CHAPTER 13
DAHLIA
I knew we'd royally screwed up the moment Phi activated the final shield anchor. The ley lines beneath Jackson Square erupted with enough magical force to knock me flat on my ass. It sent waves of dizzying energy pulsing through my skull. My head felt like someone had taken a cheese grater to my brain. That was before our familiar's mental voice sliced through my consciousness.
" And this is why we don't mess with ancient power networks without proper preparation ," Adèle projected. Her mental tone was amused. " But no, you just had to rush in like caffeinated squirrels with a death wish ."
She might have a point. We kept getting calls about various crises and decided we needed to cast a net over the French Quarter to try and keep the temporal fuckery to a minimum where the tourists were heaviest. We should have listened and maybe even focused on what Madame Chronos had said. She’d instructed us to find a location that could anchor our attempt to stop the Lost Legends and lock them away for good.
Lucas's strong hands gripped my arms as he helped me to my feet. Even through my spinning head, I caught the worry in his eyes. That protective alpha energy of his was radiating off him in waves. It made my skin tingle when he touched me. Not the time, hormones. So, not the time.
"Not helping," I growled through gritted teeth in response to our familiar. The inside of my skull felt like someone had decided to host an impromptu jazz festival. And it was heavy on the brass section and light on the bourbon needed to make it bearable. Gods, this was miserable.
"You think?" Dani's shout came from somewhere to my left. Her voice sounded tight with strain. Echoes of what had been, what could have been, and what might still be rippled between us.
I watched in fascination and horror as the ley lines pulsed with an eerie blue light that definitely hadn't been part of our calculations. Each surge sent another wave of images cascading through my mind and overwhelming my senses. I was fascinated by New Orleans as it had been. There was a moment where I questioned if I was seeing hundreds of possible versions layered over each other like some kind of temporal parfait gone wrong.
" This is no surprise, but the network is destabilizing, " Adèle announced. " And before you ask, yes, that's as bad as it sounds. The anchors are tapping into memories that were sealed for a reason. Some knowledge was meant to stay buried. " Translation. Not all of what I was seeing was made up.
"The anchors aren't holding. We did something that allowed the chaos to tap into something deeper than before. It’s old and had been behind powerful spells." Phi's voice was tight with the kind of strain that made my stomach drop.
" Really? You don't say ," Adèle's mental eye roll was practically audible. " I thought the ancient magical signatures predating the city itself were just tourist attractions. Next time, listen to the magical being who's got access to centuries of knowledge before poking at temporal ley lines? "
I opened my mouth to tell our familiar exactly where she could stick her sarcasm, but the words died in my throat as shit went haywire. The world around me fractured into a thousand different possibilities. Each one was fighting for dominance. Jackson Square existed in multiple states simultaneously and they all overlapped like a metaphysical layer cake. The cathedral's spires reached toward the sky in more architectural styles than I could count. Yet, each one seemed as real as the next.
" Don't fight it ," Adèle instructed in a tone that was suddenly serious enough to make my hair stand on end. " Let the visions come. Fighting it will cause problems worse than those nose bleeds ."
I clutched Lucas’s arm as my head swam. The ground beneath my feet pulsed with stored memories. I saw native tribes gathering at sacred sites. Their ceremonies were etched into the very earth beneath my feet. French settlers built atop those same power points and unknowingly tapped into energies that would have scared them shitless. If they'd understood what they were dealing with.
" These aren't memories, " Adèle continued. " They're echoes of power and residual magic from every ritual ever performed here. And you just connected them all like some demented magical circuit board. " My mind tried to make sense of what she was saying. However, I couldn’t make any sense of it. I felt like I was going to throw up and pass out.
Concerned about what was happening, Lucas moved his hold from my waist to my shoulders. "Lia!" He called out like a lifeline right when I needed it. Time was getting extremely squirrelly and making it hard to tell up from down. Never mind, the past from the present.
"I'm okay," I lied. That was what you did when everything was melting down, and your mate was two seconds away from going into full alpha protective mode. "But we need to shut this down before-"
The words died in my throat as another surge of power ripped through the ley lines. Suddenly, I wasn't just seeing things. I was living them. The memories stored in those ancient pathways slammed into my consciousness with all the subtlety of a spiritual freight train.
