Spells (Bayou Magic 2)

Lucien reaches into his pocket and pulls out our handfasting cord, then takes my hand, the cord locked between us.

“I am hers, and she is mine, our souls forever linked. Be gone from here, any who would see us harmed, back to the shadows you must slink.”

The chanting around us is heightened, and they’ve changed to the spell they used last year at Horace’s cabin. It cast him out once, surely it will do so again.

He’s stronger, Lucien tells me. We need another spell to layer with this one.

I wrack my brain, trying to think of something stronger than this one, but I can’t think with him staring at me. The shadows are screaming. The wind is chaos.

Close your eyes.

I follow Lucien’s instructions.

You control the wind, Millicent.

He’s right. I take a deep breath, then open my eyes and bring the wind high above all of us and watch as Horace’s smile falls, and he stares at me in confusion. Then I blow out my breath, and the wind whips through the center of the circle, sending the shadows scrambling. Horace is knocked on his ass from the force of it.

He climbs to his feet.

“This is all in vain,” he begins, but Lucien snaps his fingers and encircles Horace in a wall of flames. I add the wind, and the flames grow higher, burn hotter until Horace is completely engulfed.

He’s not done, I warn Lucien.

“The sacred banishment spell,” Miss Sophia yells. Immediately, the coven switches from one spell to the next, their chanting becoming louder and louder.

Horace screams in pain.

With our hands still linked over our rope, Lucien and I begin our handfasting ceremony.

I don’t know how we know to do this, the words just begin pouring from us.

As this knot is tied, so are our lives now bound.

Woven into this cord, imbued into its very fibers, are all our hopes, our Power, and the promise of our present life together.

Over and over again we chant, our voices growing louder each time as the others recite the banishment spell.

Horace howls in pain.

Suddenly, he evaporates and is carried into the night, along with the smoke from Lucien’s fire.

The shadows disappear.

The flames calm, and the wind stops.

We look back and forth between the members of the coven, and Miss Sophia’s shoulders relax in relief.

“He’s gone,” she says with a deep sigh. “For now. Until the six are assembled, he won’t be gone for good.”

She looks at Daphne, who nods solemnly.

“You know what to do, child.”

Dahlia moans from her spot on the ground just behind us. Lucien kneels next to her.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Hey, take it easy,” Lucien says gently. Gwyneth appears with some water, and we take a moment to let Dahlia get her wits about her. She presses her hand to her forehead.

“He made me kill you.” The tears start now. “He made me kill you over and over again. In horrible, disgusting ways. I couldn’t stop him. I tried so hard, I even tried to leave notes, but he would erase them. He smashed my phone when I tried to make a note there.”

“He was much stronger than you,” Lucien assures her. “And I’m right here.”

“All those men,” she says. “Tortured and slaughtered. He’s the devil.”

“Yes,” Lucien agrees. “He is.”

“Oh my God,” Dahlia says. “More men are being held. We have to save them.”

“On it,” Cash insists, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Where is his hiding place?”

“I don’t know the address,” she admits. “But I can show you. It’s not far from the Quarter.”

“You need to rest,” I say.

“I can rest when those men are safe,” Dahlia insists. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Cash takes her hand and leads her toward the house. “I’ll call you when we’re finished,” he calls out over his shoulder, already in cop mode, ready to go save Horace’s victims.

“We’re still going to cast the ritual circle for the All Hallows’ Eve ritual,” Miss Sophia insists. “It will strengthen us all. We can’t let him destroy what we came here to do.”

As we form the circle once more, Mama pulls me in for a strong hug.

“I’m so proud of you,” she says and frames my face in her hands. “Now, let’s enjoy our celebration, shall we?”

I nod and take Lucien’s hand.

We did it.

He brushes his thumb over my forehead.

Together.Chapter Twenty-SevenLucienIt’s been three days since the night in the field, and I’m not sure if my hands have stopped shaking.

I was terrified for days, knowing that the evil was about to culminate, I just didn’t know when or how.

And I certainly didn’t expect it to be Dahlia that he used as a host.

I glance over at Millie, who’s picking green beans in our garden.

“I just found something,” she says with a frown. She looks adorable in her oversized coveralls and wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun off her delicate skin. “Like, not a green bean.”