Page 13 of Mardi Gras Murders & Midnight Masquerades
The antique clock in the hallway struck midnight, its chimes echoing through the plantation like ghostly footsteps. The sound mixed with the whisper of turning pages as Phi frantically documented everything from Mary Alice's warnings. Outside, Lucas had the pack patrolled in ever-tightening circles. Their unease was evident in their movements.
"How did they get so close?" Kota asked for the hundredth time. Her dragon was making her eyes glitter in the lamplight. That was new. Hopefully, it was just because she was frightened. She was the one of us who had the best control of her beast. "The wards should have at least given us some warning."
"That's what worries me," I replied as I watched another pair of wolves pass the library window. "Whatever magic they're using isn't a straightforward masking spell."
"Which is exactly why we need to start testing security measures against these void spaces." Dre said as she planted her hands on the library table. That familiar intensity blazed in her eyes. It was the look that meant she was shifting into biggest-sestra mode. "If the Society can create these dead spots at will, we should assume our standard wards won't be enough for the masquerade."
"Or for protecting the plantation," Lia added, her fingers drumming an anxious rhythm on the table. "They're testing our defenses, looking for weaknesses. We should try to combine Fae runes with a masking enchantment to see if we can approximate what they are doing."
"That's not a bad idea. It won't be as layered, but it will be more than trying it with witchcraft alone," I said as I considered what we would need. We had a house at the back of the property that was our 'magical kitchen' but we kept some ingredients in the main house so we didn't have to trek back there every time we needed something. I think we had everything we would need to cast a combination masking spell. "The energy here is familiar enough that we should notice any anomalies while testing."
Cami looked up from Mary Alice's grimoire. Her dark curls were wild from running her hands through them. "Mother's notes mention something about detection spells specifically keyed to void magic. But the pages are..." She trailed off, frowning at the text. "The words are rearranging themselves again."
"The grimoire's trying to tell us something," Phi suggested as she moved to peer over Cami's shoulder. "Look at how the symbols are shifting. They're forming new patterns."
There was no time for the damn book toget around to telling us what it had to say. I pulled out a piece of black tourmaline, watching its surface gleam like oil in the lamplight. Hopefully, the crystal could stabilize the shifting symbols in Cami's grimoire long enough to decipher their meaning. Theoretically, it could act as an anchor, holding the magical energy steady so we could read the ancient warnings the tome was trying to share.
"If we can figure out how they're creating these dead spots, we might be able to—" The words died in my throat as pain lanced through my chest. Looking up, I noticed it had hit all of us simultaneously. My sisters gasped as our magic flared without warning. The sensation was like hitting an invisible wall at full speed. The tourmaline crystal in my hand shattered, and the razor-sharp shards scattered across the hardwood floor. I tried to move to the window to see what had caused this and stumbled. As did each of my sisters. I caught myself on the edge of the table.
"Dani!" Noah was at my side instantly. His hands landed on my shoulders as his wolf stirred closer to the surface, amber bleeding into his eyes. "What's going on?"
"Something hit our magic," I gasped out.
"Are you all okay?" Dre called out. Her voice was as strained as mine. She steadied Phi who had gone pale. Kota reached for Dea's hand while Lucas had his arm around Lia. We were all fighting against the same crushing pressure.
Lucas's head snapped up at the sound of howls splitting the night. The sound made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Noah growled, his eyes flashing amber as he moved closer to me.
"They found something," Lucas said as he sprinted for the door. We followed him out into the humid night air where Kai stood waiting, naked and breathing hard. He had clearly just shifted back to human form. I averted my gaze. I still wasn't used to the casual nudity of shifters.
"Alpha," Kai said urgently. "We found a ritual circle in the northwestern corner near the old slave quarters. It's fresh."
"What kind of circle?" Dre demanded as Lucas took off in that direction. The rest of us hurried to keep up.
"Never seen anything like it," Kai replied, falling into step beside us. "The trees around it beginning to change. The pixies will need to stop that."
"Change how?" Lia asked in a voice tight with concern.
"They're twisted," Kai explained as we moved through the darkness. "And bending into unnatural shapes."
The scent of ozone and burnt rosemary grew stronger with each step. It made my alarm bells spike and my magic crackle. My breath caught when we reached the location. Spanish moss hung in black curtains from twisted branches. It dripped with an oily substance that sizzled when it hit the ground.
"By the goddess," Phi whispered as we arrived. The trees had been warped into impossible shapes, their branches bent and contorted like fingers of some ancient hand reaching for the stars. What should have been natural growth had been corrupted into dark sigils – perversions of protection runes that made my magical senses recoil.
At the center of this grotesque display, a ritual circle had been carved into the earth itself. The soil around the markings was scorched black. Something that looked disturbingly like molten gold filled the deepest grooves. Dark energy pulsed from the symbols in a rhythm that reminded me of a heartbeat.
"Don't touch anything," I warned as Phi moved to photograph the scene. "These marks feel hungry."
"This is wrong," Kota whispered, her eyes glowing brighter as her dragon moved even closer to the surface. "The energy almost feels like they're trying to punch a hole throughreality."
"Not trying," Dre corrected grimly. "Succeeding. Look at the trees. That's what is causing this spot to warp."
Lucas emerged from the shadows, holding a piece of ancient parchment. "Found this in the center." We all moved closer and peered at the document. The edge of a blueprint was visible, along with the date 1924. My breath caught in my throat.
My phone buzzed before I could examine it closer. It was a text from Puich. “Sixth victim found. Napoleon and St. Charles intersection. It appears connected to the other cases.”
"Another one?" Dre muttered, reading over my shoulder. "Already?"
"And right on the parade route," Phi added as she tapped a map on her tablet. Her fingers flew across the screen as multiple windows opened. "Wait... this could be connected to a series of artifacts that vanished from the Presbytère in 1924."