A circle of figures stood around a crystal that pulsed with familiar energy. Their faces were hidden, but their power... sweet baby Jesus. Their power felt like hurricanes contained in human form. They were channeling something through the ground. They were using the land's natural energy in ways that shouldn’t have been possible. Even Fae couldn’t channel it like that. The darkness of their efforts hit me a second later, making me want to peel the skin off my body.
" Those are the original binding circles ," Adèle's voice intruded on my vision. " This was when the first settlers realized what lurked in these lands. Watch carefully. This is the kind of power you've accidentally connected ."
The vision shifted. The fragments spun like a kaleidoscope of time. Each new image brought with it sensations that threatened to overwhelm me. The taste of salt air from when the Mississippi ran wild. The scent of cypress trees was out of place. Especially given I knew concrete and steel now stood in their place. The feel of raw power flowing through pathways was something else. I could see how someone might get addicted to it and want more. I didn't care for the way it made me feel. All I could think about was how others were likely being hurt or frightened by what was happening.
"Focus, Lia!" Dre's voice snapped me back to the present. She had one hand pressed to my forehead. Her healing energy flowed into me. "Your nose is bleeding."
I reached up, and sure enough, warm liquid trickled down my face. Fantastic. Nothing says 'totally in control of the situation' like spontaneous nosebleeds. "Just a little magical feedback," I muttered. "No big deal."
"Everyone needs to fall back," Phi announced. "The network's creating some kind of feedback loop with the stored memories in the ley lines. We will get hurt worse if we remain here."
" It's worse than that ," Adèle projected to us. Her voice was filled with agitation. " It’s not about the memories or loop. You've fully reactivated old magic. Magic that was deliberately sealed away. The kind that makes your current problems look like a kindergarten science project . The storm cracked the seal. The Legends made it wider. And you six blew it open. "
My eyes widened in horror, and my heart began hammering in my chest. “Then we need to contain it. We can’t leave it to consume the Quarter.”
"The Lost Legends," Dre gasped as understanding hit her like a spiritual two-by-four. "When they were originally bound, the power didn't just seal them away. It became part of the ley lines themselves."
" Finally catching up, are we? " Adèle's mental voice could have dried up the Mississippi with its level of sarcasm. " Perhaps now you understand why I suggested more research before activating ancient power networks? "
Lucas's arm around my waist was probably the only thing keeping me upright at this point. "Breathe, baby," he murmured. "We'll figure this out."
"Which means our shield network isn't just redirecting their current energy drain," Phi concluded, her voice tight with controlled panic. "It's accidentally tapping into the original binding spell. A spell that was meant to contain beings powerful enough to change the world."
" And now you've basically shorted out that containment ," Adèle added helpfully. " I have to say, it hasn’t been your best work. "
Well, shit. No wonder our anchors were failing. We'd basically tried to hook up a home circuit breaker to handle the output of a nuclear power plant. And people wondered why magic users had insurance rates through the roof.
"Our trap," Dani said, her face pale enough to make her freckles stand out like constellations. "If we try to spring it while they're connected to this much power..."
"It'll backfire spectacularly," I finished. "We definitely need a better way to ground everything. Something that can handle both the current drain and the ancient energy stored in these lines." I paused, then added, "Preferably before we accidentally unleash an apocalypse that's been marinating for a few centuries."
" There are places ," Adèle said thoughtfully. " Old places, where the natural flow of power creates its own stability. The native peoples knew them. The French and Spanish later built over them, but they're still there. " Her mental voice took on that infuriatingly mysterious tone she used when she was about to make our lives more difficult. " They’re hidden in plain sight, where the old magic runs deepest. "
"That's... incredibly unhelpful," I muttered, wiping more blood from my nose. "Any chance you could be more specific?"
" Unfortunately, that’s all I know, " she purred. " The problem is that the locations aren't fixed points on a map. They shift with the flow of power. What was a convergence point two centuries ago might be dormant now. New ones have formed elsewhere. The city's magic is fluid. "
"Phi," I said slowly as an idea started forming. "The ley lines aren't just power conduits, are they? They're like the roots of a tree. They all connect to somewhere central, right?"
"Yeah, at a nexus point," she agreed. "Probably several, given the city's magical history. But finding them would require-"
"Following the memories stored in the lines themselves," I cut in, probably a bit too excited given the whole 'bleeding from the nose' situation. "Which we can now access, thanks to our spectacular screwup with the shield network."
