Page 42 of Mardi Gras Murders & Midnight Masquerades
"I shouldn’t be surprised the Twisted Sisters stumbling upon this secret," she said, appraising us with ancient eyes.
"Who are you?" I demanded, my dragon stirring beneath my skin.
"I am Eliara. And I've been watching this situation unfold since before your grandmother's grandmother was born."
"Are you working with the mage?" Dani asked suspiciously.
Eliara laughed like wind chimes. "Child, I've been monitoring him, not helping him. The Fae remember when Armand Delacroix first arrived in New Orleans with ambitions of godhood."
"Armand Delacroix," I repeated. "That's his original identity?"
"One of many he's worn over centuries," she confirmed. "He began as a talented mage. He quickly became hungry for immortality. When conventional magic proved insufficient, he turned to darker arts."
"He steals power and kicks souls out of their bodies so he can inhabit them and use magic to heal his body," Lia said.
"Indeed. But each transfer fragments the soul until nothing remains to transfer. Unless..."
"Unless he finds true immortality," I finished. "That’s what he hopes to do at our masquerade."
"Precisely,’ Eliara agreed. “He founded the Society of the Masked as both a power source and scapegoat. They believe they serve a noble purpose, but they're merely batteries for his ambitions."
Adèle inspected crystal vials on a shelf. "These contain pieces of trapped spirits."
"Are they the murder victims?" Dani asked.
"They are. Each taught him what he didn’t need. It also allowed him to refine his technique as he searched for perfect vessels."
"Us," I said flatly.
"Not you specifically," Eliara clarified. "Six witches with your power combination. The prophecy speaks of six flames burning as one. Six vessels to contain power beyond mortal comprehension. I never thought he would find such a combination. Before you six, I would have said it was impossible for six to be like one." That’s because no one was like the Six Twisted Sisters.
"Why are you here if you’ve just been watching?" Lia asked angrily.
Eliara's eyes flashed. "I had hoped to provide information to those who might actagainst him."
"You expect us to stop him," I challenged.
Eliara tilted her head to the side and looked at me as if to say she wasn’t the one he was going to drain. "If Delacroix completes his ritual,” she explained, “he'll tear open the barrier between worlds. The death toll would be catastrophic."
"What did you come to tell us?” Dani asked. So far, she had not given us anything we didn’t already know.
"He's prepared for centuries, manipulating parade routes, influencing city planning, positioning pawns throughout New Orleans," she replied.
"My husband found evidence of that already," I told her.
"The ritual requires specific geometric patterns," Eliara persisted. "Power must flow along precise lines, converging at the masquerade for the final transformation."
“Which is why he adjusted the parade route repeatedly,” Lia confirmed.
Adèle was studying a dusty tome and suddenly projected, "There's a weakness in his design. The shadow hounds are linked to focal points in his ritual network."
"We could disrupt the entire system if we take out those points," I added.
"It would require precise timing and considerable power," Adèle cautioned. "But yes, the network could be overloaded at those junctions."
Footsteps interrupted us as Dre, Phi, and Dea arrived. "What did we miss?" Dre asked.
"Only our murderous mage is Armand Delacroix, Society founder and would-be god," I replied and then introduced the Fae woman.
