I use this spell to conjure the one I love, yet cannot find,
And like a nail, I drive my eyes into his mind,
So I may see what it is he sees,
Do you hear me coming? Soon, it shall be.”
I felt the slam of someone’s hand over my eyes. “Shut your eyes, now!” Sebastian roared at me. “Don’t open them. Someone is helping her use Black Magic to find you. She is using a spell to bind herself to you so she may take your vision as her own. That’s why you can’t see; she’s stealing your sight. She is trying to find you by identifying your surroundings. We need to look around the club to see if there is anything that would clue her to where you are.”
“Do you think this means she is close?” I asked, begging it to not be so.
“I don’t think she’s on this continent because the spell spoke of crossing the sea, but I think she will be soon if anything in this place can identify where we’re at. What were you looking at when this started?”
I thought back to the moment I noticed it beginning. “Chansey and I were dancing, so I was looking over her shoulder as we danced in a circle. That means she got a panoramic of the entire room. When I stepped back, I looked directly at Chansey’s face, so she knows exactly what she looks like. When we came to the tables, I was straining to see all of you. You know what that means.”
I heard Sully say, “Lairah and I weren’t sitting at the tables when Chansey led Curry to the tables. We were at the bar getting drinks, so she didn’t see us.”
I guess you can call it the big brother in me, but I was relieved to hear that because I didn’t want Marsala to know that Sully still existed.
I heard Sol’s voice next. “Guys, we have a problem. Look at the sign behind the bar.”
“What does it say?” I asked.
No one responded to my question.
“Somebody tell me what it says” I shouted.
Sebastian was the only one brave enough to reply. “Club Infinity on Bourbon.”
I reeled in my anger at Marsala and myself as I calmly said, “Will someone call the driver? Chansey and I have to leave New Orleans immediately.”
7 I’ve Got This
I wore a blindfold on the ride home since we didn’t know the details of the spell being used by Marsala and her accomplice. Chansey was silent and it terrified me because this was exactly the type of situation I was waiting for to drive her away.
I felt her reach for my hand and I didn’t know what it meant, but I was flooded with relief. I spoke into the pitch black in her direction. “Love, I am so sorry. This is all my fault.”
I felt her slide across the seat and she laid her head on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault. It’s that monster’s fault.”
This was a lot for anyone to be forced to face. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to leave me.”
Since I was blindfolded and still hearing the chanting, I didn’t see or hear it coming when she hit me in the chest with her fist. “You really piss me off when you say stupid stuff like that. I don’t want to ever hear anything like that come out of your mouth again. I mean it. You feel me?”
Because she made me more human, I really did feel her and her fist. “Yeah, I’ve got it.”
She relaxed again and leaned her body over onto mine. “Now, what are we going to do about this?”
“We’re going to leave New Orleans, like yesterday,” I explained.
“No. we’re not leaving tonight. We’ll leave tomorrow as planned. Marsala isn’t going to find us tonight and she can’t travel in the sunlight, so there’s no reason to cut our visit short with our family.”
I laughed under my breath and Chansey felt my chest vibrate. “What are you laughing at?”
“You said ‘our family.’ and I liked it. I’m laughing because you are like an unstable stick of dynamite. I’m not sure Marsala would stand a chance against you.”
“I hate bullies and that’s exactly what she is. I want to tie her to a tree at dawn and watch the sun fry her ass.”
I rubbed my hand up and down her arm. “That’s my badass girl.”
“What do you think Sebastian will tell us we should do?”
I reached for her head and gently encouraged her to lay it against me. I rubbed her hair and whispered, “I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll have a solution.”
Chansey became quiet and I thought she was asleep until she asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“About how broad Sebastian’s knowledge is. He recognized that Black Magic spell immediately and I’m wondering how.”
“He’s a scholar and he’s been around a minute,” she reminded me.
“Yeah, I know, but that isn’t your typical realm of vampire knowledge.”
“I don’t care how he knew. I’m just glad he did and it does my heart good to know that Marsala didn’t win this round.”
She didn’t know how much I hoped she was right because this wasn’t over. I could still hear her in my head.
˜ ˜ ˜
I was pissed. This wasn’t how I planned to spend Chansey’s birthday. We didn’t have a choice but to discuss what we would do about Marsala with the family, but it wasn’t going to happen before Chansey and I finished celebrating her birthday. I refused to let Marsala ruin this time for us.
My family arrived at the compound before us and were all waiting in the living room when we got there. Although I couldn’t see them, I felt their stares on me and I didn’t like it one bit. I stood at what I thought was the entry to the living room and said, “There are definitely things we need to discuss, but Chansey and I have some business to tend to first. I need a little time alone with her and then we’ll be back to discuss what it is we’re going to do about this.” I didn’t even want to say her name. I hated the way it felt rolling off of my tongue.
As we left the living room, I called over my shoulder, “Feel free to discuss it without us and come up with a solution to this mess while we’re gone.”
I reached blindly for her hand. Although I couldn’t see a thing, I led her to my bedroom. I stopped at my door and turned to her before I opened it. “Once we’re on the other side of this door, we will not di
scuss anything pertaining to her or this situation. We’re going to finish celebrating your birthday. Agreed?”
“Absolutely.” She was smiling. I could hear it in her voice and the way her voice sounded when she answered me.
We entered my bedroom and I shut the door once we were inside. It felt good to tangibly shut the door on the problems we had outside of this room. In this room, we were free of problems, or at least we could pretend.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to help me. My senses are all thrown off here,” I explained.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked.
I hoped Gia and Lairah were listening when I told them what to do. “There should be something on my desk for you.”
“There’s a birthday cake with a lot of candles. Like at least 50.”
Damn, could I not depend on them for anything? “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I am,” she said as she rubbed her hands up and down my arms. “You need to loosen up.”
Whew! I would get her back for that one later. “Good. That means Gia and Lairah were paying attention to my directions.”
“It’s a beautiful cake, but I don’t think I want any right now. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the trouble you went to to get one for me, but...”
I didn’t want her to feel bad, so I interrupted, “No, you don’t have to explain.”
The chanting was getting louder and I needed a distraction. “Let’s move on to your gifts. They should be on the bed.”
“There are two gifts on the bed. Which one do I open first?”
”The big one in the polka dot paper and bright bow.”
“Okay. I’m opening it now.” I heard the sound of paper ripping and I wanted to yell angrily because I wouldn’t see her happiness. “It’s killing me that I can’t see the look on your face. It was one of the things I was looking forward to when you opened this gift.”
The sound of paper shuffling and tearing stopped. “I can wait until all of this is over to open these. It’s really not necessary to open them now.”