Page 18 of Mardi Gras Murders & Midnight Masquerades
"We still have Kaitlyn's containment box," Dea suggested. "The one she gave us when Emmie-Lou found that cursed locket. It's in the store at the plantation. Lucas can bring it across the street before we cross the wards."
"Perfect," Lia said as she used the car to call her mate. "Lucas, we need Kaitlyn's containment box. The one we thought we would need when we had that situation with Emmie-Lou. Can you grab it and bring it to us? We're about to pull over by the river."
“Is it cursed? You were carrying it all throughout the tunnels,” Lucas replied.
Lia shook her head. "We aren’t concerned about that. More like it could be a Trojan Horse. We don't want to risk bringing it home uncontained."
“Good thinking. I’ll be right over,” he promised
We found a secluded spot near the water and waited. Five minutes later, Lucas's truck pulled up beside us. Even in human form, his movements held that predatory grace as he approached with the ornate box. "Here you go," he said, handing me the container. "Let’s hope it’s powerful enough. It would really suck if this is the real trap."
I studied the box's intricate sigils, watching them flicker with silvery light. Were they sensing the dark energy emanating from the mask? Kaitlyn's magic had been woven tightly throughout the object. She’d created protections that could contain almost any magical artifact. Right now, those protections were reacting strongly to whatever the Society had done to this mask.
"Dani, can you get a read on it before we lock it away?" I asked. "Might help to know what we're dealing with."
Our sister hesitated before carefully touching the mask's edge. Her face went pale and her eyes went distant for several tense seconds. We all sighed when she sucked in a breath and pulled her hand back. "It's definitely been used in rituals. Recently. But there's something else," she explained. "It's waiting for something. We definitely don't want this thing unprotected in the plantation."
"Into the box it goes then," Lia said firmly. "We can study it properly once we've had Kaitlyn check that the wards are still at full strength."
The mask seemed to resist as we placed it in the box. Energy sparked and spit as Lia forced it into the container. It was still hissing when the lid closed with a satisfying click.
"That should keep it from causing any trouble," Dre said as she added her own spell to the box. "But let's keep it in the workshop rather than the main house until we know exactly what we're dealing with."
I nodded as Lia pulled back onto the road and drove the hundred feet to Willowberry. "They showed us those tunnels for a reason. Made sure we'd find this specific artifact. We need to figure out why without falling into whatever trap they've set."
The Society was clever. Centuries of preparation had taught them patience and subtlety. While we can congratulate ourselves on destroying one small part of their operation, we still need to stop them from advancing their true plans. One thing was becoming increasingly clear. This game was far more complex than we'd imagined, and we were several moves behind. The Society had been orchestrating this for generations, and tonight's ‘victory’ might have been exactly what they wanted.
CHAPTER 7
Dahlia
My witch fire cast dancing shadows across the workshop walls as Lucas helped me place Kaitlyn's containment box on the central workbench. The familiar scents of dried wood, paint, and dust usually brought comfort. The dark energy seeping through the box was unnerving. It was supposed to contain the power in the mask, not let it through. Yet, I could sense its hunger even through the box's protections. The thing practically vibrated with dark purpose. We’d begun hanging bundles of sage and lavender to support the box and keep the magic from affecting everything around us. The bulk of the mask’s power might be cloaked, but the seepage could still affect things around it.
"The plants are reacting to it," Phi noted, reaching up to steady a swaying bunch of rosemary. "I've never seen them respond like this to a contained artifact."
Lucas's eyes narrowed as he studied the box. "The wolf in me wants to destroy that thing. Every instinct says to eliminate it." His hand unconsciously moved closer to mine. His protective nature was out in full force.
"I still can't believe how easily we got out of those tunnels," I muttered as I released his hand and started pacing the length of the workshop. The leftover adrenaline from our underground encounter made it impossible to stand still. My boots clicked against the wooden floor in an irregular rhythm that matched my scattered thoughts. "They had us surrounded. And the advantage of their growing void eating everything in sight. Yet they just... let us leave with this thing?"
"I still say they want us distracted," Dea suggested from her perch on a workbench. She was absently rolling a piece of clear quartz between her palms. "They want to keep us focused on the obvious threat while something worse sneaks up behind us."
"It’s similar to what Viktor did with the Lost Legends," Kota added as she ran her fingers down Adèle’s back. Our familiar had joined us when we returned with the mask. "He was working behind the scenes while we were busy dealing with the anomalies."
"Except Viktor was working alone," Phi countered, her fingers flying across her tablet as she updated our case notes. "The Society has had generations to perfect their strategies. Everything they do has the gods only know how many people involved in it."
Noah appeared in the doorway with a grim expression. "I just got word from Aaron. The pack picked up fresh traces along the property line. They're still watching us."
"Let them watch," Dre said as her phone pinged with an incoming message. "Kaitlyn's five minutes out. Says she's bringing something called a null-sphere. She says it can contain any magical emanations."
Adèle's ears perked up from her perch on my workbench. “A null-sphere? I wouldn't have thought of that. They were quite common during the Third Magical Renaissance,before they were banned for being too unstable. They create a complete cover for magic. Theoretically anyway.”Her tail twitched thoughtfully. “Though I'm not certain it will work as intended with this particular artifact.”
"What do you mean?" I asked as I stopped pacing.
“The mask's magic is... unusual. It's old, Dark magic. It’s also a mix of power that should not be wound together which means no one can predict how it will respond to containment methods.”Adèle moved closer to the box, though still keeping a careful distance. “See how the runes are pulsing? That's not normal behavior for corrupted artifacts. It's more like...”
"Like it's trying to establish a connection to something," Dani finished as she examined the box's sigils more closely.
“Or someone,” Adèle projected grimly. “The Society has likely found a way to maintain links with their artifacts. My ancestors' memories speak of similar techniques used during the great purges.”
