Page 20 of Mardi Gras Murders & Midnight Masquerades
"It's a ward-eater," Kaitlyn explained grimly. "It's meant to systematically break down magical protections by absorbing them. This is a supernatural black hole. If you'd brought this into the plantation without containing it..."
“And not only that,” Adèle cut in as she began pacing along her shelf. “The standard null-sphere containment won't hold it indefinitely. This thing was crafted to adapt, to learn from the magic it consumes. Each ward it breaks makes it stronger, more capable of breaking the next.”
"Our wards would have been toast," Dea murmured with horror etched into every line of her face. "We weren’t wrong about them playing us."
"Clever bastards," I growled. "They knew we'd grab it once we found it. Probably hoped we'd rush it home without checking it first."
"The Society clearly has experience dealing with witch defenses," Kaitlyn confirmed. "This thing could have dismantled centuries of accumulated protections in hours. And look at these markings - they're calibrated specifically to target family magic first. They know exactly what they're doing."
“Or their magic does. Press your hand to the mask, Kaitlyn,”Adèle projected, her mental voice tight with concern.“Look at the way the runes shift when they touch the family magic in your ring. There is no way they discovered the secrets to your specific line. Someone taught them secrets that were supposed to belost to time. They have the kind of knowledge that was purposefully destroyed to prevent exactly this type of weapon.”
"So, what's our next move?" Kota asked. "We can't just wait for them to try again. Do we destroy the mask?"
“We will need to find a safe way to destroy it,” Adèle pointed out.
“We need to find out if we can use it to find their true lair,” Dre interjected. “Perhaps Adèle and Kaitlyn can do some research on those things while we find a way to stop the killer or killers."
I considered our options, running through what we knew. "We need to get ahead of them somehow. Figure out their endgame before the masquerade." A thought struck me. "The parade routes. They changed them this year, remember? What if we check the modified sections?"
“The old routes weren't random,” Adèle added. “They followed paths of power laid down by the city's founding families. To change them now means someone would need intimate knowledge of how those energy lines have shifted.”
"The timing of those changes was convenient," Phi noted, checking something on her phone. "Every single modification was approved without question, despite some of them breaking decades of tradition."
"Then we investigate the new routes. Kaitlyn, can you hold things down here?" Dre asked.
"No problem. The mask isn't going anywhere," Kaitlyn assured us before passing out small amethyst pendants thrumming with magic. "These are for protection and they’re also linked to a monitoring spell. They'll heat up and vibrate if there is so much as a shift in the magical resonance."
“Keep them against your skin,” Adèle advised. “The resonance needs direct contact to work properly. And Dre? That means wearing it, not stuffing it in your pocket likelast time.”
"Thanks," Dre replied. "Keep your guard up. The Society's proven they're not above a direct attack."
“Let them try,” Adèle's mental voice carried a predatory edge that reminded us all that beneath her small form lay centuries of magical evolution designed specifically for protecting witches. “Our wards aren't down. And we have powerful allies."
"Don't worry about me," Kaitlyn smirked as she put a hand on her bag. "I’m packing enough punch to level a city block. Anyone tries anything, they'll regret it."
“If there's anything left after I'm done with them,” Adèle added with a smile that showed far too many teeth.
We left Kaitlyn and Adèle to their work and made our way from the workshop and across the plantation's sprawling grounds to my car. The night air hung heavy with jasmine and magnolia. The old cypress trees whispered above us and the branches swayed in the wind.
Lucas, Noah, and Jeff joined us. They were all unwilling to let us face potential danger alone. The drive into the city gave us time to strategize our route through the modified parade paths. We were ready by the time we parked in the pack’s lot. My sisters and I walked to the edge of the parking lot while Lucas updated Ricky.
The French Quarter loomed ahead. Its wrought iron balconies were silhouetted against the night sky like intricate spell work. Even at this hour, the Quarter pulsed with life. Both mundane and magical. Few tourists recognized the shimmer of protection spells woven through the historic architecture. Or even how certain street musicians played melodies that were actually wards in disguise.
Lucas clasped my hand while I was pondering how fragile it all was, and we headed out. My sisters and I kept our magical senses open for anomalies. The humid air surrounded us like a wet blanket. Music drifted from deeperin the Quarter, accompanied by drunken laughter. The normality felt surreal after what we'd discovered.
"It’s hard to believe these people have no idea what's happening right under their noses," Dre muttered as we passed tourists clutching hurricane glasses. “And we used to be just like them.”
"It's for the best when you don’t have magic," I replied as I looked for traces of the Society's power. "All knowing would do is make them worry. Now, let's find what we're looking for."
The first modified section was on St. Charles Avenue, where the streetcar line intersected with parade routes. Usually, this stretch hummed with the gentle background magic of New Orleans. But as we approached, something felt fundamentally wrong.
Lucas and Noah baring their teeth alerted me a few seconds before the metallic tang of blood magic filled my mouth. The vile stench triggered my gag reflex. Underneath that lay the hollow cold of nothing. Their void spell at its best. It created a nauseating combination that made my vision swim.
"They’ve mixed blood magic with void," I choked out, grateful for Lucas's steady hand. "They've been busy."
Kota's eyes narrowed, wisps of steam escaping her nostrils as her dragon rose closer to the surface. "The corruption goes deep and is spreading."
"And there is confirmation the modifications aren't random," Phi observed. "Each change forces the parades to cross major ley lines at specific angles. They’re perfect channeling points. We need to mark where we’ve already had victims to see if we can predict their next move."
