Shadows (Bayou Magic 1)

“I’ll fill you in on what’s been happening so far.” I go back to almost a week ago when I first met Cash, and tell her everything, from the moment I first saw him, to seeing the new shadow, and then the apparitions last night.

Has it really been less than a day?

It feels like months.

“And you haven’t experienced anything?” Daphne asks Millie.

“No, not yet. But my shields are strong, and I’m super careful to center and ground myself. I have to.”

“I know,” Daph says and pats our sister’s shoulder. The waitress arrives to tell us about the specials and take our orders. Once she’s gone, Daphne clears her throat.

“So, there’s something else I should tell you guys.” She glances at each of us, then ducks her head as if she’s embarrassed or ashamed. “I went to see Mama.”

“What?” Millie and I bark in unison.

“Why would you do that?” Millie asks.

“She called me,” Daphne says.

“I didn’t know she had electricity, much less a phone,” I say.

“She went to Horace’s house to call,” Daphne says. “She sounded real bad and made me feel guilty, so I agreed to go.”

“No,” Millie says, shaking her head emphatically.

“I wasn’t there long,” Daphne says. “The inside of the house is awful.”

“What did she want?”

“I don’t know.” Daphne shrugs. “Once I got there, she said she didn’t remember calling me. It was weird. She was mean. And you know as soon as I stepped inside…”

She shivers, and Millie and I both put our hands on her, giving her our strength—both literally and figuratively.

“We’ll go to the café after this,” Millie says. “I have potions for you to take.”

“I appreciate it,” Daphne says, adding a nod. “We can’t ever go back there, guys. Not ever.”

“And we never will,” I assure. “Now, what do we do about this?”

I point to Tammy’s missing person poster.

“We talk to Cash,” Millie says.

“Why?” Daphne asks.

“Because he’s with the FBI,” I reply. “And he’s a profiler.”

“Wow. You snagged yourself a cool boyfriend, Bri,” Daphne says.

“He’s hot, too,” Millie informs her. “And has a good heart.”

“You looked?” Daph asks.

“Of course, I did. She’s my sister.”“You’ve multiplied,” Cash says with a smile when we walk into my apartment an hour later.

“I’m the youngest sister,” Daphne says, sending Cash a little wave. “Daphne.”

“Cash. Pleasure to meet you.”

Cash turns to me and pulls me in for a lazy hug. “How are you, darlin’?”

“Not too bad, actually. Sorry we’re later than I thought. We had to swing by the café to get some protection potion for Daphne.”

He narrows his eyes as he glances at my sister. “What’s going on?”

“It’s quite a story,” I say and gesture for him to have a seat with me on the couch. Millie sits in one chair across from us, and Daphne takes the other.

“Whoa,” Daphne says in surprise.

“What?”

“Someone had sex in this chair.”

Cash’s head whips around to me, and I hold up my hands in surrender. “It wasn’t me. I haven’t had sex in…well, we don’t need to go there.”

“Not you,” Daphne confirms and then laughs. “I don’t know where you got this chair, but I like it. Whoever owned it was happy and quite playful.”

“Well, that’s fun,” Millie says, grinning. “You should re-christen it later. After we leave.”

“Thanks for the pointer,” I say with a laugh.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Cash says, making me grin.

“Focus, please.”

“I had the same dream that Brielle did last night,” Daphne begins. “And when I was on my way to dinner, a woman stopped me on the street and gave me this.”

She pulls the missing person flyer from her bag and passes it to Cash. He reads it, then looks at me with sad, green eyes.

“I remember her from the tour,” he says.

“So do I. It’s the same girl I see.”

“Can you see them now?” Millie asks.

“They’re outside,” I inform them. “They don’t follow me inside. Probably the wards or the crystal grid.”

“Are they on the sidewalk?” Daphne asks.

I stand and peek outside. Sure enough, the two women are on the sidewalk, staring up at my apartment.

Talk about creepy.

“Yep.”

“So, we know now that Tammy at least has been reported as missing,” Cash says thoughtfully as I sit with him.

“She’s dead,” I say.

“We know that,” Cash replies. “But the authorities don’t. I’d like to consult with my brother on this.”

“He’s a cop here in New Orleans,” I inform my sisters, then turn to Cash. “But what kind of cop?”

“He works in robbery,” he admits.

“We have another contact,” Millie says. “We just need to ask Miss Sophia. There are a couple of detectives who have worked with psychics in the past.”

“Mallory Boudreaux’s grandmother,” I reply, remembering. “I need to go into Mal’s shop this week anyway. I’ll ask for her contacts then.”

“If she doesn’t know, Miss Sophia will,” Millie says.

“I don’t want to sit on this,” Cash says. “There could be more girls missing.”