Page 47 of Hooked on a Witch
Chapter Ten
“Voodoo? I thought that was only in New Orleans and mostly urban legend designed to draw tourists. The dolls, the blood sacrifices and all that stuff. There’s someone around here?”
Merck hoped this consultation didn’t go south, getting one of them hexed or possessed. He wouldn’t let it happen. He could handle a voodoo mambo.
“It always seemed so dark in the movies. What should I expect?”
“I can’t be sure with Lola. Sometimes it’s spirit conjuring. Sometimes spell casting or reading various signs. Depends on her mood and how much she wants to show off.”
“She’s reliable?”
“She’s given me good information in the past, but I don’t trust anyone who uses any sort of death to power spells, even if Lola only uses animals.”
Shannon crossed her arms and hugged herself, staring out the side window.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know you won’t,” she whispered.
The trust in her voice kicked him in the gut. He’d get her through this. Smarter would be not to take her at all, but she wouldn’t go for being dumped somewhere close by, but safe, twice.
Merck hummed along with the country tune on the radio to fill the awkward silence that settled between them. Last week his life had been under control. He’d been captain of a sinking ship scheduled to wreck soon. He convinced himself he was fine to go down with the ship. He even had a night-before-death plan, which involved a lot of alcohol with Chad and Danny. Now, he’d lost the captainship. He’d become a passenger clinging to the rails in a hurricane.
His mind kept going back to the rune symbol of love and harmony. It might mean Shannon. Maybe Bythos really did mean his best life-saving scenario involved tying the knot. He hadn’t said a clear no to matrimony. He’d only indicated Merck needed to protect Shannon.
Sweat trickled down his back. The thought of the commitment, to honor andprotect, one woman scared the hell out of him. It wasn’t that he couldn’t commit if he survived beyond this week. He feared he couldn’t ensure her safety from the evils he was eternity-bound to chase. He couldn’t opt out of being the Enforcer. Should he marry, word would get out in underground black-magic circles that he now had a vulnerability. Her. If there were kids the threat was ten times worse. He couldn’t risk the possibility of his little one in the hands of a warlock, or worse, a necromancer. He’d seen what they could do. Eons ago when he’d vowed his soul in order to save his wife and son, he remembered the torture done to them by a warlock. He might’ve freed them with his eternity bargain, but they’d never been the same and ultimately took their own lives.
Then there was Brian Randolph’s bomb. He’d lied to Shannon all those years ago. She didn’t know about the first, and only, time in this lifetime that he’d attempted to be a stand-up guy. One kiss and he’d lost his mind and forgotten about consequences. Getting shut down had been for the best. Even if he had the chance at a do-over of that night, he’d allow himself to be intimidated by Brian again out of fear he couldn’t keep her safe long term.
Was she really any safer with him right now than with the druids? Probably not, but at least he knew the full scope of capabilities for each nasty magical she might encounter. He never should’ve offered to take her to Lola, but something about her made him unable to say noand move on. That and Brian had pushed more than a handful of his hot buttons.
Enough.He would ensure her safety. That was his job. Protect humans. Remain level-headed, vigilant and prepared.I’m the Enforcer.
“We’re not far now,” he said to break the silence. The car bounced along the rough two-lane for another mile before he turned onto an unmarked dirt road. He sped over the washboard surface to the next unmarked turn onto a sandy road.
“Do you still have the protective crystal I gave you yesterday?”
She removed it from beneath her shirt where it hung around her neck.
“Keep it on. It’ll ward off spells. Lola should behave, but you never know.”
Lola’s one bedroom house had been built on the edge of a pond. She’d added a screened in back porch since the last time he visited several years ago. Even though it looked better kept than most of the houses in this area—clean with a fresh coat of paint and a mowed lawn—it wasn’t a welcoming place to him. Too many spirits had been called upon here. Too many spells had been cast and animals killed to power magic than he cared to imagine.
“Be alert.” He scooted around to open her door, barely making it before she hopped out.
She glanced up, her eyes wide with unease.
He squeezed her hand and held on. “I got this. You’re going to be okay.”
“I’m glad you’re helping me.” She gazed at a stork strolling through the cattails. “This is quaint.”
“Don’t let it fool you. This isn’t the type of voodoo practiced in Haiti where they do it as a way of life to achieve cosmic harmony or something like that. Here, it’s become twisted with a focus on want and need rather than mastery of the divine.” He lowered his voice as they walked up the path to the front porch, “Don’t look directly into her eyes.”
“What?”
He shot her a quelling look as the porch door opened.
“Jason Merck. Had a feelin’ you’d be by today. And ye brought a special friend to visit.” The petite Haitian’s lips widened to reveal white teeth with a gold crown on a lower canine tooth. The smile stretched the maze of wrinkles on her dark skin. Although ageless, he guessed Lola to be in her seventies. The hem of her sky blue dress flapped in the breeze. “Come on in and we’ll get you and your lady friend sorted.”