" Finally, a sensible suggestion ," Adèle purred. " Though I use the term 'sensible' very loosely here. What you are suggesting is dangerous. You should try other methods of research first. Phi’s new toys might also come in handy in this endeavor ."
Lucas gave me that look. One that said he knew I was about to suggest something crazy, but he'd back my play anyway. God, I loved that man. "What are you thinking?"
"I think we need to go deeper. Literally." I gestured to the ground beneath our feet. "These memories are showing us places where the city's oldest magic was worked. Places that might still exist under all these fancy tourist traps."
" There are more convergence points than you'd think ," Adèle interjected. “ Some in the Quarter, yes, but others... " she trailed off. " Let's just say the city's magical geography extends far beyond tourist maps. It goes all the way out into the swamps, as you learned recently. The true power points form a pattern if you know how to read it. "
"And let me guess," I sighed. "You're not going to tell us what that pattern is."
" Where would the fun be in that? " Her mental voice dripped amusement. " Besides, the pattern shifts. Changes. You six need to learn to feel where the power wants to flow, not where someone decided to put it centuries ago. "
"There has to be a way to use this," Dre said with her hands still pressed against my temples. The healing energy helped. Although, my brain still felt like it was trying to escape through my eye sockets. "If the power wants to flow naturally, maybe we can work with that instead of trying to force it into our shield network." She got that look she always did when working through a particularly tricky problem. "Like redirecting blood flow during surgery. You don't try to stop it completely, you just guide it where it needs to go."
My stomach lurched as another wave of vertigo hit me. Through the dizziness, I caught Lucas adjusting his grip to keep me upright. The man was basically my support beam at this point. A very sexy, very worried support beam.
" Now you're thinking ," Adèle replied excitedly. " The human body and the earth's magic aren't so different. Both have natural pathways that resist being blocked. "
I wiped more blood from my nose with my already-ruined sleeve. At this rate, I was going to have to burn this shirt. Though honestly, given our track record with magical mishaps, I should probably just start buying them in bulk. "So instead of trying to patch the old container," I said, struck by a sudden inspiration, "what if we create a new one? Like, instead of trying to put the lid back on a jar that keeps changing sizes, we make a new vessel that can flex with the flow?"
Lucas's arm tightened around my waist. "That's my girl," he murmured. "Always thinking outside the box." His praise would have been more enjoyable if my head wasn't threatening to explode.
" It's possible ," Adèle said. " The power can be guided through the ley lines, but it will take significant effort. And more importantly, perfect timing. One misstep and you'll have more than nosebleeds to worry about. "
"That's comforting," I muttered. "Any other cheerful predictions? Maybe throw in some locusts for good measure?"
"I can see where this is going and we will need a cover," Lucas cut in before Adèle could respond with what I'm sure would have been a delightfully sarcastic comment about biblical plagues. "Not magical ones, but physical ones. Bodies to help shield you six while you do your work. We don’t want anyone seeing you do your magic." He was already pulling out his phone with his free hand, the other still firmly around my waist. "My pack can form a perimeter. They can act as a buffer and ensure the mundies don’t see what you’re doing."
In the distance, sirens wailed. Because, of course, they did. Nothing says 'magical crisis in progress' quite like emergency vehicles heading your way. I could already imagine tomorrow's tourist blogs. 'Weird lights in the French Quarter! Must be those famous New Orleans ghost tours!' If they only knew.
"Get them here fast," Phi said as she waved her gadget around. "We don't have much time before this gets worse."
"Define worse," Dani muttered, then immediately held up a hand. "No, wait, don't. I don't actually want to know."
" While we wait ," Adèle interjected in what I privately called her 'magical Mary Poppins voice', " let me explain exactly what you're going to do. And this time, you're going to follow my instructions to the letter. Or I'll personally ensure your next month is filled with nothing but bad hair days and stubbed toes ."
"That's cold," I said, pressing a hand to my forehead. "You know how much product I have to use already."
" Then perhaps you'll listen this time ," she shot back. " Form a circle. You'll need to link your energy. Yes, like you've done before, but this time, you will want to ensure you join fully. ”
“So, you’re saying we can’t just hold hands and sing kumbaya," I teased.
