Page 65 of Mardi Gras Murders & Midnight Masquerades
Evelyn's eyelids fluttered as we disconnected the final wire. "Wake up," I said softly, touching her shoulder. "We're here to help you."
Her eyes opened slowly. They were glazed and unfocused. Recognition and fear fought for dominance in her expression. “What?” she slurred.
"Can you walk?" Dre asked as she helped her sit up.
"I think so," she nodded weakly. "They drugged me..." She didn’t say anything else and we went into rescue mode and helped her up.
Dea gasped and blurted, “Look.” She was staring at a map on the wall with red X's marking locations throughout the city, including our plantation.
"The dump sites," Phi noted. "He's activating them simultaneously."
Footsteps sounded from above. The door burst open, and Veronica appeared. Her Dark Fae features twisted withmalice as she threw out a spell. I felt our cloaking slip away. "Delacroix sees everything," she snarled. "I serve a higher purpose. The Fae will reclaim our rightful place."
"You betrayed us," I realized. "You never took Evelyn to a safehouse."
“He didn’t think I would be able to pull it off, but I fooled the esteemed Six Twisted Sisters.”
"Shit," Dre whispered. I echoed the sentiment.
Before Veronica could attack, we unleashed our magic. I tossed offensive spells at the Dark Fae. They weren’t very effective because I had to be careful not to bring the mansion down on us. Dre's telekinesis blasted through the wall, creating an escape route.
"The map!" Evelyn cried as one of our spells knocked Veronica down. "They're using it to coordinate the ritual."
I glanced back and saw Veronica regaining her footing. "We need that map!"
"Go!" Kota shouted, stepping between me and Veronica. "We'll hold her off!"
I raced to the wall as Lia and Kota engaged Veronica. The Dark Fae was unnaturally fast. She shouldn’t have been able to dodge Lia's witch-fire like that, but she did. Behind me, Phi and Dea were guiding Evelyn toward the exit.
I tore the map from the wall, revealing a small metal safe embedded in the concrete. "Dre! There's a safe here!"
Dre was beside me in an instant. "It's warded," she said, fingers hovering over the metal door. "It’s got strong protection spells."
Behind us, Veronica let out a piercing shriek as Kota landed a solid hit. She recovered quickly and slashed a knife dangerously close to Lia's face. "Hurry!" Lia called, summoning another blast of witch-fire.
Dre's hands moved with surgical precision, tracing counter-sigils over the safe's magical protections. "Shitting whore," she muttered as she worked.
"Let me help," I said, placing my hand on the dial. My psychometry revealed images of Kenneth opening the safe. His fingers moved with practiced ease. I could feel the combination through the residual impressions.
"I've got it," I whispered, turning the dial as Dre dismantled the final ward.
The safe door swung open. Inside lay a leather-bound journal emblazoned with Delacroix's personal sigil. The power coming off the thing was stronger than anything we’d felt thus far. Dre used her telekinesis to remove it and open the flap. Nestled inside it was a golden locket on a delicate chain. The locket pulsed with dark energy so potent I could feel it without touching it.
"The locket," I breathed, almost afraid to believe it. "Eleanor was right. There’s a piece of him in that. And it was with his ritual workbook."
Veronica's head snapped toward us, her eyes widening in horror. "NO!" she screamed, abandoning her fight with Kota and lunging toward us with inhuman speed. "GET AWAY FROM THAT!"
Dre reacted instantly, using her telekinesis to lift the locket from the book. It hovered between us, suspended in a nimbus of Dre's protective energy. The locket resisted her power, twisting and pulsing against the telekinetic grip. "I'm not touching that directly," she said through gritted teeth.
Sweat beaded on her forehead from the effort of containing the locket's energy. She pulled a silk handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped it around the locket without making physical contact. Even through the fabric, the locket's aura remained visible, though somewhat muted.
"It's his original soul fragment," Dre confirmed, keeping the wrapped locket hovering close to her body. "I can feel it fighting me."
A crash behind us—Veronica had thrown Kota into abank of shelves. Glass shattered, and electronic equipment sparked. Dre snatched the journal as the wrapped locket continued to hover under her telekinetic control. I could see the strain it was causing her to keep the malevolent object contained.
"We need to go! Now!" Lia shouted, blood trickling from a cut on her cheek.
Veronica howled with rage. Her glamour dropped completely to reveal her true Fae form. She had skin like bark and eyes like burning embers. "You cannot take it!" She leapt toward us with supernatural speed.
