Page 66 of Mardi Gras Murders & Midnight Masquerades
"Try to stop us," Dre called back, her voice strained as she maintained her telekinetic grip on the locket. I threw a barrier into Veronica's path.
We burst through the hole Dre had made earlier and into the garden where Phi and Dea were waiting. Noah and Lucas waited on the street with the vehicle running. Evelyn was in the vehicle with Lucas. We ran full out and dove into the cars. Lia unleashed one final blast of witch-fire to stop the Society from catching us. She dove in on top of me right as one of the garden topiaries went up in flames.
"Go, go, go!" Kota shouted, and Lucas floored the accelerator.
"That was too close," Lia breathed as she climbed over me to a seat.
Dre carefully maintained her telekinetic hold on the wrapped locket, keeping it suspended several inches from her body. "But we got the locket. The essence inside is alive and aware." The small golden pendant was etched with symbols similar to those we'd seen in Delacroix's workshop.
"Don't let it touch your skin," Phi warned. "If that's truly his original soul fragment, direct contact could allow him to sense us... or worse."
I examined the journal. "This details exactlyhow he plans to use the six locations. With the locket and this information, we can disrupt his entire plan," I explained.
"And we know where his original body is hidden," Phi added. "We can stop him from ruining the masquerade."
As we drove home, our plan took shape. Our children had already begun to decorate for the event and secure our plantation from Delacroix's influence. We needed to find his original body, destroy the locket, and neutralize the ritual sites. No big deal. Right?
CHAPTER 18
Dakota
"We'll need more than just us sisters if we're going to pull this off," I said as we pulled into the plantation's driveway. Lucas had driven like a bat out of hell, which I appreciated given what we were carrying. Dre's knuckles were white from the effort of maintaining her telekinetic hold on the locket. The magical object pulsed with malevolent energy, fighting her control like a living thing.
Dani’s phone buzzed with a text from Noah. They weren't far behind us. He had taken a different route to throw off any potential tails.
The plantation felt different as we approached. It was more protected. Our children and Kaitlyn had clearly been reinforcing the wards while we were gone. The magical boundary shimmered with renewed power as we crossed it.
"I've asked Cyran and Xinar to join us," Dre announced as we climbed out of the vehicle. "We need everyone with relevant experience for this."
I nodded in agreement. "We need to call Kaveh too. Djinn magic might be useful against whatever nastiness Delacroix has protecting his original body."
Lucas helped Evelyn out of the car. The young woman was still weak from whatever Delacroix and his minions had done to her. However, the color was returning to her face. "Thank you," she whispered as she clung to his arm for support.
"You're safe now," I assured her as we headed inside. "Dre can check you over, or we can call Kip."
"If Dre doesn’t mind healing me, I would appreciate it. I don’t want to bother Kip,” Evelyn said.
Dre smiled tightly at the young woman. “Not a problem. We will get you settled in a bed, and I will look you over.”
The plantation's foyer was buzzing with activity when we entered. Kaitlyn was directing a small team comprised of our children in reinforcing protection sigils around the windows. Adèle prowled among them. I could hear her occasionally correcting their work as well. Cami was working beside Lia’s oldest daughter.
"You're back!" Cami exclaimed when she caught sight of us. "And you found it?"
Dre nodded tightly, maintaining her concentration on the suspended locket. "We need something more secure than a silk handkerchief to contain this thing."
"I prepared a containment box," Kaitlyn said as she pulled out a small obsidian container etched with protective runes. "It should hold it until you can destroy it."
I asked Cami to show Evelyn to a room while Dre carefully guided the wrapped locket into the box. Once inside, Kaitlyn sealed it with a whispered incantation. The malevolent energy dimmed immediately, though I could still feel its presence like an itch at the back of my skull.
"Where's Jeff?" I asked, scanning the room for my husband.
"Setting up the masquerade decorations with the crew,"Cami replied from the top of the stairs. "Everything's proceeding like normal, so we’re ready for tonight."
"Smart," Lia agreed. "The last thing we need is to have all of this to do after we end this asshole."
A commotion at the front door drew our attention. Marie Laveau swept in like royalty. Her power preceded her like an invisible tide. Behind her came Xinar. The Underworld Investigative Services officer smiled at us and searched for the woman he’d been flirting with for months. His smile grew when his eyes landed on Cami. To everyone’s surprise, she bounded down to him and right into his arms.
"I heard you found Delacroix’s locket," Marie said without preamble as she looked at the obsidian box in Kaitlyn's hands.
