hit me. I’d never live freely again.
“You know, it would lovely if you’d fix me,” Zelda remarked.
“Fix you how?” I was struggling with the fact that I was chatting away with a box of bones.
“I’m tilted and it makes it hard to see what’s going on,” Zelda said. “Just reach in and set my head upright.”
“You can see?”
“Well, not with my skull, no,” Zelda said as though I were a slow child. “But my spirit has been kept with my bones. So you may address my skull as though I were there before you.”
“I may address you? Well thank you,” I said, unable to hide the sarcasm in my voice.
“Don’t take a tone with me, young lady!” Zelda squawked. “Nice shellwork with that young man, by the by.”
“I’m not taking a tone, and thanks for the compliment,” I sighed, tired already. It wasn’t even nine in the morning, and I felt like I’d already run a marathon. “How in the hell am I going to get these bodies out of here?”
“Same way they came in.”
“I have no idea how they came in,” I snapped. “I don’t remember bringing you here, and I can’t imagine that you were quiet.”
Zelda didn’t respond immediately. Then the she said, “No, I was actually watching to see what was happening. I could tell you were not entirely yourself, and I couldn’t see that you meant me any harm, so I waited, and watched.”
“And what do you think now?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