I could practically hear her eye roll. “ I need you to sync your breathing and your heartbeats. Think less magical girl transformation sequence and more single organism with six bodies. "
Lucas's pack members began arriving. They moved with that fluid grace all shifters seemed to have. They positioned themselves around us without needing instruction. Their presence already made me feel better about the plan. "Is it wrong that I'm kind of jealous of how coordinated they are?" I whispered to Lucas as he prepared to join his pack.
He smiled and pressed a quick kiss to my temple. "Focus on not passing out. We'll work on your coordination later."
"Promise?"
His eyes darkened slightly. "Definitely."
" If you two are quite finished with your mating dance ," Adèle interrupted dryly, " we have some ancient magic to contain. "
Right. Focus. Save the Quarter now, flirt later. Adèle's directions were precise. Almost surgical in their detail. The process she described was like weaving on a cosmic loom. Each of us represented a different thread, with the ley lines serving as our framework. It would have been beautiful if it wasn't so terrifying.
" The power wants to move ," she explained as we got into position. " Your job isn't to stop it but to give it a new path. Think of it like redirecting a river. You're not damming it up. You're creating new channels for it to flow through ."
"Because that worked so well for the Army Corps of Engineers," I muttered, earning a mental swat from our familiar.
The next hour was a blur of careful magical manipulation and increasingly creative swearing. Sweat soaked through my clothes as we worked to channel the ancient power through paths that could handle it. The shifters around us growled occasionally when particularly strong waves of magic washed over them. Thankfully, they managed to keep from looking like their fur was ruffled. The mundies saw nothing more than a group of people hanging out and drinking. In other words, they looked like every tourist in the area.
My arms shook with effort. My head pounded. But gradually, beautifully, the chaos began to settle. The multiple versions of Jackson Square collapsed back into a single reality. The magical pressure in my skull eased. Though the taste of old power lingered on my tongue like ghostly chicory coffee.
"It's holding," Phi announced finally. She sounded like she'd been gargling gravel. "The new channels are accepting the flow. It's not perfect, but..."
" But it's contained ," Adèle finished for her. Approval colored her mental voice. " The ancient magic is still there, still accessible to those who know how to tap it, but it's no longer spilling out uncontrolled. You've essentially created a new circulatory system for it. "
"Great," I said, swaying slightly. "Does this new circulatory system come with aspirin?"
"And the Lost Legends?" Dre asked with a weary sigh. "Please tell me we didn't just make things worse."
" They’re still a problem ," Adèle admitted, " but they’re no longer supercharged by the ancient binding magic. You've separated the old power from their current activities. Think of it as removing their magical steroids ."
Lucas moved closer, and his energy wrapped around me like a warm blanket. "The Quarter feels calmer," he observed as he looked around at the gradually normalizing scene.
"For now," I said, finally letting my hands drop. My fingers tingled like I'd stuck them in an electrical socket. "But we still need to deal with the Legends themselves. At least now we're back to fighting them at their regular power level instead of them being jacked up on centuries-old magic."
"Small victories," Dani muttered, but there was a hint of relief in her voice. "Though I vote we take a nap before tackling that particular problem."
"Seconded," I said as I leaned heavily against Lucas. Around us, his pack began to relax. Though they remained alert for any signs of trouble. Because that's what good paranoid supernatural creatures did.
" Next time ," Adèle projected, " perhaps we start with the research portion of the program instead of jumping straight to the practical exam? "
Six identical groans answered her, but she was right. We'd learned our lesson about messing with old magic without proper preparation. Though knowing us, and knowing this city, this wouldn't be the last time we'd have to improvise our way out of a magical crisis.
"Anyone else hungry?" I asked as Lucas helped steady me. "Because I feel like containing ancient magic should earn us at least a beignet. Or six."
Lucas jerked his chin to one of his shifters. “Ricky, go across the street and get a few dozen orders.”
“I’d better make sure you didn't scramble anything important in that head of yours before he gets back with food," Dre interjected with a sigh.
"Too late for that," Dani quipped. "She was scrambled way before this."
I would have argued, but honestly? After the day we'd had, she might have a point. Welcome to another day in New Orleans, where even the ground beneath your feet has stories to tell. Plus, the power to back them up. And where my sisters and I had a talent for finding new and exciting ways to almost destroy the city while trying to save it. At least we had beignets to look forward to. Assuming we survived long enough to eat them.