Page 28 of Mardi Gras Murders & Midnight Masquerades
I checked my phone. There were no new messages. However, the network signal was suspiciously weak. "Communications are being disrupted. This feels like a trap."
"Should we wait?" Jeff asked, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
I closed my eyes and reached out with my witch senses. The magical currents around the warehouse felt distorted and corrupted. "No. If my sisters are walking into something, we need to be there."
Jeff nodded. His jaw was set with determination as he reached into the glove compartment and removed a handgun. He checked the clip before tucking it into his waistband. "Backup," he explained with a grim smile before patting the protective charm already hanging around his neck. "Your magic is good, but I like having options."
For a moment, I considered suggesting he stay in the car, away from whatever waited for us inside. But I knew better. The car wasn't necessarily safer, and having him beside me felt better. If things went sideways, I could shift and protect us both. There were benefits to having a dragon in the family, after all.
I touched my own protective charm, feeling its subtle warmth against my skin as we stepped out into the storm. Rain immediately soaked us as we darted toward the warehouse's side entrance. Jeff's security badge granted us access to a dimly lit corridor stacked with float components. The smell of paint, glue, and wet cardboard filled my nostrils. Beneath it lay the metallic tang of blood. There was too much energy around us for me to get a read on whether or not it was blood magic. I was going to assume it was.
I reached into my pocket, and my fingers closed around a small chunk of black tourmaline. With a whispered word, I infused it with defensive energy. Next, I cast a spell and funneled it through the crystal, so it would keep fueling theshield against dark magic. I needed to be able to focus elsewhere while making sure the invisible bubble remained around us.
"Stay close," I whispered to Jeff. "The shield won't extend more than a few feet."
He nodded, and we continued into the main workshop floor. It was cavernous and filled with half-completed floats draped in protective tarps. Massive papier-mâché heads and carnival figures created grotesque silhouettes in the emergency lighting. The water dripping from our clothes seemed unnaturally loud in the eerie silence.
Jeff pointed to a float near the center of the room. "Look at that one." The float was smaller than the others. It was designed to resemble an ornate carousel. There were intricately carved figures—not animals, but writhing human forms—circling its central pole. Each wore a miniature mask that glinted in the dim light.
"That's not on any krewe's roster. I've never seen it before," Jeff murmured.
"Those look similar to the masks Dani described from Maurice's gallery." I shook my head and moved closer despite my instincts screaming caution.
I pulled out the Hellfire Hex and clutched the vial in my hand, just in case. Adèle had suggested the potion for a reason, and I wanted to be ready. The iridescent crimson liquid seemed to pulse within its glass container, responding to the nearby magic. If someone activated the matrix, this disruption potion could collapse the channeled energy back on the caster—exactly what we might need.
As we approached, I noticed sigils carved into the float's wooden base. They pulsed with suppressed power. "Those are Society markings," I confirmed when I crouched to examine them more closely. "What's this?"
Carefully, I brushed my fingers across thesymbols and sensed layered magic. "There's another set of sigils beneath these." I focused my magical senses on them. "If I'm not mistaken, they're siphoning energy from the Society's own collection system."
"Someone's using the Society as a magical power plant without them realizing it," Jeff concluded.
A slow clap echoed through the warehouse. The sound bounced eerily off the high ceiling. "Clever witch. So much quicker than your predecessors."
We spun to find a figure emerging from behind a nearby float. The familiar form of Kassandra from the council approached. Her pink moo-moo was incongruous against the industrial backdrop. There was a solemn intensity about the gargoyle leader.
"Kassandra," I acknowledged, subtly preparing a spell that would incapacitate her in case I needed to cast it quickly. I also tightened my grip on the Hellfire Hex, ready to uncork it if needed. "I saw you at the Society gathering. Are you working with them or against them?"
Her laugh held no humor. "Neither. Both. It's complicated." She glanced nervously around the warehouse. "We don't have much time. I came to warn you."
"Warn us about what?" Jeff asked.
"The Society isn't what you think it is," she replied, moving closer. "I joined for protection after what I saw beneath the city. Something ancient that's been feeding on New Orleans for centuries. The Society fears it and thinks it has control. They don’t."
"The murders," I blurted as realization dawned on me. "Whatever is down there is killing the innocents."
Kassandra nodded vigorously. "The Society collects power, yes, but through willing participants. These killings are something else—something that's been manipulating the Society since its founding."
"What?" I demanded. "What is really behind this?"
A crash from the far end of the warehouse cut off her response. Kassandra's eyes widened with fear. "They're here. I've stayed too long." She pressed a small object into my hand. It was a gargoyle charm carved from stone. "For protection. Now go!"
"Kassandra, wait!" I called, but she was already disappearing between the floats.
"We need to move," Jeff urged as he tugged me toward another exit.
We'd barely taken three steps when a wave of frigid energy swept through the warehouse. It extinguished the emergency lights. The darkness that enveloped us was broken only by occasional flashes of lightning through the high windows. I quickly manifested a small ball of my witch fire and cupped it in my palm to minimize its visibility while providing enough illumination for us to navigate. The soft pink glow cast shadows across the warehouse floor.
"There," Jeff whispered, pointing to a service door that was half-hidden behind some stacked chairs.
