Page 35 of Bewitched By the Voodoo King (The Bewitching Hour #7)

The ground was soft beneath my feet as I paced the courtyard. Adelle was with the twins and our mother, and here I was, a pining fool waiting on my wife to show up. I didn’t know why I thought it mattered.

I ran my hands down my face. I couldn’t address my people without her tonight; she was supposed to lead all of this when the moon was high in the sky.

Even though she was a null… I needed my people to believe, to have hope, but how could they have that if she didn’t show up? I stared down at the phone in my hands.

I’d texted her and asked her to meet me here at sunset. Her reply had been short, but she’d texted back. Just as I was about to abandon all hope and reasoning, Louis rounded a corner. His eyes were wide in panic, and his face was void of all color.

“What’s going on?” I asked quickly, quietly. I didn’t need any panic in the rest of the coven. Too much was resting on tonight’s success.

He held up a crumpled stack of papers as he tried to catch his breath. My patience was growing thin as I watched him struggle with his words. Before he could get the first sentence out, I snatched the papers from his hands and looked down at them.

Immediately, I recognized Maple’s handwriting, and I knew. “Where did you find these?”

“She was headed here, I’m guessing. As soon as I saw these, I ran to her room. It was empty.”

“She wouldn't leave her notes.”

Louis shook his head. “There wasn’t any kind of magical signature left behind. She’s been gone for a while.”

I frowned. “She texted me back five minutes ago when I asked her to meet me here.”

Louis shook his head. “Someone has her phone then because I found these notes more than five minutes ago as I was racing to her room.”

A sharp chill sliced through my spine. “I did this,” I growled. “I pushed her too far, didn’t protect her when I should have. I was too focused on what she couldn’t do and not enough on what she was already giving.”

Louis crossed his big arms over his chest and shook his head as if to say I told you so. “What do you want to do?”

My people came first.

I closed my eyes. What a backwards way of thinking. My wife should come first, but I hadn’t told anyone we were married. We hadn’t done a proper ceremony. We hadn’t done anything, and here I was trying to juggle my responsibilities.

There was no magical signature. I needed to address my people.

“You, Monte, and Bruno go find her,” I let out a deep breath. I didn’t want to have to choose. That’s what put me in this shitty position to begin with.

Louis chewed on his lip. “There was no magical signature, Rune.”

I scrubbed my hands down my face. “I know, I’m going to send my shadows with you.”

Louis looked down at my feet and winced. “That’s frightening.” He shrugged. “Do you really think 3 men are enough? What if it was the wolves?”

My eyes cut to his. He was right. “If you feel like you need more men, bring them. Follow your gut. I trust you.” I couldn’t believe I was sending him into the fray.

Rolling back my shoulders, I straightened up and walked away from my closest friend. I needed to be level-headed; I needed to address my people.

Nervous excitement was waiting for me when I made it to the edge of the bayou. It was thick in the air, but it was hard for me to feel it, knowing that Maple was gone and there was nothing I could do about it.

There was a massive cauldron in the center of my people, and a ring of fire had been lit around it, casting golden light over the faces gathered there.

Hundreds of witches stood shoulder to shoulder, their magic shimmering just beneath the surface.

The smell of gumbo and potato salad lingered heavily in the air, and all I wanted to do was sink into the inviting scent of it, but I couldn’t.

Did I tell my people Maple was gone? Did I worry them with another disappearance? My eyes scanned all the witches gathering around me, and I knew what needed to be done.

“Tonight is a holy night, and I know each of you can feel your magic scratching and itching to get out. I know mine is especially restless,” My voice commanded the clearing and all of the people surrounding me.

“Tonight, we take back what was always ours , this city. The wolves thought they could come in here and run the show, but they’re in for a rude awakening this night.

Feast with your families, dance under the full moon, for when it is at its peak is when we take back our home for good. ”

A collective cheer rang through the night. The sound swelled, echoing over the dark water of the bayou until it felt like the land itself vibrated with their voices. The fire roared higher, as if feeding on their energy, and the air shimmered with the tang of unleashed magic.

I held my hands out, letting my shadows unfurl from my palms like ribbons of smoke, twining up toward the moon.

“Our ancestors are watching,” I said, my voice low but carrying.

“They’ve seen the battles we’ve fought. The losses we’ve endured.

And they will see us tonight—standing as one, fighting as one, winning as one. ”

The coven’s power rippled outward in response, invisible but tangible, threading through the night air. It coiled around my ribs like a promise, but it couldn’t reach the hollow ache in my chest where Maple’s absence sat like a wound.

“Remember who you are. Remember who you fight for. Tonight, we claim our birthright.”

The crowd erupted again, laughter and battle cries tangling together. Music struck up somewhere to the side, a drumbeat thundering against the earth, and the dancing began.

My shadows twisted and writhed around my neck as Louis’s voice met my ears. We have a trail.

I nodded and sent the rest of my shadows with them on their journey. I would not need them now.

Because when the moon reached its highest point, I would be leading my people into battle.

But before that?—

I’d be getting my wife back.

Adelle jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow. “You should really go apologize to Maple.”

My eyes cut to her, and she stepped back, startled.

“Or you should go have a bowl of gumbo and then go speak to her. Whatever mood you’re in needs to be fixed before we march from these holy grounds.”

I gritted my teeth as I considered my words carefully. “I’m not the only one who needs to be apologizing.”

She rolled her eyes. “Duh. I’ve been looking for her all evening. I thought maybe your shadows could find her hiding place.”

I worried my bottom lip between my teeth and shook my head. “They’re going to find her, but she isn’t hiding. She was taken.”

Adelle’s eyes grew round. “Okay, we both need a bowl of gumbo and some alcohol stat.”

I could agree with her on the gumbo part, but not the alcohol. I knew some of the witches in the coven indulged on nights like these, but I wouldn’t be one of them. I needed my wits about me. I couldn’t take any chances. I needed everything on my side.